I had no idea that this was a retelling or reimagining of a Brothers Grimm story until after I read the book and the actual description of this book. I now need to go read the original story. I picked this up because T. Kingfisher is a brilliant storyteller, especially when you delve into the darker side of things. We know that Grimm tales are dark and Kingfisher does not disappoint with keeping to that nature. We follow two POVs the first is Cordelia, the 14-year-old daughter of the story's villain. Cordelia is manipulated and "made obedient" by her mother, which is when her mother takes over her body and forces her to do whatever she wants. Cordelia's mother has lost her benefactor and now needs to marry someone wealthy, so she takes her daughter to house crash into the potential husband's estate. Here we meet our second POV, the middle-aged sister the potential husband, Hester. Hester instantly detests Cordelia's mother but feels sympathy for Cordelia. We then see all the antics of trying to ensnare a husband and defeat the sorceress. There are horrible murders, manipulation, decapitated horses, and some brave geese. The story is dark and sinister but with a hopeful light at the end of the tunnel. Well worth the investment and a perfect read for the fall and "Spooky Season".

(4.5/5 stars)

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is a fantasy horror Goose Girl retelling with Regency romance elements.

Cordelia's mother doesn't allow many things, like doors between rooms and friends. Sometimes she doesn't allow her daughter to move for hours--or even days--on end. After a suspicious murder in their small town, the two leave in the middle of the night. After arriving at the remote country home of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his spinster sister.

I have to caveat here that I'm a big fan of T. Kingfisher, and they are an auto-read author for me. In my humble opinion I think she knocks this one out of the park, and the gothic horror vibes are immaculate. Her good sense of humor is still at play here, in the best ways. I mentioned she leans into the gothic horror here, and those books tend to start a bit on the slow side. Please be aware of that going in and then strap in and enjoy the ride.

I wasn't even completely finished my audio review copy before I ordered a used physical copy on Pango for my shelves. We alternate point of view between Cordelia and Hester, the Squire's sister. I really appreciate it when audiobooks have a different narrator for each POV character! I thought both narrators, Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens did such a great job.

I really loved the actual love story between two of our characters (don't want to spoil it), and I was very pleased by the ending. I hold out hope that this could be the start of a series, because I would love to see the folks who make it through to the end solving crimes together, or something like that.

CW: violence, gore, possession, parental abuse, narcissism

This was my first T Kingfisher book and now I understand why everyone praises their fantasy and writing. Incredible story, fast past plot, and great character development.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Audio Review: I would recommend giving the audio a go, it adds to the gothic feeling overall!

‘A Sorceress Comes to Call’ by T kingfisher is a dark and inventive reimagining of the classic fairytale ‘The Goose girl’. It is not important to be well versed with the original story to appreciate this book as it stands alone as a story in its own right. We follow Cordelia who lives with her extremely controlling mother who also happens to be an evil sorceress. When they are forced to leave in a hurry they take refuge with a kindly squire and his sister, but all is not as it seems and in order to get her happy ending Cordelia must find the bravery to stand up for herself and fight for those she cares about. Kingfisher creates complex and well rounded characters and focuses much attention on familial relationships both good and bad. We see character development and growth in a way that feels realistic and there is plenty of emotional connection. There are many emotive and uncomfortable topics touched on within the story so it may be worthwhile checking any content warnings. This story is told in dual narrative and is relatively slow-paced but compelling and atmospheric. If you are a fan of dark and gothic fantasy with elements of light paranormal horror this could be a great fit.

I really really enjoyed the narrators in this story. They didn’t a fantastic job in bringing these characters to life, especially Hester! I didn’t love the story as a whole but the audiobook made me more invested than I would’ve been in print only.

This is a re telling of a Brothers Grimm story & I was expecting different. I thought it would be dark and creepy and it really leaned dark and gory. Others have loved it but just not for me.

T Kingfisher is such a unique writer. I enjoy their books. This one took me a bit to get into but I did enjoy it. The narrator was great!

Cordelia lives an unconventional life. For starters her mother, Evangeline, is not like other mothers. She does not allow Cordelia to have any friends, their house is void of doors, as well as speech at times, not to mention the fact that her mother is a sorceress. The only confidant that Cordelia has is a horse named Falada, but Falada isn’t your average horse. Everything changes one night when Cordelia is forced to flee in the middle of the night with her mother after the discovery of a strange murder, leaving everything behind. They soon arrive at the lavish manor of the Squire and his sister Hester. Cordelia hopes to marry the Squire, but that won;t happen if Hester has anything to say about it. She sees Evangeline for who she is and she is determined to save both her brother and Cordelia from this woman before the Squire makes the monumental mistake of marrying Evangeline.

