Nettle & Bone: Comment tuer un prince

by T. Kingfisher, Axelle Demoulin (Traduction), Nicolas Ancion (Traduction)

La jeune et timide Marra, dernière fille d’un souverain au royaume convoité, assiste impuissante aux mariages de ses deux sœurs avec le prince Vorling. Car, après la mort mystérieuse de l’aînée, la cadette a dû la remplacer pour tenter de donner enfin un héritier au triste sire.

Quand Marra découvre l’ampleur de la cruauté de Vorling, elle ne peut demeurer simple spectatrice plus longtemps : si elle veut sauver sa sœur et empêcher le sort funeste qui l’attend elle aussi, alors la princesse doit tuer le prince.

Pour mener à bien son plan, il lui faudra recruter des alliés hauts en couleur : une sorcière capable de parler aux morts et sa poule possédée par un démon, un honorable chevalier en disgrâce et une fée marraine particulièrement douée pour les malédictions.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Audiobook, Magic, Adult, Witches

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2022

About the author

T. Kingfisher is the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon. In another life, she writes children's books and weird comics, and has won the Hugo, Sequoyah, and Ursa Major awards, as well as a half-dozen Junior Library Guild selections.

This is the name she uses when writing things for grown-ups.

When she is not writing, she is probably out in the garden, trying to make eye contact with butterflies.

Reviews

[megs_bookrack · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hearty hello to one of my new favorite books. Seriously, Nettle & Bone was the EASIEST FIVE STAR RATING I'VE GIVEN ALL YEAR!!!

I absolutely adored this story from the very first moments. T. Kingfisher positively swept me up into the humorous, enchanting fantasy quest of my dreams.



Nettle & Bone follows Princess Marra of the Harbor Kingdom on a quest to save her sister. Marra is the third-born daughter in her family. The first born was married to a particular Prince. It didn't end well.

Now the second-born daughter, Kania, is married to that very same Prince and Marra suspects that he is hurting her. Vorling, the Prince in question, has his sights set on a male heir. If this second sister can't produce one for him, guess who is next in line?



Marra! This isn't her main concern though. I mean, yes, that would be absolutely terrible. This guy is basically Joffrey Baratheon reborn.

Regardless, Marra's only concern is getting Kania out of danger. She is literally willing to do anything in order to free her, including commit murder.



Unsure how to even begin, Marra enlists the help of a Dust Wife. I won't go into what exactly a Dust Wife is, just trust, this one is one of the coolest characters ever written!

The Dust Wife asks Marra to complete three impossible tasks and then she will help her. Before long, the two set off on the road to the Northern Kingdom, along with the Dust Wife's hen, who happens to be possessed by a demon.



Thus it begins, the most perfect quest. They gather traveling companions along the way, such as a former, and arguably sexy, knight, as well as a Fairy Godmother.

It's safe to say that I love this story with the same passion, and frankly, for the same reasons, that I love The Princess Bride. Kingfisher is delivering all the classic Fantasy Quest tropes I adore, while glazing the entire tale with a healthy layer of humor.



Additionally, I enjoyed how she was able to mix real-life themes into this story. For example, partner abuse, which we all know is very real, the way that was explored in this fantastical setting was quite interesting.

As I mentioned earlier, from the very start I was hooked on this story. Previously, I have only picked up Horror stories from Kingfisher, but this proves her talents know no bounds. She crushes any genre she writes in.



I am so happy to have found a new book to add to my all-time Favorites list. I will definitely be picking up a hard copy of this and rereading it at some point in the near future.

As an aside, I did listen to the audiobook and highly recommend that format. The narration was fantastic and kept me dialed in the entire way through.



Thank you so very much to the publisher, Tor and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copies to read and review.

It was such an enjoyable reading experience. Kingfisher is slaying in 2022!

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit: I’m a devoted fan of the author! She never disappoints me with her extraordinary creative mind, taking me on trips to meticulously built fantasy worlds with adorable characters. I like her sarcastic, sharp, and direct tone!

This book has two different parts:
In the first part: we’re introduced to Marra, shy, resilient, and the youngest of three princesses from a small kingdom. She is sent to a convent as one of her sisters is dead and the other is getting abused by the same vicious prince she’s married to. She decides to take matters into her own hands to get revenge. The only way to save her middle sister is to kill the prince. She seeks help to accomplish this suicide mission by demanding the help of a dust-wife.

The smart dust-wife offers the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks:
—build a dog of bones
—sew a cloak of nettles
—capture moonlight in a jar
And surprisingly, Marra completes those tasks. At the opening of the book, we witness how she digs the ground to find the proper bones left by cannibals to build a bone dog. She finds a creative way to sew a cloak of nettles, even damaging her left hand.

The dust-wife cannot believe her eyes, but the deal is a deal! They have an impossible mission to accomplish and a cruel prince to destroy.
But two of them are not powerful enough to achieve their task. They need more accomplices.

