(eARC) The House Built on Alligator Bones by Sophia Huneycutt

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the eARC.! :)
Pub Date: October 6 2026

Synopsis: Dartrine Beaumont believes her mother’s sudden death has left her alone in the world—until she learns of long-lost wealthy relatives living in Florida. Confused but delighted by the possibility of extended family, Dart travels to her grandmother’s stately Gilded Age mansion on Amelia Island for answers, just in time to stake a claim on an unusual inheritance: an alligator farming empire.

Her arrival at Greer House isn’t everything she hoped. Without warning, Dart finds herself in fierce competition with her grandmother’s arrogant heir-apparent, and tensions rise as threatening acts of vandalism escalate on one of the farms. More unsettling is her hostile grandmother’s fanatical belief that the danger stems from a curse; according to legend, a larger-than-life alligator hunted down by a bloodthirsty ancestor still haunts the family. Yet Dart can’t deny that the farm’s placid alligators hiss only at Greers, or that a shadowy figure creeps through the mansion’s halls, plaguing her with suspicions that the mythical alligator and monstrous, long-dead matriarch may have unfinished business.

As Dart uncovers the truth about her violent birthright, she faces a terrible accept her place in her family’s grim legacy or forge a new path by slaying a different beast entirely.

Review: Swampy Southern Gothic, a haunted alligator farm, generational family rot.

The atmosphere delivers. The humidity. The decaying grandeur of Greer House.

The foreboding sense that there is someone always watching.

My negative is that it tried to be too much at once: a ghost story, eco-horror revenge fantasy, slow-burn romance, murder mystery, possession. It felt overwhelming and it led to many concepts not being fleshed out as they could've. It was slow to get into it and really only picked up around half-way, which can be a hit or miss for people.

The social commentary spliced throughout involving animals, the environment, society, race, class, and introspective character work was interesting. I wish the writing took on a more literary turn as this would've benefitted much more with that, especially given moments throughout.

I will say that the pacing in this book worked well for me, usually I have a problem where I don't enjoy the pacing in books but in this one - it worked.