A review by laurareads87
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Nettle & Bone is a fairytale-like fantasy novel following a young princess on a quest to save her sister from an abusive king. 

 There were some things I really liked about this. I appreciate a good unlikely ensemble cast, and I particularly liked the dynamic between the dust-witch and the godmother; I also really liked Bonedog and Finder of course. This was my first T. Kingfisher experience and I liked the writing style for the most part – I’d definitely try another of her works on the basis of this one. The world-building was compelling and I would’ve loved to learn more about the kingdoms and the surrounding territories. Without giving anything away, there are some interesting ethical ambiguities to the ending that I can appreciate. 

 There were also some aspects to this story that really didn’t work for me. The protagonist, and by extension the book itself, skewed YA (which isn’t how it’s marketed); Marra definitely didn’t read like a thirty year old, particularly not given the context. Some of the dialogue felt borderline patronizing (like I was being spoken to as a reader) and the humour really didn’t land for me (it just make the tone feel very inconsistent). Most of all, though, the bits of the book I found most interesting (the magic making Bonedog possible, the Blistered Lands, the dynamics between the Kingdoms) were skimmed over and the bits I found significantly less interesting were foregrounded (particularly the emerging romance which I think would’ve been better just left out). I liked the very beginning few chapters of the book better than the rest. 

Content warnings: sexism, intimate partner violence, physical abuse, violence, murder, death 
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