Take a photo of a barcode or cover
mindsplinters 's review for:
A Sorceress Comes to Call
by T. Kingfisher
dark
emotional
tense
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:
Complicated
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 8/6/2024. Full disclosure: I am a completely fairy tale nerd. I once took a class about fairy tales and was the only one with my hand still up after he got through a list of obscure ones. So a retelling is right up my alley and this? This is an amazing, wonderful, dark, powerful retelling of a fairy tale that is so often overlooked - The Goose Girl. TW: If mental and emotional child abuse is not something you can read, give this a pass. Kingfisher means it when she says it's dark.
Cordelia and her mother and the horse Falada live a very insular life where everything mother says is law and Cordelia is somewhere in between servant and daughter and puppet. Quite literally. You see, when she says her mother makes her obedient, this is not just an overly strict parent. Evangeline is a sorceress and she periodically takes control of her daughter's body if she thinks Cordelia is not behaving enough. She needs Cordelia to be very obedient and very well-behaved because she intends to marry the poor girl off to the richest man she can find and thus finance a life of luxury for herself... and nothing will get in her way. Evangeline and Mother Gothel from Tangled would get on like a house on fire while comparing parenting techniques, let me tell you.
The motion of the story erupts when Evangline sets her sights on an older, simple-souled bachelor Squire who happens to have a very sensible and capable sister. Suddenly, Cordelia has other people in her life and the fears she has lived with no longer can affect only her. Woven in a magical tale, the themes of obedience and bravery and making your own choices stand out like bold bright ribbons. What does it take to be brave? How can someone overcome their own self-doubt? Or how they've been trained for endless years? What do you risk for love?
The story POV splits itself primarily between Cordelia and Hester, the Squire's sister, but as they head further into the darkness and find each other more, things blur in a delightful way. Found family is precious and good people are like diamonds and these are lessons that Cordelia discovers by herself and from Hester. Everyone can have a purpose. Everyone can have choices.
There are some delightful twists from the origin tale and a lot of the original bits are buried and masked in very skillful ways to the point where finding those clues was like discovering gold. Aha, my brain said, I see you! But those just serve as bonuses because, really, the story stands up perfectly well if you don't know The Goose Girl from a hole in the ground. I am 100% going to have to buy this and add it to my Fairy Tale Shelf, though. Just so I can re-read it again - thus fueling new moments of heartbreak, uplift, and Fear of Horses. Please go read this and join me!
Cordelia and her mother and the horse Falada live a very insular life where everything mother says is law and Cordelia is somewhere in between servant and daughter and puppet. Quite literally. You see, when she says her mother makes her obedient, this is not just an overly strict parent. Evangeline is a sorceress and she periodically takes control of her daughter's body if she thinks Cordelia is not behaving enough. She needs Cordelia to be very obedient and very well-behaved because she intends to marry the poor girl off to the richest man she can find and thus finance a life of luxury for herself... and nothing will get in her way. Evangeline and Mother Gothel from Tangled would get on like a house on fire while comparing parenting techniques, let me tell you.
The motion of the story erupts when Evangline sets her sights on an older, simple-souled bachelor Squire who happens to have a very sensible and capable sister. Suddenly, Cordelia has other people in her life and the fears she has lived with no longer can affect only her. Woven in a magical tale, the themes of obedience and bravery and making your own choices stand out like bold bright ribbons. What does it take to be brave? How can someone overcome their own self-doubt? Or how they've been trained for endless years? What do you risk for love?
The story POV splits itself primarily between Cordelia and Hester, the Squire's sister, but as they head further into the darkness and find each other more, things blur in a delightful way. Found family is precious and good people are like diamonds and these are lessons that Cordelia discovers by herself and from Hester. Everyone can have a purpose. Everyone can have choices.
There are some delightful twists from the origin tale and a lot of the original bits are buried and masked in very skillful ways to the point where finding those clues was like discovering gold. Aha, my brain said, I see you! But those just serve as bonuses because, really, the story stands up perfectly well if you don't know The Goose Girl from a hole in the ground. I am 100% going to have to buy this and add it to my Fairy Tale Shelf, though. Just so I can re-read it again - thus fueling new moments of heartbreak, uplift, and Fear of Horses. Please go read this and join me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse