This started off a bit too slow for my tastes, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I ended up really enjoying this! I really liked the setting and world-building that we got, and the characters were really loveable, too. I thought that once the pacing picked up, the story was a fast enjoyable read with a great MC. I would absolutely love to read more in this world/a sequel if one comes about!

T. Kingfisher is definitely an author I’m going to keep an eye out for moving forward. (And I need to read some of their old titles, too!).

For starters, the audiobook is stunning. I loved the narrator and the voices that kept each character easily identifiable. I also think it helps paint the picture very well.

This story itself was beautiful and well paced. I loved the characters and how everyone had a distinct personality. The main character Marra was fierce and protective. I liked that the main events of this story centered around her journey to avenge her sisters and eliminate their abuser. And I love how many strong female characters were at the forefront of this book.

I liked the fantastical elements that are weaved into the characters’ journey. I especially enjoyed the darker themes like the focus on dust and bones, dead animals/people, and curses. Kingfisher’s world building is truly excellent and feels realistic (especially with the audiobook).

There were a couple points when I thought there was a lot going on and I had to rewind the audiobook to really digest what was going on. Other than that I think this is a fantastic read.

★ ★ ★ ★

Thank you @NetGalley for the audiobook of Nettle and Bone by T Kingfisher and published by @tornightfire

To be completely honest this book starts so slow I thought I was going to DNF but it does pick up and wow. I thought this book was so fun and the characters so enduring (and lovable). This story is wonderful and if I could see a book two I will jump on a preorder and read it because I adored all of this.

Nettle and Bone is a dark fairytale with the classic T. Kingfisher twist. Marra lost her first sister to an abusive prince. She watchers her second sister suffer with the same prince and is constantly worried about her safety. Marra takes measures into her own hands and goes on a quest to kill the prince.

From there, we meet fairy godmothers, a chicken possessed by a demon, and take a trip down to the Goblin Market. While reading this, I had no idea where it was going but I think it’s best going that way.

I had a really great time with this one, I was laughing and entertained throughout it. Even when it gets slower, it’s still so much fun. I’m not going to lie, if this was written by anyone else - I probably would not have read this but T. Kingfisher never disappoints me! I already can’t wait for her new releases next year.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for an advanced copy of this book!

There are many things here to love - witches, a demon chicken and a goblin market, to name a few - sprinkled among a fairytale setting of godmothers, princesses, and curses. Amara Jasper did a great job giving each character a unique voice for the audiobook version. The book was poised to be a favorite, but it just didn't work for me.
I can sum up my disappointment with two things: the story's beginning, and its main character. The early chapters that set up the background felt so much more uninteresting than they deserved to be, and I nearly gave up before the main story started. Then there's Marra, the heroine leading the story. She's thirty years old, and utterly naive and oblivious. Basic kingdom politics have to be spelled out for her, and she's shocked to hear them. I understand that she was raised in a convent since her teenage years, but she doesn't have any common sense. Beyond being determined to save her sister and completing two vaguely described "impossible tasks," Marra is frustratingly passive. She collects a strange group of friends who take over the action and storyline while she freezes in dismay with barely verbalized protests. On top of that, the romance plotline was underdeveloped and made me want to cringe.
I wish I had better things to say about Nettle & Bone. I'm a fan of Kingfisher's quirky magical books! But while Nettle & Bone has some of the right elements, it lacks the usual magic something I've come to expect from her.

I thought this book had a great premise and I enjoyed the journey. I found it easy to cheer for our protagonist as she completed a series of dangerous tasks to try and save her sister from her evil husband (the king). My favorite part was how Mara accumulated a group ragtag bunch to help her through her journey. I loved this fun little book!

I love a fairy tale inspired fantasy, especially those that acknowledge the frequently dark roots of these storue, and this delivers with impossible tasks, fairy god mothers, and curses.

Marra is the third daughter of a King and soon learns as her sisters are married off one after the other, that the monsters of her world are princes and no one will risk the good of the kingdom to save a princess. Marra must find a way to save her sister and herself from being pawns in someone else's game.

I loved the audio narration, although, I did find the first chapter a bit confusing since it took me a bit to realize it started in medias res, and I hadn't just accidentally jumped a few chapters ahead.

