Book Review: Why ‘A Sorceress Comes to Call’ by T. Kingfisher is an Excellent, Dark, Creepy Fairytale Retelling to Pick Up for Fall
If dark and unhinged, but excellently written is your vibe, and you love fairytale retellings, then A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher might be for you. It’s especially perfect for fall creepy vibes. I have yet to read a Kingfisher book that I didn’t like. They’re atmospheric, and creepy with elements of horror, but for some reason, I can’t put them down (and this is coming from someone who doesn’t like the horror genre). Kingfisher is a master at creating characters I care a lot about in a very short amount of time—all of their novels are fairly short. While there are some pretty horrific things that happen in this short novel, Kingfisher writes in such a whimsical way with dark humor and satire that you do feel like you’re reading one of the Grimm’s old school fairytales. I loved that we got a dual POV in this one, and it’s especially interesting to see a super young girl and older woman juxtaposed between the POVs. The villain truly is loathsome, and let me just say, the ending is satisfying. I absolutely loved the Regency vibes as well. But this story is not for the faint of heart, definitely check trigger warnings.
P.S. If you’ve read their other novels like, Nettle & Bone, you’ll notice a subtle little reference to Bonedog. I LOVE when authors sneak in a reference to another of their stories (much like Pixar hiding references from each of their movies in whatever the latest one is).
Things to Know:
Goose Girl Retelling (more inspired by)
Dual POV/Dual Narration
Unhinged and Brutal
Regency era
TW: Child abuse, violence, and death
We meet our first FMC, Cordelia, as a 14-year-old girl who’s been abused her entire life by her tyrannical sorceress mother, Evangeline. Literally from the first page you’re horrified at what this poor, young girl has had to endure. Completely isolated from the world, she often has a very simplistic view of things, and is stuck in a cycle of wanting to please her abuser, so the abuse will stop, hating herself for it, and starting all over again. Her only friend is Falada, their white horse, who she finds out is her mother’s Familiar.
Evangeline, her mother, is literally the evil “mom” from Tangled, but times a 100 on the horrifying scale. She’s controlled and manipulated her daughter with her magic, has zero remorse or maternal instinct, and after losing her latest ‘benefactor', she sets her sights on a wealthy Squire bachelor who lives with his sister.
Hester, the sister and our second FMC and POV, was probably my favorite character. Snarky, smart, and determined to pull Evangeline’s talons out of her brother, she’s also dealing with unrequited love and an aging body that doesn’t want to cooperate. She naturally spots Evangeline’s machinations from a mile away, but her kind brother is smitten, so she enlists the help of several of her friends, including the dashing Lord Evermore, who is still every bit in love with her as he was a decade prior. I love an unrequited love story, and this one is perfection.
It’s always interesting to read a story where, from the very beginning, you know exactly who the villain is, but I do wish we could have had a bit more backstory to understand why she is the way she is. She alludes to Cordelia’s father a few times, but we don’t totally know what happened there, and perhaps I would have felt a bit for her situation or understood her motivations if we had a bit more of that backstory. At times I was completely in shock at what I was reading and what this woman was capable of doing so callously, but I couldn’t look away.
This book wasn’t scary in a horror movie way, but it was super dark, and creepy with a touch of the macabre. It’s not for the squeamish. And yes, there are geese that make an appearance, which I found to be more comic relief. These moments were welcome, because it’s definitely not the most fast-paced novel (I could see where people might even categorize it as slow).
Hester and Cordelia are both desperate to rid themselves of Evangeline, and seeing them come together to help each other was also a beautiful thing. Plus, I loved Hester’s other old friends doing all they could to help, and even the house staff get involved. I wanted to shake Cordelia at times, but I also understand she’s literally traumatized from the abuse. I definitely found myself mortified, horrified, gasping, and then chuckling throughout this entire story. If you’re already a fan of T. Kingfisher, you’ll probably enjoy it, and if you haven’t had the pleasure yet of immersing yourself in one of her stories, you should!
A note on the narration: I again, really enjoyed the dual POV, and appreciated the distinct voices for the two characters—would definitely recommend it. Many thanks to Tor for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC to review. All opinions are my own.
Fave Quotes (note: final quotes may be altered):
“No, I don’t want to go back to bed. Getting out of it was too much work.”
“I can bring you a tray in bed, you know.”
“Yes, and I’ll spend the night with crumbs if you do.”
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“Hester had settled into the library with three shawls and a tea tra, feeling rather like a burrowing rodent in her den. One of the big chunky ones that settle in for the winter.”
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