I always love T Kingfishers books. This dark retelling of Snow White (although wasn’t the original already dark?) was a wild ride. I loved the take on the poison apples and the queen in the mirror. And as always I love a good quirky talking animal side character. Overall another fun one by one of my favorite authors.

This was different and not quite what I expected. I found the world building interesting and the main character, but ultimately this didn’t really work for me. Love that our main character was ASD coded and her work with poisons. Unfortunately this was a miss for me.

T. Kingfisher reigns supreme in writing dark, gripping, highly imaginative books that I crave! Hemlock & Silver is her reimagining of “Snow White”! I love T. Kingfisher's writing, clever, original, and dark plots. This book had me rubbing my hands together and thinking "yes, my pretty" as this twisted tale of poison, treason, and intrigue began to take shape! I enjoyed the world building and the interesting, quirky, odd, and intriguing characters. I love that her characters are not always pretty - they are odd, they have faults, they don't quite fit in, they are awkward; and yet, they are equally compelling, likeable, intelligent, and kind. Along with the dark, fantasy themes, there was also humor and wit sprinkled throughout Hemlock & Silver!

Healer Anja has always been curious! She has always been intrigued by poisons, and her curiosity has led her to drinking poisons to find their cures! She is a bit different, a bit odd, a bit determined, quite clever, and very smart. When she is summoned by the King to save his daughter, Snow who is dying, she can't refuse. Will her unorthodox treatment save his daughter?????

Reading this book feels like taking a step into a fairy tale where mirrors are magical, dark worlds exist, and cures might be hard to come by. Anja will need to persevere, use her intellect, her wits, and her unorthodox ways to get to the bottom of things. She was such a wonderfully drawn character!!! But wait, there is more! There is a scene stealing talking cat!!!! What more could a reader ask for?

Highly imaginative, beautifully written, gripping, mysterious, dark, twisted and original! This book starts on the slower side and normally I would take issue with this, but Hemlock & Silver worked its magic on me and I was able to just go with the flow. Plus, when I think of fairy tales, I think of children, but this is not a tale for children. It's a tale for adults with an adult female character being the main focus which was a breath of fresh air! Another solid and enjoyable book by an author who continues to dazzle, delight, terrify, and enchant me! If T. Kingfisher writes it, I am going to read it.

4 stars

My first T. Kingfisher book and it was simply wonderful!

I'm a huge fan of retellings, and Snow White was a favorite when I was a kid. I'd heard of T. Kingfisher (I even own her Saints of Steel series, although I haven't gotten around to reading it yet), and I decided to give this a try.

In Hemlock & Silver, Anja, a poison expert, is tasked by the King to solve the mystery of the illness of his remaining daughter, Snow. Several healers have tried to find a cure, but no one is able to understand what's afflicting her. Assisted by a broody bodyguard, Anja sets on to solve this unexplainable mystery, only to realize what she's always believed to be only fairytales might be reality, and that the late Queen and Princess might have held more secrets than is known...

T. Kingfisher's twist on Snow White is unique and fascinating. I've never read a retelling like it. The story is full of twists and eerie imagery, with an engrossing plot, a beautiful slow-burn (and I mean, SLOW-burn) romance, and an egotistical talking cat.

Although I absolutely loved this book, I found the beginning a bit slow, and I wish some parts were better explored.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the early copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

No pining for princes in this book. Healer Anja is passionate about problem-solving poisons. Can she succeed at curing 12-year-old Princess Snow when the royal doctors have failed?

As a heroine, Anja is refreshingly far from the stereotypical “fairest maiden in all the land.” Self-described as built like a work ox, she’s more comfortable handling snakes than making small talk with the ladies of the royal court. She and the aloof cat are the standouts of this book.

From the other characters, though, their development is pretty shallow. Like biting into an apple but barely getting past the skin, you don’t get much of a taste of who they really are.

I found the pace to be a bit slow, like making your way through a dense forest with a nature guide who expects you to be just as fascinated by every poisonous plant and venomous creature as they are.