As a note, I've seen a few reviews refer to this book as YA. While there are a few flashbacks to when Marra is a teenager, Marra is about thirty for the majority of the book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i just finished this story, and three things are true:

1) i already want to reread this;
2) this was everything i never knew i wanted; and
3) t. kingfisher never disappoints. in fact, she has singlehandedly delivered two of my favourite 2022 advance-releases thus far (what moves the dead and now nettle & bone).

once in a blue moon i will pick up a novel and, from the first sentence on the first page, feel it in my bones that i'm in for a good ride.

nettle & bone was that blue moon. i wasn't sure what to expect just based on the blurb alone, but i was excited to delve into my first-ever fantasy novel by t. kingfisher - and the minute i laid eyes on the opening lines, i was a goner.

marra, our protagonist, the youngest princess of the harbor kingdom, grew up in a convent and has two self-described skills: embroidery and weeding. when she realizes that she is the only one who will do something - anything - to avenge her dead sister and save her living one, she takes matters into her own hands: she is going to murder the cruel prince. (this prince is nothing like holly black's, mind you.)

to do this, marra undergoes a quest with impossible tasks. she seeks a powerful gravewitch - the dust-wife; she weaves a cloak of burning, magicked nettle; she builds a dog of bones; she frees a man from ensorcelled servitude; she enlists the help of a godmother; and she survives a goblin market, a haunted necropolis, a blistered land cursed with cannibals.

which brings me to two things that i absolutely adored about this story.

first: t. kingfisher writes both nostalgically and unconventionally. the bones of this book will resonate with many of us - band of adventurers must face trials and tribulations, cleverly overcoming enchanted obstacles, to save the kingdom - and yet it is so distinctly t. kingfisher: ghastly and grim, funny and feminist, altogether wholly delightful. i was swept up into the macabre world-building of this novel, ensnared by kingfisher's signature deadpan and knack for writing quick-paced banter between offbeat characters.

which brings me to the second thing i loved: the cast and camarderie at the heart of nettle & bone. marra is an unpretentious and endearing narrator that i was instantly rooting for - and she's joined by the sharp-tongued dust-wife (so many belly laughs evoked just from the dust-wife and her demon chicken alone); fenris the fallen knight; a loyal bone dog named bonedog; and agnes, a godmother who is somehow both the gentlest and scariest of the bunch. i would read a spin-off to do with *any* of these individual characters!

i'm also immensely grateful to have listened to the audiobook for nettle & bone along with reading the e-book. it made for a thoroughly immersive experience, and amara jasper, the audiobook narrator, really brought each character to life with different voices, intonations, and emotions all coming across in her expressive voice.

this novel reminded me of the wondrous escapism i first felt at the fantastical hands of gail carson levine, shannon hale, and garth nix - and, at the same time, kingfisher has carved a niche all her own, calling to mind the progressive sensibilities and sharp wit of contemporaries mira grant/seanan mcguire, holly black, and naomi novik.

i cannot underscore enough how delicious and immersive and gratifying i find t. kingfisher’s storytelling. nettle & bone was one of my favourite reads of 2022 so far, a tale that i know i will be returning to time and again.



many thanks to netgalley, macmillan audio, and macmillan-tor/forge for advance copies of the audiobook + e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Marra is the third-born daughter to the rulers of a small kingdom. She’s always been shy and lacking when it comes to navigating the court, so her mother sent her to a convent. But as she learns the truth about her sisters’ husband and the complacency of those around them, Marra realizes that she must take matters into her own hands if she’s to save her sister. As Marra moves forward with her goal, she stumbles across odd allies who might be her only hope at defeating the evil prince.

If I had to pick the best thing about this work, it would be the worldbuilding. I was blown away by the number of interesting details about the setting that the author was able to incorporate in a way that didn’t slow down the plot but greatly added to the immersion of the work. There were too many instances of this for me to list, but the market, the lore of the dead, and the cursed children were some of my favorite examples of the author’s talent in this area.

The characters were also well written overall. Marra was a little difficult to relate to, but many of the secondary characters more than made up for that. The dynamic between Lady Fox and Agnes was immaculate. While the romance wasn’t my favorite part of the work, it didn’t detract from it and the author managed to avoid the insta-love trap that is so common these days.

I listened to the audiobook version of this work. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the characters and their emotions to life. My only complaint was that it was a little difficult to tell when there was a section break, especially around flashbacks. This made it a little confusing from time to time, especially at the beginning of the work.