In the second part: new team members join their road trip, including a chicken possessed by a demon, a reluctant fairy god mother, and a disgraced knight named Fenris ( sweet romance alert). Let’s not forget that the dust-wife is a very powerful graveyard witch who can make meaningful chats with ghosts.

That road trip part of the book was more entertaining, sarcastic, and with witty dialogues that help us take a break after the dark, eccentric, and mysterious opening of the story.

The conclusion is also satisfying and promising enough as the other impressive works of the author!

Overall: I cannot give less than five stars to any work of this brilliant author! This was original, mind-blowing, intelligent, creative, and surprisingly entertaining!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/ Forge for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

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[jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

mixed feelings with this one.

there are definitely some interesting concepts - the goblin market, the role of fairy godmothers, and bone dogs all intrigued me - but they are brief, fleeting moments in a story that gets straight to the point.

in a way, i feel like this is true to the nature of fairytales. its very matter of fact - this happened, then this, and this, and this, the end. but i personally need a little more exposition and development than that. it definitely would have answered some questions that get brushed over.

so i think readers who enjoy fairytales (especially the spooky kind) will have fun with this, but i personally wanted more depth and exploration.

↠ 2.5 stars

[zuza_zaksiazkowane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.70

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing is fair, except that we try to make it so. That's the point of humans, maybe, to fix things the gods haven't managed.

t kingfisher delivers another absolute stunner, smashing up a bunch of fairytales and reassembling them into a glittering mosaic made up of fragments of familiar images, filling in the gaps with gems mined from her dark-slanting imagination, creating a whole new, wondrous thing and crackling it into wild, pulsating life.

here, you will find a goblin market, labyrinthine royal burial chambers, a demon-possessed chicken, the blessings and curses of godmothers, a tooth-merchant, a heroine faced with three impossible tasks, angry ghosts, cannibals, a puppet-plagued innkeeper, a thief-wheel, a dog made of bones, and murrrrder.

under the spell of kingfisher's quietly confident storytelling, these mind-bogglingly disparate elements coalesce gracefully into a wholly original story, refracting all the expectations of fairytales and quest narratives into something more stirring, heartbreaking, funny, and satisfying than should be possible.

it's just another story of a girl trying to kill a prince to protect her sister AND THE FRIENDS SHE MAKES ALONG THE WAY.

marra is the youngest of three princesses, and an unlikely heroine:

Marra had grown up sullen, the sort of child who is always standing in exactly the wrong place so that adults tell her to get out of the way. She was not slow, exactly, but she seemed younger than her age, and little interested her for long.

her eldest, and favorite, sister damia is married off to prince vorling, forging an alliance between his kingdom and their family's smaller and more vulnerable city-state. however, five months after their wedding, damia dies under suspicious circumstances. mutually-disliking middle-sister kania becomes vorling's replacement-bride, and fifteen-year-old marra is shuttled off to a convent to prevent her from marrying and potentially birthing an inconvenient rival to the throne before kania gives vorling an heir. marra adjusts to the simplicity of a novice's life, and when her sister finally becomes pregnant five years later, she attends the christening of kania's daughter, where she meets vorling for the first time and begins to suspect he was responsible for damia's untimely death, and fears that kania is also in danger, until/unless/after she produces a son.

ten years later, she decides to actually do something about it.

what follows is a heroic, reckless, impossible plan, and i'm not sure i can do better than alix harrow's blurb:

Nettle & Bone is what happens when all the overlooked bit players of classic fantasy somehow wind up on the main quest. It's funny, frightening, and full of heart; I loved it.

as much as i cringe at using a cliché to describe something as unique as this story, they are, in fact, a ragtag bunch: a dust-wife and her demon-containing hen, agnes; a flustery godmother, fenris; a disgraced knight, marra; our almost-nun heroine, and bonedog; her lovable bonedog. which is exactly what it sounds like.

"Five of us," said Fenris, looking over at the others approvingly. Marra leaned down and scratched Bonedog's spine until his jaws clattered with pleasure. "Five is a fist. Five is a hand on the enemy's throat."

"I suppose that makes us each fingers," said Marra. She curled her own around Bonedog's spine, taking comfort from the hard ridges. "You're the thumb," she told the dog. Bonedog wagged his tail.

kingfisher is SO GOOD at writing animal characters, and even though i have never seen her kill one of 'em off, in this one bonedog starts out dead, so you don't need to worry about him coming to any much harm.

it's a perfect story, perfectly told. i am so in love with kingfisher's fertile imagination and nuanced character-work, the quiet lines she just tosses out that mean so much more than they seem to at first glance, how nothing is ever black-and-white and the care she takes in managing the gray, even her dang author's notes are fun.

t kingfisher is my fairytale godmother and all her gifts are blessings.

and look at these beautiful endpapers or whatever they're called:



and bonedog's hiding under the hood!



come to my blog!!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable fantasy story about a princess on a quest to save her sister.

