NETTLE (ARC Review)
Release Date: 10 Oct 2024
Rating: 4 stars
Spice: N/A (YA)

Nettle is a fantastic MFC, she’s bright, witty and doesn’t give up. An outsider in the human world and tending to her fading grandmother, she accidentally stumbles into the Faery Realm where she must partake in trials of a trickster Fae King who (when only on completion of her tasks) will aid her grandmother… however the tasks are more challenging than they seem.

Nettle has a real “Alice in Wonderland” vibe with curious magical world and creatures but still manages to keep the plot fresh and original. The faery realm that I imagined, is like a dreamscape that shifts and changes and has zero continuity which just adds to the overall enchantment of the story. I really enjoyed this read.

- magical systems and creatures
- trials
- world building
- self discovery
- found family
- a little bit of tension and intrigue
- friendships
- riddles and adventure

Thank you to Bex Hogan and netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.
Nettle is a gorgeous book, inside and out. The protagonist is very loveable and has a strong and distinct personality. The story gives a modern feeling to the old faery tales of deception and danger, with the protagonist making a deal and undergoing trials. Underneath the magic and glamour of the faery kingdom we feel a delicious sense of horror and the unsettling nature of its inhabitants.
I personally didn't feel much for the love triangle, but it has plenty of popular tropes, particularly for those who like a bad boy.
The pacing is snappy, although the ending felt a little rushed, and the book is both wholly immersive and easy to read.
At the end of the book is a cute guide to faery plants!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Oh my days this was beautiful! enchanting and magical fairytale, perfect for fans of Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales. Beautifully written and atmospheric with loveable characters! definitely recommend! Can't wait for a special edition for my bookshelf! 5 stars.

Not just for kids

Thank you Head of Zeus, Zephyr and Netgalley for the ARC of Bex Hogan’s 'Nettle'.

Nettle, the protagonist, is a lovable and relatable from page one.
The worldbuilding in this novel is mesmerising: nature and magical creatures. Dialogue and interactions are beautiful and believable
This is an enchanting, timeless fairy-tale, a modern Grimm Brothers story. It is dark, at times, there is a quest, deception, trickery and friendship.

'Nettle', the novel and the protagonist, made me think of the colours and smells of autumn. So, if you’re looking for a shortening days novel for your teen or young adult, 'Nettle' is perfect. Then, read it yourself; after all, fairy-tales are not just for kids.

Short and sweet - a phrase that really encapsulates this story. I think this will interest readers of Holly Blacks 'Modern Tale of Faerie' who are looking for an engaging story with a dash of romance. I loved the darker aspects of Viper by this author so really enjoyed the elements scattered through this as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

This book follows a very traditional fairy tale format and it works. We have a main character who makes a bargain with a fairy king and has to complete three tasks as a result. There’s clearly a lot of love and affection for the traditional fairy tale from the author in this story.

While a lot of what’s in this book will be familiar for fans of fantasy and fairy tales, there were some nice touches that were more unique to this book. Things like the theming around nettles and how these pop up at different points throughout the book, a narrative point that requires communication to be in a very specific way, there’s a few moments like these that make the book memorable.

This book is very short and I did feel it needed to be longer. There’s a bit of a love triangle in the book and it was just way too sudden. It didn’t feel believable that the two characters fell in love with the main character so fast because there was too little development on either of these relationships. It was a bit jarring. However that aside, I did enjoy the fantasy and fairy tale elements of this book.

Nettle reads like an instant fairytale classic. I absolutely adored her character, she’s a misfit and has the most wholesome life. This is then turned upside down as we go into the land of fae, which is full of the usual trickery and interesting characters. The lore and myths are drawn from and expertly crafted. For a short book it certainly gives a bit of everything, some trials, fairy dances, potential romance and power plays. I loved the world-building, the characters and the magical feeling this book provides. Highly recommend and I cannot wait to see the art produced after people read this. The cover is definitely as beautiful as the words inside. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

This is such a beautiful fairy-tale story filled with all the good stuff you expect from a YA faery land - faery bargains that are riddled with deception, glamours, trickery and distraction, magical creatures and mysterious happenings.

The world building is stunningly descriptive, Bex Hogan has a very lyrical sort of style that complements the essence of this genre and the folklore/fairytale-ish vibe.

Our FMC, Nettle, is a really likeable character who doesn’t seem to fit in in her own world but that is part of her draw to me as a reader, and she’s very determined, intelligent and capable despite her naivete. Considering her limited experience with other people, her interactions and experiences in the faery realm make a lot of sense so it doesn’t feel overly frustrating or out of place.

The ending felt a bit rushed, but overall the pacing of the book was great. I think this is a perfect introduction for young teens and adults to the enchanting world and lore of faekind and fantasy novels.

Short, sweet and wonderfully whimsical!

As an avid lover of faerie and a fan of Bex Hogan’s Isles of Storm & Sorrow trilogy, Nettle was on my list the minute I set eyes on it!

It didn’t disappoint. 🥰 full of the wicked bargains we know from the classical fae, a market of danger, found family and love, this was such a cute take on the fae!

The ending felt a little bit rushed, but the book was really well paced throughout apart from those last couple of chapters and I easily could have read this in one sitting had pesky adult tasks not gotten in the way!