I highly recommend this book. It was a lovely work of dark fantasy with a satisfying ending and amazing worldbuilding. I will be reading more from this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I am not a huge fan of Fantasy Fiction, but I wanted to read outside of my comfort genre and I do like T Kingfisher. Her last book, The Hollow Places was an atmospheric read that I really enjoyed. So I had high hopes for this book.
Nettle & Bone is an excellent YA Fantasy book. There is just enough magic in it, not making it overpowering as some Fantasy books can be. Of course there are princesses, knights, godmothers, and witches. But it’s not all storming the castle and throwing magic bombs. Most of the book is Marra gathering her entourage to save her sister. The characters in this group make the story. They are brave, underestimated and quite funny. Of the group, The Dust Witch was my favorite because of her witty jabs. Together they are bonded in friendship and loyalty, and drive the story.
I alternated between audio and print reading, and it worked very well. The audio gave a voice to the characters that continued in my mind when I read my print copy. The narrator is very believable as multiple characters, but her voice as Marra was the best. The only thing that would have made the experience better would be a visual. This would be an epic movie.
I really liked this book. I actually think it’s way too short. T Kingfisher could have drawn out some of the book with little side quests that would have hooked me even more. The book could almost be the start of a series, which I would definitely read. I recommend adding this book to your TBR, and suggesting it to you teen readers.

CONTENT WARNING: miscarriage, domestic violence, death of a child, murder

I have to admit that I’ve been meaning to read a book by T. Kingfisher for a while, but just haven’t really come across any. And when I saw this audiobook available through NetGalley, I figured I’d give it a try. Boy, did I not know what I was in for!

Fantasy is one of my favorite genres, and I’m actually kind of sad that there isn’t more humor incorporated into these books. Especially now that I’ve seen one that successfully does so, in this book. It made for an even more intriguing and fun read than usual, and I’m now going to have to actively seek out more books by Kingfisher.

It starts out rather straightforwardly—Marra is a princess, but as the youngest of 3, she has the freedom to escape the fate her sisters are forced into. She heads straight into a convent, where she is left alone and completely happy about this. But, after her oldest sister dies, and her other sister is forced into a marriage with her sister’s widower, Marra starts to have questions. What really happened to her oldest sister? Why does her other sister keep getting pregnant so close together? And how can she save her sister from a husband that she knows is abusive?

To rescue her sister, Marra must obtain help from the unlikeliest sources. First, she seeks out a gravewitch who gives her three impossible tasks that she manages to complete, and then they head out on their way and collect some of the strangest allies. We initially meet Marra as she’s working on the first of these tasks, creating a dog out of bones. Bone Dog, as he is called, is quickly absorbed into the cast of characters, and for a … sort of … animal, he has a whole lot of personality!

Each of the side characters have so much personality and a great place in the story. I was quickly hooked and got super invested in both the characters and the story right away. We get to see some flashbacks of Marra’s life, and it explains a bit of who she is and what led her to this mission. Now, normally an audiobook can get tricky to follow when there are flashbacks, but this was never the case with this one. And with the motley crew of heroes involved, one of which is a chicken possessed by a demon, it couldn’t help but be funny at times. Which is fortunate, because the story touches on some serious topics, including domestic violence, miscarriage, and the death of a child.

I can say with confidence that this is an amazing book, and I highly recommend the audiobook version. It never dragged or felt like it wasn’t advancing the plot, and the humor was inserted at the perfect times. In addition, there’s a touch of romance that doesn’t overwhelm the story, and the focus on the bond of both blood family and found family made this an amazing book that offers an adult fairy tale feel.

Perfect for fans of The Kiss of Deception and Serpent & Dove. If you love the found family trope this would be right up your alley.

3 princesses stand between peace across the land & a war that would ruin their tiny kingdom that’s squished between the North & South.

Currently the middle sister is wed to a very evil & cruel prince. Her older sister died under mysterious circumstances & Marra (the youngest) was sent to a convent.

This is the story of how the naive almost-nun takes matters into her own hands with an old woman who speaks to the dead, a ghost dog, a convict knight, a godmother & a demon chicken.

Very fairytale-like.

LOVED IT!

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio. This book was amazing! I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I think that this was not a book for me. I don’t read a ton of fantasy, but I read some, and usually like it, but I just didn’t like this one. Well, I mean, it was fine, it just wasn’t my thing.

This book has everything you could want in an epic fantasy (I don’t know if it technically falls into “epic” territory, but it felt kind of epic, so I’m going with it); a quest, an unlikely heroine, a witch, a damsel in distress, evil royalty, and a fairy godmother. Okay, maybe it has everything you could want in your typical fairytale as well. This had big fairytale vibes, and I yet again picked a book without reading the synopsis, so maybe that was the point? idk.

This is the first book I’ve read by T Kingfisher, though I’ve heard many good things. Perhaps I’ll have to try one of their other books.

Overall, the characters felt well written, I think there was good world building, a decent story, it just didn’t catch me.

T. Kingfisher does it again.

This is a pulsing, dark-hearted thorny nest of a fairytale retelling/reimagining, and I was here for every minute of it. Impossible tasks, dog companions, goblin markets, fairy godmothers, and blessings and curses and a very, very angry feminist ethic.