The beginning of the story should have really sucked me in, but it just didn't. I don't know why it took a bit longer for me to connect with Marra. But she slowly grew on me, and eventually, I was completely into her quest. The whole crew grew on me, in fact.
Of course, my favorite character was the gravewitch and her demon chicken.
Because really. How do you not love a woman who has a demon chicken?



So Marra isn't actually anything really special. And she's not destined to be anything special. She's the 3rd princess in her family, and basically being held in a convent juuuuust in case her older sister can't have a baby with her princely husband and she needs to step up and take over.
Huh? <-- you ask
See, her older sister isn't the first of the 3 sisters to be married to the prince.
Her oldest sister came back to them in a pine box a few years after her marriage. An accident, they said. And the middle sister was sent off to be another political bride that would secure peace and the safety of her kingdom. And if she can't produce a male heir, she may be the next to have an accident.
Because as Marra learns while at her sister's bed during her niece's birth, Prince McEvil enjoys hurting his wives.
And that's when Marra decides he needs to die.



The rest of the book is Marra figuring out how to accomplish that and gathering the people who will help her save not only her sister but also her kingdom, as well.
The gravewitch and her chicken of course. A knight who can't go home due to some well-deserved killing. And Marra's own fairy godmother, who proves that you can choose your own path.
Because Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo is for punks.



Recommended.

[Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

“How did you get a demon in your chicken?”
“The usual way. Couldn’t put it in the rooster. That’s how you get basilisks.”

And that’s when I fell in love with this book. How could I not when it had such a perfect amount of cranky old ladies with dry sense of humor and demonically possessed chickens?

This is a story of a revenge quest to save a sister from unpunished domestic violence, with a ragtag team of unexpected allies. In a fairytale setting, with the requisite pointed criticism of quite a few fairytale assumptions and staples. Nothing quite new and yet when told in Kingfisher’s voice, with fun easy banter between the characters it’s incredibly entertaining.

She leveled a glare at Marra. “But don’t get any ideas. We’re here for a straightforward regicide, not to level the city.”

The demon-chicken-owner — a gravewitch a.k.a. the dust-wife — is a great character who, despite being a supporting character really steals the show from our ordinary-ish protagonist, especially when eventually acquiring a friend/foil in the form of a fairy godmother who apparently has a knack for things way less Pollyannish than her initial introduction may suggest. I’d happily read a whole extra book about the adventures of two magically inclined old ladies who are both pet chicken owners (but only one chicken comes with a demon). Just sayin’.

“Enough of this place,” said the dust-wife. “Everyone have their souls still? Shadows still attached? Then let’s go before that changes.”

It’s great that our protagonist Marra is out of her requisite fairytale teenage years. Actually, she’s thirty - even though her naïveté would have fit a teenager (but I’ll let that slide since she’s accompanied by a no-nonsense old woman who makes up for Marra’s mental youth). And I’ll even forgive the unnecessary romance subplot - at least it had the decency to stay well in the background. I’ll forgive all that for Kingfisher’s easy confident writing full of humor superimposed on the hints of a deeper darkness — and my two favorite old ladies and a chicken. (Bone dog is cute, but I can live without reading of it licking its nonexistent genitalia).

“The brown hen stood on the death mask, which had split in two, looking as serene as only a chicken can look. As Marra watched, the hen lifted her tail, voided her bowels on the king’s broken face, and then strolled to the dust-wife’s shoulder with a satisfied cluck.”

Very enjoyable book and a nice recovery for the mostly lackluster What Moves the Dead.

4 stars.

——————

Also posted on my blog.

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Nothing is fair, except that we try to make it so. That’s the point of humans, maybe, to fix things the gods haven’t managed.”

all year, i have been trying to find a five star t kingfisher book and i am so very happy to report back that nettle & bone was finally that for me. this really had so many elements that i loved and it really just completely worked for me and my reading tastes! but please use caution (and check my trigger and content warnings down below if needed). everyone always just says how this is about a sister getting revenge on a prince who has caused harm to her two older sisters, and that is very true, but this book really goes to dark places and lets you see the horrors humans can be capable of very descriptively - so please use care if you need to! because this book really is a dark fairytale about abuse, and the things that not only abusers do, but the way in which they also abuse power so that nothing can seemingly stop all the cycles in the world. how there are many different kinds of abuse, and how they all can feel strangulating in their own way, with all their many different strings and threads.

