Hemlock & Silver is a wonderfully imaginative and absorbing fantasy that swept me off my feet. T. Kingfisher creates a world that feels familiar yet fresh, filled with quiet magic, danger, and unexpected warmth. I loved following Anja, a healer who is both grounded and deeply human, as she navigates a mystery that unfolds in surprising ways.

The prose is beautifully balanced with humor, emotion, and just the right touch of darkness. The setting is richly textured and full of personality, and I especially appreciated how the story unfolded with a quiet confidence, never rushing but always engaging.

This book reminded me why I love fairy tale-inspired fantasy. It's smart, heartfelt, and full of charm. I’ll definitely be thinking about it long after the last page.

Five stars, always and forever, for any T. Kingfisher project. This is another fantastic fairy tale retelling with dark twists.

I see T. Kingfisher, I immediately add it to my TBR.
 
There's so much to love in Hemlock & Silver - firstly that it comes from T. Kingfisher, who always creates detailed and lovable characters that feel real and deeply human. All of her books, from the Saint of Steel series to the fairytale-like Nettle & Bone were immediately 5-star reads for me. Her writing is funny and detailed without ever feeling bogged down, easy to read, and with a hint of a lyrical style. She breaks genre conventions with 30+ aged protagonists who aren't always the "fairest in the land" but who are competent and mature, something we desperately need in fantasy.
 
Our protagonist for Hemlock & Silver, Anja, is one of my favorites from T. Kingfisher. She's endlessly funny and relatable, and her obsession with poisons is a really fun thing to explore alongside her. There’s nothing better to me than a protagonist who knows who they are, and isn’t apologetic and shameful about it. Anja loves to solve puzzles, is wicked smart, is a bit socially awkward in a hilariously straightforward way, and doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body—and doesn’t really want one. Her sometimes sarcastic, always witty narrative made Anja feel real in a way that sets her apart from standard leads.
 
H&S has the all ingredients of a Snow White re-telling: an evil queen, a princess, apples - but takes these pieces and makes something completely new. There's a MOMENT where the book flips from well-written but straightforward whodunnit to a magical, all-out ride where I couldn't stop until the end. The beginning did feel a bit slow, but the writing is unique and fun enough that it tells you that you can trust where the author is going.
 
While I wasn’t sure we’d be getting romance in this book, I was so pleasantly surprised when it began to bloom! It’s really not apparent in the first third or so that Anja is going to find love at the manor, but when it does start to become clear who her romantic interest is, it’s all very sweet and so welcome. It’s a relationship founded on mutual respect and genuine care, and feels established on a lot more than just lust or the book forcing them together.
 
Overall, it’s another knockout from T. Kingfisher! One of my favorites from this year, in a genre where retellings are flooding into stores.

T. Kingfisher is an autobus author for me! Her books are always just the right blend of funny, scary, and heartbreaking! I loved this take on Snow White!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor publishing for a allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The writing and the characters were fantastic, and I really enjoyed the first half of Hemlock & Silver a lot. There was a bit of a tone shift for the second half and I fear it lost me a little. This might have more to do with my personal tastes and preferences than any fault with the book itself though, and I think I would still recommend it to other readers.

I hope this is not the last we hear of Anja, she may very well be my favorite or T. Kingfisher’s characters and I would gladly follow her into other stories.

Healer Anja is no stranger to complex and obscure poisons; she has spent her life’s work devoted to the discovery of unobtainable cures. With one visit from the King her professionalism is challenged by the discovery that Princess Snow has fallen ill and all signs point to poison. As Healer Anja unravels the mystery surrounding Snow’s illness she discovers a magical mirror world and finds that not only is Snow’s life at stake, but so is everyone else’s.

Thank you to Netgalley, T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), and Tor Books for allowing me to read this as an e-arc.

This book was so much fun. It took me a while to get through the first two quarters of the story, but every detail is for a purpose and is accounted for as the story moves forward. Honestly I was in awe for most of the book and enthralled with all of the scientific elements and procedures throughout. I loved how not only were the details of the story intricate, but so was the actual plot. It didn’t seem like a very close Snow White retelling, more like it contained familiar elements and characters of a beloved story with no direct parallel other than those elements also appear in Snow White.

