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adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a Kingfisher at her best- dark and cozy fantasy in a very loose Snow White reimagined.
This book has lots of enjoyable elements- a slightly neurotic FMC, a romantic subplot, cozy banter, animal sidekicks (some of whom talk), an alternate world inside a mirror, fairytale components, and a bit of a mystery.
Definitely recommend for fans of Kingfisher, fantasy, horror, or fairytale retellings.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for an electronic ARC of this book. This review was left voluntarily.
This book has lots of enjoyable elements- a slightly neurotic FMC, a romantic subplot, cozy banter, animal sidekicks (some of whom talk), an alternate world inside a mirror, fairytale components, and a bit of a mystery.
Definitely recommend for fans of Kingfisher, fantasy, horror, or fairytale retellings.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for an electronic ARC of this book. This review was left voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Minor: Child death, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a unique retelling of Snow White. The first quarter or so dragged on a bit for me, but also felt necessary for setting up the rest of the story. Healer Anja is a great female main character- strong, competent, and always learning. The mirror magic was a cool way to tie in the magic mirror from the original tale in a different, new way. I also loved the cat! The story was dark, with plenty of humor, and twists along the way.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief
Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love T. kingfisher’s work, so when I found out that she had a new book coming out I was super excited. I was even more excited to get an ARC from NetGalley and Tor so I was able to read this book early—thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early read!
The novel is a retelling of the Snow White story, and I am a sucker for retellings, especially fairy tales. In Kingfisher’s world, Anya is a talented healer, although she’d argue that point. Anya knows about poisons and their antidotes and sometimes can offer cures, often risky ones. When the king’s daughter Snow becomes ill and no one else has been able to help, he comes to Anya as a last resort.
The novel is super atmospheric, placing much of the story in a desert setting (drawn perhaps from the author’s own recent move to the Southwest). I love Anya’s story: she’s no ingenue, as so many main female characters in this genre tend to be, and she’s smart and funny. She’s great at her job, and her world doesn’t revolve around her love interest (although there is one and I enjoyed the way that storyline develops). Anya is energetic and curious AND a single woman in her mid-30s—all parts of her character that kept me rooting hard for her to succeed.
The minor characters pulled me in, too, from the kindly and wise Lady Sorrel to the mysterious talking cat (!!!) Greyling. (Important spoiler:nothing bad happens to Greyling, even though you might be worried about him for awhile—I love this about Kingfisher books, too—nothing bad happens to the animals you come to love!)
I can’t wait to read whatever T. Kingfisher does next!
The novel is a retelling of the Snow White story, and I am a sucker for retellings, especially fairy tales. In Kingfisher’s world, Anya is a talented healer, although she’d argue that point. Anya knows about poisons and their antidotes and sometimes can offer cures, often risky ones. When the king’s daughter Snow becomes ill and no one else has been able to help, he comes to Anya as a last resort.
The novel is super atmospheric, placing much of the story in a desert setting (drawn perhaps from the author’s own recent move to the Southwest). I love Anya’s story: she’s no ingenue, as so many main female characters in this genre tend to be, and she’s smart and funny. She’s great at her job, and her world doesn’t revolve around her love interest (although there is one and I enjoyed the way that storyline develops). Anya is energetic and curious AND a single woman in her mid-30s—all parts of her character that kept me rooting hard for her to succeed.
The minor characters pulled me in, too, from the kindly and wise Lady Sorrel to the mysterious talking cat (!!!) Greyling. (Important spoiler:
I can’t wait to read whatever T. Kingfisher does next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Medical trauma
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Death
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spice Rating: 🌶️ / 5
My Summary: Healer Anja is a poison master and the best in the craft. One day, the king summons her to help save his daughter, Snow, who he thinks might be poisoned. But when Anja arrives to figure out what's wrong with Snow, she is met with a problem that might be unsolvable. Just when Anja is about to give up, she discovers a secret and the real reason Snow is sick.
My Thoughts: T. Kingfisher writes a dark Snow White retelling?! Sign me up!! Though the story starts off a bit slow, it is worth every minute. The main character, Anja, is refreshing with her curiosity, her strength, and her wit. Anja is dead-set on saving the king's daughter, Snow, from the poison ailing her, and not even an unsolvable mystery will stop her. She'll travel far and wide to figure out how to help Snow. Along with the mystery and fantastical elements, there's even a small subplot of romance, which is very sweet and coincides perfectly with the rest of the story. If you love T. Kingfisher's other novels like Nettle & Bone and A Sorceress Comes to Call, you will absolutely love Hemlock & Silver.
My Summary: Healer Anja is a poison master and the best in the craft. One day, the king summons her to help save his daughter, Snow, who he thinks might be poisoned. But when Anja arrives to figure out what's wrong with Snow, she is met with a problem that might be unsolvable. Just when Anja is about to give up, she discovers a secret and the real reason Snow is sick.
