Not quite what I expected but excellent! But am I surprised? No, it's T. Kingfisher!

Hemlock & Silver is a retelling of Snow White, but through the perspective of a side character and coming at it in a completely fresh way. Strange mirror worlds, a mysteriously ill princess, and a violent royal history weave together a creepy and novel take on a classic fairytale. The main character is a woman obsessed with poisons and antidotes, hired by the king to uncover what is making his daughter ill. But what she finds goes far beyond anything she expected...

This was eerie and tragic in the best possible way. I absolutely recommend it and the audio narration is great too! I received an audio review copy via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

Hemlock and Silver offers a fresh take on the Snow White story. Though I occasionally struggled with the mirror world's logic, I still enjoyed following Anja as she made discoveries through less scientific methods than she preferred. I did deduct one star because some explanations left me confused and distracted.

Anja is an incredibly relatable character. I appreciate her ‘lack of tact’ and stream-of-consciousness storytelling style. It's refreshing to encounter an older female protagonist (I refuse to label someone in their 30s as "middle-aged" as others have done). I particularly enjoyed experiencing a fairy tale from the perspective of a somewhat willing participant rather than the traditional main character.

Kingfisher delivers excellence yet again.

This was a cute, standalone, cozy fantasy. A retelling of Snow White that featured a poison expert and a 12-year-old Snow. I thought the book was slow-moving at times, but the ending was well done. Very low on romance, but still an enjoyable story. The first-person POV worked for this story, but it’s not my favorite POV. Anja is a flawed-but-relatable FMC, and I enjoyed her internal dialogue at times.

Another absolute winner from Kingfisher!!! At first I thought this felt different from her usual work, slightly slower, slightly less fantastical but boy was I wrong!!! Once it got going I could not put it down and every loose end was tied up beautifully by the end, even the ones I worried there wasn’t enough time left to address. This is obviously a Snow White retelling but with the breath of fresh air and slight horror that T. Kingfisher does so beautifully. Not for the first time, she has taken a well known and beloved tale and created something wholly new and deeply captivating. This is more Anja’s story than Snow’s or anyone else’s for that matter.
The Kingfisher formula for her adult fantasy books is undeniably a success each and every time! Take one snarky, self assured, relatable, 30 something female lead, throw in a talking animal with tons of sass and a seemingly grumpy but actually warm hearted hero to balance the mix, some magic, some fantasy, some light body horror and it never fails to entertain! I am buzzing and cannot wait for the audiobook of this to be out!

T Kingfisher never fails! This was another delightful fairy tale retelling with a twist. I love that Kingfisher manages to make fairy tales fresh with her stories told from the perspective of an unlikely witness. In this case it is through the eyes of Anja who was hired by the king to see if his daughter Snow was being poisoned by an unknown entity. The story unfolds in ways I could not imagine, and I enjoyed each twist along the way. The characters were interesting and often humorous, and I really loved Anja and her insights. If you're a fan of fairy tales or T. Kingfisher, you're in for another treat!

I love T. Kingfisher's dark takes on fairy tales. Her wit and characters are unbridled and here we follow Anja, a woman whose life's work is to create antidotes for poisons. So of course, when the king's daughter is mysteriously ill and no one seems to figure out how to help her, the king himself shows up at Anja's door to ask (more like demand, but he's a king, ya know) for her skills to save his daughter.

Anja isn't too sure about this but she is a capable, level headed woman who knows her stuff, so along with a couple of guards, she goes to help, and immediately gets the sense that something is off. Snow, the princess, has been bled and purged by just about every court doctor, and Anja can see that none of these conventional "cures" are doing her any good, and what is happening to Snow might just be a reflection of something darker.

Much like most of T. Kingfisher's heroines, I loved Anja. Strong, skilled, superb - Anja makes the story for sure. The magical worldbuilding was so well done, and the character arcs are charming to discover.

Another winner from one of my favorite fantasy writers.

A fantastic gothic dark fairytale retelling of Snow White featuring a healer who studies poison, a princess with a secret, and the mysterious mirror that links both of them. Anja is a healer who's main focus is on studying antidotes for poison but when the king comes to her to ask her to help his daughter Snow White... she can't refuse. Anja is Snow's last chance as she is dying and Anja can't resist a puzzle. Yet things are not as they seem and with the help of a handsome albeit grumpy guard and a narcissistic talking cat, Anja is determined to figure out what is going on. Yet the closer she gets to solving Snow's poisoning the more she is being dragged into a magical world of mirror magic, family secrets, and magic. Oh this was an absolutely delightful read. T. Kingfisher is a staple for me in the gothic fantasy/gothic books area, they never cease to deliver absolutely amazing stories with twist and turns. I devoured this book and had so much fun with the new twist on the classic fairytale. It's a great mystery read with a light element of romance and adventure mixed in with murder plots and poisoning! It's a great read and one I'd absolutely recommend!

