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sadetanssija's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Animal death
latida94's review against another edition
challenging
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
What was most delightful was that everyone was dreadfully human. Even the magic ones. I don't know how to describe it, really. We have this band of heroes on this quest for vengeance. Except not really. They're not really heroes like you think of heroes. Just delightfully human.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Child death, and Death
Minor: Cannibalism
laurareads87's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Death, and Murder
fraise's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Animal death
Minor: Slavery, Torture, Rape, Abortion, Cannibalism, Infertility, and Miscarriage
The slavery in this book iswooblatoober's review
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
loved it! i loved kingfisher’s imagery. not only her talent for making me see what she imagined, but the things she imagined in the first place. over time, i’ve fallen out of love with fantasy as a genre. kingfisher included elements that reminded me how much i used to love it, & introduced new elements that i enjoyed reading immensely. tl;dr, a fresh & delightful spin on dark fantasy.
i LOVED the main character. kingfisher does an amazing job of making her a bit dull without making the ready angry at the MC for her stupidity. she’s just believably stupid, i guess, & catches onto things in much the same manner & speed i find myself catching onto things in real life. i love the personalities of most the characters, actually, especially agnes & the dust-wife,and quite wished they ended up in love in the end.
LOVED that the cast of characters was mostly women, with few named male characters. i’m all for books with a balanced cast, but also love to see a book doing the opposite of what books have been doing for so long. i also loved kingfisher’s body type diversity and age diversity.
i wish this book had a more diverse cast of characters along other lines—not much to hang onto regarding race/ethnicity & different abilities, & a nonbinary character is introduced briefly for seemingly no other reason than to say they were there.
spoilers ahead for anyone who reads a book with a dog and immediately worries about the fate of the dog:
in the beginning, marra creates a dog out of bone, so the dog is already dead & you never see its death. bonedog does not know he was ever dead. at the end of the book, bonedog is defending a character, and is attacked by a guard, and he “dies,” his bones scattering apart. none of the characters have time to mourn him in the craziness, since it’s the climax of the story, and marra ends up getting his bones back and putting him back together, so he comes back at the end. i would say that the dog does NOT die.
i LOVED the main character. kingfisher does an amazing job of making her a bit dull without making the ready angry at the MC for her stupidity. she’s just believably stupid, i guess, & catches onto things in much the same manner & speed i find myself catching onto things in real life. i love the personalities of most the characters, actually, especially agnes & the dust-wife,
LOVED that the cast of characters was mostly women, with few named male characters. i’m all for books with a balanced cast, but also love to see a book doing the opposite of what books have been doing for so long. i also loved kingfisher’s body type diversity and age diversity.
i wish this book had a more diverse cast of characters along other lines—not much to hang onto regarding race/ethnicity & different abilities, & a nonbinary character is introduced briefly for seemingly no other reason than to say they were there.
spoilers ahead for anyone who reads a book with a dog and immediately worries about the fate of the dog:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
dwarrowdams's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Medical content, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Slavery and Animal death
rwittmann's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
lizzymay_reads's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Feminine rage in the best way.
The story follows Marta, a 30 year old Princess of a small kingdom turned (almost) nun. Because of her kingdom’s important port but lack of a strong army, her oldest sister is sent to wed a more powerful prince. But before long she turns up dead, and her next oldest sister is sent to wed the prince.
When Marra learns the truth about the prince, however, she hatches a plot with an unlikely group of misfits including a dog made only of bones and travels to his kingdom.
Everything about this book was a delight. Our FMC is a full grown woman which I LOVE, and even though she is unsure of herself she manages to choose her own destiny despite the odds. Her role was always to be used as a pawn and to have children of powerful men, as all women of her position are, but she finds her own way and it was such a breath of fresh air for the genre.
The story follows Marta, a 30 year old Princess of a small kingdom turned (almost) nun. Because of her kingdom’s important port but lack of a strong army, her oldest sister is sent to wed a more powerful prince. But before long she turns up dead, and her next oldest sister is sent to wed the prince.
When Marra learns the truth about the prince, however, she hatches a plot with an unlikely group of misfits including a dog made only of bones and travels to his kingdom.
Everything about this book was a delight. Our FMC is a full grown woman which I LOVE, and even though she is unsure of herself she manages to choose her own destiny despite the odds. Her role was always to be used as a pawn and to have children of powerful men, as all women of her position are, but she finds her own way and it was such a breath of fresh air for the genre.
Content Warnings
Minor: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Miscarriage
alexiconic's review against another edition
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.
reading this book was like escaping into a fairytale all over again. i deeply loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence
justgothenough's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I pulled half a star off the rating simply because I wish there was more of this book. 😆
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Miscarriage, and Child death