I loved this. The writing, the characters, the story, everything. It was beautiful, creative, creepy, and sweet. ( )

85000

I love the way Ursula tells her fairytales, and I especially love her casts of deeply interesting characters. This book is full of all the best things about cozy fantasy. ( )

This book came highly recommended by many people, so I gave it a chance expecting to love it. Ultimately, I found the book was just okay. I like the concept, and there were some really cool ideas (bonedog and demon chicken being standouts), but it felt underdeveloped. The book itself is only 250 pages, so we don't get into worldbuilding (who is the lady of grackles? Who is Agnes' mother?), and the relationship between Marra and her love interest doesn't get the room to develop. The fact that we have two kingdoms simply named "the Northern Kingdom" and "the Southern Kingdom" only adds to my issue with the worldbuilding. Though I liked it, it felt like the kind of book that could be great if it was developed further. ( )

Mara is the last sister in a royal family. Both of her older sisters have had to marry a prince in a neighboring kingdom for protection of their kingdom. Mara is sent to a nunnery, not to become a nun but to be protected. To make sure she has no children, takes no husband , and is there in case the prince needs a third wife. Mara spends 15 years in the nunnery living her life, waiting for something. Her first sister died within a few months of marrying the prince. Her second sister has been married to the prince for a very long time. They’ve had one child, who unfortunately dies at approximately the age of 10 from the plague. It’s at this funeral that Mara discovers her sister is being abused by the prince and determines she’s going to get even. She is going to kill the prince. However, this is not an easy task as in this world fairy godmothers exist, and the princes fairy godmother has blessed him that no magic or other harm can come to him. Mara sets out on her to complete three impossible tasks: one to make a cape of nettles and wear it, two bring bones back to life, and three to capture moonlight in a jar. And it’s only once she’s done that the bone wife can help her break the blessing to kill the prince. This review is in sequential order, however the book is not. The book starts as Mara is creating her bone dog. Of her weaving the bones together with wire, hoping against hope that she can get this pile of marrow to create life. Throughout the book you’re going backwards and forward in time both with what happened tomorrow and what happened to her family. This book is phenomenal. The storytelling, the writing, the overall what’s going on. The reader is glued from the first sentence until the very end of the book. This will not be my first T Kingfisher and I see why she has a devoted following. It’s only recently that I have learned that Kingfisher is a pseudonym for Ursula Vernon. Ursula Vernon writes fabulous children’s books. She’s known for the Dragonbreath, series, and other fully illustrated kids’ books. I have read and loved those books in the past so it makes sense that since that I would love her other works. This book was so good. The author is now on my auto buy list. ( )