Having recently discover T. Kingsfisher, I was interested to see if my first two reading experiences were outliers. After reading the award-winning fantasy novel Nettle and Bone, my conclusion is this author is a keeper. Somehow Ms. Kingfisher manages to pull together unlikely characters using an almost understated writing style and have it so compelling my husband and I were jostling for reading possession of this book while on vacation.

Marra, the protagonist, is definitely the reluctant and unassuming heroine, but it falls to her to make things happen. And amazingly, she does make things happen–mostly through grit and determination. Down to earth and likeable, she gathers others to her cause: a dust wife, a fairy godmother, and a middle-aged, exiled guardsman. One of those in particular provides a deft twist to the plot. The villain is truly despicable.

There is not extensive world-building, as it is not the author’s intent to build a complex fantasy system. Nevertheless, there is magic, a demon-possessed chicken, goblin markets, and impossible creatures made of bone. Wry humor is present in Marra’s internal dialogue which is particularly enjoyable. Well-crafted and highly satisfying, Nettle and Bones deserves the accolades it has received.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 14 religious exclamations; 14 mild obscenities; 1 religious profanity; 2 derogatory names.

Violence/Gore: Character sustains bloody injuries on her hands while weaving together bones with a wire; reports of cannibalism; report of the death of a family member and the body returned for burial; woman has marks of physical abuse on her person and reports husband abuses her; family member is aware of physical abuse and takes not action; character knows how someone is killed/murdered and takes no action; brief descriptive scene of weaving nettles and blood/pain/injury; desire and plan to kills someone; brief, gruesome description of a drowned boy/ghost; references to tending the sick with broken bones and child birth; reference to not believing in suicide; report that someone killed three people; report of killing, no details; character recounts how a young boy’s father flogged him to death because he thought the boy had brought shame to the family; implied and verbal threats; character looks to start a fight and cause trouble and is knocked unconscious by another; description of a dead horse in catacombs; ghost recounts how she was buried alive; device/trap collects bodies of intruders, brief description; brief battle between a ghost and a character; character disintegrates; character is run through with a sword and dies; report of brief torture; character is buried alive.

Sex/Nudity: Innuendo; a husband watches for infidelity; wife says husband allows guards to watch her and her husband having sex; reference to concubine; joke about cleavage; reference to a character having aa few couplings with a man; male and female are attracted to each other; character teases another character about the member of the opposite sex; females watch/admire a male while he chops wood with his shirt off; character tells how a married man was enchanted by a fairy and then had a bastard daughter.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death, murder, domestic physical abuse, politics, parent does not intervene to protect grown children from known, abusive situation.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Reference to drinking wine; tea used to bring on period; a man is drunk and troublesome.