Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

50 reviews

xwiththevex's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Body horror, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Slavery, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

uranaishi's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Grief, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Abortion, Blood, Slavery, Violence, Confinement, Dementia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, and War

kaydie96's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

5.0

Nettle & Bone is a perfect spooky season read! I absolutely loved it. The first chapter made me think it would be very dark and creepy (not my vibe) so I was a bit nervous it wouldn’t be for me, but it was just the right amount of dark, with occasional flashes of (manageable) spooky and a lot of relatable moments and humour.

I really enjoyed Marra, the FMC who is much more comfortable embroidering than questing, but is determined to save her sister. BUT I completely fell in love with the side characters. They were dynamic and funny and worked incredibly well opposite Marra.

Bonedog and the demon chicken have my heart.

Something I liked about this book was there was always the sense that no matter how spookily dark things got, the true-to-life things were painted as worse. The world may be full of scary creatures and phenomena, but the worst monsters are the human beings hiding behind their power. And that if you’re determined to take on the worst of them, you can face the rest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Blood, Miscarriage, and Murder

Minor: Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Animal death, and Dementia

cwerber's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

I read the first half of the book earlier this year before I had to return it to the library. I hadn’t intended to check it out again but I found myself thinking of the main character and wondering how in the world she would do what she would set out to do. 

I love, Agnes, by the way and would love to read more about her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Blood

Minor: Child death

kds247's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, and Child death

Minor: Torture and Animal death

dalek_caan's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.25

This book was really hard to read because almost nothing happens until the last 50 or so pages of the book. It was overall an okay read. It did have some cute animal sidekicks, I would say I found that to be the most interesting aspect of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death, Miscarriage, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Blood

scifi_rat's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Medical content, Miscarriage, Death, and Violence

Minor: Torture, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, and Animal cruelty

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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 book that has been on my radar for a while and I only just got around to it. I had expected a YA feel and was pleasantly impressed that it maintained that while also not over romanticising things. I would probably say it's as good as Hunger Games if not so epic.  As  a note, the narration is particularly well done, well enunciated and performed.

Big pluses for me include hardly any combat. There is conflict, and problem solving, and awkward conversation, but less cut-and-thrust. We have a fairytale vibe, of 3 impossible quests to start the mission, princesses being all betrothed about the place, a grandmother sage, fairy godmothers, and a demon-possessed chicken (utterly relatable).  The star of the show is definitely Bonedog, an undead construct wired together of animated bone, inhabited by a simple pup who barely notices that he doesn't actually have anything left down there to lick.

When Marra realises that her sister is being physically abused by a cruel prince intent on putting an heir in her, she musters up the fortitude to leave the safety of her knitting in the convent, and quests together a party of friends intent on a bit of regicide. The whole story is woven with wry dialogue, wit and fae uncertainty.

Some of the things like the fairy market have some very visceral and unsettling moments. This creates a lot of the sense of immersion and tension that would normally be sword battles and boss fights in a more militant fantasy story. It sticks with me longer though. An encounter with a super-creepy haunted puppet, becomes a lesson about consent.

The male love interest is depicted as noble and honourable eye-candy. Unlike most YA novels this brewing romance is not a fluffy little thing. Coming from a place of mutual respect, probable mortal peril, and traumatic experiences, Marra and Fenris develop a relationship over the course of the book, and they take their sweet time coming to a point of mutual comfort with the idea.
Reminds me of that joke about being an adult; realising that the most "Grown Up drink" you can have is not coffee or booze, but water. (I notice that the old woman recognises Fenris as being a wolfish name, but otherwise it is not mentioned.) 

Well worth a read if you are into fantasy stuff with strong female characters. Bits of this vibe with me along the lines of Neil Gaiman, Jim Henson, Studio Ghibli and the like. Glad I finally found myself a copy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, Death, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Sexual violence

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, and Body horror

Minor: Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Torture, Physical abuse, War, Cannibalism, and Violence

st0rmy's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail