Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) has an amazing ability to write adult fairy tales that sound exactly like the stories I grew up with. The tone, pace, and tropes like fairy godmothers in Nettle & Bone are all as should for a comforting reading experience, no matter the grimness of the story.

Marra is a princess who has had to watch first the beloved eldest sister and then the second sister be married off to a prince to protect her country from invasion. If the second sister dies too, Marra will be next, so she’s whisked off to a cloister to keep her safe—not from the prince but for him.

Fifteen years of secluded life later, she’s unprepared, at thirty, to deal with the realisation that the prince abuses her sister physically and mentally, and the only thing keeping her relatively safe is to stay pregnant. But that’ll only last until she delivers a boy.

Filled with anger for her sister, Marra sets out to save her with a vague notion that such a heroic act needs a heroic journey and deeds. She meets a witch who gives her three impossible tasks, and then decides to accompany her on the quest. Good thing too, because Marra wouldn’t have survived without her. They are joined by a knight with a death wish and Marra’s fairy godmother who isn’t quite what she seems.

But it isn’t just the prince they need to defeat. There’s a curse on his kingdom, and until that’s dealt with, Marra’s sister and her child are as good as dead.

This was such a wonderful book. Marra was an excellent character, slightly slow and naïve for her age, but utterly determined to see her quest through. In the end, her role in saving her sister was mostly about getting together the people who could do it for her. The two old witches were brilliant and fun, and the knight a mature man who was just perfect for Marra. The language was rich and the narrative delightful, and if the world was a fairly generic fairy tale kingdom, with Christian concepts like christening thrown in the mix, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.