Nettle by Bex Hogan is a charming fable that blends folklore and fairy tale in a timeless manner.
Since childhood Nettle has loved the stories of the fairy folk that her grandmother told her, even when they cost her the friendship of other local children. She also loves her grandmother and so when she learns that she is deathly ill she takes a huge risk and finds a way into the Faery realm, a magical world with two moons and scarlet stars. In her desperate state she makes a bargain with the Faery King despite the fact that she should have know better from her grandmother's warnings - she will complete three tasks for the King and in return she will be returned home to the mortal realm and her Grandmother will be well again. Readers familiar with this type of tale undoubtedly know where this is heading, the tasks are seemingly impossible and often throw Nettle into the path of danger. Luckily she is not without friends, as she meets Conor, a young man who came to Faery through a portal centuries before and has not yet been able to perform the task that will set him free. There is also Ellion, a Shadow Faery tasked with watching Nettle on the King's behalf and whom she gradually befriends.
This is a short read that moves at a fairly fast pace. Readers who enjoyed traditional fairy stories will find a lot to enjoy here and while I liked the book, it was not without its flaws. For me the biggest issue was the character of Nettle, I wish we had just a little more to establish her character before she went to the Faery Realm and despite the revelations towards the end of the book I thought it seemed unlike what we did know of her for her to make the choice she did at the end of the book, it just did not sit right with me. I also felt like the author was trying to establish a love triangle storyline but it never really got off the ground, instead it just felt awkward and forced.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

WOW Bex Hogan has written another incredible book ❤️
I loved Nettle so much
I could picture so clearly this fantastic faery world that Bex has created with such beautiful writing and brilliant characters
I was gripped from the beginning and never wanted to put the book down
You won’t want to miss this when it comes out on October 10th ❤️💙🧡💚💜

Thank you for allowing me to read this arc on NetGalley. I thoroughly enjoyed it. With tropes like love triangle and trials/tasks, I found myself absolutely hooked while reading this short YA fairy fantasy. Would recommend to anyone who enjoyed The Cruel Prince but wanted something shorter. There is romance but not very much and it is a subplot.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This is a nice short easy read, and it is impressive that the author manages to create a rich immersive story in such a short book. Nettles is a likeable character, although it did feel a little odd how quickly she abandoned her dream of returning home, I would have loved a final scene with Nettle and her Grandmother. There are quite a few similarities between this book and Nettle and Bone (by T.Kingfisher), with the 3 impossible tasks and involvement of nettles in said tasks, however the setting is different and it should be noted that Nettles are associated in folklore with protection, so their inclusion in both books makes sense from a lore perspective. I would recommend this to those that like fairy tales especially those involving faerie.

I enjoyed the fairy-tale setting packed with magic and mystery. Nettle is an endearing, if slightly naive MC to navigate this world with, and the journey she went on to discover the truth about her past was a good read

Sadly I didn't enjoy reading Nettle all too much. Nettle, our main character and point of view, feels like a poor narrator. Her character (not alone in the story) doesn't feel fully realised to me; she has a lack of characterisation and the narrative crumbles because of it. The writing also feels like it needs a little more nuance and emotion. Nettle [Spoiler! Nettle doesn't even see her grandmother at the end of it all. She only has the grace to send a measly letter. So what if you saved her? You've just ditched her without a goodbye!] sort of fumbles through the story like a bull in a china shop.

I do think the story had potential. There's a reason why the faery world is so intriguing. It's just too bad that it was written this impassively. I mean--Nettle goes from the human world to the faery world and it is just so... absent. There's no charm or mischief or awe. It might as well have been the human world.

But my qualms might be someone else's delight. It's snappy and to the point, action over nuance.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the storytelling in Nettle and relatable, likable characters,. Loved every single second reading it.

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read but it didn't wow me . It played safely on familiar tropes and I wish the author did something a bit more daring with them. It was good overall.

I really enjoyed reading Nettle where we follow the young main character by the same name along her adventures into an unknown faerie realm.

Written from Nettle's POV, we are introduced to a variety of intriguing characters, magical places and of course a bucketful of mysteries to solve as she navigates the faerie lands. As a character, Nettle is quite naive ("I glanced about, and wondered far later than I should have whether this was a good idea.") but possesses an often underestimated (by both the reader and her fellows) resilience and ability to persist which makes her an intriguing protagonist as we want to see how she fares.

What I loved about this book were the nature of the quest for Nettle as the main structure as we follow her journey and the many fantastical elements borrowing from faerie lore as well as other myths and stories, such as shifting pathways, being led astray by magic, faerie bargains and their consequences, the separate but intertwined worlds of humans and faeries, the nod to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream with the quarrelling faerie king and queen etc. I really enjoyed her scenes with different characters such as Ellion, Connor or the market vendor Gammi.

At times, I felt the tone was oscillating quickly from very light and fairytale-like, much of it in the first half, to sudden very dark elements and heavier themes. Similarly, the voices of characters and narrator shifted between seemingly age-old story-telling register to almost present-day turn of phrases which sometimes took me out of the story.
I would have wished for more time and depth, more exploration of some of the very intriguing characters we meet along the way, such as Ellion the shadow faerie, the faerie king, and both the Forest realm faeries.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read and will certainly enthrall teens and young adult readers to explore faerie stories further.
Thanks to Head of Zeus & Zephyr for providing this ARC via NetGalley.

This had a lot of elements that I love in fantasy - a fairy-tale setting, a goblin market, beautiful and sometimes disturbing imagery. The relationships were quite realistic and the dialogue wasn't overdone or cringey.

It was darker than I expected at times, but I didn't mind it and it added to the creepy yet somehow homely atmosphere.

The only thing keeping it from being an all time favourite is the writing itself - it's not bad by any means, but it didn't grip me. I didn't feel the urge to pick it up and it took me just under a week to finish. Also, the pacing felt a bit off to me - some things developed slowly and others quite quickly (such as the ending). I suppose this fits with the fairy-tale style, but it took me out of the flow.

Overall, it's a pretty good fairy-tale and one that I'd recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC

Nettle is such a good book. This story is everything I thought it would be. So so so good. I gave it 4 stars because the plot was super well written, the storyline was immaculate. I recommend.