Release Date: August 19, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Poisoned or… something more sinister? T. Kingfisher had a gift for warping classics into something extraordinary, Hemlock & Silver is no exception. Yes, it is Snow White but, it’s so much more! Mirrors, a talking cat… ugh! This was so good!

Special thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me this ARC.
Definitely something outside of my comfort zone as I don't usually enjoy fairytale retellings but this one was a really fun and enjoyable adventure.
It had the darkness of the original one while not focusing on beauty which is a nice improvement.
I adored the FMC and the fact she was an older childless scholar as such characters are severely lacking not only in fantasy but in literature generally.
The twists of the story were quite original even though I was somewhat confused throughout about what was happening with the mirror dimension, I preferred the first third of the story where it wasn't present.
The humor was another big plus of the book, it was my kind. The romance, however, wasn't since I tend to enjoy darker and angstier ones, but it was sweet and would definitely recommend it for fans of lighter and gentler MMCs.
Another thing I disliked was how a character that seemed to be a main one in the beginning disappeared until the end.
All in all, I had a really good summer time in this one even though it is not my usual cup of tea and am grateful for the opportunity.

T. Kingfisher is the best new-to-me author I've found this year. This novel is an utterly original tale inspired by Snow White with a cozy-romantasy vibe and cozy-horror elements and a talking one-eyed cat. At this point, I'll read anything T. Kingfisher writes and I bet she writes a very awesome grocery list..

What a true delight of a novel! Hemlock & Silver is packed with whimsy, horror, fantasy, and just the right dash of romance. This was my first T. Kingfisher book, and I’ll definitely be exploring more of their work. I loved the dry, whimsical tone and the refreshingly original take on the Snow White fairy tale—though at times it felt more like a dark, twisted Alice in Wonderland. I was genuinely blown away by how much I loved this story.

P.S. Grayling might just be my new favorite animal companion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group/Tor Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book early and share my honest review. All reviews will be posted to my socials (NetGalley, Goodreads, Instagram, Fable).

4.5
This might be my favorite T Kingfisher that I have read so far!
Things I liked:
-I found the main very relatable and realistic. She was charming but still had flaws that were reasonable but not annoying. I liked the way she thought through everything and asked all the questions that a normal person would when encountering something strange (plus a few more that normal people would ask but that I totally would).
-I loved every scene with Greyling, no notes.
-I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Snow and her illness.
-The worldbuilding was deeper than I anticipated, which was a nice surprise.

Things I didn't like: (there really isn't much I didn't like, its most nitpicky stuff)
-A few times the humor didn't really land with me.
-The story is a little predictable sometimes but not really in a bad way, and its to be expected in a retelling
-I wouldn't have minded if the book was a little longer, especially near the end.

Hemlock & Silver is a gloriously dark Snow White reimagining. Anja is a healer who drinks poison as a way to seek cures. She is summoned by the King to heal his daughter, Snow, who is suffering from an unknown ailment. Soon, Anja finds a dark and unknown world inside a magic mirror, and it might just be the key to curing Snow. This book had me entranced. The writing style is absolute perfection and I was invested in every plot twist and turn. Anja was such a wonderful main character. She is smart and funny in ways that felt really relatable, and I appreciated that she was an adult. It definitely started a little slow as the world was built, but I quickly found myself immersed in the dark mystery and entranced by the unexpected, like a talking cat. This was an absolutely wonderful read!

I did an immersive read which was amazing. Jennifer Pickens did a fantastic job with the narration and helped to really bring the story to life.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Tor, and NetGalley for the advance copies!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!

Quite frankly, no one does retellings like T. Kingfisher. To take a classic story and completely reimagine it to be both original yet true to major themes is no small feat.

Our main character Anja is not your typical heroin. She’s funny, awkward, sarcastic, nerdy, and incredibly passionate about poison.

Around the 100 page mark, it really gets into the meat of the story. The mirror world that the Kingfisher created was both fantastical and eerie. What could be difficult to execute is made digestible by Kingfisher’s imaginative rules regarding the magic of the mirror world and its inhabitants.

The story keeps you guessing “whodunit” and I didn’t find it to be predictable. There is a romance subplot that is sweet but doesn’t take away from the main story, which is hard to come by with “romantacies” nowadays. And of course I love witty animal sidekick! They always seem to be the best part of fantasy stories. Furthermore, Kingfisher’s side characters in this book are just as eclectic and important as the main ones. I love how I am able to connect with all of them, no matter how small their roll is.

I would have liked to hear more from the king in the end of the story, as he sort of disappears halfway through the book. I also found myself a tad but confused on the few paragraphs regarding the origin of the first person to leave the mirror, but that could be a me issue.

Leave it to T. Kingfisher to make something as ordinary and innocuous as the desert and mirrors into something fantastical and lush with imagination. She is one of my favorite authors for a reason!