My Thoughts: T. Kingfisher writes a dark Snow White retelling?! Sign me up!! Though the story starts off a bit slow, it is worth every minute. The main character, Anja, is refreshing with her curiosity, her strength, and her wit. Anja is dead-set on saving the king's daughter, Snow, from the poison ailing her, and not even an unsolvable mystery will stop her. She'll travel far and wide to figure out how to help Snow. Along with the mystery and fantastical elements, there's even a small subplot of romance, which is very sweet and coincides perfectly with the rest of the story. If you love T. Kingfisher's other novels like Nettle & Bone and A Sorceress Comes to Call, you will absolutely love Hemlock & Silver.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Drug use, Sexual content
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Is Snow White my favourite fairytale? No. Did I throughly enjoy this twist? Most definitely. Instead of young Snow being our protagonist, we have Anja, a woman with a love of learning of and curing poisons since a tragic loss when she was just a young girl. She’s so tenacious in the seeking of answers for all her questions, but she’s also strong and knows when to step back or ask for help which is a breath of fresh air in fantasy novels. This book had the perfect balance of horror, fantasy, sci-fi and romance. It had me in the edge of my seat at one point and cracking up at another. You’re never too old to learn something new, nor are you ever too weird to find your people. Highly recommend
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow to start, as it only picked up about halfway through. but even then it never fully pulled me in and the pacing felt off — basically the entire first half was build-up, so i wish we got less of that and more of the main part of the story. also the romance didn’t do much for me — it would’ve been better with more tension and development, because there was barely any chemistry between them throughout most of the book so it didn’t really seem too believable
nevertheless, the premise and world itself were really cool, with everything to do with the mirror dimension. plus i do really enjoy kingfisher’s storytelling and the darker elements included in this story
thank you to netgalley and tor publishing group for the arc!
nevertheless, the premise and world itself were really cool, with everything to do with the mirror dimension. plus i do really enjoy kingfisher’s storytelling and the darker elements included in this story
thank you to netgalley and tor publishing group for the arc!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent
Minor: Rape, Sexual content
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Full disclosure - this is the first book I have read by T. Kingfisher, and I now know that I have been missing out! I am looking forward to exploring her work further and was grateful to receive this ARC to review. This is also my first - so many firsts! - ARC Book Review.
First, let’s look at this cover - it’s gorgeous! You’ve got these beautiful poisonous flowers, belladonna, foxglove and hemlock of course, in the corners, this snake-like creature made of plants, apples, fantastic execution.
So, this is a fairy tale reimagining of the Snow White tale, you’ve got a princess named Snow, weird fruit that are a little out of place, evil queen activity and some wacky magic mirror business.
Personally, I love the magic mirror business because - mirrors are weird, here in reality not even in a magical book world but the magic mirror business was particularly well done and borderline spooky if you’re into that. There were moments that it was slightly confusing, but it nearly felt intentional, because, it's magic mirror business.
Things I really liked about this story was the world building. While it was clearly a fantasy tale, the plants and descriptions of the desert plants were all very - real. The tale takes place in the desert and as she is describing the plants I was like, this sounds really specific, very similar to the high desert of New Mexico.. Well, it turns out, the author is currently living in New Mexico.
So, if you love plants, you will love the plant storyline, especially if you have a particular knowledge and fondness for poisonous plants, like I do, which isn’t strange at all.
This story is more fantasy than romantasy but there was a sprinkling of that in there as well, which wasn’t forced and worked quite well. I am not a Romantasy expert by any means but if you are looking for that, it’s present and if you’re not, this is a good enough story and the romance isn't overwhelmingly. So, worth reading even if you’re not here for the heart eyes.
End Result - Hemlock and Silver got 4.3 Stars from me.
It comes out in August, it’s delightful, well written and a lot of fun. And this cover is going to look so good on your shelf. Seriously. Just frame it.
Extra special thanks to Netgallery and Tor Publishing for this eARC and the opportunity to share this review with you.
First, let’s look at this cover - it’s gorgeous! You’ve got these beautiful poisonous flowers, belladonna, foxglove and hemlock of course, in the corners, this snake-like creature made of plants, apples, fantastic execution.
So, this is a fairy tale reimagining of the Snow White tale, you’ve got a princess named Snow, weird fruit that are a little out of place, evil queen activity and some wacky magic mirror business.
Personally, I love the magic mirror business because - mirrors are weird, here in reality not even in a magical book world but the magic mirror business was particularly well done and borderline spooky if you’re into that. There were moments that it was slightly confusing, but it nearly felt intentional, because, it's magic mirror business.
Things I really liked about this story was the world building. While it was clearly a fantasy tale, the plants and descriptions of the desert plants were all very - real. The tale takes place in the desert and as she is describing the plants I was like, this sounds really specific, very similar to the high desert of New Mexico.. Well, it turns out, the author is currently living in New Mexico.
So, if you love plants, you will love the plant storyline, especially if you have a particular knowledge and fondness for poisonous plants, like I do, which isn’t strange at all.
This story is more fantasy than romantasy but there was a sprinkling of that in there as well, which wasn’t forced and worked quite well. I am not a Romantasy expert by any means but if you are looking for that, it’s present and if you’re not, this is a good enough story and the romance isn't overwhelmingly. So, worth reading even if you’re not here for the heart eyes.
End Result - Hemlock and Silver got 4.3 Stars from me.
It comes out in August, it’s delightful, well written and a lot of fun. And this cover is going to look so good on your shelf. Seriously. Just frame it.
Extra special thanks to Netgallery and Tor Publishing for this eARC and the opportunity to share this review with you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thank you to Tor Nightfire for this arc! Hemlock & Silver is a refreshing new take on a familiar story. I enjoyed Anja’s character, as well as the light romance between her and the guard. A very enjoyable read for anyone who likes story retellings, strong female characters, and sassy sidekicks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Fatphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Alcohol