Nettle and Bone

by T. Kingfisher

eBook, 320 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2022 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-24403-1

(89 reviews)

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

6 editions

WardenRed reviewed Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

None

4 stars

Kania was hostage to the prince. Marra’s future children, if any, were hostage to Kania’s fertility.

Pretty sure this is the scariest book I've ever read by T. Kingfisher, and that has nothing to do with all the spooky parts of the worldbuilding. It's all about the situation at the heart of the plot. Marra's sister stuck in that awful abusive marriage; their mother impassively watching and letting it happen because politics; the implication that plenty of nobles, guards, and servants in the Northern Castle were quite aware of what was happening, were all right with it, and Kania's happy ending involves staying among them and working to be seen as someone as ruthless as her husband... I don't know. All of that just sent chills down my spine. Especially that happy ending. Because while the quest is successfully finished, Kania is saved, and the bad guy's gone, nothing has really change. The world is still the same place it has always been, where all the same things can happen again and again, and people keep playing by the same rules.

Maybe I missed some details. Maybe the odd mood I was in influenced my perception of the book. But really, it just felt so heavy and unsettling and for the most part lacking hope. There were trickles of it, sure, mostly in the scenes focused intensely at Marra and how Not Okay she was with certain things—not just her sister's situation. And there's lots of interesting worldbuilding here, a compelling magic system, one of the best, most original adventuring parties ever, and a very good bone dog. So many things to love! And I did love those, but it was difficult to do so for all the above reasons.

mark reviewed Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Another Effortless Genre Shuffle from Kingfisher

5 stars

At this point I know what I'm getting into every time I open up a T. Kingfisher book, whether it's horror, fantasy or romance - and most of her books have all three, mixed at different distillations. The writing will be breezy, the plot will both be interesting and turn in directions that you wouldn't expect, the characterizations will be unique and not standard cardboard cutouts (well, her male love interests tend to be big noble depressed guys, but they're all well written). "Nettle & Bone" hits all of these - a fun read that conceals depth and absolutely wrenching moments. My only complaint is that I wish it didn't move so fast - that there was a bit more room to breathe. But across the board I'm always so excited to read new stuff from her. Every book so far has been great, and I feel like she's closing …

Jason reviewed Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

None

4 stars

I absolutely love this story. Was the book perfect - that's a harder sell. It could have been longer, it could of explored more of the world, and it didn't that's why it got 4 stars. But the characters are all funny, and modern, and yet this is a wonderfully fantastical read.

I will forever want Bonedog to be mine. Illusion of skin or not he would be an excellent pet for me. I did feel that there is a love story that is starting (again why 4 stars) but it didn't happen even though I think it was earned.

All the characters are people I want to meet - be friends with I don't know. I mean who wants to be friends with a wise-cracking, demon possessed chicken? Well, maybe I do. Marra is indecisive but when she puts her mind to her well you get this story. The …

Kathrin Passig reviewed Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Review of 'Nettle & Bone' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Wieder ein hervorragendes Begleit-Tier, nämlich ein Hund, der im ersten Kapitel aus Draht, abgenagten Knochen und Magie zusammengebaut wird. Der Rest war auch gut, winzige Schwächen im letzten Drittel (mein pet peeve Handlungs-Nacherzählung, aber hier wirklich auf wenige Absätze beschränkt), angenehm unglamouröse Heldinnen (zwei sind alt und die dritte ist meistens ratlos) und viel unterhaltsame Nebenhandlung.

Chaostheorie reviewed Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Review of 'Nettle & Bone' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I had no idea what to expect when I started this one, and I enjoyed the mystery. Nettle & Bone is a very well-done fairtytale-style fantasy with some gritty, creepy aspects. Compared to many weighty fantasy tomes, this is rather short, and rather than explaining its fantasy world in detail, it leaves a lot of mystery, focuses on character interaction and driving the plot - I really liked that approach.

In short, highly recommended! I'm keen on reading more by T. Kingfisher.