Nettle & Bone Paperback – February 28, 2023

I didn’t know what to expect. Amazing characters, so many strong women. The story went so many unexpected places. And it’s funny and that sneaks up on you. I wish it were a trilogy or a series. I’ll miss these characters. But, I have more of this author’s work to read.

T. Kingfisher strings together a story of whimsical characters, delicate emotions and subtle cruelty. Princess Mara is a third daughter in a small, impoverished kingdom. She is of little consequence. Her sisters, on the other hand, are bargaining tools. Both are bartered for the good of the realm.Unfortunately, the man who takes them is cruel. Mara, a novice nun, cannot abide this fact. She recruits a necromancer, a somewhat wicked godmother, a knight with a death wish, and a bone dog to save the day. From start to finish, it is fairy tale full of teeth and nettles. It pricks you with humor as often as injustices bite.Reproductive rights is a particularly theme that should be a more fantastical than it actually is in our own world. Women in the story do not get to control how early and often they bear children. But the connection is my own. Kingfisher doesn’t make connections. She tells the story and allows the reader to make of it what we may. It works. The themes, characters and plot work seamlessly.Honestly, it’s a problem. I kind of like having a worry over a thing from a book like a tooth that needs pulling. Because of the expediency of it all, I was satisfied… just less than I hoped.Side Note: The naked hardcover is adorable.

I recently found Kingfisher and have been reading my way through her works. When I picked this one up, I wasn't sure at first because the first couple of pages are a little weird. But around page 5 the weirdness eases off and it turns into a more conventionally-told story, and then the weirdness becomes completely understandable. That said, the elements of the story are hardly conventional at all.Marra is not a typical "strong female character." Or, rather, she is EXACTLY what a strong female character should be. She doesn't physically kick ass and she has no "useful" skills. Although she's a princess and was sent to a convent, she isn't really either. She can't *princess* very well and she hasn't taken orders to be a nun. All she can really do is embroider. But she has tremendous inner strength, wit, drive, willpower, and she has a special kind of courage. These things make her one of the strongest female characters I've ever read because she succeeds despite only being able to embroider, and her success is extremely satisfying and makes utter sense.Also satisfying are the cast of characters who get roped into helping Marra along her way. They include a "dust-wife," who is a person who can talk with the dead; Marra's fairy godmother, who's not very good at her job; a foreign man they rescued from a Goblin market; a possessed chicken; a baby chick; and a dog made out of bones (the "bone" part of the title). The book is light on world-building in that you only get enough world-building to make sense of what's happening, but it is heavy on character voice, development, and interpersonal stuff so you get to know the characters quite well.Themes include self-sacrifice, courage, justice, and (mostly familial) love. None of it's cloying or moralizing. There's a strong streak of woman-centric horror in this novel. Men will be able to relate, but as a woman I found the horror elements quite affecting. CN: domestic violence, sibling issues, teeth. No "on-screen" rape, though it's implied that a secondary character has had that happen to her.After reading something like 10 of Kingfisher's books, I've finally been able to pinpoint what is so awesome about Kingfisher. First, she writes very, very well. Second, she's basically a cross between Terry Pratchett (especially his Vimes and Weatherwax books) and Lois McMaster Bujold. If you like them, you should love Kingfisher.Note: unlike most of the rest of Kingfisher's books, this isn't a romance in a fantasy setting. While there is a romantic subplot, it's a minor subplot.

Such a unique and enchanting book!I really enjoyed the characters and their back stories - several laugh out loud moments in regards to the dust wife's personality.Highly recommend to anyone looking for some light fantasy that is a little bit different in terms of plot / characters.

Great book. Detailed story, well developed characters but an abrupt ending. Let’s hope for a book 2! Highly recommend this book either way.

Someone should buy the rights to this book and make into a movie. The writing was vivid the characters were lovable and the plot mesmerizing. This is the kind of book you read when you need to feel better. That is not to say there weren’t dark moments, there definitely were, but the book was, on the whole, charming and captivating. I was delighted and surprised.

Eine Prinzessin, die fast eine Nonne ist, eine Hexe, die mit den Toten spricht, eine gute Fee, die eigentlich nur gut im verfluchen ist, ein Krieger der Unrecht gerächt und dabei selber Recht gebrochen hat, ein Hund, der aus Knochen besteht und ein Huhn, das von einem Dämon besessen ist, machen sich auf um die Schwester der Prinzessin zu retten.

TODO OK

Well written, featuring a nice female ensemble, speaking of women empowerment in a fresh wayand overall quite enjoyable. Plus there's a dog. Highly recommended

Oh, this was amazing!-I have tons of T. Kingfisher's on my TBR list, and I'm just so glad the first I read was ‘Nettle & Bone’!I absolutely loved Kingfisher's style of writing—she is so hilarious, and her characters are truly lovely and loveable. The book had some really fun passages and some very touching ones, both well-balanced.-I also completely fell in love with all of the characters.Marra, the main one, is a princess who's not very good at politics; she was sent to a convent, so she's also a nun but not really, as she herself states. And she's got an absurdly adorable skeleton dog.She wants to save her sister Kania from her husband, the king of the Northern Kingdom, who is beating her—and to do so she'll need the help of a few folks who'll accompany her along her quest.So, our little team of heroes is composed of a dust-wife with a possessed hen, a warrior who tried to die, and a godmother who's quite bad at gifting babies but ends up with a cursed chick.And have I mentioned Marra's dog made of bones? Oh, yes.This was such a surprising and hilarious team of heroes, they had so many memorable and unique dialogue, and I just loved each of them so, so much!-If you tend to like reading twisted fairy tales, cosy fantasy, and books with absolutely gorgeous female characters, then you may definitely enjoy this one!