but i just really loved this book with my whole heart. the themes, the atmosphere, the traveling, the quests, the goblin market, the revenge, the demonic chicken… it was just all perfect to me. And the characters were really phenomenal. our main character, marra, who is willing to do anything to save her sister, with the help of her magical bone dog. fenris, a knight who just wants to do what is right this time around. the dust wife (demonic chicken’s owner), who is the coolest character and has lived a life of solitude tucked away in a hard to reach graveyard, until marra needs her help and proves she is worthy of it. and agnes, the sweetest godmother who will really make you think about blessings and curses and how kindness can sometimes really go a long way, especially to people who haven’t known much kindness.

i just loved this, it was perfect for me and my reading tastes, and i hope more of t kingfsher's fantasy stories feel like this to me, because she will really have a fan for life if so!

trigger + content warnings: blood, starvation, cannibalism, incest mention in royal families, talk of animal deaths, child birth depictions, mention of child dying in labor, mention of mother dying in labor, miscarriages, murder, death, domestic abuse, loss of a child, loss of a sibling, torture, talk of rape, slavery, captivity, teeth horror, suicidal thoughts and attempts, anxiety, self deprecation, and scenes that i think could feel claustrophobic.

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➽ What Moves the Dead ★★★
➽ A House with Good Bones ★★
➽ Thornhedge ★★★

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS SO FUN!! if you like quest fanatsy books then do yourself a favor and pick this up now!!!
it really reminded me of my favorite childhood movie Quest for Camelot, but darker.

we are following the youngest princess to a small kingdom who is set out on a quest to free her sister from her abusive husband. in order to kill him she must break a curse that is protecting him. to do this she gathers a crew consisting of a gravewitch, a fairy godmother, a disgraced knight, a bone dog, and a chicken possessed by a demon.

[carol. · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a period in my life when I read every fairy tale I could get my hands on. Way back when, there was this strange age when I read above the junior reader books but didn't really get into the adult fantasy books I could find (ugh, Thomas Covenant, whatever--there's a reason they were never checked out of the library), which left me with fairy tales, folk tales, and myths. Nettle & Bone feels like a delicious blend of the three. 

It begins in a kingdom, with the birth of a princess, only this time someone recognizes that the daughters are groomed to be used, not raised for themselves.

"The queen tipped water into her daughter’s mouth and made soothing noises, and the midwives circled like jackals, waiting for the babe to come."

Marra, last in a line of princesses has a special role. She thinks her position allows her to putter around a nunnery, which works for a while. Eventually though, she takes on a quest to a dust-wife. A dust-wife is like the best witches of old, living on the edges of society, complicated in motivation and skill. She sets Marra three tasks (there are always three), but ends up becoming involved despite herself.

“Enough of this place,” said the dust-wife. “Everyone have their souls still? Shadows still attached? Then let’s go before that changes.”

The writing is solid, a nice balance of description and action. There's a few spooky elements, though I wouldn't call them 'horror,' precisely, as well as humorous moments. If the characters feel a little simplistic, it's because that's usually the way in such stories. But Kingfisher gives them agency beyond the tropes, and that makes it feel quite refreshing. 

“No.” That was loud enough that Marra winced. “I am giving up my power in order to be decent. If warriors are allowed to stop killing people and bang their swords into plowshares, I ought to be allowed to keep chickens and give children good health and not curse them.”

There are prophesies, unusual animals, goblin markets, underground labyrinths and quite a few dead--or mostly dead.  I was 100% on board for this quest and the pace it kept. Nothing lingered too long, except perhaps near the ultimate challenge. One of the more interesting things about it is that there are very few male characters. But what was most impressive, really, was the 'ever after.' Kingfisher recognizes how some of the characters collude in their own oppression and lays a thorny problem of survival at our feet.

I didn't know when I read it that it was the Hugo winner for 2023, but for once I concur with the masses, as well as those clever souls who nominated it for the Locus and Nebula awards. It was a delicious book, reminding me of those days when I read The Blue Fairy Book and D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, but deliciously updated. I will definitely be re-reading.

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sadly, neither the story nor the writing are working for me."

The above was my one-line review the first time I attempted this book and couldn't get past the sampler. Fortunately, the second time, it did work, which makes me think this book is going to be heavily mood-dependent for others too.

The trick, for me, was waiting until Marra meets the other characters and the band of misfits is formed. In the beginning, Marra isn't compelling, and the story starts in a way that makes you think it's going to be Horror, and ultimately isn't, which is going to be either a pro or a contra depending on whether you like Horror or not. For me, it was a pro, because I don't like Horror most of the time and thinking this was in the genre was part of the failure to read it the first time. Once Marra teams up with the dust-wife, the fun begins.

I've been seeing the theme of abuse, as in domestic abuse, physical and emotional, more and more in fairy tale retellings recently. This is the second time one of my favourite authors tackles this difficult topic, as Marra's mission is driven by her desire to save her sister from her abusive husband. Problem is, he's a prince, a powerful one, and as a spare princess living in a convent, she is powerless. The prince has already killed one sister and is beating a second, and Marra can't stay quiet. She'll pay any price to save her sister, and so she goes in search of a helper with magic.

