Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well actually, kind of a bird…. It‘s the MarquessMagpie crawling out of her hole to finally write a review again.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher started out as my bedtime e-book, but grabbed me enough that it got promoted to my “main book“ pretty quickly. I think I picked it up after hearing about it on All the Books.

I would say it‘s a fairytale for people who are sick of them. Let me show you the ingredients that make this story special:

  • The princess: Marra is not sweet 16, but 30 and not the least interested in marrying. Instead, she‘s great at needlework and out for revenge.
  • The prince: Well, he‘s not the charming kind at all. He married both of Marra‘s sisters, killed the first one and abuses the second one. So of course we set out to kill him.
  • The gravewitch: While being a weapon all by herself, she‘s got a demon chicken and she‘s not afraid to use it.
  • The fairy godmother: She‘s better at cursing than at blessing, but she‘s doing her best.
  • The bone dog: A story is always better with an animal sidekick, so who cares if he rattles a bit.
  • The lumberjack-type love interest they pick up along the way: I already forgot his name. Gladly, the story centers on Marra‘s quest and the group dynamics.

The timeline was a bit confusing at first, but straightened out once the gang got together. At it‘s core, it‘s a revenge quest story with some adventures along the way. What worked really well for me was Kingfisher‘s clever and snarky writing style and great group dynamics.

4/5 Magpies