T. KINGFISHER PLEASE WRITE FOREVER

Her mind honestly astounds me, I will read anything she writes. How this author comes up with her ideas blows my mind. This is Snow White like you've never seen before, despite having the familiar elements (poison apples, magic mirrors and an evil queen), the author manages to make it feel utterly fresh and exciting and brand new. I love the characters that the author crafts, Anja felt so genuinely real, she has to be one of my favourite main characters of T. Kingfisher's I've read so far. There's a HINT of romance, just a whisper, which is utterly perfect in this story. There's a talking cat!! As with every book she writes, I want 10 more set in the same world. Brilliant!

When we talk about autobuy authors, T. Kingfisher is certainly one of them. This time I didn't pre-order the book, though. I had all toes and fingers crossed to get my hands on a Waterstones Exclusive edition when in London! Luckily Tor granted me a digital review copy through Netgalley while waiting.

This must be one of the most impossible to describe books in the universe. The author always has unique books, books that are hard to fit into boxes, but this book, this book is so much at the same time! It's romantasy, it's fantasy, it's fairytale retelling, it's horror, it's humor, it's serious, it's lighthearted, it's funny, it's dark. It's everything at once! I think at least one element of the story will speak to anyone. The question is if you like the combination of all those elements. Or not.

I also loved loved loved the heroine in this story. It's quite clear from the beginning that she's an academic specialized in poison. She knows everything about poison, antidotes, plants and animals. And just like the love interest in the story I really enjoyed all her knowledge and how enthusiast she was whenever she discovered something new. And secretly, I was very happy to see an intelligent, smart, nerdy girl being loved by a brave soldier! So few men can deal with their girls being smarter!

The world building in this book is also truly amazing! I have to admit that I was not entirely certain where this story was going in the beginning, but once we learned what was truly going on with Snow things got better and better and I just wanted to read on to discover more and more. I know that the author sees this a little as a Snow White (and Rose Red) retelling, but there is also a lot of Wonderland in this book and I wish there was more! Please, give me more!

This Snow White mystery retelling follows Anja, a poisons researcher hired by the king to investigate and cure his ailing daughter Snow. The older princess and queen recently died (the former having her heart carved out by the latter, who was then killed by her husband), and the king is anxious to avoid losing another child. Anja travels to the Witherleaf estate and begins her observations, accompanied by two guards and her research subject/colleague, a snake. The mysterious decline in Snow's health leads to a stunning revelation. <spoiler> The princess has found a way into a mirror world and continues to deliberately eat dangerous foods to continue travelling there.<spoiler> The protagonist follows in the Kingfisher tradition of practical, middele-aged heroines dealing with an underlying and increasingly sinister situation,
Kingfisher's latest fairy tale reimagining has a subtler darkness than others in this category of her work. It does include elements of body horror in the latter half, brief mentions of cannibalism, and descriptions of medical symptoms, but these are clinical in their presentation (unlike certain parts of Thornhedge, another of Kingfisher's fairy tales). While this is not to say the book is wholesome (except for the gradual romance subplot), the insidious elements rest more in the mystery and manipulations than actual events and descriptions.
As a Snow White retelling, this was refreshing in its take on the magic mirror, the murderous queen, and the passive Snow White. <spoiler> Unlike others, this Snow takes deliberate actions, and when she endangers herself, it is with purpose.<spoiler> Though the magial element could have stepped up earlier, hints were placed in the first half to make the second feel continuous enough. A worthy addition to fairy tale retellings, and one of the fantasy books where mystery is ascendant to mystical.

I’m a T. Kingfisher fan through and through, so it’s no wonder I adored Hemlock & Silver!

The story follows Anja, a healer who drinks poison in her search for cures to the incurable. When the King summons her to save his dying daughter, Snow, Anja leaves her quiet life for the royal court. With the help of a stoic guard, a vain cat, and her own relentless curiosity, she searches for a cure, uncovering a hidden world within a magic mirror. Inside lies the truth behind Snow’s illness, or the threat that could destroy them all.

One of my favorite things about this book is Anja herself. T. Kingfisher is known for writing older protagonists, and I loved that Anja isn’t the typical fantasy heroine. She’s awkward, doesn’t fit society’s mold of what a “lady” should be, has interests others think are strange, and she’s older, unmarried, and uninterested in children. What I really appreciated is that these qualities never change and are even shown as her strengths rather than her weaknesses.

