Nettle & Bone

By: T. Kingfisher

Narrated by: Amara Jasper

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

2023 - Hugo Award - Winner

2023 Nebula Awards - Nominee, Short-listed

2022 NYPL Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2022 NPR Best Book of the Year, Long-listed

2022 BookPage Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2022 Shelf Awareness Best Books of the Year Long-listed

From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure.

This isn't the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince.

It's the one where she kills him.

Marra never wanted to be a hero.

As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn’t so fortunate—and after years of silence, Marra is done watching her suffer at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince.

Seeking help for her rescue mission, Marra is offered the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks:

—build a dog of bones

—sew a cloak of nettles

—capture moonlight in a jar

But, as is the way in tales of princes and witches, doing the impossible is only the beginning.

Hero or not—now joined by a disgraced ex-knight, a reluctant fairy godmother, an enigmatic gravewitch and her fowl familiar—Marra might finally have the courage to save her sister, and topple a throne.

"Nettle & Bone is the kind of book that immediately feels like an old friend. Fairytale mythic resonance meets homey pragmatism in this utterly delightful story. It's creepy, funny, heartfelt, and full of fantastic characters I absolutely loved!”—Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage

©2021 T. Kingfisher (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Deeply satisfying and darkly funny feminist fairytale.... At its heart a story of good people doing their best to make the unjust world a fairer place, this marvelous romp will delight Kingfisher’s fans and fairytale lovers alike.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Blending fairy-tale familiarity and common-sense characters, Kingfisher’s prose balances grim circumstances with humor and heart. Readers of Alix E. Harrow’s A Spindle Splintered and Melissa Albert’s ‘The Hazel Wood’ series should pick this up immediately.” —Library Journal, starred review

"Kingfisher’s combination of comedy with feminist rage in a complex fairytale setting makes for a wholly entertaining read." -- Buzzfeed

fabulous

loved the characters, storyline, magic, and world. the narrator was absolutely fantastic as well.

Terrific!

I really enjoyed the story and the narrator really made the story immersive. I laughed, I teared up, all while listening at the gym!

Refreshingly Dark

Great story all around. This is my first book by Kingfisher and I appreciated the originality, the twists and turns of the plot, and the capable but imperfect characters. It did get a little confusing at parts that went back and forth in time (which is easier to differentiate visually with font changes) but I highly commend the voice actor (because the vocal range and changes were very well done) who gave much to the performance!

Tore through this in two days - loved it

Wonderful characters, everything described in a way that instantly I was visualizing the places and people. I am new to Kingfisher and will definitely be picking up another of their books.

Difficult beginning

Get through beginning, then plot moves along. Quite fun and interesting. The characters are well developed. Bone dog is marvelous.

slow start but worth it

my first kingfisher book. slow start initially (almost reurned it!), but well worth the credit.
amazing voice range by narrator Amara Jasper. Will certainly be exploring more Kingfisher books if this is the caliber of work produced

Fabulous!

Wonderful, inventive, inspiring , this is a story for the ages. A heroine who is almost a nun almost a hero but in fact more than a hero because she creates a team of mismatched but perfectly matched partners to save her sister, a sister who says she hates her. The sheer inventiveness of the plot, the world created by the author is alone worth the price and the narration is top notch.

Great story!!!

Listen to this story all the way down the road. Very glad I selected it for our road trip.

Fables are Fun

I just love these stories. They are reminiscent of those that I loved and lived by as a child. So full of wonder and charm. As always - thanks to Ursula for having such a lovely mind and willingness to share it with us.

Wonderful, unique fairy tale

I love this story. A totally fresh new take on magic and fairy godmothers. Brilliant narrator, too!