It's been interesting for a change to see the abuse situation from the standpoint of a relative, as usually it's the victim's POV that is used. I think the sister could've shown more signs of the impact it had on her, but we don't have her POV and not all abuse victims react exactly the same, there are so many factors at play. Anyway, it wasn't the topic as much as the dark but funny fairy tale feel that made this book so fun.

Even when she's writing this dark of a background, Kingfisher managed to insert bits of hilarity here and there. Agnes and Fenris were fun additions to the cast of characters, and the dust-wife brought in the dour and pragmatic voice whilst the bone dog and the demon chicken the humorous weirdness that made the story endearing.

[Nikola · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,75/5
Kolejna książka-kocyk. Uwielbiam!

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this more than 5 stars I would. One of my favourite books of all time. Great world building, quirky, engaging characters whom we really care about, and a fascinating story. High stakes plus real heart! (Review is short because I'm typing with one wrist in a plaster cast.)

[Library of a Viking · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is this book so much loved?

I picked up this book because I was looking for a palate cleanser, and since hearing so much praise for this book, I decided to give it a read. Unfortunately, this book was a huge disappointment.

I don't want to rant, but I will say this. The pacing was slow, the characters were uninteresting, and I didn't find the world fascinating. This book dragged from the first chapter, which is not something I think I've ever experienced before. However, this is probably primarily due to this book not appealing to me as a reader. I rarely enjoy fairytales or whimsical books, so I acknowledge that that is probably why I didn't enjoy this story.

I will still recommend this book to readers looking for a whimsical, fairytale type of story. Also, this book is a standalone and relatively short, which is great.

This is my second 2-star read of 2023, so hopefully, I will discover some new favourites soon

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Princess teams up with a motley crew of companions, on a mission to save her sister from her vile husband. Fantasy with quirky characters. This was pretty good, but I preferred The Seventh Bride by the same author.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

TW: physical abuse; child loss; miscarriage

This is one of my favorites of the year! This dark fairy tale has so much heart.

[Katie Colson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If I were a man, I would fight him.
If I were a man, no one would force Kania to try to bear child after child. If I were a man, I would not be the next in line to be married if he kills her. If we were men… She stared at her fingers curled into the dirt. It did not matter. They were not and the history of the world was written in women’s wombs and women’s blood and she would never be allowed to change it.
Rage shivered through her, a rage that seemed like it could topple the halls of heaven, then vanished under the knowledge of her own helplessness. Rage was only useful if you were allowed to do anything with it.”

I just adore T Kingfisher. With my whole dang heart. She writes the weirdest and yet somehow coziest books. I always feel rooted and unmarred at the same time. Like, I don't really understand what's going on but I know that's okay and that she'll lead me where ever she wants me to end up. Very comforting in my opinion.

The chicken! The witch! The gay ness! The love story! I am obsessed. This is my perfect fairytale. A weird, feminist, down-with-the-patriarchy-and-also-the-kingdom kind of story that had me smiling throughout.

[K.J. Charles]

Classic T Kingfisher - a fairy tale that delves deep into the darkness and horror that underlies those stories, both in sinister magic and in human cruelty. But there is also kindness, and friendship, and love, and hope. A magical tale with high stakes and a lot of humour: I read it in a sitting and loved it.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up

Nettle & Bone feels like a dark fairytale, blending elements from different stories and creating something new. It follows the youngest princess in a royal family of a small nation. After her older sister goes through a political marriage and dies without bearing an heir, the next sister in line must take her place as wife to a dangerous prince and our heroine is sent off to a nunnery. When she discovers her sister is being abused, she is determined to stop this prince using whatever magic she can scrounge up.

Take my review with a grain of salt because most reviewers seem to be loving this while I had more mixed feelings. I like how it's trying to tackle the issue of domestic violence through a fairytale, but while it started very strong, for me it dragged through the middle and I didn't really care about the romantic subplot. At times the writing is evocative and the world is dark and interesting. But to me it felt like it was trying to be macabre and violent while ALSO being sweet and lighthearted some of the time. And that didn't work for me, especially given the subject matter. I really wanted it to lean into more of the horror elements (which I know this author can do) and not try to shoehorn a romance into a story about DV and agency.

That said, I could see this being a hit for readers who don't like horror and want this kind of a lighter blend. For me it was not enough of either thing, and had a lot of questing and journeying through the middle which I found less compelling. The audio narration is excellent though. I received an audio review copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

I really enjoyed this book! This book was a dark and intriguing fantasy about family, sacrifice, revenge, and bravery. Nettle and Bone follows Marra as she tries to save her sister from an abusive and mean prince. Marra must complete three difficult tasks before she is given the tools to take down the prince. A fairy godmother, a disgraced ex-knight and a powerful gravewitch join her on her rescue mission. Will Marra save her sister and kill the prince?

