The above was my one-line review the first time I attempted this book and couldn't get past the sampler. According to the Chicago Review of Books, the novel explores the idea of the hero's journey as something that is taken under duress.

It's the sensation of being a little kid who stayed out too long past dinner and sure, you were having fun, but now it’s a moonless night and the forest is dark and you are hopelessly lost. But after years of watching their families and kingdoms pretend all is well, Marra realizes if any hero is coming, it will have to be Marra herself. As Marra watched, the hen lifted her tail, voided her bowels on the king’s broken face, and then strolled to the dust-wife’s shoulder with a satisfied cluck. Her books have the atmosphere of a Hayao Miyazaki movie, in that they are often themed on life, death, and what it means to be human, so even the monsters have human sides, and the humans are often shown to be at least part monster themselves.

It was a finalist for the 2023 Nebula Award for Best Novel [10] and the 2023 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. The villain is very much a background character who gets only a few lines of dialogue and two or three short appearances in the whole book.

the dust wife (demonic chicken’s owner), who is the coolest character and has lived a life of solitude tucked away in a hard to reach graveyard, until marra needs her help and proves she is worthy of it. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.Thus, the task belongs to Marra and the dust-wife, two "grouchy older women who have determinedly set out to right wrongs". Kingfisher, I think, and so far, I don't think I've given a single book of hers anything less than four stars. However, and as Marra continues her journey one can really understand why she really is doing and why. Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince - if she can complete three impossible tasks. The same review also praised the way in which Kingfisher uses humor to contrast with the darkness of the plot.

She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head and slid partway down into the pit, cradling the dog skeleton to her chest. Marra seeks help from a dust-wife, who gives her three seemingly impossible tasks: weave a cloak from nettles, make a dog from bones, and catch moonlight in a jar.It worked perfectly as an introduction to spooky season for me, and for that alone I'm really glad I decided to pick this up on a whim! When she finally tripped up, the two girls on the ends had dropped the rope and they had all begun giggling together. this really had so many elements that i loved and it really just completely worked for me and my reading tastes! If they felt that they were safer here than they were outside it, it was not her place to tell them otherwise.

so i think readers who enjoy fairytales (especially the spooky kind) will have fun with this, but i personally wanted more depth and exploration. I’ll forgive all that for Kingfisher’s easy confident writing full of humor superimposed on the hints of a deeper darkness — and my two favorite old ladies and a chicken.This land was very damp, and she was grateful for the heat, and yet— “Aren’t you worried that they’ll see the fire? At the second part: new team members join their road trip: including a chicken: possessed by demon, a reluctant fairy god mother, a disgraced knight named Fenris ( sweet romance alert) Let’s not forget the dust-wife is very powerful graveyard witch who can make meaningful chats with ghosts. On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Marra realises that Prince Vorling is abusing Kania and decides to find a way to rescue her - by killing him. She had to wrap each tiny foot bone in a single twist of wire and bind it to the others, then wrap the entire paw several times, to keep it stable.