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lisa_m's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
cwu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
relaxing
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? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, Slavery, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
tak_everlasting's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, and Abortion
Minor: Rape, Slavery, and Cannibalism
Idanaslitlist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
Beautifully written, great characters, and a complex yet clever plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny
Minor: Slavery
darkefyres's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Murder
Minor: Slavery
regaliaofchaos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death and Death
bookforthought's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
Nettle & Bone was my first T. Kingfisher book but now I'm sure it won't be my last. This incredibly original, captivating, funny book completely captured me from the very first page and was easily one of the best books I've read so far this year.
Marra is a third daughter, sent to live in a convent while her older sisters marry a prince. The simple convent life is one that perfectly suits Marra, who profoundly dislikes court life and struggles to keep up with the intrigue and politics, until she realises that her sisters have been suffering abuse at the hands of the prince for years and no one seems intent on doing anything about this. Which clearly leaves only one option: the prince must die, and Marra will kill him.
This is the start of a fantastical journey across kingdoms to find a way to kill a prince as Marra seeks out a powerful Dust Wife (I'll leave you with the pleasure of discovering who she is) and completes three impossible tasks to convince her to help. What follows is a weird and wonderful quest, accompanied by a motley crew including a dashing fallen knight, a reluctant fairy godmother and a hen possessed by a demon.
I adored every minute of this, so much so that I read most of it in a single sitting, and didn't manage to get through the whole thing in one go for reasons entirely out of my control and will. Nettle & Bone delivers all the classic tropes of a Fantastic QuestTM in such an original way that it feels like reading something completely new and like meeting an old friend at the same time. There is found family and a delicious slow-burn budding relationship that I was definitely on board with. I can easily see this becoming a new comfort book!
I loved the characters and the settings. Both felt extremely vivid and the worldbuilding worked perfectly, clear enough without ever overtaking the main narrative. Each character felt really unique, with many layers to their personality, and I loved seeing them all slowly unveiled. There are references to serious themes as well (for example, partner abuse is a rather prominent one), included seamlessly and handled with great care and tact. The whole thing is covered in a generous layer of humour like icing on the cake in a way that reminded me a lot of The Princess Bride, incidentally another book I loved (and one of my all-time favourite films!).
Overall, this was a delightful read, pure pleasure from the first page to the last. A must-read for this year!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Cannibalism
anna_hepworth's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I feel weird about rating a book I sat and read in one sitting so low, but the reality is that I finished it in one setting through sheer bloody mindedness, not any kind of fascination or absorption.
I get that this is a fairy tale trope based story, and that those tend to have quite dark histories. It presents as fantasy, but I experienced it much more as horror. I suggest that people be aware ahead of time that there are multiple important content warnings, whether or not they choose to check what they are.
There are some uses and subversions of tropes that I liked. It is, unsurprisingly, the good/kind but not very bright third child of the rulers who is the 'hero', although our protagonist, Marra, spends a lot of time avoiding being a hero. The story opens as they do a trope appropriate impossible task; when they return to the dust-wife, the response is very much a subversion of the expected response. The resolution of the story is very much built from the bones of other stories, in ways that become almost inevitable, even if the decorative twiddles are different.
The writing is robust, the world building a delight (there are so many hinted at details that could each fill a book of side quests), the characters varied. The politics of how the two kingdoms fit together is very well thought out, particularly the details of why various people make the choices that they do, even though they look like such bad choices.
Various things frustrated me. Something about the names of the sisters didn't sit right, and I can't say why, but Damia, Kania, and Marra are just such an uncomfortable set. The naming ceremony for the royal child being a christening, in a world without Christianity (I can take the presence of godmothers with more equanimity, because after all, there are many gods in this world). The characterisation felt off at times, and I found the romance that happens to have almost come out of left field. I realise that I am often oblivious to sub-text, but this was more than usual, and I was all 'why?'.
In terms of the spoilery thoughts,I was intensely frustrated that the oldest sister is effectively fridged. I get that their death was an important plot point, but I don't think they get any agency in the story, I'm not sure they get anything other than a couple of scenes to appear and disappear from, and everything about them is filtered through the youngest siblings Me Me Me. Yes, it is tight first person for those bits, but I really didn't like how that part of the story line was handled
I get that this is a fairy tale trope based story, and that those tend to have quite dark histories. It presents as fantasy, but I experienced it much more as horror. I suggest that people be aware ahead of time that there are multiple important content warnings, whether or not they choose to check what they are.
There are some uses and subversions of tropes that I liked. It is, unsurprisingly, the good/kind but not very bright third child of the rulers who is the 'hero', although our protagonist, Marra, spends a lot of time avoiding being a hero. The story opens as they do a trope appropriate impossible task; when they return to the dust-wife, the response is very much a subversion of the expected response. The resolution of the story is very much built from the bones of other stories, in ways that become almost inevitable, even if the decorative twiddles are different.
The writing is robust, the world building a delight (there are so many hinted at details that could each fill a book of side quests), the characters varied. The politics of how the two kingdoms fit together is very well thought out, particularly the details of why various people make the choices that they do, even though they look like such bad choices.
Various things frustrated me. Something about the names of the sisters didn't sit right, and I can't say why, but Damia, Kania, and Marra are just such an uncomfortable set. The naming ceremony for the royal child being a christening, in a world without Christianity (I can take the presence of godmothers with more equanimity, because after all, there are many gods in this world). The characterisation felt off at times, and I found the romance that happens to have almost come out of left field. I realise that I am often oblivious to sub-text, but this was more than usual, and I was all 'why?'.
In terms of the spoilery thoughts,
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder
Minor: Slavery
elliejhnsn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
I read this book in one sitting. It was amazing. Reading this was like walking into a dream. Automatically in my top 10. It makes me want to immediately go out and get more T. Kingfisher books. My only complaint is that I want more world-building info and more backstory on the characters, like what motivates the dust-mother and why Marra and Fenris fall in love . It's a shorter book, but I would have easily read it in one sitting even if it was twice as long. I think it should have been longer. I simply couldn't get enough. I want a sequel! I want a prequel! I want a TV series!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
saltycoffee's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Slavery, and Grief