A review by wardenred
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

dark emotional mysterious 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

Kania was hostage to the prince. Marra’s future children, if any, were hostage to Kania’s fertility.

Pretty sure this is the scariest book I've ever read by T. Kingfisher, and that has nothing to do with all the spooky parts of the worldbuilding. It's all about the situation at the heart of the plot. Marra's sister stuck in that awful abusive marriage; their mother impassively watching and letting it happen because politics; the implication that plenty of nobles, guards, and servants in the Northern Castle were quite aware of what was happening, were all right with it, and Kania's happy ending involves staying among them and working to be seen as someone as ruthless as her husband... I don't know. All of that just sent chills down my spine. Especially that happy ending. Because while the quest is successfully finished, Kania is saved, and the bad guy's gone, nothing has really change. The world is still the same place it has always been, where all the same things can happen again and again, and people keep playing by the same rules.

Maybe I missed some details. Maybe the odd mood I was in influenced my perception of the book. But really, it just felt so heavy and unsettling and for the most part lacking hope. There were trickles of it, sure, mostly in the scenes focused intensely at Marra and how Not Okay she was with certain things—not just her sister's situation. And there's lots of interesting worldbuilding here, a compelling magic system, one of the best, most original adventuring parties ever, and a very good bone dog. So many things to love! And I did love those, but it was difficult to do so for all the above reasons.
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