check trigger warnings before reading this book! not too many & not too detailed, but serious!

i attempted to read this book a few times. each time i got a little stuck in the very beginning. i suppose the book was sort of just waiting for the right time to be read, just like it took t. kingfisher many years to finally write it. it finally decided and forced itself upon me this month, and i’m glad it did. t. kingfisher is one of my favorite authors, and nettle & bone is a perfect look into why i love her. marra (in her 30s!!) is stubborn and brave, somehow patient AND impatient, and filled with fierce compassion for and dedication to those she loves. i loved marra, despite it taking her quite some time to get the point (for more issues than one). the dust-wife and agnes are wonderful, and i want them to date, even if that wasn’t kingfisher’s intention. fenris is strong, kind, and loyal, and his ability to be vulnerable was heartwarming/breaking. the animals in this book are incredibly written as well, and they get as much attention as the humans. in her author’s note, kingfisher wrote that the line that inspired this book “showed up in [her] head and started hammering away like a tuneless earworm,” and i have to say, i’m grateful she took the time to give it a tune. it will now rattle around in my brain forever, and i’m happy to have read it. i recommend this completely and enthusiastically, and i think my heart is better for reading it.