This is another book that has been on my TBR for a while, and since I saw a review of a T Kingfisher book recently, I decided to move it up the list! And what a fortunate coincidence it was, because Nettle & Bone stars Marra, who’s thirty, and I read this just after I turned thirty.

Nettle & Bone starts with a very arresting image: Marra digging around bones to make a bone dog. Why? Because she needs to complete three impossible tasks to get the help of the Dust Witch and free her sister from an abusive marriage. 

In terms of plot, I thought this book was divided into three parts – the first third is the story of how Marra came to ask the Dust Witch for help, the middle section focuses on Marra forming a team, and the last third is the part where they try to free her sister from an abusive husband/king. 

Honestly, Nettle & Bone had such a good balance of everything! I enjoyed the dark fairytale feel of the book – from dust witches to goblin markets to fairy godmothers. I also enjoyed the characters – we start with Marra and the Dust Witch but we quickly meet Fenris, the prisoner in the Goblin Market, and Agnes, another fairy godmother. There’s also a hen with a demon inside which adds to the quirky team. The group dynamics were great, which is why I enjoyed the middle section and thought the book moved along at a good pace.

At the same time, I thought it was interesting how the book explored the tricky questions of family dynamics and abusive relationships. Marra and her remaining sister were not very close, but we see glimpses of sisterly love early on and that helps drive the novel forward. Marra’s sister is also trapped between a rock and a hard place – she’s in an abusive relationship, yet to leave would you be to put her whole kingdom in danger. I did wish for more of these courtly intrigues but overall, I liked how these glimpses of a life very different from Marra’s helped to flesh out the world. 

Overall, this was a riveting book with a well thought out world and quirky yet developed characters. I was rooting for Marra and her friends every step of the way and I am definitely going to be reading more from T Kingfisher now.