This book is told from Marra’s point of view. The pacing is inconsistent in this book, it starts off slow then it picks up and then it slows down again. I really liked the spooky vibes in this book, it’s a perfect October read. The plot was interesting, although it was boring at times. The world building was very unique, there are witches, fairy godmothers and goblins. I really liked how creative the book was, it used themes from fairy tales to create a unique story. I really liked Marra, she is resilient, brave, caring and strong, although her monologue was a little long. I also liked Fenris, he is kind, strong, brave and charming. I didn’t not like Vorling, he is mean, abusive and rude. The character development was lacking, I hoped there would be more growth and depth. The dust-wife was an interesting character, but she was a bit odd. I was glad that the plot was resolved at the end. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fantasy, spooky reads, and interesting characters.

[Zala · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern fairytale that I want to reread already. (just please give us a better cover, I'm begging)

Nettle & Bone begins with a young woman in the woods sewing together a dog out of bones and wire as her hands bleed. Then we get a backstory of how this mostly unwanted and unwilling princess came to be there. I have to admit I was a bit annoyed at Marra's naiveté and slowness in grasping things or reading between the lines at first, but then I realized that I shouldn't really see it as unrealistic. Soon after, I got to the part where she sought out the dust wife, and from there on I was hooked.

I noticed that some people were confused by the shifts in tone from the silly puns and found family dynamics to the more horror-like elements, but that's exactly what classic fairy tales are like; and I, for one, love this kind of storytelling that blends hopeful and light themes with incredibly dark ones. So I might still call this a cozy fantasy overall, but it's definitely a cozy fantasy for adults.

It's also dedicated to a chicken. Or more precisely: “dedicated to Strong Independent Chicken, a bird in a million.” And who wouldn't want to read a book dedicated to a one in a million chicken.

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - I had no idea I would love this as much as I did! Such a unique tone, dark and yet humorous, with great themes around domestic violence. Can't wait to read more from this author

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Fight for your Fairy Tale. It does exist." (Unknown)

T. Kingfisher never disappoints. She takes us on an enchanted journey to faraway kingdoms. Much turmoil is about. Kingfisher sees to it that the tale is justly complicated at exacting points and brightly glowing with color and intrigue in all the right places. Eyes wide open.....

Marra is the youngest of the three princesses of the Harbor Kingdom. Her mother, the queen, has arranged marriages for the older two sisters to the Prince of the Northern Kingdom. Vorling is a cruel ruler who seems to have taken hostages instead of wives. His sight is set on an heir to the throne. It doesn't quite seem to be happening to his deep dismay.

In order to avoid the wrath of Vorling, the queen sends Marra to the convent of Our Lady of the Grackles for safe keeping. But Marra knows that she must do something to save her surviving sister, Kania. In a nun's attire, she takes to the road to find a dust-wife who will require three tasks from her in order to help.

Kingfisher pulls out all the stops from here on out. We'll travel through a goblin market that abides by fastidious rules. Marra will be accompanied by Bonedog which she erected from fall-away bones. There's also the dust-wife who balances her darkly feathered, demon-possessed chicken on her staff. An out-of-work godmother and an imprisoned knight will round out this crowd. Onward to save Kania from the vicious Vorling.

Kingfisher has a mind lined with the most creative and imaginative mirrors. She tells a tale like no other. There are always fine bits of humor and multi-faceted characters chasing well thought out actions and challenges. It's always the Land of Make Believe in adult size. Charming, inventive, and engaging, Nettle & Bone is a pure delight for all of us.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Tor/Forge Books and to the talented T. Kingfisher for the opportunity.

[EveStar91 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marra no longer had much faith in fate. She had been born a princess, which should have been lucky, but the price for never going hungry was to be caught in a struggle between people too powerful to call to justice.

Marra, a princess (almost nun) of a small harbour kingdom plans to kill a prince as a last resort to protect her sister, and gathers a group of a dust-wife (necromancer) with a demon chicken, an exiled clan warrior (freed from slavery) and a fairy godmother (who could bless animals too) in her quest. Nettle and Bone is the story of Marra's rescue of her sister from a political marriage - the journey as she slowly digs into what exactly threatens her sister, not a rushed action-filled attack to retrieve her sister. It follows a princess (almost nun) who is more comfortable with embroidery than the political manoeuvers keeping a small harbour kingdom balanced between two powerful neighbours, whose tools are the resolution to finish impossible tasks at any cost to herself rather than powerful magics - and the book matches this tone.

This is completely ridiculous. Did the hero Mordecai have to stop and explain about the poison worm to the locals? Did they try to chase him back into the swamps? Bad enough that Marra had failed in the task, but now this?