The magic and the worldbuilding were incredible! The mirror realm especially enchanted me. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it was fascinating, unique, and unlike anything I’ve ever read. Exploring it through Anja’s eyes, with her scholarly mindset and curiosity, made it even better. I also loved the mystery behind Snow’s illness and what was hidden at its root. Even though it was a little predictable, it was still such a joy to unravel. And Snow herself was wonderfully written. She actually behaved like a child, which felt so refreshing!

The pacing was also great. The beginning is a little slow, but once it picks up, the story completely pulled me in and didn’t let go. I absolutely adore Kingfisher’s writing style: sharp, witty, cozy but also a bit uncanny, with just enough horror vibes to keep things interesting. Her prose always hooks me without fail!

There’s even a small romantic subplot, which I really enjoyed. As a romance lover, I would have loved a bit more of it, since the reveal of feelings came on a little suddenly. Still, I’m a sucker for the “guard and his charge” dynamic, and it made me so happy. And I can’t forget the talking cat! A sassy talking cat that feels exactly like how a cat would talk if they could. That alone deserves extra points!

The one part I didn’t love was the villain at the end. It was pretty predictable, and the villain came across as a bit cartoonishly evil. Everything wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly for me, especially considering how big the conflict actually was.

Still, this is T. Kingfisher, so I was bound to love it. Hemlock & Silver reads like a dark fairytale with touches of cottagecore, filled with warmth and wit. I absolutely loved it!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I don't know from where T.Kingfisher gets her inspiration, but I'm praying it doesn't stop! 'Hemlock & Silver' is an original take of the Snow White story, with complex characters and a fully developed world. The story was engaging and some of the twist made me gasp! Also, one of the characters is a sassy talking cat - how could I not love it??!!!!

Healer (...although Poison Mistress truly has a nicer and more accurate ring to it) Anja has just imbued some poison (no big deal, she does it all the time for research), when the actual King stops by her workshop to tell her a) he murdered his wife, and b) he needs her help saving his daughter, 12 year-old Snow. Uh. That's one way to introduce oneself. Although she's reluctant to leave behind the people who need her (any potential patient), Anja can't exactly refuse the KING and so she travels with him to his castle. She's skeptical that some dark unknown poison is at play here, but Anja is quickly stumped as to what else it could be. There are zero answers for the longest time, despite having some help from a mind-speaking cat who's kind of an asshole, and a (handsome) guard who mostly communicates in grunts, but proves to be a rather clever sounding board, assisting and protecting her as she collects her thoughts and delves deeper into the enigma. But what helps her most, is her own relentless inquisitive nature; one day, her persistence is rewarded when she discovers a whole hidden, dark world within the castle's mirrors.

Hemlock & Silver is at times called a retelling of Snow White, but I'd rather say it's influenced by it, some elements of the fairy tale used as inspiration and reimagined. A lot of it is very different. For example, there are no dwarves, and Snow White is a white-haired 12 year-old brat. Rather than recycle the story in a more literal sense, Kingfisher focused on one aspect (the magic mirror) and built an eerie world and story around it featuring characters that are born entirely out of her own imagination. I liked Kingfisher's original take on it, and that she kept a few recognisable (and in a sense nostalgic) pieces of the classis Snow White story intact.

I adore Anja, the protagonist. The story is told from her PoV, so the reader really gets to know her and how lovely she is. It's not how she would describe herself - she's without tact, very analytical and absolutely not good with children. She also, disturbingly, describes herself in a very negative way (putting herself down). I think Anja's self-image isn't meant to be great, still single at 35, but I still think it's an off-putting decision by the author. It gives sabotage. And it's even more off-putting because it's not convincing, and thus unnecessary. I feel she deserves better? Anja has such a strong personality, and her quirks actually make her incredibly endearing. There is likely some neurodivergence happening here: Anja is very skilled at her work in poisons and constantly researching, questioning. Her hyperfocus can be intense but it pulls the reader into her thought processes as she tries to unravel the mystery. To break these moments, Kingfisher included a ton of dry humor. It's clear from the actual very first sentence that this book is darkly funny and most of that can be attributed to Anja: either in her own thoughts or through her interactions with either her guard Javier or the mind-speaking cat Grayling.

