Nettle & Bone Review

 Hello, all!

Who's an author that you've recently become obsessed with? For me, it's T. Kingfisher. I had read The Hollow Places last year and thought it was good, but then I picked up Nettle & Bone and adored it.

Pub Date: 4-26-22
Adult - Fantasy

Marra is the youngest of three princesses and has always dreaded the time when she'd be forced to marry. She watched her eldest sister be sent away to marry a prince, only to return months after dead from a fall. Then, Marra watched as her middle sister was married off to the same prince and came to suffer at his abusive hands. When she visits her sister and witnesses the evidence of his cruelty, Marra decides enough is enough. If no one will rescue her sister, then Marra will have to do it herself.

Desperate for a way to kill a prince, Marra seeks help from a powerful dust-witch. But, to get the information she requires, Marra must complete three impossible tasks: sew a cloak out of nettles, build a dog of bones, and capture moonlight in a jar. On her journey, Marra is joined by the dust-witch, a frazzled fairy godmother, a handsome former knight, and a demon-possessed chicken. The group will have to weather goblin markets, labyrinthine underground burial chambers, angry ghosts, and everything in-between if they are to have any hope of crushing the prince and saving Marra's sister and her kingdom from his reign of terror.

I had such a great time reading this. I loved the idea of a princess not wanting to marry herself a prince but killing one instead. The writing was quirky and darkly whimsical. It reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman. The cast of characters we meet here is top-notch. I'm always a fan of a rag-tag bunch of characters banding together for one common goal. I think Marra came off a little younger than her supposed 30-years, but I liked her nonetheless. My favorite of the bunch, though, was the dust-witch with her demon-possessed chicken. She had such a dry, snarky wit that I ate up. The only reason this wasn't a full five stars, was it took me a few chapters to find my footing, but once I did, I was hooked. I highly recommend it if you're looking for an unconventional but entertaining take on fairytales.

Rating: 4.5/5

Comments

  1. I just recently bought this book and I'm so excited to read it- especially with the Neil Gaiman comparison!!

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