Amara Jasper provides an excellent narration, making the funny parts funnier and the creepy parts almost unbearably sinister.

Just, a fantastic reading slump antidote all around.

Nettle and Bone is a comedic dark tale of magic and trying to not only survive, but thrive in an unjust world. It follows Marra, the youngest princess of 3 who belong to the small Harbor Kingdom. Although a princess, she lives a quiet and solitude life in a convent. Although the circumstances to her being sent here as a child are tragic and dark, she seems content with the decision and recognizes the privilege of being a princess without commitment, she prefers it over the suffocating and demanding walls of a palace.

Shaken up when she finds out that her worst fears of her older sister death were true and now her other sister is in peril at the hands of the cruel prince, Marra decides it’s time to leave her quiet existence behind and save her sister. If she doesn’t, it might be her who needs saving next and there will be nobody left to do it.

Throughout her journey she is joined by Bone Dog, enchanted dog bones with the spirit of a dog, whom she created as part of a prerequisite of seemingly impossible tasks in order to get help from the “Dustwife”. Dustwife hears the dead and hones magic and always has her demon chicken at her side. After promising to help after Marra completed the tasks she thought impossible, she is bound to her by her word. Then we have the quirky upbeat fairy Godmother who is not particularly as good as she wants to be at her job, including cursing baby chicks who find refuge in her bosom and a handsome and suicidal knight who is willing to go out with a bang.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend to anyone who likes fantasy with a comedic touch or just a good book in general.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warning: talk of physical abuse/spousal abuse and miscarriages.

Honestly? Kingfisher had me at a dog made of bones and chicken possessed by a demon even before the whole three impossible tasks fairytale trope.

Overall I found the characters interesting (the gravewitch is amazing). The pacing of the plot and tone were perfect for a fairytale and this was a really enjoyable reading experience. It was dark at parts but not too dark... and also while there is talk of violence, there wasn't a lot of it on the page.

Amara Jasper does a good job with the audiobook narration and Kingfisher's prose lends well to consuming NETTLE & BONE as an audiobook.

T. Kingfisher is an author that constantly delights, and this book was grim and dirty yet magically hopeful. I loved it.

Nettle and Bone is the tale of a princess who wants to kill a prince, but she has no idea how.

<b>Lots of people deserve to die...Not everybody deserves to be a killer. </b>

The story starts with Marra attempting to complete three impossible tasks but destroying her hands and herself in the process. Along the way, Marra contemplates her weaknesses and meets some interesting strangers. I especially appreciated how traditionally woman's tasks such as weaving, embroidery, keeping chickens, and caring for the dead are shown to be important and necessary skills even when killing a prince.

This fairy tale is dark enough to be interesting, but not too scary for my easily-scared self, and it's full of exquisitely unique settings and ideas. This world may or may not be connected to Kingfisher's Clockwork Boys and Saint of Steel world, but there is a demon chicken, and I did yell in delight by the mention of a clockwork bee.

The audiobook was read by Amara Jasper, who does an excellent job and is an amazing narrator.

I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio review copy.

5 stars

This book includes many qualities that I cannot resist including but not limited to these: (1) it's written by T. Kingfisher, (2) it's a fantasy/fairy tale mashup, and (3) THERE'S A GOBLIN MARKET.

Marra, the m.c., does what all good sisters do: puts her life on the line, accomplishes impossible tasks, and goes hard to rescue her sister from some man (who is utter trash). This character is fantastic. She's not too hampered by her life experiences in extreme wealth or at the convent, where she lays low during the early part of the novel. Instead, she uses any down time to recognize her privilege (a modern heroine, to be sure!) and to think of the chilling fate of her sister. Then, she bursts into action.

The ancillary characters are just as awesome as Marra. She's joined by dust-wife, who is like Baba Yaga's more verbal/less violent sister from another mister, a bone dog (that anyone with dogs will appreciate insists on curling up on Marra and stabbing her with its fleshless joints), a love interest, and more. These characters all get into different kinds of magical situations, and it's hilarious to eavesdrop on the development of their own moral codes and ideas about what's right and why. Their dialogue makes them shine and stand apart from traditional fairy tale characters, who are limited to silence (women) or incantations (old women and others) or sexual harassment and worse (men). These folks are evolved (for the most part).

Let me mention again that THERE'S A GOBLIN MARKET, which anyone who has been teaching Rossetti as long as I have knows is the most appropriate place to try to rescue a lost sister. Utter gold.

This is a quirky little book that I sped through almost nonstop in the audio version in a long afternoon of housework. I loved it; will recommend it to my myth, children's lit, and modern British lit students; and now suggest it for anyone who's looking for something a little different and a lot crafty.