SF/F Review - Nettle & Bone
Nettle & Bone, by T. Kingfisher
Synopsis: A princess undertakes a quest to save her sister from a marriage to a lethally abusive king.
Book Review: Another well-done basic story. Our heroine Marra undertakes the classic Campbellian Hero’s Journey using a slightly modernized fairy tale setting. Refusal of the call, mentor, descent to underworld, it’s all there, and it’s done very well. The story flows smoothly, the prose is easy to read and in many places beautiful, the characters are extremely likable, and the whole thing is enjoyable!
We all know from very early on that nothing truly terrible can happen to any of our protagonists, which makes for stress-free reading. It does lower the stakes significantly, but the focus here is on the interplay of charming characters we enjoy seeing interact with each other, and also win a lot—not on danger or tension—so this is good for this novel.
The simplicity of the story is obviously intended, so it should be counted as a strength. When you’re looking for a good, honest Hero’s Journey tale, you have a stellar option here. If you’re looking for a subversion of fairy tales or modern deconstruction or something, you’re barking up the wrong tree. :)
That being said, we didn’t enjoy this as much as we could have in our book club, due to bizarre marketing. Several people were set up to expect something very different, and expectations are HUGE. This is a fantastic YA book, perfect for a reader in the 10-15 yr age range. We’ve read some great YA in the book club, but we always knew what we were getting into. No one was aware this was YA going in, and expecting something that is going to be subversive or deconstructive or something led to disappointments.
At least two members were expecting a horror or horror-adjacent novel. This has some moments that reflect the darkness of traditional fairy tales, but there’s a big chasm between “darkness of old fairy tales” (in some parts) and “modern horror.”
One member was very much looking forward to seeing an actual adult woman portrayed realistically in a fantasy novel, because she’d been told she would get that. She did not get that. The protagonist is a typical 14-year-old YA protagonist. Innocent, enthusiastic, and wide-eyed. The novel claims at two points that she is thirty years old, but this is an obvious lie. There is no conceivable way she’s out of her teens. Our mid-twenties reader was very frustrated at how immature the supposed-thirty-year-old was, her longer rant is here. I suspect that maybe she was “aged up” so it wouldn’t be weird for her to have a relationship with a late-30s warrior-chad. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In short, very good at what it does, but with bad marketing. I’m kinda torn on the recommendation. It’s a great YA, but I have a long-documented irrational dislike of YA stories. Worth reading to get in on the conversation if you are in circles that talk about goings-ons in the SFF scene. If you’re just reading for yourself and your tastes are like mine, meh, Not Recommended.
Book Club Review: It’s OK. Some things to talk about, particularly regarding how fun the characters are. And you, too, can grouse about unfulfilled expectations! But there’s nothing deeper here to really get conversation churning. If your group is looking for a YA, this is perfect! Otherwise, there’s better things out there, not recommended.