Once the second half of the book kicked in I was sprinting to the end. I loved the twists and how the book wrapped up. I am hoping that maybe Healer Anja will pop up in more stories; I quite like her.

This was my first T. Kingfisher novel, and it definitely won’t be my last. I was instantly drawn to the book's description of a dark Snow White retelling with a poison-drinking healer, a cursed princess, and a haunted mirror world.

The only reason I have this book 4 stars is because the beginning was a little slower than I liked. I genuinely enjoyed this book and would recommend anyone who is into dark fantasy retellings.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this book!

I love a good fairy tale retelling and one that uses poison and weird magic? Sign me up!
I enjoyed the mirrors and mirror world concept and how one had to eat food from the mirror world to be able to go through the mirror. I also thought the concept of a mirror geld was simultaneously cool and horrifying bc all I could think about was the amount of time I've used two mirrors to look at my hair or something. I wonder how many mirror gelds I have unintentionally contributed to.
I liked this retelling and truly enjoyed reading it. The characters were interesting and I stayed invested the whole time. Javier was such a vibe and I was intrigued by Snow and her reasoning for going into the mirror so many times while knowing how sick it made her.

A retelling of "Snow White". T. Kingfisher has a way in weaving a story into a fantasy world that makes you believe that you are there or want to visit it. This retelling was beautifully written, and I longed for more upon the ending. Another fantastic book from T. Kingfisher! Highly recommend!

Unfortunately I wasn’t hooked on this. I read about 25% before I had to set it aside. This is not to say I won’t try again later but I just wasn’t feeling connected to the story and nothing was calling me to pick it back up

Anja is a well-respected Healer, with a vast knowledge of poisons and a single-minded focus for finding cures for said poisons. She manages to be an educated woman in a male-dominated field without being labeled a witch (which is a feat in itself). The King has asked her to save his last remaining daughter, and Anja says yes, rather against her will. In this new spin on the tale of Snow White, Anja is up against the clock (and the sheer force of will associated with a moody teenager), to save the Princess, while navigating the total lack of privacy that comes from living in the Kings household and keeping her reputation intact. My favorite character was the cat, who has all the answers and no sense of obligation to share them. As much as this was pegged as a retelling of Snow White, I thought it equally showed some of the zaniness of Alice in Wonderland, which added some light-heartedness and humor to the story.

T Kingfisher knows fantasy! To be able to rewrite a classic in such a way that still remains so unique is incredible!

Thank you to Tor Publishing for this advanced digital copy via NetGalley.

I thought this was a unique take on using the elements within the Snow White fairy tale such as the mirror and the apples. This story was a little slower paced than I would have liked and I didn’t really like the main character very much so it was difficult for me to get into. So not much for me but I’m sure others will like it. Thank you again.

Hemlock and Silver is a retelling of Snow White, but very loosely. There is a character named Snow, and one named Rose as a nod to the original Snow White and Rose Red. Otherwise, the story deviates from the original. Anja is a healer who is very good with poisons, and is summoned by the king to find out what is wrong with his daughter Snow, who is mysteriously ill and has been since the queen was killed by the king for murdering her sister. She travels to a manor house to see her patient and test for different kinds of poison that could be making her sick, but can't figure out what's wrong, until she catches Snow eating a strange fruit that came from nowhere. This is where the story picks up the pace. Anja discovers that there is another world on the other side of the mirrors in the house. The people on the other side of the mirror don't move unless they are reflected by a mirror. Anja realizes that Snow must be getting the fruit from the mirrors somehow, but there's much more going on in the mirror world than she originally thought. The magic is dangerous, and there's another queen who wants to leave the mirror. Anja and her guard Javier are swept into a world they had no idea was possible on a quest to save the princess.

This was my first T. Kingfisher book and it blew me away! Such a beautifully written retelling of Snow White. To follow Anja and her curiosity of potions, creating and experimenting antidotes was like actually being there. Her search for a cure for the King's daughter after an unfortunate incident by the queen, takes us on a journey like no other. To know all the twists and turns of this crafted retelling, pre-order your copy.