I really enjoyed A Sorceress Comes to Call. It is a novel that kept me hooked throughout thanks to the characters, the world building and the macabre aspects. For starters, there are so many complex, well-developed characters. Cordelia is a wonderful protagonist and Evangeline is a villain that is easy to hate, but it’s really all the supporting characters that bring this story to life. Kingfisher’s word choice and world building paints such a complete and mesmerizing picture of the settings, events and characters, making this a true page-turner. I enjoyed the twists and turns and was pleasantly surprised by many of them.

The audiobook only added to my enjoyment of A Sorceress Comes to Call. I love that two narrators were used, allowing them both to bring different things to the story making it that much more enjoyable overall. The pacing (once I sped it up a little), inflection and tone created not only suspense and anticipation, but it also brought the characters and event to life.

I will forever love T King Fisher

At first I was so hesitant with this one, I felt at first I couldn’t get into it and thought it was too slow, but I grew so attached to the characters and even after I finished the book I wanted to go back just spend more time with them.

A Sorceress Comes to Call is a retelling of the brothers, grim goose girl. we follow Cordelia and her mentally and emotionally abusive mother who happens to be a sorceress and their magic horse Falada. Cordelia‘s mother picks up their life and everything that Cordelia knows in order to live in a squire’s house to try and lower the squire into marriage for wealth.. we follow Cordelia as she and the Squires sister Hester grow close and try to save the clueless squire from Cordelia’s mother.

I was so enamored with Hester and Cordelia’s relationship as it just kept growing in the closer they got I grew attached to them. I felt like I could relate with Cordelia and Hester, and there was so much suspense and there was murder and there were so many secrets and, just slowly learning about the crazy acts that Cordelia‘s mother committed in order to get her way or to get people out of her way. It was a very interesting story. I never read the original goose girl story from the brothers Grimm, but the way that T kingfisher writes just grabs a hold of you and never lets you go like you just always get so immersed in the story , and I never regret a book that I pick up from T KingFisher

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC

Ugh, bad ARC reviewer. I've had this book finished since the end of August and I've been totally dragging my feet on this review for some reason. And it was a good, fun book! You should read it!

T. Kingfisher basically has three types of book at this point: 1) Cozy horror, 2) Fantasy romance, and 3) Fairytale-esque dark(ish) fantasy. This book falls into the third category. It is a verrrry loose retelling of "The Goose Girl". Like, to the point that if the publisher hadn't outright told us it was, I would have had no idea. There are two main characters: Cordelia, a fourteen-year old girl with a sorceress (evil, abusive) for a mother; and Hester, a middle-aged spinster whose brother Cordelia's mother has her eye set on for marriage.

This book basically turns into middle-aged people defeating a sorceress, and I was here for it. It's not my favorite book of hers, but it was a good time.

Really fun, creepy novel from T. Kingfisher. Loved the characters, the atmosphere, and the plot. No real complaints besides some narrative convenience that didn't quite work for me.

T. Kingfisher is a Season's Pass for me. I will ride ALL THE RIDES.

I loved this dark Goose Girl retelling with all my shriveled soul.

I love the dual POV between the sorceress' traumatized daughter, and the squire's arthritic, middle-aged sister.

I loved the found family, the magic, the second-chance love story, and the attack geese.

And I especially appreciated the tiny nod to Bone Dog in Nettle & Bone.

I loved it all.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and Macmillan Audio for this magical ARC.

I had no knowledge of the Brothers Grimm Goose Girl story prior to reading this novel. I found the story interesting, but it took a while to get going. I eventually found that I was invested in what happened with the plot, but I never got attached to the characters. The grim overtone of the book was well done and it added a sense of urgency to the story. Th narrator did a wonderful job. Overall, it was a fine read, but since I’m a character driven reader, I never got fully immersed in the story.

I picked this up on a whim yesterday and ended up finishing it in one sitting.

Synopsis: In a retelling of The Grimm Brother's Goose Girl, we follow Cordelia, a young girl with an...interesting mother. A mother who can compel her to do anything she wishes, won't allow her to have any friends, and uses her suspiciously sentient horse to spy on her. After a neighbor's suspect death, Cordelia's mother decides to uproot them and stay with a wealthy older man in a remote country manor. Her mother intends to lure this man into marriage, but Cordelia knows that this can only mean bad news for him, his sister Hester, and the rest of their staff. Banding together, Hester wants to save Cordelia from her tyrannical mother, and Cordelia intends to save Hester and her family from the wicked witch that is her mother.

