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bucketsjen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Dark fairytale of rescue and hope. A princess sets off to find a way to kill a prince protected by powerful magic, in an attempt to save her hostage sister. There are impossible tasks, a bone dog, a goblin market, witches, fairy godmothers, a disgraced knight, and a demon chicken. The main character is thirty years old and gets anxious asking for directions.
Everything about this book was absolutely perfect. I devoured it.
This book gets recommended as fantasy romance, so here's a slightly spoilery comment on that:it's a romance subplot which is really sweet but there's no spice in the book
Everything about this book was absolutely perfect. I devoured it.
This book gets recommended as fantasy romance, so here's a slightly spoilery comment on that:
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Cannibalism and Child death
avialia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Well, marrying a prince is usually a dream. USUALLY.This book has one of those rare times where it is not a dream. It is rather a nightmare. And Marra, is going to help. The prince will be dead.
This book was just really clever and exidently written. It worked for keeping up the experince I had from reading the other books from this author.
I find the ideas really fun and intruqing. I felt exited and happy to turn almost all the pages. I did not use a long time reading this and I felt I just rushed threw it.
It is not 100% that I wish I could wipe my memory. But really close to it to be honest.
The worldbuilding from the very start was fun and intresting, as the other books I have read by him also are. I mean who does not want to know what happens futher when the mc is wanting to kill a prince. To help her sister. The explenations were not too dense and it all just flowed easily and effortless.
So yes I really enjoyed it.
This book was just really clever and exidently written. It worked for keeping up the experince I had from reading the other books from this author.
I find the ideas really fun and intruqing. I felt exited and happy to turn almost all the pages. I did not use a long time reading this and I felt I just rushed threw it.
It is not 100% that I wish I could wipe my memory. But really close to it to be honest.
The worldbuilding from the very start was fun and intresting, as the other books I have read by him also are. I mean who does not want to know what happens futher when the mc is wanting to kill a prince. To help her sister. The explenations were not too dense and it all just flowed easily and effortless.
So yes I really enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Animal death, Death, and Miscarriage
alexiconic's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
5.0
adventurous, fairytale-esque, mysterious, and decidedly dark and mysterious. its everything a fairy tale would be: magical, with odd creatures that go on a quest, in a kingdom far away. but it’s also an adult upgrade, with mature heroes who have their own worries and fears and who have to deal with them to reach their goals, with a dark start to the story and enough cruelty to make a realistic setting.
reading this book was like escaping into a fairytale all over again. i deeply loved it.
reading this book was like escaping into a fairytale all over again. i deeply loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence
justgothenough's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I pulled half a star off the rating simply because I wish there was more of this book. 😆
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Miscarriage, and Child death
theirgracegrace's review against another edition
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.
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.spoetting's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy
persephonefoxx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
“Rage was only useful if you were allowed to do anything with it”
Teenage me was obsessed with dark fairytales. I’m talking retellings, the darker original texts, creepy stories in a fairytale-esque telling. All that to say, teenage me would have eaten this up. Because at its core, it is a fairytale. A fantastical story of impossible tasks, magic women, peculiar animals, princesses, and fairy Godmothers.
It is a story that prioritises characters in that distant narrative styling of fairytales and similar stories. And at its core it is a story about rage and love. Men who have so much rage it devoids them of love and women who love so deeply that it fuels their rage. It is about family and the burden of duty. It tells a story of the painful process of clawing yourself out of helpless, and that the journey shouldn’t be taken alone.
I really enjoyed this book. There were parts that made me laugh (a particular demon hen) and there were parts I felt in my soul. And while the world building scraped the surface, what are to expect in a book as short. It is a book about the people not the place and thus its focus is understandable.
I am merely annoyed with myself that it has taken this long to finally read T. Kingfisher. Something I will be looking to rectify in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Misogyny, Body horror, and Child death
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child death and Physical abuse
Minor: Cannibalism and Abortion
qarina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Domestic abuse
marayzex's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death