Welcome to Litsy!

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. Excellent southern gothic, especially the audiobook read by Matt Robinette Kowal.

4/5

I think of this as Aunt Maria (by Diane Wynne Jones) the adult years. Which is to say, there were fun inversions on traditionally “gross” and “girly” things. The mom was a hero. And magic doesn‘t give the right to tell other people how to live.

I ♥️ that all the Kingfisher stories I‘ve read so far have female protagonists in their 30s. Sam is staying with her mother for an indefinite amount of time as her work project has been put on hiatus. She soon notices that her mother is acting strangely - & she‘s unsure if the changes are caused by dementia or if there is something more supernaturally sinister afoot.

I really enjoyed the mother/daughter dynamic & the vultures as watchers ♥️

This would 100% be my mum if we ever happened to find ourselves in this situation.

My curly hair has snapped brushes on more than one occasion. RELATABLE CONTENT

Why is there no binoculars emoji? 🤡

I was totally on board until the 80% mark, at which point the story took a turn that defied my suspension of disbelief so I bailed.

(2023) Sam is an entomologist whose fieldwork job has just fallen through, so she moves in with her mother ... whose personality has inexplicably changed to become more like Sam's creepy, cruel, racist grandmother's. Things get weirder from there. The creepy bits are mixed with snarky humor and a generous helping of random facts about bugs and vultures. The result is a lot of fun. Also, yay vultures!

Here‘s another book that has, as it‘s only fault, too few pages. Kingfisher has given us a thoroughly engaging ghost story. Our protagonist, Sam Montgomery (an archeoentomologist) has come home when a dig falls through. Her mom is acting decidedly strange, apparently appeasing her dead mother! Watchful vultures, swarming bugs, creepy roses, a witch at the end of the lane, and horrifying underground children combine for pure fun.

T. J. Klune and T. Kingfisher are my two auto buys.They both have new releases coming out soon and I've already pre-ordered!
"House in the Cerulean Sea" and "The Twisted Ones" are a couple of my favorites.
#SundayFunday @ozma.of.oz

Southern gothic comes to the subdivision in this uncanny horror novel that reminds you the roots of the family tree run deep, dark, and twisted—and there‘s always more to dig up. This ran a bit on the slow side for me, but I did love the vulture representation, the fat, 30+ year old archaeoentomologist main character Samantha “Sam” Montgomery, the portrayal of generational trauma and survival mechanisms, and of course, “underground children!”