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A review by anna_hepworth
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
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