Plot: Although I've read stories with similar aspects to this one, there was something about this that made me unable to put it down. I think the vibes that this story brought were truly spectacular and almost palpable. It drew me in from the first page and I just had to know what happened to these characters. The story is dark and macabre, with murder, gore, and witchcraft. If you like dark fantasy, gothic horror, or sinister fairytale retellings, you will absolutely love this. With spooky season just around the corner, I picked this up at just the right time. I haven't read the original story so I cannot compare it in that sense, but regardless, I enjoyed it nevertheless. The Regency Era is such an interesting time, with lots of intricacies to play with as a writer, and mixing that with witchcraft, geese, and a headless horse--along with excellent storytelling--is a recipe for success. I was fully expecting this to be a four-star read, but ultimately the conclusion did leave me a little disappointed in execution. I feel as though I'm very picky with the "taking the villain" down scenes, and although this one was surprising in some "stomping" ways, I still was a little underwhelmed.

Characters: Cordelia was fascinating. She reminded me of some of the characters in the YA title BELLADONNA by Adalyn Grace, which I loved. Sometimes I get tired of the ever-strong heroine, so it is a nice change to have someone so timid and naive. However, still, when put to the test, Cordelia is stronger than she initially thought. There were so many tense scenes where I just wished for her to escape unscathed, and I think not knowing where her crazy mother was taking the scene made it more unhinged. Evangeline, Cordelia's mother, is established as the villain immediately with no redeeming qualities. I love a horrible character but I feel as though if we had gotten a little bit more backstory, it would have made her an even stronger character. We dive straight into the novel, and the action, which is great, but it leaves something to be desired in knowing the relationship between Cordelia and her mother in the previous 14 years before the narrative starts. The side characters are really wonderful here and add elements to the story that fill it out nicely. Our girl Cordelia is still learning what life is like on the outside, so whether it is coming to Hester to ask about "compromising positions" with boys or chatting with family friends on how to take down her mother, the friendship and makeshift family created was fantastic.

I have another T. Kingfisher book on my shelf and now I'm very excited to get to it.

A very strong 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

This is a gothic magical book that gives off all the spooky fall vibes. It is beautifully written and tells the tale so well that you can imagine being in the room with the characters. The narrators of the audio book very good. This was an enjoyable book to listen to and I recommend it.

Thank you to Macmillian Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book.

Another fantastic dark fantasy telling from the mind of T. Kingfisher. Eliza Foss & Jennifer Pickens do a wonderful job of bringing this tale to life through their narration of the audiobook. Hester may be my new favorite fantasy character as I loved every moment I spent in her POV. Overall, another homerun from Kingfisher that is the perfect read for spooky season.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

The audiobook is really good quality. The narrator is excellent. I enjoyed listening. The story is pretty good and very atmospheric. I was unfamiliar with the fairytale that it's based on. Overall I liked!

I greatly enjoyed this story and the audiobook itself. The two narrators were great, it flowed smoothly, and pronunication and enunciation were strong. I would recommend that the narrators choose one specific accent for side characters, as a few did not match between the two.

The story itself was very strong and well-written, and I enjoyed the unique aspect of two protagonists whose ages are not the generic 18-22 of contemporary YA/New Adult Novels. It was a fun read, fast-paced, and had interesting turns that made it fun to read.

In A Sorceress Comes to Call, I found the plot to be a bit slow but loved the characters. The alternating POVs between Cordelia and Hester made a great balance. Cordelia is often scared and confused but Hester is usually grounded.

Soon after their arrival, Hester realized she could not simply run off Cordelia's mother but also needed to help Cordelia. So she invites friends as a buffer while she tries to make a plan. I thoroughly enjoyed this cast of side characters and how they all worked together to try to outmaneuver Cordelia's mother.

Also, do not get me started on Falada and the fact that it was telling all of Cordelia's secrets to her mother. I would simply never recover if my only friend was a horse and it betrayed me.

So far I've read this and Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher. I didn't like this one as much as Nettle and Bone, but I really like their writing and will continue to pick up books by them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review.

What a beautiful and magical story! I absolutely loved A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher. I have been reading as many T. Kingfisher books as I can get my hands on so I was incredibly excited for this one. It did not disappoint! The audiobook was so really well done. The narrators, Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens did wonderfully at bringing the characters and story to life. This is a dark retelling of Goose Girl and I think it might be the first retelling I've read of this story. I loved the way the author adapted and twisted it into something new and dark. I loved the unique characters, engaging plot, and eerie vibes. I highly recommend A Sorceress Comes to Call for anyone looking for some dark fairytale retellings.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Haunting, moody, and utterly addicting, A Sorceress Comes to Call is an absolute must-read this spooky season. T Kingfisher doesn't know how to write a bad book and I'm so excited to see what she does next!