T. Kingfisher

From USA Today bestselling author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress Comes to Call—a dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic. Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers. After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away together on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister. And indeed Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother. How the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind. "Kingfisher never fails to dazzle."—Peter S. Beagle, Hugo-, Nebula-, and Locus-Award winning author of The Last Unicorn "Kingfisher is an inventive fantasy powerhouse."—BookPage

A Sorceress Comes to Call

Emily McMeans

“It was a strange reflection that, like Hester turning the cuffs on her gowns, you were somehow allowed to be poorer if you were rich than if you were actually poor.”

I will never be disappointed by T. Kingfisher. I don't care, I don't care. This was her longest book to date (I believe), but it still read like a dream and had me believing in everything I read.

Kiersten

I love T. Kingfisher. This is such a unique and stunning reimagining of the Goose Girl fairytale.

Mel 

I love T. Kingfisher. This is such a unique and stunning reimagining of the Goose Girl fairytale.



ARC provided by Tor Publishing Group via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

, because Kingfisher has become one of my to-to authors. This is a retelling of 

… but a little loosey-goosey with the details. (Apologies for the pun. I couldn’t resist. ) It’s more of a reimagining than a retelling, all-in-all. For being billed specifically as a “dark retelling,” it honestly wasn’t much darker than the original. That marketing is probably meant for people who only know the watered-down Disney versions and think the world “fairytale” is synonymous with words like “happy” and “charming.” So 

 is much more in line with the original. And since I cut my teeth on The Brothers Grimm, it is no surprise that I enjoy Kingfisher’s novels so well.

"It was the calm of a burned-out house or a ravaged field, the calm that comes where there is no longer anything to lose."

I loved the characters. The story has two third person POVs: Cordelia, the isolated, abused but stalwart daughter of the sorceress and Hester, the wily spinster sister of the sorceress’s latest target. Both of them were endearing and entertaining.

It was also a story that centered on women. The main characters and the villain are all women as well as several side characters. And nearly all of them are strong in their own way. The story expertly explores the different relationships between those women while contrasting supportive female friendships with toxic relationships. But it was all handled in a subtle way, not the in-your-face preachy kind.

This story did not have as much snark as many of Kingfisher’s other books. It had heart for sure, but it did not have that trademark sass that I expect from Kingfisher books. Oh, there were certainly moments of it. And I enjoyed those snippets greatly.

‘Eh?’ Hester realized that her brother had been speaking. ‘What was that? You have to speak up, my hearing’s not what it was.’ (This was entirely untrue, but she had found that it was a very good excuse when she had simply been ignoring a dull conversation.)”

 was macabre and creepy but not as horror based as some of Kingfisher’s other books. The scariest part was probably how the sorceress could control other people’s bodies and Cordelia’s descriptions of her mother forcing her “obedience” by controlling her body and making her outwardly act like the perceived perfect daughter.

There also was not much worldbuilding. It was vaguely set in late 1800s England but without giving specific details. I suppose, not much detail was needed if you just accept it was very close to the rules of that time and place but with magic added in. For a real-life anchor, the story frequently quotes 

The Ladies' Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness

 – a real book from 1860 full of repressive strictures for young women.

It did take the horror elements a long time to build steam. For a novella, it was fairly slow-burn with nearly all the action happening at the end of the book. But then again, since it was a novella, readers don’t have long to wait to get to that part. For me, the characters were compelling enough to hang around even in the parts that were mostly dialogue. Though I can imagine that if the main characters don’t resonate with a reader, they probably won’t enjoy the story.

Although not my favorite of Kingfisher’s stories, I did still appreciate 

. I will continue to read pretty much anything she writes, because I love her witty, creepy writing style!

Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars

Colleen

A creepy retelling full of gumption

ARC provided by Tor Publishing Group via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


I was thrilled to get an ARC of A Sorceress Comes to Call, because Kingfisher has become one of my to-to authors. This is a retelling of The Goose-Girl… but a little loosey-goosey with the details. (Apologies for the pun. I couldn’t resist. ) It’s more of a reimagining than a retelling, all-in-all. For being billed specifically as a “dark retelling,” it honestly wasn’t much darker than the original. That marketing is probably meant for people who only know the watered-down Disney versions and think the world “fairytale” is synonymous with words like “happy” and “charming.” So A Sorceress Comes to Call is much more in line with the original. And since I cut my teeth on The Brothers Grimm, it is no surprise that I enjoy Kingfisher’s novels so well.

"It was the calm of a burned-out house or a ravaged field, the calm that comes where there is no longer anything to lose."


I loved the characters. The story has two third person POVs: Cordelia, the isolated, abused but stalwart daughter of the sorceress and Hester, the wily spinster sister of the sorceress’s latest target. Both of them were endearing and entertaining.

It was also a story that centered on women. The main characters and the villain are all women as well as several side characters. And nearly all of them are strong in their own way. The story expertly explores the different relationships between those women while contrasting supportive female friendships with toxic relationships. But it was all handled in a subtle way, not the in-your-face preachy kind.

This story did not have as much snark as many of Kingfisher’s other books. It had heart for sure, but it did not have that trademark sass that I expect from Kingfisher books. Oh, there were certainly moments of it. And I enjoyed those snippets greatly.

"‘Eh?’ Hester realized that her brother had been speaking. ‘What was that? You have to speak up, my hearing’s not what it was.’ (This was entirely untrue, but she had found that it was a very good excuse when she had simply been ignoring a dull conversation.)”


A Sorceress Comes to Call was macabre and creepy but not as horror based as some of Kingfisher’s other books. The scariest part was probably how the sorceress could control other people’s bodies and Cordelia’s descriptions of her mother forcing her “obedience” by controlling her body and making her outwardly act like the perceived perfect daughter.


There also was not much worldbuilding. It was vaguely set in late 1800s England but without giving specific details. I suppose, not much detail was needed if you just accept it was very close to the rules of that time and place but with magic added in. For a real-life anchor, the story frequently quotes The Ladies' Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness – a real book from 1860 full of repressive strictures for young women.

It did take the horror elements a long time to build steam. For a novella, it was fairly slow-burn with nearly all the action happening at the end of the book. But then again, since it was a novella, readers don’t have long to wait to get to that part. For me, the characters were compelling enough to hang around even in the parts that were mostly dialogue. Though I can imagine that if the main characters don’t resonate with a reader, they probably won’t enjoy the story.

Although not my favorite of Kingfisher’s stories, I did still appreciate A Sorceress Comes to Call. I will continue to read pretty much anything she writes, because I love her witty, creepy writing style!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

A Sorceress Comes to Call

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