Review: Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

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Author: T. Kingfisher
Edition: eARC
Publisher: Tor Books (April 26, 2022)
Genre: Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra’s family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

My review of Nettle and Bone

Nettle and Bone is a charming fantasy adventure that balances charming fantasy tropes with explorations of trauma and vengeance.

Trigger warnings: domestic abuse, mentions of pregnancy and miscarriage, blood and injury, death of a child, death of a sibling, mention of being buried alive

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

A Balance of Darkness and Whimsy

Nettle and Bone is one of the most hilarious fantasy books I’ve read in a while. I’ve rarely chuckled out loud this much while reading and let me tell you, it was delightful! I was surprised by the amount of humour in it because the main character Marra is out to kill the prince who has been abusing and killing her sisters for decades. Despite its darker plotline, there are many light moments, especially when it comes to a certain chicken possessed by a demon.

In general, the characters are exactly my kind of weird and whimsical and I loved the writing style! It’s hard to describe what exactly makes it so fun to read, but I think if the idea of a dog made of bones and a possessed chicken is at all intriguing to you, you’ll enjoy this book. There is a warm comfort to all these quirky characters, they are so full of heart that it’s impossible not to fall in love with them a little. To me, this helped balance out some of the more stressful parts of the plot. They’re truly an unlikely group of people, but everyone has their reason for being there.

An Adventurous Heist

At its core, Nettle and Bone is an adventure story with a full-on quest. But it also feels like a fantasy heist movie with all its charm and ridiculous plans. Throughout the book, I loved trying to guess what would happen next. Nettle and Bone really kept me on the edge of my seat with everything that was going on!

My one gripe is that I did have some issues with the pacing and some timeline jumps. The plot jumps back and forth between different parts of Marra’s story and especially in the beginning it was harder to follow than I would’ve liked. Fundamentally, I love the time jump but I feel like they could’ve been arranged in a better way to be less confusing.

If This Book Was a Feeling…

The adventurous feeling of a videogame or D&D campaign. It’s exciting and intimidating but you also know things are about to get a little weird and go delightfully wrong.

Overall…

Nettle and Bone was an incredibly fun fantasy book that reignited my love for the genre. It’s weird and magical and adventurous in all the best ways! If you liked Little Thieves, there’s a chance you’ll enjoy this one too!