Marra, a princess of a small kingdom, is living at a nunnery. For political reasons, her big sister has been married off to a prince of a militarily strong neighboring kingdom, but she dies in an accident soon after. Her next sister has quickly been married to the same prince. When that sister's first child has a christening, Marra is invited. It turns out that life as a queen isn’t very nice when your husband is an abusive brute. The christening goes fairly well, but a fairy godmother who blesses the child is pretty scary with an unusual blessing. Marra returns to the nunnery, but as she hears that her sister is pregnant again (and her husband is now the king), she decides to do something. She seeks help from a powerful grave witch, an old woman who can talk to the dead. She sets Marra tasks that are meant to be impossible, but Marra finishes them and, while doing them, creates a living skeleton of a dog. Together, Marra and the dog start their journey to save Marra’s sister, but at first, they seek out Marra’s fairy godmother, who initially seems to be quite a letdown - apparently, the only enhancement she is easily capable to grant is “good health.” Together, the three take a short side trip to the fairy market and free a former warrior who has been imprisoned there. Now they face just a small task: to save Marra’s sister - and perhaps to get rid of the brute of a king.
The story is told in amusing, fairytale-like language with a strong undertone of wry humor. All the characters are funny and delightful in their own way with slightly different sorts of humor. The book is very enjoyable, fun, and even exciting - how that bunch of unlikely people could possibly defeat a closely guarded king of a powerful nation. But looks can be deceptive - they all have something more that can't be seen at first glance. The book did have a slight YA feel, but that didn’t harm it at all.
256 pp
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