Anja has a passion for poisons, for understanding them, and curing people of them. So much time spent indoors studying them has made her awkward around people. But when the king calls upon her to heal his daughter, she realizes she must go, even if she’d much rather stay at home.

I’ve read everything Kingfisher has published for the past 6 years, and honestly, this one was my least favorite. It’s not a bad book, I’m giving it 4 stars. But I felt some things were unnecessarily repetitive.

Overall, I enjoyed this one.

Another T. Kingfisher that I could not get enough of.
This reminded me a lot of the Paladin books, and I honestly did not really expect the romance to go the direction that it did. Which was not necessarily a bad thing. It was still a fantastic book, it just kind of threw me for a loop. Anyway, it's not my favorite of Kingfisher's, but still unputdownable. Which is saying something.

I want to preface this review by saying that I adore Kingfisher and will read everything she writes. HOWEVER...while this book started strong with great characters and ideas and lots of stuff for the nerdy reader, it gets derailed almost at the midway point until the last 15% of the book. There are around 100 pages of her just having a stream of consciousness of the theory and world building of her mirror planes and how they work. I think most of this could be cut and more character interactions would have been more welcome. That said, the end was super satisfying, and I loved how it turned out. But it took me ages to read because of the muddy middle. I almost could sense Kingfisher delighting in all the different conundrums of her world, but unfortunately, most readers don't want a dissertation on mirrors. Don't get me wrong, I usually LOVE her meanderings. But...limited ones. I'm willing to stick around for like even up to 10 pages, but this was too much even for a nerdy reader like me. It's still worth a read, but I'd recommend people skim through the middle so they still get to see the propulsive and worthy end of the book.

Hemlock and silver by T. Kingfisher
I am a big fan of kingfisher’s books. I love how her retellings are always unique and dark.
Healer Anja life changes when the king comes to her in hopes she will be able to save his daughter. Healer anja has dedicated her life to finding cures for poisons. If she sees a problem her instinct is to go full speed ahead on finding a solution. She is very smart and capable.
There is a love story element but it is not central to the story. I did not figure out who was the poisoner before the reveal.
Thank you Macmillian audio for providing me with the audiobook.
I thought the narrator did a great job at bringing healer anja to life. Her portrayal made her more relatable and likable. However, I agree with another review that there was not a lot of distinction between the voices of the other characters.
Overall, I believe this will be a treat for all of t. Kingfisher fans.

I absolutely LOVED this take on Snow White featuring a middle-aged spinster scientist and her gruff bodyguard. (Sorry, no huntsman, although Javier is a pretty good protector both with and without weapons.)⁠
⁠
Anja is the kingdom's foremost expert on poisons, mostly because she had a hyperfixation as a youngster that her father indulged and she never grew out of. When the king's daughter, Snow, begins ailing, the king asks Anja to investigate and cure her. What happens next includes a lot of creepy mirrors, a haughty cat, a few suspicious apples, and a whole lot of applying the scientific method.⁠
⁠
The book is written entirely in first person from Anja's perspective, so it's a good thing that she's a wonderful main character. Her focus on her special interest (poison!) and her practical-to-a-fault to, well, everything make her a great viewpoint for the reader to experience the world.⁠
⁠
And yes, for all the romance-loving readers out there and as in all of the fairy-tale inspired Kingfishers I've read, there's a satisfying touch of a romantic subplot. ⁠
⁠
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the audiobook.

I am a huge fan of T. Kingfisher, whether it be horror, fantasy, or dark fairy tale retellings. Hemlock & Silver is a retelling of Snow White, and I didn’t even read the blurb before I hit that request button.

Hemlock & Silver opens by introducing Anja, poison expert and healer, who is taken completely by surprise when the king appears in her workshop one day asking for her help. His daughter Snow has been suffering from a mysterious illness and even though she has been attended by numerous physicians, not one of them can identify what is making her sick. He is running out of options, so Anja reluctantly agrees.

The first half of the book is a lot of travel, and then Anja observing Snow and monitoring her daily routine. Testing her food, searching her rooms, and investigating every possible way someone could be poisoning her. There is a lot of talk of poisons, their uses and antidotes. The pacing is slow, but detailed, and gets readers ready for the second half of the story– when Anja accidentally falls through a mirror and realizes that there is a whole other world beyond what everyone sees, and Snow’s illness is rather supernatural in nature.

I was enchanted by Anja, and her competent, no-nonsense personality. She is rather tenacious once she discovers the mirror world, determined to investigate. Thank goodness she has help in the form of her steadfast guard and a talking cat, who is quite familiar with what goes on the other side of the mirror. The action in the second half really does pick up once fantasy elements are introduced. It was like a race to the end, as all the plot threads start to weave together.

As always there is a bit of humor thrown in during sticky situations just to lighten the mood amid all the dark themes. And a lovely, soft romance between Anja and Javier. I was rather pleased with them and their HFN ending. All in all, recommend this dark fairy tale re-telling.