Nettle & Bone
Ratings406
Average rating4.1
3.5 stars! I got nothing to say for this. Didn't hit where it should have.
“Injustice and the desire for revenge age the body, but they keep the soul going halfway to forever”
Nettle & Bone is a wonderful adult fairy tale where a third born Princess takes serious matters into her own hands. Along the way she picks up allies that normally might be only seen in glimpses in other fairy tales. T. Kingfisher does a great job of fleshing out details of the story while still progressing the book at a good pace.
This book is a finalist for this year's Nebula award and for good reason!
I don't know how to properly rate this one. It's definitely vibe heavy and at times I was super invested and hooked but there were also long periods where I was just bored and didn't want to pick it up.
Very enjoyable.
nitpick: would have preferred the protagonist to be a bit more mature.
A Dark-Cute Fairytale
Dark themes do not necessarily lead to a dark book. Nettle and Bone approached mature themes, and occasionally evoked dark scenery, but its tone and characters were endearing and charming. For example, there's a resurrected skeleton, but it's a dog skeleton, and he's really friendly. Marra is keen and perceptive, but due to her youth and sheltered upbringing, she can be naive at times. Through her eyes, we learn of a world of kingdoms and magic: Hidden fairy markets, strange spells, witches, fairy god mothers, and a noble knight with a dark past. In spite of all the tropes however, each character is more than they seem. They all have interesting personalities and quirks, and the way they interacted felt human and natural.
Kingfisher's magic with this story is in how she creates something that feels familiar and fresh at the same time. It reads somewhat like an old-fashioned fairy tale - but one that fits with more modern ideas of morality. Women, including older single women, have value and are not just evil witches, and the handsome prince is not the good guy, but the villain. Probably the most subversive element is actually that Marra's mission is essentially to save her sister from a toxic and abusive relationship, and that everyone agrees this is a mission worth fighting for. In the age of he-said-she-said, the idea that a woman being mistreated by her husband is ample grounds for a great quest is a quietly radical idea. This is the kind of story I'd read to my daughters... But not until they're a little older.
This was such a unique and darkly delightful read. I can totally imagine a Tim Burton-esque movie being made out of it, as it tends toward that dark, magical, slightly strange feel about it. After really liking the first initial part of the book I wasn't sure about it for the rest of the first quarter, as it seemed a bit disjointed but as it progressed, it kept getting better and better. Our main character Marra was likable once her initial frustrating naivete gives way to determination - although I think that is rather part of the point of her character arc. Her companions on the journey are what makes it so entertaining and enjoyable though. The bone dog, the gravewitch, the fairy godmother and the disgraced Knight are the most interesting and likable part for me. The journey isn't of the epic kind, but I kind of liked that it was engaging without needing to delve deep into the lore. Kingfisher has a deft way of conveying the world without bogging it down in a lot of verbiage and I enjoyed that aspect, as well as her ability to make it still feel very fairytale-ish, even with all the tropes turned on end and the bizarre and dark nature of the story. Highly recommended!
*3.5 stars. A lot going on here. Plenty to like with Kingfisher's deft touch for instilling a sense of the everyday in the bizarre and vivid imagination but also a bit scattered and a bit action heavy. Still enjoyable.
Nettle and Bone was my February read for the Sword and Laser podcast. This book was DELIGHTFUL. It's a fantasy/fairy tale very much in a similar lane to Naomi Novak's Spinning Silver. Not only is the story interesting, the characters are surprising, and the book has a dry humor that I just loved. I deeply wish this book was a part of a series, but that does not appear to be the case. So, lacking that, I'll simply have to read more by this author.
I felt the beginning a bit confusing because the scene at the start was so different from the scene that followed. I eventually figured out the moment my focus had shifted to my own world was when I would have caught that the 2 scenes are for the same woman, just her present and her backstory.
The characters were interesting and unique, I enjoyed getting to know them. The storyline moved along nicely, a few sidetracks that added new characters and moved the story along in some way. Well done author! I think the sidetracks are a tricky edge to walk.
If this is the first in a series, I'd read the next.
I was unsure of this one going in for two reasons. 1) The overused A&B title format which just signals blandness to me and 2) I had my big fairy tales but for adults phase all the way back at Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, so I'm hard to please in this area. My hopes were raised when I found out that T. Kingfisher is actually Ursula Vernon whose graphic novels I've enjoyed for many years, and her style and flair really saved the book from the mire of grown up fairy tale tropes. It's a good story, that suffers maybe a little too much from deux ex machina plot devices, but the characters and writing make it feel part of the world and not a cheat. Overall enjoyed it and would recommend to people who love a dark fairy tale and people who used to love them but have lost faith in a tired subgenre.
I've read 3 books by T. Kingfisher now, and all have surprised me as being much better than expected.
Loved this completely. I loved the characters, the story and the world of the story.
I really enjoyed this book overall, but it felt slightly disjointed. I love bone dog, but the sequence where she creates him feels almost like a completely different story. Both areas of the story were well written, but I'm not certain how well they fit together.
DNF at Chapter 6 (Page 68)
I see this author praised time and again for fairy tales and retelling. With all the praise this one was getting, I thought it'd be worth trying.
There is some interesting aspects. The world and the the inclusion of domestic violence in a fairy tale. The idea of a bone dog and the blend of old magic.
So why the DNF? It felt incredibly slow and rushed at the same time. I felt like I never got to know the characters before they were put into a scenario. It felt a bit like tokens on a board game. The characters have a purpose but no real substance to them. I found myself putting down the book with no real inclination to pick it back up again. I wish that the writing was doubled in size. I wish that more pages were devoted towards their small kindom and introducing the family. I'd have liked to learn more about the oldest sister and have a small connection with her before she died. Plus the start of the bone dog was meant to draw the reader in, but instead it had the opposite affect. I just felt confused.
The way people talked about this book on YouTube made me want to read it. It was okay. I thought Marra was so immature for her age. She acted too much on her “feelings” when making decisions. She never quite understood that her actions have consequences. The bright side of this book is Bonedog. Overall, an average book at best. 3 stars.
If have tokophobia they talk about birth A LOT. I think I skipped roughly an hour total in the audiobook to move past these discussions. I was generally uncomfortable but I continued because it was so highly recommended to me.
AND YES I thought it was worth the trouble! I really thought this was seemly fairy tale re-telling with an element of feminist and horror to it. The witch character was my absolute favorite, mentions of lesser known stories like the goblin market, and the main male character reminded me a bit of my D&D paladin.
Yeah, very good! I do recommend it! It's easily a 5 stars for me but I had to knock it down some just because it made me react negatively with the mentions of birth SO often.
I really enjoy T Kingfisher books, but I think it's more for the romance more than anything else so this was pretty light on it and hence the 4 stars. Still a cosy fantasy read.
4.5 stars
I had so much fun reading this one! The cast of characters was fantastic! I also enjoyed the quest.
At first, I wasn't exactly enjoying it, even though I was intrigued by it. But after the first few pages, I fell in love with the story and the characters.
Entertaining, with dark elements, a great cast of characters, and an interesting quest. Super enjoyable.
Kingfisher did it again, 3rd time reading one of her books 3rd time giving it a 5 stars rating.
This book follows Kingfisher's usual recipe, an imperfect but endearing lead teams up with funny, sometimes snarky, sidekicks and an animal companion, in an eerie setting, I love that recipe.
T. Kingfisher is hit or miss for me (usually more miss), I really enjoyed this one.