That's right. This book has a mind-speaking cat. He's not the first talking cat I've come across in books recently, but he is such a sassy, arrogant b*tch of a feline, and it's everything I imagine an actual cat to be. He gives me the most whiplash though. There are frustrating moments when he's not being forthcoming or helpful - or very reluctant. (Which doesn't make sense to me.) Then there are times Anja can absolutely depend on him. And finally, on a few occasions there is this pure tenderness when he seeks Anja's literal warmth and companionship by snuggling in bed with her. Those vulnerable moments delight me. 

Javier is her love interest, and I wish he'd have been an additional PoV character. Since he's her only partner in solving this mystery, his PoV would have provided a contrasting approach and more variation to the narration besides Anja's constant questioning. But more importantly, it would have elevated the romance. He sadly remains somewhat underdeveloped as a result (we also get next to no information about who the man really is besides a guard), and the romance doesn't build up as nicely as it could have. There is also a misunderstanding trope that's unfortunate, and takes too long to get resolved, so it's a bothersome wrench that I as a reader would have liked earlier clarity on, by way of his PoV. The romance we get, I do like though. Javier is very protective, there's a good "touch her and die" moment, there's caretaking (the man braids her hair, FFS - hello). His subtle actions convince and he's a good guy for our Anja. The moments they do share are powerful, because Javier knows that this woman means what she says and says what she means. He is a goner for her, and oh if only we're told about it from his perspective... But we're denied, darn it. 

I feel Kingfisher has done this - underdevelopment - with other characters in the book too. She dangles some interesting carrots, only to have them fizzle out. Anja's tutor Scand is brought up several times, his importance to Anja very clear. I kept expecting him to show up in the story, but he doesn't. The King is interesting too (I thought he was going to be the MMC at first) but he actually leaves the castle and doesn't come back, which... is unfathomable to me given that his daughter is so very ill. Snow barely gets interactions with Anja and is completely unlikeable. The eventual villain also doesn't get enough "screen time" or background to really have an impact, either. The mystery sort of falls flat for me because of that. For a standalone story to hit home, deeper character development is more important than detailed worldbuilding.

The story gets a little bit lost in these details, I think. I like the concept of the mirror world very much, but I found myself struggling to grasp what the story is trying to do or be at times. I think the visual concept with the mirror world doesn't always translate well to the page. It's creepy, and the descriptions are vivid enough to picture, but the world-within-a-world is also very ambitious and ends up being confusing. I feel the place itself lacks purpose. The story would have benefited from a more simplistic, contained mirror world with (again pointing out the need for) fleshed out characters connected to it. In the end I stuck around mostly for the romance and for Anja, both factors engaging enough to keep me invested in the book and I enjoyed how those plot lines were wrapped up. The rest is rather anti-climactic.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan MacMillan, Tor for generously providing me with a copy of this book; all opinions expressed are honest, voluntary and 100% my own.

Hemlock & Silver is my first foray into Kingfisher's work and I'm pleasantly surprised by it - it's a dark retelling of Snow White with added layer of intrigue and charm. Anja's inner monologue is hilarious and I audibly laughed out loud multiple times while reading this. A healer tasked to figuring out whether the king's daughter is poisoned, she descends into fantastical mirror worlds with the help (arguable) of a snarky cat.

It took a while for me to really absorb ithe story, and in the first half of the book I found myself waiting for the pin to drop! The latter half definitely gripped me, fully steeped in eerieness and the greyness that pervades the mirror world.

Overall an enjoyable read with whimiscal fantasy touches, and I also enjoyed the romantic subplot which was done intricately to not overpower the plot. I did, however wanted a darker and more sinister twist to the overall story but it was a great lil read!

Unfortunately this one was disappointing for me, and I say this as someone who counts Nettle & Bone and Swordheart among their favourite books. Hemlock & Silver contains a lot of what you would expect from a T. Kingfisher novel, but not done as well as in her other books in my opinion.

Whilst the FMC Anja did endear me at the start, I felt that she lacked depth of character as I continued reading. I also felt that there was a lot of info-dumping, especially in the beginning, and that it was difficult to picture and make sense of the world. The magic associated with the mirror was not well explained and the sections of the book dealing with this felt clunky.

I did enjoy the mirror cat and the protective guard/romantic subplot to an extent, but as I said, I think these elements are executed better and with more depth in some of Kingfisher’s other books. There was a lot of Anja telling us there was romantic tension without actually just creating it.

