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A review by theirgracegrace
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
As a longtime fan of T. Kingfisher's work, Nettle & Bone was a natural choice to read and a very good decision. Kingfisher weaves together fairy tale tropes and folklore to make a world full of fairy godmothers, goblins, and the restless dead. The tale is told with Kingfisher's trademark snark and humour from the perspective of Marra, a young princess whose older sister has become the abused wife of a wicked king. Her task is to kill the king and free her sister, and along the way finds a witch, a dog made of bones, her own fairy godmother, a demonic chicken and a foreign man whose freedom is bought from the Fair Folk with a tooth. The twists and turns of this book are as hard to predict as the mausoleum of the Northern Kingdom, and well worth the ride.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Cursing, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Abortion, Death of parent, and War
There is one particular scene where the main character's teeth are made to dance in her mouth and one of them is removed. It is very reminiscent of the "imagining my teeth falling out" dream but can be quite disturbing.
There is also a character in the city which has a "curse-child", which is described like a marionette or puppet that chokes and harms her.