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A review by iam
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
I really enjoy T. Kingfisher's fantasies, they always feel cozy and warm, even when their themes are quite distressing. A Sorceress Comes to Call was no exception.
Apparently this is a retelling of the Goose Girl fairy tale, bit as I don't have any recollection of that fairy tale, I will not judge it based on that. That said, some of the aspects of worldbuilding and vibes definitely felt vaguely fairy tale-ish, with how it felt magical and kind of light and airy.
The plot follows 14 year old Cordelia and middle-aged Hester, who has chronic pain. Cordelia's mother, a sorceress who emotionally and mentally abuses her daughter, is on the hunt for a new husband, and Hester's bachelor brother is her newest victim.
As Cordelia dreads what her mother is going to do to these nice people, Hester can feel the impending doom, but does not quite understand what is going on - the only thing she is sure of, is that poor Cordelia is suffering under her mother.
The themes of child abuse and manipulation were like a shadow of dread constantly looming over the story, and every time there was a beam of hope breaking through the cover, it got squashed quite quickly.
Despite that feeling, it was not an entirely dark book, which I appreciated. I think part of that was because, while vily and manipulative, the sorceress is also made clear to be very arrogant and egocentric, to the point of not being subtle. Not that that causes her to be any less awfuly or horrible, but it opens avenues for the protagonists to fight her, and it aided it the feeling of no matter how awful it is in the moment, there is hope and there will be a happy ending.
I will admit that I read this in part because I heard this is a horse book (TM). There is a very prominent horse, which is particulary important in the beginning and in the end, so in that way I got my fill. However, I did absolutley NOT expect the horse to play the role it did in the story, so that was a surprise!
I did enjoy the story, especially the combination of a child and adult protagonist. Their interactions were quite adorable at times, and I think this mix of both child-like charm and adult themes and stories is something Kingfisher excells at.
That said, I felt like not all plotlines came to their full fruition. There were several things I felt were hinted at that ended up going nowhere, though maybe I misinterpreted the hints?
Some way the plots ended were a bit surprising to me, but also made me feel quite tender in how they respected the characters and their wishes.
My only real complaint is that I wanted more of the geese!
Apparently this is a retelling of the Goose Girl fairy tale, bit as I don't have any recollection of that fairy tale, I will not judge it based on that. That said, some of the aspects of worldbuilding and vibes definitely felt vaguely fairy tale-ish, with how it felt magical and kind of light and airy.
The plot follows 14 year old Cordelia and middle-aged Hester, who has chronic pain. Cordelia's mother, a sorceress who emotionally and mentally abuses her daughter, is on the hunt for a new husband, and Hester's bachelor brother is her newest victim.
As Cordelia dreads what her mother is going to do to these nice people, Hester can feel the impending doom, but does not quite understand what is going on - the only thing she is sure of, is that poor Cordelia is suffering under her mother.
The themes of child abuse and manipulation were like a shadow of dread constantly looming over the story, and every time there was a beam of hope breaking through the cover, it got squashed quite quickly.
Despite that feeling, it was not an entirely dark book, which I appreciated. I think part of that was because, while vily and manipulative, the sorceress is also made clear to be very arrogant and egocentric, to the point of not being subtle. Not that that causes her to be any less awfuly or horrible, but it opens avenues for the protagonists to fight her, and it aided it the feeling of no matter how awful it is in the moment, there is hope and there will be a happy ending.
I will admit that I read this in part because I heard this is a horse book (TM). There is a very prominent horse, which is particulary important in the beginning and in the end, so in that way I got my fill. However, I did absolutley NOT expect the horse to play the role it did in the story, so that was a surprise!
I did enjoy the story, especially the combination of a child and adult protagonist. Their interactions were quite adorable at times, and I think this mix of both child-like charm and adult themes and stories is something Kingfisher excells at.
That said, I felt like not all plotlines came to their full fruition. There were several things I felt were hinted at that ended up going nowhere, though maybe I misinterpreted the hints?
Some way the plots ended were a bit surprising to me, but also made me feel quite tender in how they respected the characters and their wishes.
My only real complaint is that I wanted more of the geese!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder