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linora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
It gives off feminist lightly spooky princess bride-esqe vibes in the best way.
My description of it is somewhat spoilery, but it's how I described it when recommending it to my sister. It is below.
It is about a third born princess who finds out that prince charming has been abusing her sister. So she leaves the nunnery and teams up with a witch, a himbo, and a fairy godmother to go fucking kill him.
I read the entire thing in less than 24 hours.
My description of it is somewhat spoilery, but it's how I described it when recommending it to my sister. It is below.
It is about a third born princess who finds out that prince charming has been abusing her sister. So she leaves the nunnery and teams up with a witch, a himbo, and a fairy godmother to go fucking kill him.
I read the entire thing in less than 24 hours.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Slavery, Death, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse
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
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!
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
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Misogyny
Minor: War, Abortion, Animal death, and Death of parent
a_bow's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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? No
3.5
This reads like a Grimm's fairy tale and feels more like a summary of an epic story. There is not a lot of world building or any real magic system. It's fast paced, fun, and allegorical. It had me thinking about how the patriarchy really hurts women from all facets of society. There is not a lot of character development and while I appreciated the main character being a 30 year old woman, I felt like she was very naive for a 30 year old. I felt like she did very little in her adventure and relied all on the other characters' skills. I would have loved if she took her feminine rage on a solo mission and just strike fear into people. Like she just snapped and you really see just how fed up she is with men who abuse power, with men who are bystanders to those abusing power and do nothing, and to women who internalize the mysingony and happily perpetuate it, and the women who don't like it but also dont do much to stand up to it until it personally affects them. I want to see her struggle with her faith to a religion that claims all are equal yet creates a caste system where powerful men are in charge and many times exaggerates/misinterprets the text to take even more power. I want to see a 30 year old woman who has seen it all/heard it all, who has had enough of the bullshit explode on everyone and everything. I want her to use her wits to steal, kill, seduce, threaten, barhain anyone to get her way. Overall I found it enjoyable I just would have loved more! It's like if Paris Paloma's.song Labour was turned to a book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Child death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Infertility, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Infertility, Abortion, Sexual violence, and Grief
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 :)
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 :)
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
lizzymay_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Feminine rage in the best way.
The story follows Marta, a 30 year old Princess of a small kingdom turned (almost) nun. Because of her kingdom’s important port but lack of a strong army, her oldest sister is sent to wed a more powerful prince. But before long she turns up dead, and her next oldest sister is sent to wed the prince.
When Marra learns the truth about the prince, however, she hatches a plot with an unlikely group of misfits including a dog made only of bones and travels to his kingdom.
Everything about this book was a delight. Our FMC is a full grown woman which I LOVE, and even though she is unsure of herself she manages to choose her own destiny despite the odds. Her role was always to be used as a pawn and to have children of powerful men, as all women of her position are, but she finds her own way and it was such a breath of fresh air for the genre.
The story follows Marta, a 30 year old Princess of a small kingdom turned (almost) nun. Because of her kingdom’s important port but lack of a strong army, her oldest sister is sent to wed a more powerful prince. But before long she turns up dead, and her next oldest sister is sent to wed the prince.
When Marra learns the truth about the prince, however, she hatches a plot with an unlikely group of misfits including a dog made only of bones and travels to his kingdom.
Everything about this book was a delight. Our FMC is a full grown woman which I LOVE, and even though she is unsure of herself she manages to choose her own destiny despite the odds. Her role was always to be used as a pawn and to have children of powerful men, as all women of her position are, but she finds her own way and it was such a breath of fresh air for the genre.
Content Warnings
Minor: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Miscarriage
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.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
delmarr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infertility
Minor: Animal death and Child death