Firstly, the tonal shifts in the story are amazingly well handled. There is so much to love in this story and also be hugely impressed by. After three impossible tasks are set Marra gets one of the most powerful dust-wives to come with her on a mission that will also include a killer with a death wish and a truly terrible fairy godmother plus a chicken possessed by a demon. Her hope to free Kania lies with the mysterious guardians of the graveyards who know how to talk and learn the secrets of the dead - the dust-wives. Over the next fifteen years Marra grows wiser to the ways of the world and realises that Kania is married to a violent controlling and abusive husband who also happens to be very powerful and under the protection of a ancient fairy godmother’s blessing. Her second sister Kania is then married to renew the partnership and Marra is required to void any political entanglements to stay in a nunnery. Her first sister Damia wed the Northern Prince Vorling to seal a treaty between two kingdoms but then she died unexpectedly from an apparent fall.

Marra is the youngest of three princesses for a fairly small harbour kingdom. In T Kingfisher’s excellent novel Nettle and Bone, we get a brilliant tale that uses various familiar elements but creates something dark, unique, hopeful, and probably one of my favourite novels of the year. There are of course the retellings but another rich stream in fantasy are the writers who take these elements and give us new stories playing on the riffs but perhaps with unexpected outcomes. As time passes various writers get to play with these elements and create new and impressive stories. The forest that hides its secrets the youngest son always gets the adventures and perhaps most common women do not cross any lines we impose upon you. Reading fantasy you are often conscious of the various recurring elements that stories use. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last. On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning. Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince-if she can complete three impossible tasks. Price - £16.99 hardcover £6.99 Kindle eBookĪfter years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra-the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter-has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. I would like to thank Sarah from Titan Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

T kingfisher nettle and bone