Reviews with content warning for Violence - Nettle & Bone

I listened to this story on audiobooks.

I was surprised to learn this was a dark fantasy as I continued to listen to the story. Before I listened to this story on audiobooks, I had only read the reviews from the audiobook page, and most of the top reviews depicted this book as a cosy fantasy with a lot of humour. And the only reason I got the book was because I wanted to read a funny book to lift my mood (and if it included fantasy elements even better), so I was surprised to learn that this book is nowhere near as light, and the funny moments were greatly exaggerated. It’s definitely not a cosy fantasy read.

Also the demon chicken is nowhere near as funny as some people made it out to be.

I found it jarring listening to the the narrator switch to different funny voices for certain characters at the beginning, but I got used to it eventually.

What stopped me from dnf’ing this book is that I could relate to the main character, Marra, (including her love for knitting/crafting and other life experiences), and T.Kingfisher’s writing style, while extremely dark, made it easy for me to follow along and understand each characters thought process & I ended up getting invested and wanting to know if she would end up saving her sister from the abusive Prince in time.

**spoiler below***

I think there should be a trigger/content warning in the blurb for abuse and violence. As mentioned before this is not a cosy read. And there were certain scenes i felt uncomfortable listening to (reading it wouldn’t have made it better) including the domestic violence between Marra’s sisters and the Prince, and when Fenris explained his story and he blamed himself for failing to protect a boy who was being abused and ended up being whipped to death by his father.

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chelbelle122's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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skillyillian's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

First things first a very heavy trigger warning for domestic violence. It's not pictured on the page explicitly as it happens, but it's described by the victim as well as the FMC and other characters throughout the book.

That being said:

Honestly this is SO good. The language used is so descriptive and really fits the tone of the story. I loved having an FMC that wasn't barely legal, and her determination to do impossible things was incredible. The dust-wife was awesome but I think Agnes stole the show and I would have loved to have seen and learned more from her. Honestly, I think the story would've benefitted from more character backstory and development? But it's not like they were cardboard cutouts by any means, either.

The timeline, or at least the way it's presented in the story, was a little hard to follow for a minute? But once the past caught up to the story it made sense, so 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think my favorite part was the humor, honestly. It balanced things out and added levity in a way that I think prevented the whole story from being too heavy. It was witty and wry and the kind of jokes that fit perfectly for a group comprised of a dog made of bones, a cursed chick, a demon hen (no relation), and two traumatized young-ish people traveling with two powerful old women who are each other's opposites in every way.

Overall, this is a great story with some really interesting characters I think we could've learned about a bit more. I loved it so much though, and jumped right into another Kingfisher book (What Moves the Dead) which I'm also enjoying so far. I'm excited to keep reading more from this author :)

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laurareads87's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Nettle & Bone is a fairytale-like fantasy novel following a young princess on a quest to save her sister from an abusive king.

There were some things I really liked about this. I appreciate a good unlikely ensemble cast, and I particularly liked the dynamic between the dust-witch and the godmother; I also really liked Bonedog and Finder of course. This was my first T. Kingfisher experience and I liked the writing style for the most part – I’d definitely try another of her works on the basis of this one. The world-building was compelling and I would’ve loved to learn more about the kingdoms and the surrounding territories. Without giving anything away, there are some interesting ethical ambiguities to the ending that I can appreciate.

There were also some aspects to this story that really didn’t work for me. The protagonist, and by extension the book itself, skewed YA (which isn’t how it’s marketed); Marra definitely didn’t read like a thirty year old, particularly not given the context. Some of the dialogue felt borderline patronizing (like I was being spoken to as a reader) and the humour really didn’t land for me (it just make the tone feel very inconsistent). Most of all, though, the bits of the book I found most interesting (the magic making Bonedog possible, the Blistered Lands, the dynamics between the Kingdoms) were skimmed over and the bits I found significantly less interesting were foregrounded (particularly the emerging romance which I think would’ve been better just left out). I liked the very beginning few chapters of the book better than the rest.

Content warnings: sexism, intimate partner violence, physical abuse, violence, murder, death

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musen_henning's review

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adventurous dark reflective

4.75

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alisonvh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A superfun read about a woman setting out to save her sister from an evil prince. And the narrator did an excellent job of doing all the voices. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

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dwarrowdams's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

It had some structural issues, but a really fun read. Love what T. Kingfisher does with fairy tale tropes.

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alexiconic's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

adventurous, fairytale-esque, mysterious, and decidedly dark and mysterious. its everything a fairy tale would be: magical, with odd creatures that go on a quest, in a kingdom far away. but it’s also an adult upgrade, with mature heroes who have their own worries and fears and who have to deal with them to reach their goals, with a dark start to the story and enough cruelty to make a realistic setting.

reading this book was like escaping into a fairytale all over again. i deeply loved it.

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