Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
Releasing April 26, 2022 from Tor Books
Nettle and Bone is a wonderful dark, imaginative fairy tale about characters I want to be friends with. I’ve read Kingfisher’s horror fiction before, but not her fantasy, so I didn’t know what to expect — and I absolutely loved this.
Nettle and Bone has one of my favourite fantasy tropes: found family. The story follows a princess, a witch, a soldier, a godmother, a possessed chicken, and a dog made of bone who all set out to kill an evil prince to save Marra’s sister. Marra and her friends are each brave and smart in their own, non-flashy ways.
Nettle and Bone feels fresh and imaginative, and in only 250 pages I feel like the author immersed me in enough lore for an entire series. This world feels completely real and lived in. The mythology developed is cool, unpredictable, and wise. Kingfisher plays with themes around the structure of fairy tales and the value of older, non-traditional heroes.
Although this is fantasy, not horror, I love that Nettle and Bone also embraced the creepiness of fairy tales. There’s a puppet that will haunt my nightmares for sure, and a chase scene set in the catacombs beneath a castle that had me holding my breath.
I think this one will appeal to fans of Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver, Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, and Melissa Albert’s Hazel Wood.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for my review copy of this book.
Leanne Olson 
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