This was a brilliant example of a fantasy novel that’s set in a world that isn’t overly fantastical, at least, it’s not overrun with magic, but there’s an undercurrent of something otherwordly going on right from the beginning.
Hemlock & Silver is T. Kingfisher’s new book release, publishing today.
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Anja is a healer who isn’t like other healers – she has had a lifelong passion for poisons and antidotes and regularly tests them on herself. She is in the process of doing this when the king turns up and asks her to come and save his daughter who appears to be victim of a mysterious poisoning that no one, not even other healers who say it’s just grief after the death of her mother (we quickly learn that her father killed her mother – not a spoiler!), can figure out. Anja travels across the desert to meet Snow and soon discovers there’s more to her case than simple poisoning – especially as every single she does is watched. It’s a mystery, until a magic mirror reveals more than Anja was expecting.
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It’s sold as a reimagining of Snow White, however the storyline is quite far removed from the one we all know and love, so it comes across as an original to me. It does have fairytale vibes though, and also, a talking cat.
This was my first T. Kingfisher and absolutely won’t be my last. The story started quite slowly, but it was well written so kept you engaged until the pace picked up. The story of the mirrors is so cleverly woven (although gets a little complicated at times!) and honestly, a little bit scary – I wasn’t surprised to find out the author writes horror too, although this doesn’t fall into that genre.
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I really enjoyed that the story is from the perspective of a 35 year old woman who isn’t your classic fantasy heroine – she’s described as tall and taking up space. Basically, a person that more of us can identify with, aside from experimenting on herself with poisons and antidotes!
There is a small romance storyline, but it’s very minor so I’d hesitate to class this as a romantasy. I’d go so far as to say it wasn’t necessary for the storyline (it could have been a friendship between unlikely people), but I personally enjoyed it anyway.
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I was between 4 and 5 stars for this as it didn’t absolutely blow me away, but it was such an enjoyable read with a great premise, that I rounded up for my overall rating. I’d definitely recommend it and will be looking for more of T. Kingfisher’s books.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.
