After 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. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. 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.

Content Warning: domestic violence, death

I finally read a book by this author and I can see why there is so much hype around her books! I love the fairy-tale aspect of Nettle & Bone. I felt like I was lured in by the wonderful writing and then I was just enjoying this journey that Marra and her friends go on. Marra is a princess who is trying to save her sister from her horrible husband but she needs help in doing so. I thought she was an interesting character, the sister who is put away in a convent but she makes it her mission to save her older sister.

The group of characters that come together to go on this quest to kill the Prince who is married to Marra’s sister, is fantastic. I loved their dynamic and interactions, especially the two older ladies, the dust-wife and Agnes (the godmother). Even though they are taking on a dark type of mission, there was so much humor too.

Of course, I loved the strange pets in this story – Bonedog and Finder! There is even a tiny bit of romance that happens for Marra, which was kind of cute.

As far as this being categorized as horror – I was like…where is the horror? I was expecting something darker and maybe some gruesome scenes but nope. This almost felt like a cozy fantasy. This will definitely appeal to the fans who are not fans of horror.

My Final Thoughts:

I love the fairy-tale story telling and the amazing characters and animals that we meet in this book. Even though Marra’s journey to kill a Prince is wrought with challenges, her motivations for doing it comes from her love of her sister. I love that she found the strength to want to try and save her. This was a fun and quick read!

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