A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

 

I hate to say it since T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors and usually I can't get enough of what she writes, but this honestly would have been better as a short story. A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES is the story of Sam, who goes to her mother's house in rural North Carolina after her brother calls her up and tells her that she seems "off." Almost immediately, Sam can see what she means. The changes they've made to the place after Sam's grandmother's death are all gone. The racist Confederate painting is back in its place of pride, the walls have been painted ghastly colors, and the rose bushes are flourishing.

Something is very wrong with the house... and with Sam's mom.

...But what?

So one thing I really like about T. Kingfisher is that she's great about writing REALLY creepy stories that end up feeling almost cozy. I don't know how to describe it, except that reading them gives me the same safe-but-scared feeling that I got from reading Point Horror and Goosebumps as a kid. Maybe it's because her heroines are always plucky and affably anxious, and maybe it's because the animal sidekicks almost never die, but even though I'm a wuss when it comes to most gore and horror, I can always pick up her books, no problem.

Usually, the atmosphere-to-cozy ratio is perfect but in this book it felt off. The story felt dragged out and silly, and while there were "good bones" for a story in this book, the execution really wasn't that great. I loved the fat rep and the fact that the heroine was a bug archaeologist (super neat), and there were a couple ghastly scenes that were worth writing home about, but I left the book feeling pretty disappointed. So far, THE HOLLOW PLACES reigns supreme, followed closely by THE TWISTED ONES. Here's hoping that this was a one-off and that she hasn't lost her magic.

2.5 out of 5 stars