Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A hearty hello to one of my new favorite books. Seriously, Nettle & Bone was the EASIEST FIVE STAR RATING I’VE GIVEN ALL YEAR!!!
I absolutely adored this story from the very first moments. T. Kingfisher positively swept me up into the humorous, enchanting fantasy quest of my dreams.
Nettle & Bone follows Princess Marra of the Harbor Kingdom on a quest to save her sister. Marra is the third-born daughter in her family. The first born was married to a particular Prince. It didn’t end well.
Now the second-born daughter, Kania, is married to that very same Prince and Marra suspects that he is hurting her. Vorling, the Prince in question, has his sights set on a male heir. If this second sister can’t produce one for him, guess who is next in line?
Marra! This isn’t her main concern though. I mean, yes, that would be absolutely terrible. This guy is basically Joffrey Baratheon reborn.
Regardless, Marra’s only concern is getting Kania out of danger. She is literally willing to do anything in order to free her, including commit murder.
Unsure how to even begin, Marra enlists the help of a Dust Wife. I won’t go into what exactly a Dust Wife is, just trust, this one is one of the coolest characters ever written!
The Dust Wife asks Marra to complete three impossible tasks and then she will help her. Before long, the two set off on the road to the Northern Kingdom, along with the Dust Wife’s hen, who happens to be possessed by a demon.
Thus it begins, the most perfect quest. They gather traveling companions along the way, such as a former, and arguably sexy, knight, as well as a Fairy Godmother.
It’s safe to say that I love this story with the same passion, and frankly, for the same reasons, that I love The Princess Bride. Kingfisher is delivering all the classic Fantasy Quest tropes I adore, while glazing the entire tale with a healthy layer of humor.
Additionally, I enjoyed how she was able to mix real-life themes into this story. For example, partner abuse, which we all know is very real, the way that was explored in this fantastical setting was quite interesting.
As I mentioned earlier, from the very start I was hooked on this story. Previously, I have only picked up Horror stories from Kingfisher, but this proves her talents know no bounds. She crushes any genre she writes in.
I am so happy to have found a new book to add to my all-time Favorites list. I will definitely be picking up a hard copy of this and rereading it at some point in the near future.
As an aside, I did listen to the audiobook and highly recommend that format. The narration was fantastic and kept me dialed in the entire way through.
Thank you so very much to the publisher, Tor and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copies to read and review.
It was such an enjoyable reading experience and the good news is, this isn’t it from Kingfisher in 2022. I’m so excited to check out What Moves the Dead very soon!!