Fully Booked — Episode 11
Reading is something that used to be great, until life got in the way. But it doesn’t have to be like that — you can have a life and love reading, and we’re here to help. Welcome back to Fully Booked, the series for people who don’t know what to read or where to start.
It’s fantasy, but not as you know it! Nettle and Bone sits in its own little fantasy niche where the heroine isn’t reluctant so much as resolved, because if nobody else is going to fix the problems in her kingdom, she’s going to damn well do it herself. Nettle and Bone is a stand alone fantasy, so no need to worry about accidentally starting a nineteen book saga and regretting it, this book is one and done and I love it for that. For fans of character driven novels, you’re going to love this, because our heroine actively shapes her own path and doesn’t wait for anyone on the side to swoop in and save her.
Nettle and Bone — T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon)
STATS
Borrowed from — my library’s E-resources
Pages — 245
Trigger warnings — fantasy violence; murder; mentions of domestic violence, abuse, and implied rape.
Rating — 5/5
Oooooohohohohoho this was great. Having come fresh out of a hot mess, over contrived, too-long YA fantasy, my expectations were extremely low for something which sounded like it could plausibly be about similar things. However, I will gladly and openly admit that I was wrong, because this book slapped, and I couldn’t have been happier with how everything turned out.
Nettle and Bone tells us the story of Marra, princess of the Harbour Kingdom, who was never really suited to royalty. The youngest of three daughters, Marra is clumsy and generally considered to be undesirable, but is still sent away to a convent to keep her safe in case her sisters should die and Marra is required to marry the prince of their threatening neighbour kingdom. When Marra’s eldest sister dies after suffering a fall down stairs, and Marra sees her next sister marry the prince, she begins to wonder at the nature of the accidents that seem to befall only the women in the kingdom next door. Escaping the convent, Marra seeks the advice of a powerful grave witch, who confirms her suspicions and tells her she can have the solution she seeks, but first must complete three impossible tasks. Knowing that nobody is coming to save her sister or her kingdom, Marra sets out to do the impossible herself. Of course, she picks up stragglers along the way, but that’s what formerly-cursed knights and demon-possessed chickens are for, right?
Nettle and Bone started out as a writing exercise for the author which ended up growing into a fully fleshed story, and I’m telling you this because it will explain some of the layout of the plot and the setup. There was exactly the right amount of vaguery surrounding the world building so that I didn’t need to know more, and was perfectly content to just know the immediate players. No additional context was necessary, no historical knowledge, fancy place names, or just-for-this-book fantasy elements to grapple with — just good, old fashioned, “this is where they live and that’s all I am telling you”. For those of you concerned that there might not be enough detail for you, fear not: there’s loads of detail, but we don’t need to have pages and pages of reference material to set up a series because this isn’t one. I have to make a special note here too, travel throughout the world was conducted with excellent attention to the amount of time it actually takes to travel on foot. No fantasy workarounds, these people really do just have to walk for weeks to get to where they’re going and the author is not about to contrive the characters out of it for once.
Every single character in this was delightful, and an example of what writing real people who aren’t made entirely of tropes looks like. I am simply in love with the dust-wife and I think I want to be her when I grow up. A ramshackle cottage in the middle of a wasteland where nobody comes to visit me unnecessarily and I can peacefully confer with spirits? Sign me up! Marra herself was also a delight to read about. We’re shown that she is clumsy, and doesn’t suit her role as a royal since she asks too many questions and cares too much about everyday people — but not once is she annoying about it. Marra for me was the perfect example of how you can have a character that is not like other girls, while having her also not be Not Like Other GirlsTM. You know? Marra was different but not insufferable, and despite being a fantasy main character, actually relatable! We were even offered realistic depictions of a sisterly relationship — which is to say, one hated the other for no reason other than they’re related — which was awesome!! The romance element in this book wasn’t overplayed or overwrought, and that’s exactly the way I want to see all romances play out from now. Nobody was pining for weeks, or spending time thinking about how hot the other person was — forget playing fantasy romance bingo with this book because I couldn’t find a single trope element to cross off.
There was enough thinking to keep me challenged but also enough action so that all the thinking didn’t get boring. There’s quite a lot of discourse about the morality of marital alliances, sacrificing an individual for a greater cause, and a little bit of commentary on wealth disparity in this but that’s what makes it so good because it’s not a fantasy book that’s disconnected from reality. Also in case the trigger warnings didn’t tip you off, there are monsters shown in this book, and none worse than a very wealthy, privileged man who’s never faced a consequence in his life.
An excellent read that really took me for a ride and a half. I loved this so much, and I hope you will too! I recommend it a thousand times over, especially if you’re getting bored of the same bog-standard, predictable fantasy tropes.
