Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

37 reviews

apoppyinthewind's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

"You came in your cloak of nettles with the dog made of bone at your side"

I can see how that imagery stuck with Kingfisher and inspired Nettle & Bone and I'm glad I got the chance to read this story. It's a fairytale of a sister trying to save her older sister from an evil prince but to do so she complete three seemingly impossible tasks: Build a dog of bones, sew a clock of nettles, and give the dust wife moonlight in a jar.

If you enjoy reading fairytales, I would highly recommend checking out Nettle & Bone. It's got a similar feel of fairytales but a bit more fleshed out and with unique world-building. I especially loved the concept of dust-wives, who are essentially graveyard witches who know much of the magical world and can talk to the dead.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Grief, Death, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, and Animal death

erikakcarlson's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death, Death, and Torture

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

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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 is

magical indenture and a supernatural parasite; it's not analogous to any real life slavery at all.

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.

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

keishbby's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, and Body horror

rhia_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is amazing. More people need to be talking about this book! A great little standalone and quick read.
Had me giggling quite a few times! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, and Sexual violence

searobin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

The first thought I had after finishing this was "that was fun!" which is a bit unexpected for a book like this. It was dark and broached some ser ous topics, and definitely had some horror elements but was still cute and humourous as well. I found it very well mixed.
I am a bit confused with some things like the Blighted lands. They kinda appeared and disappeared from the story so quickly, and the limited lore we did get about them did not explain enough at all. That is a bit frustrating.

I saw another review where someone said the MC didn't seem 30, but more like 19. I think YA fantasy books have primed us to think that teens are way more capable than they are on average - and of course they aren't average most of the time, they have powers or there's a prophecy and magic involved some how... I can absolutely see how growing up in the protection of first the youngest princess in a castle and then a sort of nun, in combination with a shy and introverted personality leads to a naive and timid adult. I am 31 years old, and absolutely wouldn't be able to do much of what a lot of MCs do in books. It's nice to have something that feels more realistic!

(I do want to take this moment to also acknowledge that there are so many incredible youth who do do absolutely amazing things. The young activist fighting for climate change measures, Indigenous rights and Land Back, BLM, Palestine, etc... are so great. I can see how the heros of YA fantasy could do it, we do have real world examples, it's just also nice to see a random 30 year old with limited life experience manage to do something as well!)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Child death, Torture, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Death, Animal death, and Abortion

mishmoshroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Child death, Torture, Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infertility, Murder, and Grief

tinysierra's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

“The trees were full of crows and the woods were full of madmen. The pit was full of bones and her hands were full of wires.” Pg 1

What a fun way to start a book!

The length was perfect in my opinion. A nice stand alone.

Nettle and Bone is very atmospheric. The vibes reminded me of what it felt like watching The Labyrinth movie. It’s tagged as horror, but it’s not scary, just slightly unnerving. There was a little body horror and mentions of drowning. 

The cast of characters is fun. I loved the Bonedog and the demon chicken. 

The book has humor to it!

"You need to train him to sit somewhere else," said the dust-wife disapprovingly. "Otherwise you'll have a rooster who thinks he should dive headfirst into your cleavage when he wants to roost."
"It's been a while since any man wanted to dive into my cleavage," said Agnes. "It might be a nice change."

The romance aspect of the book is very soft, almost minimal. It’s sort of implied more than shown. There’s a  sunshine x grump vibe in there. 

“I hope your dogs are all loyal and goofy and good natured and that your chickens remain free of demons.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Infertility

Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy

Minor: Blood, Cannibalism, Miscarriage, Death, and Torture