T. Kingfisher, as per norm, writes a story that goes beyond appearances and distinguishes between blessings and curses, with a diverse cast and submersive world-building. The writing is filled with the trademark wry humour one would expect from this author, and can walk the line between self-deprecation and self-confidence with multiple characters. The only things that kept me from being completely invested were a storyline that was seemed somehow too clunky as Marra jumped from condition to condition to find the specifications of her quest, and to a lesser extent - maybe consequentially, blocky character sketches as they ran around on this quest seeing only one step ahead. On the whole, I would have appreciated a better balance between the resolute quest on the kingdoms' outer edges and the politics at the centre, as well as between the quirky world-building and character growth with introspection.

“How did you get a demon in your chicken?”
“The usual way. Couldn’t put it in the rooster. That’s how you get basilisks.”

🌟🌟🌟1/4
[3/4 star for the premise and the whole book; Half a star for the character arcs; 3/4 star for the story and themes; Half a star for the world-building; 3/4 star for the writing - 3 1/4 stars in total.]

[Grace (irisroman & evajacks' version) ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

ೃ⁀➷ pre-review:

➷ this was fun! 🥹🥹 the second half lost me a bit, but it was such a short & cute little fantasy 🤍🤍

rtc 🪷

･:*:･ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ･:*:･ﾟ

ೃ⁀➷ preread:

➷ another book i randomly found at the library and decided to try! 🫶🫶 this looks really fun, i'm excited 🥰🤍

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A darker, more sinister fairytale than what we’re used to, Nettle & Bone offers some familiar ideas but twisted and gnarled into something else entirely.

We first meet Marra digging in a pile of bones left by local cannibals so she can find enough pieces to build a bone dog. It’s the second of three impossible tasks she’s been given by the dust-wife, a kind of sorceress that inhabits cemeteries and communicates with the dead. But Marra will complete them all, because it’s the only way she will get the dust-wife to help her complete an even more impossible task: killing a prince.

Because before Marra was a woman seeking vengeance, before she was a novice currently AWOL from her convent—she was a the youngest of three princesses of a small kingdom. Now with one sister gone and another at the mercy of an evil prince, Marra will do whatever she must to seize the chance to kill him. Luckily, along the way Marra is joined by the dust-wife, a banished knight, a sketchy fairy godmother, the bone dog and a chicken possessed by a demon 🐓, all willing and happy to help her commit regicide.

At the very start of Nettle & Bone, when we’re first discovering who Marra is and what she wants, the story is filled with this fantastical feminist fury. She questions and then eventually challenges the inevitability of men, especially when it comes to a sense of entitlement to women’s bodies. The expectation that women will simply churn out kids without complaint is skewered by Kingfisher, in a refreshingly honest portrayal for a character like Marra, who doesn’t appear to have any interest in bearing children. That said, I could see some who are sensitive to discussions of pregnancy to not appreciate this part as much, though I don’t think it’s something that should cause offense.

And despite beginning by bearing its teeth, the tale softens as it goes on. Once we start meeting each supporting character, the book becomes almost a road trip comedy, where a gaggle of sort-of friends get to know each other along the way. The writing is sharp, with smart and funny dialogue. There isn’t a weak link in the bunch; each character contributes something both entertaining and endearing to the dynamic. I also appreciate that the youngest character is a 30 year-old woman, with the majority of the other female characters being 50+. Not an angsty teenager in sight!!

While the story takes plenty of detours on its way to the epic climax, it never feels like a waste of time. Plus, at 256 pages it’s not going to be a huge time commitment either way. All I can say is I had a great time reading this one, cackling throughout, and hope that people will try this bizarre little book for themselves.


*Thanks to Tor Books for an advance review copy!

**For more book talk & reviews, follow me on Instagram at @elle_mentbooks!

[MagretFume · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took me a while to really get into it, but once i did it really was worth it. 

I loved the characters, even though the MC might be a little too naive for my taste, and I will always love to see bad men taken down by a crew of misfits. 
Plus it definitely has the T. Kingfisher style and it just works for me.

[enqi ☾⋆˚*̣̩✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

──⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡┊3.5 ★

The trees were full of crows and the woods were full of madmen. The pit was full of bones and her hands were full of wires.

And so opens Nettle & Bone, a short, semi-dark fantasy about a princess, Marra, who sets out to kill a prince. Her journey takes her to the dust-wife, a gravewitch who can speak to and for the dead. The dust-wife sets her three impossible tasks: sew a cloak of nettles, build a dog of bones, and capture moonlight in a jar of clay. When she succeeds at all three, the dust-wife decides to accompany her on her quest. And in this fashion, Marra selects an unlikely bunch to be her companions: a dog made of bones, a fairy godmother, a gravewitch, a murderer, and a demon hen.

"Five of us," said Fenris, looking over at the others approvingly. Marra leaned down and scratched Bonedog's spine until his jaws clattered with pleasure. "Five is a fist. Five is a hand on the enemy's throat."

