Rating: 5⭐️

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher reads like a the type of fairy tale that you would expect from the a grimmer or perhaps Grimm era of fantasy fiction. Dark, magical, full of secrets and royal kingdoms gone awry. 

There’s a terrible prince, several sister princesses whose awful fate has been sealed by their small Kingdom’s geography, and their younger sister who finally decides on a journey of revenge. 

Kingfisher’s incredible tale brings us bone dogs, fairy godmothers, ghosts and a journey full of unexpected adventures, overwhelming odds, and , at the end , love in a number of different forms. 

I don’t think I’ve read anything by T. Kingfisher before but now I’m on a mission to discover everything this author has written. The imagery and beauty of this book, the fantastic characters and unsettling but gripping story just thrilled me as a reader. 

Dark, magical, fabulous. 

No real romance but ends on the promise of a potential romance in the future for the main character of Marra.

Winner of the Hugo award for Best novel of 2022 (a fact I wasn’t aware of before I read it) , this book absolutely deserved it. 

Highly recommended! 

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comNettle & Bone: Kingfisher, T. – Books

Blurb 

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel

An Instant USA Today & Indie Bestseller

An Oprah Daily Top 25 Fantasy Book of 2022

A Vulture Best Fantasy Novel of 2022

An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022

A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee

From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure.

*The very special hardcover edition features a gold foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*

This isn’t the kind of fairy tale where the princess marries a prince.

It’s the one where she kills him.

Marra ― a shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter ― is relieved not to be married off for the sake of her parents’ throne. Her older sister wasn’t so fortunate though, and her royal husband is as abusive as he is powerful. From the safety of the convent, Marra wonders who will come to her sister’s rescue and put a stop to this. But after years of watching their families and kingdoms pretend all is well, Marra realizes if any hero is coming, it will have to be Marra herself.

If Marra can complete three impossible tasks, a witch will grant her the tools she needs. But, as is the way in stories of princes and the impossible, these tasks are only the beginning of Marra’s strange and enchanting journey to save her sister and topple a throne.