Marra is the third born Princess of a small Kingdom and she teams up with a motley crew comprising of a Dust Wife with a demon possessed chicken, Fenris a on the run former Knight that they rescue from a goblin market and a reluctant fairy godmother to save Marra's sister Kania from her abusive  husband.

There were definitely some interesting concepts woven throughout this but none were delved into deep enough for me, the story felt very matter of fact, told in a blunt straight to the point way where I wanted more exploration and development. It feels like it should be a dark fairytale yet doesn't fully reach that potential, in my opinion. The story is clearly tackling the subject of domestic violence through a fairytale medium, and although the world is intriguing and darkish, there was something disjointed in the execution for me... I think the attempts to make the story sweet and lighthearted with a very basic romantic subplot threw me off as I wanted it to fully lean into the darker aspects of the story.

This was my first book by this author and overall I enjoyed her writing, descriptive without being too dense, enough world building without feeling info dumpy, detailed characters with layers and an interesting plot that kept me listening. I came across this in the Audible Plus catalogue and for an included listen I can't complain, it is worth giving a go if you're looking for a standalone adventure/fantasy that kinda gives Baba Yaga vibes. It's also my first narrated by Amara Jasper, who was great to listen to.

"Nothing is fair, except that we try to make it so. That’s the point of humans, maybe, to fix the things the gods haven’t managed."

"Let it lie,” the godmother said. “We’ll find out soon enough. There’s nothing we can do either way.” “I can fret,” snapped Marra. “And I intend to!” “And I won’t stop you.” Agnes patted her arm. “A good fret is balm for the soul. Just don’t overdo it."