I’ve always been a sucker for fairytales, and this book didn’t disappoint. With a vaguely eerie atmosphere that pervades the entire book, and dashes of light horror to whet the reader’s appetite, it’s safe to say that Nettle & Bone is whimsical and enchanting.

”Injustice and the desire for revenge age the body, but they keep the soul going halfway to forever.”

It’s also unique in that it overturns many traditional tropes. For one, the fairy godmother turns out to be a witch adept at curses after all. For two, Marra isn’t a typical princess – more a nun than a royal daughter, she’s slow on the uptake and completely inept in political machinations. Nevertheless, she has an indomitable spirit, and never gives up once she puts her heart to something. I appreciated this trait most of all.

She did it in the end, of course. She had the same bitter feeling as when she had shoveled the stable – I will do this. You will not stop me.

[…]

Finally she stared at the mass of smoke and thought, I am doing a heroic task and heroic tasks are not done by half measures. It’s only pain. Kania’s pain is so much worse than mine. And she plunged her left hand into the mass of smoke and nettles and began to spin.

[…]


She thought she might start crying, but that would be to show weakness in front of the goblin market. For all she knew, there was a creature who would pull the tears out of her skull like teeth and sell them.

I also really loved the dust-wife. Apparently, I have a soft spot for cranky old women who make effortlessly humorous comments and who secretly care about you despite grumping all the time.

“How did you get a demon in your chicken?”
“The usual way. Couldn’t put it in the rooster. That’s how you get basilisks.”

She just said it so matter-of-factly I can’t believe it 💀💀💀 And not forgetting this gem:

The dust-wife turned back to Fenris and Marra. “You two will be better off making your own way. By which I mean that all this poorly suppressed longing is giving me hives.”

However, Nettle & Bone still fell short in several ways, which meant that I didn’t enjoy it enough to give it 5 stars.

🐣 WHERE IT FELL SHORT
• Romance wasn't overpowering but felt forced especially given Marra's motivations, which were to prevent the prince from physically abusing her sister to death. In light of the strong anti-DV theme, it would've made more sense not to shove a romance down readers' throats.
• The world-building is insufficient to say the least. All I know is that there are 3 kingdoms, and it’s giving me ancient Scottish vibes. But I suppose that's natural given the length of the book. I just expected more.
• Marra is way too naïve; it's not that she's annoying, but it's just impossible for me to believe someone can be this dumb. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the fact that she’s shown to be slow because it’s so uncommon in books nowadays! But girl… there’s a difference between being slow and being plain stupid lol. Marra leans towards the latter most of the time.
• Started out strong, but eventually meandered into a “this happened, then that happened, and then that” kind of plot that plodded along, and the twists/events of the story weren’t particularly shocking, riveting, or even enjoyable.
• In the same vein, there are so many things that intrigued me – the goblin market, a dog made of bones, the concept of the dead communing with and through dust-wives – but none of them were ever explored in great detail. Rather, they were thrown together in a mishmash to create the story, much like patchwork on a quilt. Some readers might enjoy this style of storytelling, but it didn't work for me.

”Lots of people deserve to die,” said the dust-wife finally. “Not everybody deserves to be a killer… Watch a murderer go through the world and you’ll see all his victims trailing behind him on black cords, shades of ghosts waiting for their chance.”

=========================================

🎧✩˖°🌷✨ PRE-REVIEW ♡
3.5 stars! There were things I liked and things I didn't like and overall everything balanced itself out. It's good, but not spectacular; it has flaws, but isn't terrible.

🐋🐚☾⋆⁺₊ PRE-READ ♡
Time for another short fantasy book b/c I'm not in the mood for anything too long right now 💖

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was a highly creative, original, and well thought out book. I am not the biggest fan of fantasy, and it took me some time to get into this book. I did enjoy the imagery with a princess, a bone dog, a dust wife, demon possessed chicken and more.

Mara is the youngest and is aghast when she sees the treatment her sister receives from her husband. Naturally, she decides to take matters into her own hands with the help of the dust wife, who just happens to have a chicken possessed by a demon. Along the way they meet some interesting characters including Fenis,

I went back and forth on how I felt about this book. I thought the beginning was 3 star read and the later part of the book was 5 star read. So, I am going with 3.5 stars. Many are enjoyed this book than I did, so please read their reviews as well.

I enjoyed the creativity and originality of this book. It is highly imaginative and well thought out. This is one that I enjoyed but can't say that I loved all the way through.

I had a copy of the book and the audiobook, and I went back and forth between the two.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books and Macmillan audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I finish another T. Kingfisher book, it's like, "Wait, is THIS my new favorite Kingfisher book?!" because I just adore all of them so much I couldn't possibly decide. RTC

Buddy read with Misty & Erin!