3⭐️

When Anja is summoned by the King to Witherleaf Villa to heal his daughter Snow, the Healer is wary of the scale of the task ahead of her. But when she arrives, she discovers poison may be the least of her problems. A magic mirror acts as a portal to a dark alternate dimension which, contrary to holding a cure for Snow’s sickness, houses an evil which may just consume them all…

I’ve been wanting to read a T. Kingfisher novel for a really long time, and I can see why they’re so popular! Hemlock and Silver is a clever and humorous dark retelling of Snow White, filled with mystery, tension, and unexpected plot twists. The writing is clever and witty, and I was immediately drawn to the alchemy of poisons, which is always a great basis for a good story! The dry humour had me chuckling and acts as a great counter to the tension in the book. I also loved the aesthetic of Four Saints in the desert landscape. It wasn’t what I was expecting in a Snow White retelling, but it was a fun surprise!

I found the start quite slow however, and by the time the story really got going 30% in I was a bit weary and struggled to connect with it. The narrative wanders a bit, and it was hard to follow the trajectory at times as result.

I wasn’t wholly drawn in by this one, but I’d be keen to read more by the author as I genuinely enjoyed their sharp and witty writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is an unusual and intriguing retelling of Snow White. Instead of a teenage princess as our main character we have a 35 year old poison specialist who is summoned by the king to find out why his daughter Snow is ill. Perhaps someone is poisoning her? With the help of one of the bodyguards, our heroine Anja, tries to solve this mystery.

This book is really slow paced. Anja keeps thinking and talking about various plants and poisons, in detail ..a lot. I admit I was a bit bored at times but the plot kept me curious and it was still hard to put down. It’s really well written and you get swept into the story right away. I also like that Anja is over 30 since a lot of authors seemes to think they are really wild an crazy if they let their characters are 25 or older.

I’m also a fan of how the mirrors are vowen in to the story and used in the plot. How several of the fairytale elements are incorporated in this story in a fun, and at the same time, horrifying way.

T. Kingfisher is turning into one of my favourite authors! I actually read this book in one day and that barely happens anymore.
I loved Anja’s character. She was awkward, sarcastic, obsessed with poisons and had a soft spot for animals. The romance was cute, if not entirely necessary, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Even though this was a fairytale inspired story, the world was very unique and not what I was expecting at all. It also was only very loosely inspired at best.
The central mystery was well done and I really felt like we were unraveling it with our main character. I just wish we’d seen a little bit more of the cat!
As usual I loved the authors signature dark humour and had so much fun with this story I didn’t want to put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!