Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

50 reviews

aubreymichelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? No

4.5

The novel starts with Marra, the main character, wiring dog bones together in order to complete the second task the the dust-wife gave her. Then, for about three chapters, there are splits where it swaps from the past of Marra's sister Damia being wed to Prince Vorling and dying, before her other sister Kania is wed. Eventually, Marra realizes the dark truth and leaves to find the dust-wife.

One thing about this book is that it had parts that went unutilized or parts that felt dry: the blistered land and saints vengeful over broken taboo, the goblin market, the fact that Marra magically made a dog of bones come to life.

The characters felt rather flushed out and Marra slowly learned to find her inner strength and her trust in others. The dust-wife was oddly snarky and often, along with her demon hen, added comedy to the story.

Fenris had undying loyalty after Marra saved him from the market. Arles was lovable and the perfect example of someone so good she refused to use her dark magic.

My favorite quote from this book is "I've done many things that were terribly important, lives hanging in the balance and so on and so forth. There is something pleasant about chopping wood. If I miss a stroke, nothing awful happens." I feel like this quote really highlights the stressing standards that some people face, and shows how it is important to sometimes take a step back and relax. 

This book had quite a few insightful quotes, but also quite a few funny lines.

The plot was slower than I expected it to bed and there were parts where, as I said earlier, a certain bit could have been utilized.

For example, the jar of moonlight which was barely featured in the book despite being the third impossible task. Also, all it did was glow. On the bright side, it showed some of the dust-wife's character.

A list of words I learned from this novel are: Charnel, Dotage, Querulous, Awl, Palanquin, Abacus, Leper, Genuflecting, Aquiline, Lacquer, Banal, and Geas.

Another amazing quote from this book is one that really shows Marra's character growth:

"You are not so big. You are only a living king. I saw an old woman defeat a dead one. You can not hurt me any worse than spinning thread of nettle wool, and you cannot confuse me anymore that the palace of dust. Even you cruelty is small compared to the blistered land."

Overall, I would say this is a good book for people who like characters that feel mostly real and a woman slowly discovering her self worth.

4☆: I enjoyed this and would recommend it.

Edit:
My General 4.5 Stars / This book has well-rounded characters that have clear-cut personalities and roles. The worldbuilding was congruent throughout the book. The direction that the plot went and the conclusion was realistic. The book paced well. However, something was missing or did not quite make sense. I loved this book, but it wasn’t quite worth five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape and Slavery

tays_books'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death, Child death, Pregnancy, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Slavery, Incest, Grief, Torture, and Cannibalism

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

jiska_bloem'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Loved this book, especially the found family she collected along the way. I would indeed consider this book cozy adjacent. It gave me a warm feeling, the stakes weren't high, but it did contain some dark elements. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Grief, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

eleonorehilbig's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny medium-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

4.0

this was a cute book. 
the only real issue i had with it was the tone shift with it starting out quite grimly with lots of gory elements and then becoming a sort of lets go on an adventure with a bunch of people who dont seem to be who youd pick for that adventure. however i enjoyed it thoroughly especially the internal struggles of the mc and the topics that were discussed. all in all a great book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Child death, Slavery, and Pregnancy

taremeredzwatchirewa's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Slavery

babs_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Slavery

mochikochicken's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

Dogs made of animated bones, dust wives, goblins, demonic chickens, fairy godmothers of questionable quality. It's about the inevitable darkness of being a woman and the hope they find in creating a community with each other. And Fenris is there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, and Murder

There is a scene where a character has a tooth extracted which could be triggering. It isn't painful but it is graphic in a weird way. Does not include a dentist.

robin_reads's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Miscarriage, and Animal death

Moderate: Slavery, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail