Unfortunately I had to DNF this book at 34% as I just couldn't get into it.

The premise of the book was really intriguing to to me, but the delivery fell quite flat.

The first chapter or 2 was quite interesting, I wasn't really sure what was going on but I was getting the spooky kinda vibes so it was quite promising. But after that things just went downhill.

The story jumped from Marra in the woods back in time to tell the story of her sisters and her time at the convent, and there was quite significant time jumps in between those chunks of story. Add in the quite unexpected and graphic depictions of her sister Kania's pregnancies (and pregnancies in general) and I just couldn't get behind it as it wasn't really what I thought I was getting based on blurb.

I'm sure this book is great for the right reader, but it's just not for me. If you're going to read this book, please be sure to check trigger warnings etc beforehand.

Some may find this a creative gem of a book. To me it was an oddity.

While reading it, all along I had the feeling that the author cannot decide on what she wants to write. A fairy tale? Neighbouring kingdoms marrying a princess to a prince for strategic reasons, godmothers blessing children at the christening, three impossible tasks to be completed - these all imply a fairy tale retold in the form of fantasy.
Or a gothic horror story maybe? Cannibals living in a shadowy land, dead raised up, a dog made up of scattered bones.
And then there were mythological elements like a cow-footed woman enchanting and seducing a king, and a labyrinth.

I enjoyed the fairy tale bit, but wasn't a big fan of the dark and gothic parts.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for this Advance Review Copy.

Lush, dark imaginings and a beautifully spun magical world abound in this feminist fairytale.

I'd heard a lot about T. Kingfisher but hadn't read any of her works before, and certainly am planning to do so now!

The story explores the complex intergenerational traumas surrounding families and subverts the idea of the hero, where our budding heroine is a princess who finds herself unable to fit in within her royal duties. She plucks up the courage to go on a treacherous adventure and picks up some interesting companions along the way (Bonedog and demon hen, anyone?)

I really enjoyed reading about the unlikely group of heroes in this book, with Bonedog probably being my favourite character because he is absolutely precious!!! It was also refreshing to see the characters not shy away from representations of abuse and condemn the systems that put women in such vulnerable positions, even within positions of power.

Overall, I really enjoyed this hilariously modern take on a fairytale and I literally could not stop reading this!!

If you love slow burn romance, powerful witches, fey and ghostly adventures, and fairy godmothers this is for you!!

**Thank you to Titan Books for the arc!!**

T. Kingfisher has quickly become one of my favourite authors with her recent horror releases The Twisted Ones, and The Hollow Places; two books that I found absolutely chilling and read very quickly. Something about her writing is incredibly compulsive, making you want to read on long after you should have put the book down, and her new fantasy novel Nettle and Bone is no exception to this rule.

Set in a small harbour kingdom, nestled between a Southern Kingdom and Northern Kingdom, our story follows the daughters of the royal family. We meet Marra, the youngest of the three daughters, who watches as her older sister goes off to marry the prince of the Northern Kingdom to ensure the safety of their people. However, when her sister meets an untimely end, the middle daughter is sent off to marry in her place. Knowing that she might have to marry the prince if another tragic accident happens, Marra is sent off to live in a small convent, keeping her out of harm’s way, in case she’s ever needed.

Marra settles into her new life of not-quite a nun, finding purpose in the convent, finally free of the shackles of royal life. However, when she travels to the Northern Kingdom to attend the birth of niece she begins to suspect that not everything is going well for her sister. On a later visit, she learns that her sister is being abused by the cruel prince, and that the abuse and the constant pregnancies are taking their toll on her. Marra becomes determined to do something about this before the strain takes another sister from her. She makes a vow to kill the prince. Setting out with a dog made from bones and wires, she begins to recruit a strange assortment of people to help her in her quest, including a witch who can talk to the dead, a fairy godmother, a former night, and a demon possessed chicken.

Nettle and Bone is a wonderfully dark, yet strangely funny book, that manages to include some absolutely wild things like a chicken possessed by a demon, yet manages to make them feel not only real, but one of the least strange things that happens. Whilst I was at first surprised to see that this book was fantasy, given Kingfisher’s previous horror books, this is very much a dark fantasy story, and walks a very fine line between fantasy and horror much of the time. When the book first begins we’re introduced to Marra as she crafts her Bone Dog from scavenged pieces found in a bone pit, deep in a land where disease and darkness has spread, leaving many of the inhabitants roving, cursed cannibals. This sets the kind of tone for the book early on, and from here it never really feels like it gets much brighter.

The world of Nettle and Bone feels like a grim place to live, a world where the evils of the universe are just out of sight, both supernatural and human. The book has a lot of darkness, a lot of evil, and yet there’s always a sense of hope and happiness that manages to weave its way through, due in no small part to who Marra is. Marra is a wonderful protagonist for this story. She’s grown up as a princess, pampered and living in luxury, yet never once wants that. Once she’s been shipped off to live in a convent she finds herself enjoying life more, given more freedom than she’s ever had before. She enjoys getting to do the manual work she was always denied, and finds a passion as a healer and midwife. She understands that being born into positions of wealth and power don’t make you better than others, and that simple lives can be full of love and happiness, and that makes her a wonderfully unique princess.

The other characters in the book, especially those that come to join Marra on her journey, are utterly delightful. Her small band is definitely one of the more unusual groups of heroes, featuring a pair of magical old women who always bicker and jab at each other, a fairy godmother who doesn’t seem to have much power but holds a secret, a witch who can commune with and command the un-dead, a former knight running from his past as a killer but with a heart of gold, and the demon chicken. All of these characters seem like people who shouldn’t get on, who wouldn’t normally gel well together, yet they make for a truly delightful group of heroes. Even the dog made of bones becomes a firm favourite.

Nettle and Bone is a book that feels like the perfect blend of horror and fantasy, where the darkness of the universe feels baked into every element, creating a truly dark and disturbing universe. It has a wonderful group of protagonists who you’ll come away from the book wanting to see more of. And the plot, whilst simple in its end goal of ‘kill the prince’, is so full of twists and turns and amazing bumps along the way that it’s an absolute delight to read. Whilst this book was not what I’d come to expect from T. Kingfisher, it’s so obviously her work, her blend of darkness, creativity, and wonderful characters, that it easily joins her other books as one of my favourites.

Nettle and Bone is a dark and addictive fairytale from T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places. I have always wanted to try Kingfisher’s work but haven’t gotten around to trying it. When I got the opportunity to read Nettle and Bone I jumped at the chance and I’m so glad I did because Nettle and Bone is probably one of my favourite books of the year.

The story follows Marra – she is the youngest of three princesses from a small kingdom. Their political situation is balanced on a knife edge and they are constantly threatened with invasion from the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Marra’s sisters are married off to protect the kingdom, but Marra soon learns of the abuse her sister is suffering at the hands of Prince Vorling of the Northern Kingdom. Determined to save her sister she embarks on a quest to kill him and free her family.

Do you ever pick up a book and it is just exactly the right book at the right time? That was Nettle and Bone for me. I was immediately captivated by this story. I loved the fairytale feel of the story and how Kingfisher twisted this into something darker and more gruesome. I really enjoyed Kingfisher’s writing style and the story felt really well paced. This story is so vivid and clever, I honestly could not put it down.

Marra is an interesting protagonist, but the cast of characters that she brings along on her journey are what made me fall in love with this story. I loved the dust-wife, who can talk to the dead and has a chicken that may or may not have a demon in him. I also liked Agnes, the godmother who is much more than she seems. Kingfisher has a knack for creating these really fascinating characters and I am so looking forward to reading more of their work. There’s also plenty of clever, witty dialogue that had me laughing on more than a few occasions.

Nettle and Bone is a fun and fascinating read. If you love fairytales but you’d like something that’s a bit of a twist on the stories you know and love, this is definitely a must-read.

A demon chicken, a dust-wife (which is basically a witch who can commune with the dead + other magic stuff), a godmother who can gift or curse children, a murderer, a dog made of bones, and a nun. Imagine this cast on a journey for revenge, intriguing, isn't it?

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher is a standalone fantasy which contains these elements, while also discussing domestic abuse and what it means to be a woman in a mysogynistic world.

It started really great, piqued the right spots out of its natural mystery aspect. However, it kind of fell flat for me in the middle when it focused more on the flashbacks.

Still, I gotta applaud this book because it delivered in the end, and the author's writing style is so easy to get through.

Giving this book a 3.5 stars out of 5. Thanks to Titan Books for an E-ARC through Netgalley!

The story centres around Marra, the third and youngest Princess of a small harbour kingdom. Her home, whilst small, is valuable, and is flanked by two much larger kingdoms. Marriage between the prince of the Northern Kingdom and Marra’s beloved eldest sister Damia is proposed and an alliance is formed. That alliance is expected to be strengthened by the birth of a child, but Damia’s body is unexpectedly returned to the harbour kingdom, and Marra’s other sister, Kania, is sent off to marry the Prince in her sister’s place. Marra has an eerie feeling about Damia’s death but is whisked off to a convent to ensure she will not bear a child that may be a threat to any offspring the Prince and Kania may have. But when Kania falls pregnant, and Marra visits, she begins to see that the suspicions she harboured after Damia’s death may not have been unfounded……

I won’t go into to much more detail about the plot but I think I’ve set the scene there.

This is a fairy tale, but not a sweet story for children with a moral tale at its centre. It has princesses, but not beautiful ones searching for their prince. It has animal characters, but they’re made of bones or contain demons. It has knights, but ones who were for sale at a goblin market after sleeping on fairy lands. There is also a wonderful humour in this story that really appealed to me. This paragraph where a mother with small children tries to give the characters some directions was so well done (and so accurate), it had me howling!

“The woman’s face turned briefly cheerful. “Oh yes – Don’t put that in your mouth! The godmother. She’s very kind – I swear to the saints, Owen, I will take you down to the market and sell you for a three legged goat! – Five miles down the road, turn where it crosses the stream and go along the bank until – Owen, I’ve had about enough! – You’ll find a little house with a garden and a signpost out front. The sign’s fallen down, but the post is still there, There’s usually trumpet flower up the post and I don’t think we’ve had a hard enough frost yet – Owen! You leave that cat alone!””

No word of a lie, that is how I conduct most of my conversations.

In the Author’s Note to the book, she explains that this book originated with a thought she had whilst out shopping, which later led to a short story called “Godmother”. If you want to read that, its available on the author’s website, here: https://www.redwombatstudio.com/godmother/ The Author’s Note was really interesting actually, I’d recommend reading it once you’ve finished for insight into the author’s process of writing this book.

Sorry, jumped ahead a little there!

The settings are wonderful and world building well done. Even thinking back now, a couple of weeks after finishing the book, I can see Marra in the blistered land building her bone dog, the convent where she led a quiet life, the Goblin market, the tombs under the Prince’s castle….I could go on.

And I loved the writing! There were so many little bits that stood out to me, for various reasons; they were funny, they were heartfelt, they were true. I’ve already quoted the passage above about trying to talk with a small child in your line of sight, and this one really jumped out at me too.

“….few humans were truly worth the love of a living dog. Some gifts you could never deserve.”

Nettle and Bone
There were so many wonderful characters, I’d be hard pushed to pick my favourite. Marra is great, she’s happy with her quiet life at the convent, but is pushed to act to save her sister, despite her fears of doing so. She really grows over the course of the book into a woman who knows what she wants out of life. The dust wife is a brilliant character, she made me chuckle on several occasions and she and the godmother made a great double act later in the book.

Despite the fairy tale setting, there are some realities in this book. Things aren’t simple in life, princesses cannot just be rescued and Princes cannot just be killed without consequence and Marra is forced to consider this.

I absolutely loved the experience of reading this book, I was sucked into the world and I so enjoyed spending time with the characters and following them on their journey. It was definitely one of my favourites of 2022 so far, a real highlight.

So, time to bump Swordheart up the TBR. I’m also waiting for my library hold to come in on The Hollow Places, a horror novel by the same author. Cannot wait to explore more of her works!

Read this if you liked: The Winternight Trilogy, Uprooted, The Princess Bride

After seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra knows that no one is coming to their rescue, except for Marra herself. Marra is set three impossible tasks and then joined by the gravewitch, a fairy godmother, a former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. This found family wants to be the ones to free Marra's family and their kingdom.

Something that drew me to the story is a chicken possessed by a demon, (I immediately think of Luci from Disenchantment) and I just want to prewarn others.. it is really just a chicken with a haughty glare and I wanted more made of this potential character.

Anyway, the story is that of a dark fairy tale, there is talk of abuse, miscarriage, child death, death so readers do need to be aware if those are triggers for them. It is a shorter story as it is about 250 pages long and I did feel like the beginning was quite chaotic. I have since read that this was originally a short story and I think that is what I read at the beginning. There were things that weren't explained (such as the blistered lands and cannibals) and the three impossible tasks are over pretty quickly with no real explanation of how she did them, then it is the usual quest type fantasy tale.

I enjoyed the grumpy Gravewitch character and her counterpart of the cheerful Fairy Godmother character, although I felt like there were hints of another aspect of the godmother that were not fully explored.

It's usual to read a standalone for me at the moment so it was a nice change of pace and I thought the ending was fitting if not a little predictable. Overall, I enjoyed the book but for me personally there were a few too many missed opportunities.

ARC received from Titan Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review – thank you to both!

This was a lovely, multi-faceted adventure!

We follow Marra, whose sister has been suffering abuse from an evil prince for years. Marra decides to come to the rescue, but the prince’s power is overwhelming and his defences impenetrable.

Marra seeks help from a powerful dust-wife – a witch-like being who speaks to the dead and commands them to a certain extent 💀. However, in order to obtain her help, Marra must first prove herself by completing three seemingly impossible tasks.

The story takes a lot of unexpected and often very dark turns, but is lightened up with humour and magic. I loved all the ornaments of the story, but not necessarily its foundation – the baseline of the plot felt slightly simplistic and more of an excuse to showcase all the additional furnishings, rather than a point in itself. In film terms, it was a bit of a McGuffin. Hence 4 stars and not 5.

However, there is so much to love in this book! The writing is amazing. T. Kingfisher excels at writing the creepy and the unsettling, but also the funny, and ridiculous and adorable.
There is summoning the dead ☠, there are macabre saints and horrible deaths, and thief-wheels, and curse-children, and good but terrifying godmothers, ancient catacombs, and a demon-chicken. 👿🐓

Yet, somehow, in all of this there is also a discussion on the price of power, sisterhood, feminism and the sacrifices one makes for their family.
There’s an absolutely heart-warming male love interest, as well. And a dog. 🐶

I heartily recommend this book, it was a joy to read! 👻

Within a few pages of Nettle and Bone I was completely hooked , it’s funny yet dark and gritty. T. Kingfisher has written an absorbing and enthralling narrative.the style is absolutely beautiful, lyrical and poetic.I also loved the world building , so well done and such a great magic system, I mean a dog made of bones I fell in love with, a demonic chicken, why wouldn’t you be drawn to this and the fact the book draws on important issues too like domestic violence and abuse, it’s a stunningly creative, unique and impressive read. Thoroughly recommended

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I am not entirely sure what I expected from this book, but a dark yet humorous retelling of numerous fairytales alls expertly woven together wasn't it - and yet I loved every minute of it.

I also wasn't prepared to get emotionally attached to a dog made of bones and a demonically possessed chicken and yet here we are.

I loved Kingfishers writing, and world building and through the story was slow moving I thought it was paced wonderfully, I also loved that the main character was in her thirties and had several other 'older' characters as part of the main cast.

Though the book deals in heavy themes, such as helplessness and abuse, it somehow lit them warmly and dealt with them in a respectful manner, and I'd highly recommend this one to all my fairytale loving friends. though I cannot find one particular fairytale to say this was based on it had that fairytalesque feeling throughout.
I would also want a book just about the Dust Wife and I think it deserves to be written.

I will be looking forward to picking up many more of Kingfisher's books.

This was my first T. Kingfisher book and I absolutely devoured it! I read it while home sick with dreaded Covid and it was the perfect balm. Somehow it managed to be both cosy and creepy at the same time, and kept me on my toes at every turn. Nettle and Bone follows Marra, the third-born princess of a small harbour kingdom, on her quest to free her older sister from her marriage to a cruel prince. Marra is quite socially and politically inept, and was sent to a convent when she was young so that she couldn’t have children before her sister and compromise the prince’s claims to their small kingdom. She is quite relieved to be out of the game, and spends many years content with her manual labour and simple existence, until a visit to her sister reveals the abuse going on behind closed doors.

In despair she seeks out a dust-wife, the keeper of the dead, to find some way to kill the prince and save her sister. The dust-wife sets her three impossible tasks before she will agree to help, and the book opens as Marra is undertaking the second one: making a dog out of bone. She is in the blistered lands, cursed and arid, and is winding sharp wire around dog bones in the hopes it will come back to life. It is a dismal setting and a very effective opening, especially because the bone dog (called Bonedog) is a great addition to the story!

Once the dust-wife reluctantly agrees to help, the quest begins and the two of them set off with the bone dog and a chicken possessed by a demon. Along the way they stop at a goblin market, which was one of my favourite scenes, and they rescue Fenris, a former knight from his servitude to the fey. And, for good measure, they seek out Marra’s old godmother. The plot itself, once you boil it down, isn’t incredibly substantial, and the middle of this story could be described as ‘people walking places’ but what makes it so readable is the ensemble of people that are doing the walking.

Marra is a good character, and very relatable as being quite ordinary in a world full of extraordinary, and she is the perfect anchor for all the weirdness going on around her. The dust-wife is incredible, with her grumpiness, matter-of-fact manner, and her demon chicken. She reminded me, at times, of Gandalf but with a little more kick (sorry Gandalf). Once the godmother joined the group, the two of them bounced off of each other marvellously; to be honest, the dialogue and character dynamics were the focus, for me, and the plot simply a device to make it all more interesting. The one gripe I have about the book is that I kept forgetting Marra is a woman in her 30s, perhaps because she still has the innocence that comes with living in a convent for most of her life, but she just read like a teenage girl to me…

But overall, I had a wonderful time with my first T. Kingfisher book, and shall certainly be reading more. She certainly succeeded in creating something both cosy and spooky, with a wonderful fairy tale feel, and settings such as the goblin market, blistering lands full of roaming cannibals, and the haunted tombs of dead kings. Oh, and one must not forget the demon-possessed chicken!

I’ve enjoyed other books by the author and Nettle & Bone sounded like something I’d enjoy, dark fantasy. I really enjoyed this. Within a few paragraphs I was hooked on this weird, dark little gem. You’re plunged into darkness and strangeness from the get go and this never really lets us. I loved how well done the world building is. I also liked the fact the book touches on relevant issues to the modern world such as domestic violence and abuse. This is well worth a read.

I really enjoyed this story. The world building was unique, pulling from lots of old myths, folklore and fairytales. It was a strong first half- but I did find the end lacking. Enjoyable.

4.5*
I received a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Nettle & Bone is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time, but it's also dark, weird and gritty in an excellent combination. The writing was my favorite aspect, the style is absolutely beautiful, fairy tale-like and poetic, but with a lot of humor to it as well. Weird things (and there are a lot of those) are being said as matter of fact, in a way that reminded me of All the Crooked Saints, surprisingly, and people interacting and things happening are sometimes being described in a way that's just really funny. It adds to the fairy tale vibe even more, I'd say, that it's not always trying to take itself seriously. Also, I loved how haphazard the worldbuilding was! The magic is all over the place, no rules or reason, and it's a wild ride. We've got a dog made of bones, a demon chicken, a goblin market, spirits and ghosts and curses, toys that come alive as minor gods? What a time to be alive.

