A House with Good Bones

Who says you can never go home again?

Sam Montgomery’s brother called to tell her that something was off with their mother, Edith. So, Sam goes home. She is looking forward to spending time with her mother while enjoying a break from her job as an archaeoentomologist (Bugs are her thing).

Sam instantly notices that her mother is not quite herself. Her mother is guarded and anxious. She is no longer the carefree mother she knew. Soon other things begin to seem different in the house as well. Her mother has repainted the walls. They were once painted vibrant colors that gave the house life and a cool vibe, but her mother has since painted the walls the colors her Gran Mae liked while she lived there.

Then there are the ladybugs and the rose petals. By themselves they do not seem strange but trust me, they are very, very strange in this book. Plus, when vulture watch your house and only your house, be afraid because that is just creepy. How many times a day can the hairs stand up on the back of your neck? How many strange occurrences can you endure before you begin asking questions or get the heck out of there?

This was a creepy and gothic feeling book. I would have been out of there lickety-split. But not Sam or her mother. As the tension mounts and things get creepier by the second, the characters find themselves in danger.

I enjoyed how T. Kingfisher set the stage. It was both atmospheric and gothic. The characters were interesting and there was more to several of them than meets the eye. The creep vibe in this book was strong as was the writing. It had the right amount of tension and what-did-I-just-read moments. I didn’t feel that this book was scary but enjoyed how creepy it was. It’s strange, a little out there, yet entertaining and tense.

Fans of T. Kingfisher will enjoy this one.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.