I still consider myself to be a fan of Kingfisher’s work and there are many more books I want to get to, this one hasn’t deterred me from doing that, but sadly this was a bit of a miss for me.

Thanks so much to Tor and Netgalley for the e-ARC.

This was just so much fun, a retelling of Snow White that was still recognizably the story but different enough that you couldn't predict where it was going or how it would end.

A grumpy poison expert is called upon to try and heal the king's daughter. Except nobody knows what is causing her illness and it isn't long before Anja is thrust into a magical world despite refusing to believe in magic.

Healer Anja fits in with many of the author's MFCs - she's a little awkward, a little nerdy, she's older than your average female main character and perhaps more importantly of all, she doesn't really like kids. Anja rejects the idea that as a woman she has to be motherly and comes across all the more real because of it. Snow wasn't particularly likeable, but she was 12 and she was struggling with so much, but she grew on me like the vicious little fungus she is. There is some romance going on, but that is not the focus by a long shot, and it comes across far more naturally and believable as a result.

I loved the setting, this desert world with animal saints instead of gods. Kingfisher has a wonderful talent for creating rich and detailed worlds, religion, culture and lore that make me hungry for more books set in these fictional worlds. It isn't fair that we see so little and I hope she returns to the setting one day.

There was some very well written surprising elements of horror too, the mirror-geld's were a sight to behold. And the descriptions of the mirror shades... it was creepy and I loved it.

Of course, the cat was the best character by far, not only because he's a talking cat but because she's really captured the essence of what a cat actually is. His motives and his behaviour make so much sense, and are so believable. I want him to have all the cream in the world.

Just completely entertaining, I was smiling the whole way through - when I wasn't grimacing in horror of course. I couldn't put it down and this just reinforces my belief that T. Kingfisher is one of the best fantasy writers out there.

Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25⭐️
This was a really good book, I liked the characters and the plot... the big plot twist really got me. I have a love-hate relationship with the T. Kingfisher's books I've read so far, and I was dreading starting this book because this was my last try with her books, and I am actually glad I did because I genuinely liked this book better that all the other, and that is saying something considering I also hate Snow White. The book had very similar vibes to her other book, but for me it was the plot that got me hooked. So if you enjoy her books or you are unsure where to start this is a good place to start.

This is a very nifty retelling of the Snow White fairytale – although there isn’t a slovenly dwarf in sight. And we don’t see the story from the viewpoint of any of the main characters who feature in the tale we know. Instead, the action is told from the point of view of Anja, a grumpy and rather obsessed woman who specialises in finding antidotes for poisons after a defining moment in her childhood.

I love Anja. I think she’s one of my favourite heroines. Her social awkwardness and pin-sharp focus on all things poison-related leaps off the page, often in hilarious ways. And I’m also very impressed at the amount of research Kingfisher stacked up to have this knowledge pour forth from Anja as the result of her life’s work so convincingly. Anja’s a delight – from her refusal to wear anything other than brown on the grounds that it’s a colour that copes with bodily fluids without looking too awful, to her unwillingness to nurse her patients back to recovery after she’s treated them, as she simply doesn’t have the patience for that sort of work.

So when the King suddenly turns up in her workshop and asks for her help, Anja is genuinely poleaxed and very reluctant to leave the sanctuary of her familiar routines and everyday tasks to check if Princess Snow is being poisoned. Of course she goes – there wouldn’t be much of a story if she didn’t. And then Kingfisher’s own brand of magic goes to work. The sense of slight wrongness – Snow’s visible fragility, the clear concern of all the staff for her wellbeing and then the terrible bouts of vomiting… Anja sets about trying to discover the cause of the problem, meeting a dead end at every turn. And yet, there’s something not quite right within the isolated estate. She feels she’s being watched when she’s asleep – wakes up suddenly with the strong sense that someone else is in the room and sees what might be a trick of the light.

The tension cranks up steadily in amongst the daily scramble to try and discover what ails the little girl before it’s too late – because little Snow clearly dying. I particularly love that the princess isn’t remotely cute or adorable. It’s done very well. Frankly, it has to be – because this isn’t a genre I enjoy all that much. I don’t mind being made uncomfortable while reading if the disquiet is being built on real stakes that matter. But I’ll hurl a book across the room the minute I feel the mood is simply being amped because that’s what the horror sub-genre demands. A fair number of books have been flung over the years. Kingfisher doesn’t resort to such tricks – her plotting is always excellent, her threats are real and awful and her protagonists are always someone I truly care about.

Needless to say, I tore through this one far too quickly as I was desperate to discover what happens. I love the play on the silver part of the title – so clever and apt. There’s also quite a sweet romance unfolding along with the main adventure. To be honest, I could have done without it – but it doesn’t hold up the narrative unduly and the romantic lead proves to be quite useful in uncovering a dastardly plot. Very highly recommended for fans of excellent fairytale retellings. While I obtained an arc of Hemlock & Silver from the author via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

As always I enjoyed T Kingfishers writing however the rest of the story of the story was not my favourite. The plot didn't keep my attention unfortunately like the last fairytale retelling I read from this author and the characters were not my favourite. It felt very info dumpy at times and I didn't find the information very fascinating to read. Still a well written story and would recommend to people who have liked T Kingfishers other retellings but this one wasn't for me unfortunately.

I was so excited when I heard that T Kingfisher was writing a Snow White retelling, and I’m so happy to say this didn’t disappoint!

This had all the cosy, quirky charm of Kingfishers other dark fairytales, and definitely had her signature horror twists throughout. I was immediately intrigued and invested in our FMC Anja and found her inner monologue hilarious.

While some of her more cosy dark fairytales are more vibes over plot, I was totally invested in the plot for this one, and actually would have loved to explore the world more! There is also a romance subplot that had me begging for crumbs the entire time!

Overall I cannot recommend this one higher if you’ve loved her previous works like Nettle and Bone and the Saints of Steel series, you will not be disappointed!

4 stars

I adored T. Kingfisher's writing. It's always entertaining and enthralling, and this was no exception.
This retelling of snow white was fantastic. I love the way everything was crafted. The use of mirrors and the lore and magic was amazing.
The story was entertaining, and the spooky vibes were fantastic. The romance was great, and my favorite thing was that our heroine was a bad*ss, which is a staple from T.K.'s books.
This was definitely another win from T.K. and only cements my love for their writing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

In the hands of another author this could have been a ho-hum retelling, but Kingfisher never does “just another fairy tale.” What we get instead is something that feels familiar yet consistently subverts expectations. That exact balance is what makes her work so addictive. You never quite know what’s coming, but you do know it will be fascinating.

Reading the blurb, you’d be forgiven for thinking Snow White is the main character, but thankfully we’re given Anja, someone far more nuanced. She’s sharp and flawed, self-aware in a way that borders on comically brutal in her inner monologues, and often feels endearingly unbalanced in the best way. There’s an awkwardness to her, almost spectrum-coded, that makes her voice all the more compelling.

Like much of Kingfisher’s work, the story doesn’t shy away from brutality. The world may first appear familiar and fairy-tale-bright, but the darker turns always serve a purpose. The Snow White echoes that remain are used to devastating effect, with the mirrors and the iconic red apple reimagined with ingenuity and weight.

The creature work here is a particular highlight. It’s eerie, unsettling, and perfectly revealed, and beautifully offset by Grayling, the wonderfully arrogant cat who repeatedly steals the show (and had me laughing out loud more than once).

Don’t expect a lovely sing along storybook. This isn’t that. Expect something stranger, sharper, and far more memorable.

I don't think Kingfisher can ever miss for me, as this was another fantastic fairy tale retelling!
I'll just make a list of what my favourite things here were, cause that's probably as coherent as I can be when it comes to Kingfisher's bangers.
- A 35 year old female MC that isn't stick thin, and that is weirdly obsessive about poisons.
- As always, great romance with a very sweet but strong man. No toxic masculinity here, no sir!
- Very interesting version of the snow white fairy tale. She took all the elements of it and really blended them together, so much that I often forgot I was actually reading a snow white story - but also all done so well and with so much originality!
- So much heart in this. Loved it.

🍎 The cover screams poison and adventure. The cover illustration is a dead giveaway of the contents of the book: a whimsical retelling of the Snow White fairytale. There's the apple, and there's the poison. There's a specific symbolism there, especially with Anna, the main character, being obsessed with the venomous snakes and poisonous plants. Fun fact: I had to look up "hemlock" fifty pages in (funny how it was staring at me from the center of the page) because I didn't know what plant it was more exactly.

🍎 Mysteries of the Looking Glass. Now that I think about it, I feel like TK mashed together various other fairytales, including the story of Alice and her Cheshire Cat. She added the silvery sheen of the glass, an one-eyed elusive cat, and a knight in shining armour (non-iron). They all went in and out through the mirror, trying to figure out how the world worked.

🍎 The twists were predictable, although I did indeed miss one of them (the ambusher who crashed the mirror). But the rest? They played out the way I thought they would, leading to an ending that felt a bit anticlimactic.

🍎 Humor falls through the cracks. The narrator has a very distinctive voice, infused with humor, plenty of swear words, interwoven streams of consciousness, and a very matter-of-factly vibe. Honestly? I would have preferred a darker and more serious approach, especially since she was supposed to be a level-headed scholar specializing in poisons.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Tor Books for the ARC!

I am never going to be able to look at mirrors in the same way again.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read the eARC for my honest review.

T.Kingfisher has done it again! A beautifully woven, thought-provoking, fairy-tale retelling about Snow White.

Anja is an expert on poisons; she is a problem solver who is determined to find cures and isn’t the best at social situations (me too girl). Her inner dialogue was enchanting and had me cackling.

The King shows up to request her help to save his daughter Snow, who he believes is being poisoned.

Anja travels across the desert with the king's retinue, her two guards and a poisonous snake… and this is only the beginning!

Kingfisher is a master storyteller who crafts beautiful worlds, that tend to be cosy, relaxing, slow paced yet have dark themes mixed throughout. I haven’t read any of her horror books yet, but I must say the whole aspect of the mirror world really creeped me out, the tension kept building, little things kept happening and the suspension was unreal.

The romance is a sub plot and doesn’t take away from the story, hell you don’t even realise there could be a romance subplot until about 50% in! But the romance is so beautiful, had me giggling, kicking my feet and sighing!

"That's humans for you, I suppose. In dreadful danger, with the weight of the world crushing us down, we'll somehow still find ourselves thinking, I wonder if he likes me?"

I will say this is the one book of Kingfishers that actually left me wanting more, an extended epilogue would have been really good, but I understand. It did wrap up nicely and wasn’t required, just would have been nice (I'm greedy, okay).

It was a little slow in the beginning, but I'm not sure if that's because I am used to listening to all her books on Audio, 4.75 stars for me.

T. Kingfisher remains the undisputed queen of cozy-creepy, and Hemlock & Silver is another jewel in her thorny little crown. It begins as a deliciously dark retelling of Snow White, but instead of apple-cheeked innocence, we get Anja, a 35-year-old healer with a specialty in poisons, a blunt mouth, and the kind of dry humor that doesn’t even realize it’s funny.

She reminded me a lot of Robert Jackson Bennett’s Ana Dolabra. If Ana were dropped into a folkloric tangle like this, she’d look a lot like Anja: practical, prickly, and irresistible on the page. Snow White herself mostly hovers in the background while Anja and her companions (human and otherwise) solve a mystery that refuses to resolve the way fairytales are supposed to.

For me, the first 40–45% was the clear highlight. That’s where Kingfisher’s worldbuilding shines: weird magic, clever setups, slow-burn tension, and characters who pop off the page. I was fully locked in; no notes, five stars incoming. Then came the twist: a portal fantasy shift around the halfway point. Personally, portal fantasy isn’t my jam. The change of setting and scope pulled me out a little. I even paused for a quick gaming break (only a few hours) I still finished the book the same day, but the vibe shift softened my enthusiasm just enough to land at a solid 4 stars instead of a glowing 5. To be clear: this is taste, not a craft failure; readers who enjoy portal fantasy will likely be thrilled with where it goes.

A sharp, funny, cozy-dark fairytale with a heroine I adored. Even with my portal-fantasy bias, Hemlock & Silver is an easy recommend and another reminder of why Kingfisher wears the crown.

Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

My first T. Kingfisher! I love fairytale retellings and the premise of this immediately caught my attention. I appreciated how Anja, the FMC, was crafted as a 'normal' person just trying her best in the face of difficult and dangerous situations and self doubt. There was a wit and humour in the writing style that I was pleasantly surprised by in such a dark and eerie world. It added to the charm of the story and endears Anja to the reader when she is otherwise quite singularly focused on poisons (and eventually Javier - a character I thoroughly enjoyed and who brought a very sweet romance sub-plot with him).