The characters are equally amazing, we have our ragtag squad of more or less strange people, all of which are written like stereotypes but unique and personal at the same time. They are such mismatched friends, and seeing them interact with each other added another humorous element to the story. Maybe the real prince murder is the friends we made along the way. Marra is such a great narrator, she's wonderfully anxious and almost too relatable, and I really enjoyed seeing her going on this quest to kill a king even though she gets nervous from the smallest things, simply because she's the only one who will do it. Also, Bonedog is the best. Can I have one?

My one complaint is that I found the structure of the story quite strange. We start off with the premise of the three impossible tasks, the chapters switching between present and the past, where we get the backstory as to why Marra is doing these tasks, and so far it's alright (except the ratio past/present feels off, you get confused) BUT THEN we're suddenly off into a whole new quest section. After finishing this, I feel like I've read three or four different books, because of how different the different parts are.

I loved Nettle & Bone, it's a dark but funny fairytale, profoundly feminist at times, but really silly at others. Super humorous book, but with a lot of depth and meaning hiding beneath the surface. I'm glad I read it, and I look forward to picking up more books by the author!

Having read The Hollow Places previously and enjoying it immensely, I couldn’t wait to read this. Especially after reading the blurb.
Who wouldn’t want to read a story with a demon possessed chicken?

T. Kingfisher does a fantastic job of weaving a dark and gnarly tale for you to follow. Where a 30 year old princess who isn’t very princess like at all, must step outside of her safety net to help her sister from a terrible fate.

Kingfisher paints an imaginative and twisted world for the story to weave through, where you meet dust wives, reluctant god mothers, bone dogs and creepy puppets.

Thank you for my copy from Netgallery and MacMillan-for/forge in exchange for an honest review.

Nettle & Bone by T Kingfisher is a magical tale filled with whimsy, warmth and wisdom all served with a healthy helping of humour.
Marra may be a princess , albeit of a small and impoverished kingdom, but she has never felt destined for court life, unlike her older sisters. When first one, and then the other ( following the death of the eldest ) is married off to an abusive Prince in exchange for his military protection, Marra is shipped off to a convent but is eventually forced to leave the safety of its walls when she realises that the life of her second sister is in danger. The only way to save her sister is to kill the prince, but that is harder than it seems, given that he is magically protected. Undeterred Marra sets out on a quest to do the impossible, and along the way she will recruit to her cause a wise grave witch, a somewhat reluctant fairy godmother, a former knight and a demon infested chicken.
I loved the old school fairy tale feeling of this book, there was a real sense of familiarity that evoked the stories I devoured as a child, and while the trope of the hero's quest is a commonly used one, it still felt fresh here because of the truly original and fun characters. The magic and world building was excellent , and I would love to come back to this world again. The pacing is swift, rushing the reader from one escapade to the next which meant I kept turning the pages , but honestly the characters were compelling enough that I would have done that anyway. This was the first T Kingfisher book I read and I can guarantee it will not be the last.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

When I saw that a Demonic Chicken featuring in this book I couldn't resist. This was an extremely fast paced book, which at times came across as a little chaotic. I could see everything playing out in my mind, and found the world buiding was still deep despite the book being based heavily on conversations. There was a good mix of characters, Including said Demonic Chicken, and it did keep me interested throughout

No spoilers.
What an incredibly different take on a fairytale. I absolutely adored this book from start to finish.
Loveable, very interesting and sometimes quite hilarious characters.
A fascinating imaginary world that's never been done before.
Had me from the blub, such a crazy and odd collection of characters, wondering how on earth it is going to work, well it 100% does. 5 star read and more.

This book confused me, twisted everything I knew about fairy tales into the bizarre. Cannibals Demons, Chikens, Witches and a 30 something heroine with a band of 50 something supporters.
I want a bone dog, I want a powerful dust witch as a friend and I want more of this story.
Imagine the darker side of a fairy tale but with the same back bones. Marra is not your typical heroine and that us what makes this book.

I will be reading more from this author.