Interested in a detailed summary with read-alike?? Check out my Annotation of this book.
““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.”” (Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher, p. 82).
REVIEW
Author: T. Kingfisher
Title: Nettle & Bone
Category/Type: Adult Fiction
Genre: Fantasy
Subgenre: Fairy tales/folklore
Publication Date: April 26, 2022
Number of Pages: 240 pages of story text; plus an Author’s Note
Series (if applicable): This book is not part of a series
Content warnings (SLIGHT SPOILER): Domestic violence, child death, death of a loved one, mentions of ritual suicide, animal death
Summary: “This isn’t the fairy tale where a princess marries a prince… It’s the one where she kills him.”
Marra, the third daughter the king and queen of a small kingdom, isn’t much of a princess. In her thirties, she’s been living in a convent for most of her life and her only real talent is weaving. Her sisters were married away to the prince of the northern kingdom years ago to form a political alliance. Marra is content with her quiet life but she can’t help but think there was something strange about how her eldest sister died, and her other sister always has bruises she tries to hide and is constantly pregnant. As Marra connects the dots she comes to understand that the only way to save her sister, herself, and the kingdoms is to kill the prince. Marra enlists the help of a powerful old woman who can speak to the dead and the dust wife agrees to assist, but only after Marra completes three impossible tasks: creating a cloak out of nettles, building a dog out of bones, and capturing moonlight in a jar. As Marra discovers she might be more powerful than she thought, she also realizes she can’t kill the prince on her own and seeks the help of a disgraced soldier and a fairy godmother with questionable abilities. Together, the crew sets out on their misadventure that could save them all or topple kingdoms.
Using the familiar threads of well-known fairy tales and folklore, with Nettle & Bone T. Kingfisher weaves something delightfully unexpected and new. Full of faults and fears, readers won’t be able to resist following the heroes on their task to stop a prince at all costs.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
WARNING: May contain spoilers
I really enjoyed this new take on a fairy tale. I was especially drawn to the heroes of the tale who are all over 30 and flawed in their own ways yet still able to kick ass. Marra also has a dark and sarcastic humor not unlike my own that kept me wanting to read more. There is a description of a newborn child early on that so utterly mimicked my own thoughts that I couldn’t help but wish Marra was my friend.
For me the romance was especially relatable with the female protagonist being over 30 and anxious and the male protagonist being around 40 with greying hair and a bit overweight. I also enjoyed that just being near each other and comforting each other was enough of the romance within the pages. There wasn't a heavy focus on love or sex, it’s very much about the mission, which is why I picked up the book and I’m glad it stuck to that instead of trying to force more elements into the tale.
I found that all the characters, while outlandish, were also lovable, and couldn't help but want them to succeed. The ending is hopeful but not overly positive; it's realistic and there is an understanding that things will remain difficult for the main characters; the happiness was succeeeding at their task. It seems bold to have heroes full of faults and fears but I love it, the realness of the characters somehow made them more magical. I know T. Kingfisher is a prolific author and I’m excited to read other titles she puts out.
Under the dust jacket: This is yet another book with great design under the dust jacket. I am a firm believer of reading books without their dust jackets (which only get beat up as I drag books everywhere with me) and was delighted to see Bonedog depicted in gold foil on the front cover. Then, bestill my bookbinder heart, the end sheets are made up of a black and white illustration of Marra in her nettle cloak with Bonedog in the foreground. These elements were a great way to tie together the content of the book with the physical book design and also to tell part of the story visually and hint at what will happen between the covers.
Final resting place: In my personal library between Thinner Than Skin and Giraffe by J. M. Ledgard.
An image of the front cover of Nettle & Bone, sans dust jacket, on a grey couch. The dust jack for the book is in the background.
““Oh! He’s all bones, poor thing!”
”I don’t think it bothers him much,” said Marra.
”Well, he’s a dog. They don’t have an idea how the world’s supposed to be, so it doesn’t bother them when it isn’t.”” (Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher, p. 128).
Image of the front end sheet in Nettle & Bone. A hand is holding the book ope on the left and a bookmark is popping up out of the right of the book.
WHAT I’M READING NOW
My annotations and reviews are always running a bit (or more) behind what I’m actually reading so here’s a little bit of a teaser, if you will, for reviews to come.
Book of Night by Holly Black