Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

114 reviews

flaminggecko's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Grief, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, War, Violence, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Classism, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Abortion, Death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Child death, Xenophobia, Dementia, Child abuse, and Animal death

Moderate: Cannibalism, Alcohol, Bullying, and Blood

Minor: Excrement

cwbillings's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful reflective 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? No

5.0

I am absolutely floored by this book! Easily one of my new favorites. She weaves together inspiration and iconography from fairytales, ancient and modern, to create something wholly unique and beautiful! This story follows classic fairy tale formulas while at the same time offering something new and just as enchanting! I found myself often highlighting and denoting passages and phrases that really struck me because the author is masterful at explaining seemingly complex feelings and thoughts. Her writing is simply stunning. I definitely shed a tear over this one and laughed out loud through it too. It’s genuinely funny and touching. Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Blood

Minor: Classism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Infertility, Grief, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Confinement

evbyrd's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Rape, Cannibalism, and Miscarriage

sylvestra's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Animal death

Minor: Body horror and Blood

keithammann's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Misogyny

Minor: War, Abortion, Animal death, and Death of parent

ettegoom's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a good one! Thoroughly fairy tale, with clear heroes and villains, a curse and a princess to be rescued. 
I love the concepts of the bone-wife and of the blistered land.  
Well worth reading. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, and Confinement

chelbelle122's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Child death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Toxic relationship, Torture, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

skillyillian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

First things first a very heavy trigger warning for domestic violence. It's not pictured on the page explicitly as it happens, but it's described by the victim as well as the FMC and other characters throughout the book.

That being said:

Honestly this is SO good. The language used is so descriptive and really fits the tone of the story. I loved having an FMC that wasn't barely legal, and her determination to do impossible things was incredible. The dust-wife was awesome but I think Agnes stole the show and I would have loved to have seen and learned more from her. Honestly, I think the story would've benefitted from more character backstory and development? But it's not like they were cardboard cutouts by any means, either.

The timeline, or at least the way it's presented in the story, was a little hard to follow for a minute? But once the past caught up to the story it made sense, so 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think my favorite part was the humor, honestly. It balanced things out and added levity in a way that I think prevented the whole story from being too heavy. It was witty and wry and the kind of jokes that fit perfectly for a group comprised of a dog made of bones, a cursed chick, a demon hen (no relation), and two traumatized young-ish people traveling with two powerful old women who are each other's opposites in every way.

Overall, this is a great story with some really interesting characters I think we could've learned about a bit more. I loved it so much though, and jumped right into another Kingfisher book (What Moves the Dead) which I'm also enjoying so far. I'm excited to keep reading more from this author :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Cannibalism

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Animal death

apoppyinthewind's review against another edition

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