Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

184 reviews

theirgracegrace's review

adventurous funny tense medium-paced

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

4.25

As a longtime fan of T. Kingfisher's work, Nettle & Bone was a natural choice to read and a very good decision. Kingfisher weaves together fairy tale tropes and folklore to make a world full of fairy godmothers, goblins, and the restless dead. The tale is told with Kingfisher's trademark snark and humour from the perspective of Marra, a young princess whose older sister has become the abused wife of a wicked king. Her task is to kill the king and free her sister, and along the way finds a witch, a dog made of bones, her own fairy godmother, a demonic chicken and a foreign man whose freedom is bought from the Fair Folk with a tooth. The twists and turns of this book are as hard to predict as the mausoleum of the Northern Kingdom, and well worth the ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Body horror, Slavery, Child death, Animal death, Grief, Infertility, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gore, War, Cursing, and Excrement

There is one particular scene where the main character's teeth are made to dance in her mouth and one of them is removed. It is very reminiscent of the "imagining my teeth falling out" dream but can be quite disturbing. There is also a character in the city which has a "curse-child", which is described like a marionette or puppet that chokes and harms her.

insomniacsun's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

Signora Kingfisher sono interamente tua. 
Rimpiango di non aver iniziato a leggere questo libro prima, ma la lunga catena di mediocrità di fantasy filo-medievali mi ha fatto apprezzare questa storia ancora di più. 

In 250 pagine è riuscita a fare cose che nessun mattone sandersoniano potrà mai fare: farmi ridere a crepapelle. L'umorismo e il carattere così vivo dei personaggi mi hanno ammaliato, rendendo le dinamiche tra loro il piatto forte della storia. 
Apprezzo la decisione di aver seguito una protagonista poco tradizionale, una goffa suora trentenne, e l'interiorità e introspezione molto realistica datale per il suo ruolo e background. 

All'inizio mi aspettavo una situazione molto più cupa e raccapricciante, visto i primi capitoli tendenti all'horror, ma, con l'arrivo di altri personaggi e stando di più con Marra e i suoi pensieri, il tono si ravviva un po'. Forse avrei apprezzato questo cambio un po' di più se fosse stato propriamente bilanciato lungo la storia. Invece sembra esserci un grosso divisore fra il primo arc tendenzialmente cupo e prolisso, e il secondo arc più frenetico, la cui vivacità tende a "schiarire" le ombre che storia cela. 

Gli elementi fiabeschi sono incorporati in modo curiosi, quasi come una sovversione analitica dei classici clichè: eroici destini, fate madrine e le loro benedizioni, la principessa che sposa il principe, e quant'altro. 

If I were a man, I would fight him.
If she were a man, no one would force Kania to try to bear child after child. If I were a man, I would not be the next in line to be married if he kills her. If we were men… She stared at her fingers curled in the dirt. It did not matter. They were not and the history of the world was written in women’s wombs and women’s blood and she would never be allowed to change it. 

Il mondo di sfondo che l'autrice ha creato è molto intrigante in molti suoi aspetti, ma per quanto interessante non si è dilungata molto a riguardo, il che ha fatto sicuramente bene alla storia, rendendola molto scorrevole. Allo stesso tempo non mi dispiacerebbe vedere questo potenziale usato in un altro libro con la stessa ambientazione, magari più incentrato nel mondo magico o nelle blistering lands. 

Anche se questo non succedesse, vedo che Kingfisher è un'autrice molto prolifica, per cui la scelta sulla prossima lettura è molto ampia. Non vedo l'ora. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death and Physical abuse

Minor: Cannibalism and Abortion

delmarr's review

adventurous dark lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Animal death and Child death

taylor_perry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Murder, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Miscarriage

arialovegreen's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.5

Nettle & Bone is the story of a shy nun who decides to kill a prince with absolutely no plan, and the family she finds along the way. It is funny, cute, macabre, intriguing, and mysterious all at once. A great singular read that weaves a tale of perfectly reasonable people doing some pretty insane things in some very silly ways for just causes.

The main cast of characters are endearing, contrary, and have so much human nuance to them that I absolutely adore. T. Kingfisher has a very unique writing style that strikes a balance between elaborative story telling and simplicity. I love their ability to explain just what needs to be explained, while keeping little mysteries alive. 

I had a blast reading this book, and I look forward to reading some of T. Kingfisher's other works!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Violence and War

kimberlynann's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Animal death, Pregnancy, Body horror, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and War

perifairy's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Child death

Minor: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, and Miscarriage

Stopping the domestic violence is the driving force of the book, you see evidence of physical violence on page, everything else is off page and happens to a minor character.

the woman is saved from her abuser the book has a happy ending

zrals's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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

3.0

This is a quick and charming fantasy story that plays with old fairy tale tropes. The characters are memorable and, with the exception of Marra, fun to spend some time with. It's very quickly paced and likely won't take long to finish. The prose is good - it never gets in the way but strikes a good balance between description and movement.

Thematically, it feels like it never really gets going. It's never a full subversion or re-investment in the fairy tale patterns it uses. It's setting is sometimes quite detailed, sometimes quite hand-waved, and it's never clear when or why those things are what they are. Fortunately, it's quick enough that you don't have time to notice much of that, as I found it fell apart a bit if I looked too closely. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Body horror, Classism, and Physical abuse

laynerinke's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death

Minor: Child death, Torture, Confinement, Slavery, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

kat42's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Domestic abuse