I really love the concept of this book, and am intrigued by it, but I'm not the biggest fan of the narration style. I've read about a quarter of the book, and I'm not opposed to giving it another shot, but it didn't grab my attention the way that I need it to for how many books are on my tbr. I took a break from reading it and just haven't had the urge to come back to it.

T Kingfisher, I love you. This was an amazing and unexpected Snow White retelling. The beginning was a bit slow, but in the true Kingfisher fashion, the pace picks up dramatically after a quarter of the way through. Anja is such a compelling main character. I love that she was a grown woman (35) and was so immersed in her poisons work that she wasn’t focused on societal pressures or social expectations. Even being a Snow White retelling, the twist was innovative, and the atmosphere was sufficiently creepy. I like the way that the plot progressed. I liked the romantic subplot because it was very subtle yet came to a satisfying conclusion. The story overall came to a satisfying conclusion, however, I do wish that the science from the first half and the magic of the second half had been brought together more. T Kingfisher, I have placed you on my automatic buy list.

Eating Poison and Whatever…

T. Kingfisher, Hemlock & Silver (New York: Tor Books, August 19, 2025). Hardcover: $28.99. 368pp, Fantasy. ISBN: 978-1-250342-03-4.

**

“A… hardcover edition featuring bright green sprayed edges, a foil stamp on the casing, and custom endpapers illustrated by the author. From Hugo Award-winning author… a dark reimagining of ‘Snow White’ steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind. Healer Anja regularly drinks poison. Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.” This same witchy tendency to habitually drink poison also appeared in this set of reviews in Ava Morgyn’s The Bane Witch. “But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her. Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick. Or it might be the thing that kills them all.”
The book opens with a readable, but not informative or interesting dialogue the character is having in her head as she is contemplating the correct manner of speaking with a king, after insulting him. He confesses that he indeed, as the rumors state, killed his wife. And the tension is if the witch heroine is supposed to congratulate him on this, or say something else that is more appropriate. This is an example of a mix of reverence for and puffery of the monarchy, but with a hint of uncertainty regarding why this short guy is supposed to be met reverentially just because he is a king. There is a bit of information about the character’s father being a merchant, and that she regularly consumes poison. She seems to be reacting to this poison as if it is a light shot of alcohol, as her mind is slightly clouded, but she is having rather deep philosophical reflections.
The book concludes with digressive and empty dialogue that is harder to read than the opening. The discussion is about if somebody is familiar with some fairy tales, instead of on resolving the plot. There is an absurd mention that Anja had not visited a rooster on the other side of a magical mirror, and so the rooster might be running out of water. Then there is an attempt at an emotional appear, as she hints Grayling, the magical cat, might “get lonely… like the beasts of fairy tales”. Grayling denies being lonely, but agrees to perhaps visit to help Anja out. Othan than empty pining, there is a strange mention that cats never go “when he was called”. It seems this author just decided to say whatever reflections came to mind, as they worked out, while it is happening, what would “happen… after that.” It is not an absolutely horrid book, but this is the most relaxed and non-trying bit of fiction in this set.
Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Spring 2025 issue: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-spring-2025

Hemlock & Silver
By: T. Kingfisher
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book: 35
Favorite quote:
“Back to work. Doing . . . whatever the hell it is I do.”

First, thank you NetGalley and TOR publishing for allowing me to read this ARC of Hemlock & Silver.
Choosing a favorite quote for this book was so hard because there were so many good ones. This book took so many themes and pieces of stories that we all know and love and created a whole new world. I feel like I experienced a little bit of Snow White, a little bit of Coraline, and even a bit of Steven Universe. As a massive Coraline fan, seeing similar themes used throughout the story and how well the mirror people mirror the other family was delicious. I really loved this book. I feel like T Kingfisher does small fantasy so well and this was really one of my favorites. I basically devoured this book in one day and already wish I could experience it again!

This was such a unique retelling of Snow White. The first quarter or so dragged on a bit for me, but also felt necessary for setting up the rest of the story. Healer Anja is a great female main character- strong, competent, and always learning. The mirror magic was a cool way to tie in the magic mirror from the original tale in a different, new way. I also loved the cat! The story was dark, with plenty of humor, and twists along the way.