Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

38 reviews

tinysierra's review

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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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brysonsmommie84's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Dark fairytale, check triggers! 
With that said, I still found it delightful and was cheering for Marra and BoneDog all the way. It wrapped up in a nice little bow as all good fairytales do.

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tays_books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0


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xwiththevex's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Would be great for a Greta Gerwig adaptation featuring Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh. Big on yearn-core.

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uranaishi's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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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yuna's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny slow-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? Yes

4.0

I love how Kingfisher/Vernon writes everyday types of MCs. This is no exception, though at times Marra reads very "samey" as Vernon's other MCs--most noticeably for me in the way the humor is applied to her being rather ordinary and a little bumbling. But Marra is also very relatable in processing her biases and frustrations at an unfair world, and she's easy to root for because at heart she's a good person trying her best in an unjust world. I loved the dust-wife, and Agnes grew on me quite a bit.

The fae/supernatural element to the world and side characters was interesting, and I'd love to see another story involving the goblin market. Vernon has a way of melding creepy horror and morbid humor that is delightful. That can also end up lulling you into a false sense of security, because there are elements to this story that are really dark and sad.

My only big gripe is that I found the end confrontation a bit anticlimactic and unsatisfying, because Marra is basically a bystander to it all. I know she's not a traditional hero, but it was frustrating having her stand on the side and wring her hands. She's...more of an idea-person than an action one.

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kds247's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

This is a beautifully written book. The imagery was the best part and made it a perfect autumn read. It was spooky but in a fantastical, witchy way that I was not expecting. It did drag at times, but the poetry that is this book made it worth it.

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Plot: 4★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 3.5★
Concept/Execution: 4★/3★
Characters: 3.5★
Worldbuilding: 3★
Ending: 3★

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sinoclock's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. I nearly devoured it on one sitting. I found the main character really relatable with her anxious internal monolo ue and some of the moments were surprisingly very funny. Just loved this book. It was perfect being short and sweet but I still wish I had more to read! 

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eleonorehilbig's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

4.0

this was a cute book. 
the only real issue i had with it was the tone shift with it starting out quite grimly with lots of gory elements and then becoming a sort of lets go on an adventure with a bunch of people who dont seem to be who youd pick for that adventure. however i enjoyed it thoroughly especially the internal struggles of the mc and the topics that were discussed. all in all a great book. 

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