I alternated between reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook, and the story worked equally well in both formats. While this wasn’t my favorite of T. Kingfisher’s books (Nettle & Bone is in my top 5 books of this year), the narrator did an excellent job bringing Anja’s voice to life without falling into a repetitive cadence.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and Macmillan Audio for the ARCs in exchange for my honest review.

Hemlock & Silver is an excellent addition to the T. Kingfisher library. Anja is an unconventional healer, focused on poisons and antidotes from a scientific perspective rather than the nursing and nurturing side of the job, yet she also heals with both compassion and indiscriminate focus. When the King approaches her to heal his daughter, she cannot refuse. Wrapped in scientific exploration and intrigue, Anja must find a cure to the poison Snow is ingesting with the help of a handsome but inarticulate guard and rather cheshire-like cat.
It has adventure, fantasy, horror, and a hint of romance.
No one does a reimagined classic like Kingfisher. She wields the original tale while magically conducting events that feel fresh and new and even more disturbing than the original. The only thing I missed was further character development for the Queen, but since she's dead before the book begins that's not entirely fair of me. It has vibes of Swordheart but much less cozy. There were many times I had to pause reading because OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING the tension was intense, but I quickly resumed because I had to know what happened next. Like Anja, I had so many questions. The ending was ultimately satisfying, and I'm so grateful to add this to my list of T. Kingfisher books I've read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for this ARC!

Another banger from T. Kingfisher! Some of my favorite things about Kingfisher's writing are present in this book, like relatable, lovable, and flawed characters, an intriguing mystery, some very weird stuff going on, and just the right amount of humor. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will definitely be re-reading it when the finalized copy is out!

I had a lot of fun with this! A classic T. Kingfisher romp - awkward but competent heroine, brawny protective love interest, silly animals, and fantastically horrific… things.

I didn’t love Hemlock & Silver as much as Nettle & Bone or Swordheart. The mystery felt a smidge convoluted for me, but I’m not a big fan of mystery in general.

Big thanks to TOR for the sneak peak! Now, I was not quite sure what to expect with this one. I appreciated the different world and main character a lot. Desert instead of mystical forest and a big boned woman in her mid thirties instead of an underfed teen was very refreshing. I wasn't quite sure where the story was leading for the first almost have of the book. I love ground building and back story but it took away from the main plot. The concept of the worlds was a lot of fun to discover and I liked the science and inner thoughts of Anja. And I love a sarcastic cat. While the story was good, I found myself not deeply caring for the characters. Overall I did enjoy but something was missing.

While I very much enjoyed this reimagining of the Snow White fairy tale, that also has some elements of Alice Through the Looking Glass, I did find it to be very slow moving and I am sorry to say a bit boring at times. I loved the main character and the setting and even the story, it just needed to be faster paced to truly make it a wonderful read.

Anja is not your typical reluctant heroine. She is middle aged, she is not looking to change her life in any way, and she does struggle with the social niceties. She is also of a larger stature, which is mentioned often, but she is very comfortable with that. Her mind is also very preoccupied with poisons and plants and when she is nervous she often will spout interesting facts about them. I really liked her, but I also was a bit bored stuck in her head the whole book. I did love her determination to discover what was wrong with Snow, and her delight when she discovers the secret world that is behind Snow’s affliction.

Lots of secondary characters that I enjoyed, but my favorite was Grayling, the obnoxious and imperious cat. The author does a great job with his personality. He reminds me of a cat I once had that hated to love me. I do think that he was a bit more than a cat and would have loved a bit more backstory on his life. He does help Anja quite a bit, even when he doesn’t want to.

I really liked the little bit of romance that starts with Anja’s guard, Javier. Javier was a great character. He is gruff and grumpy, but he totally is willing to believe that there is magic in the world, something Anja struggled with. I wasn’t expecting the romance, but it worked well in the story and it did not overwhelm it.

The desert setting was interesting as was the mirror world. There were some creepy creatures in that world that made my skin crawl, although I did find how they came to exist an interesting part of the story. My only real issue with the book on the whole was the very slow pacing for the majority of the story. It does pick up at the end as Anja tries to save Snow, but that didn’t quite make up for the rest of the story.

Overall this was a very interesting and well done retelling of this particular fairytale. I loved the mystery and how Anja went about figuring out what was wrong with Snow. I just wished the pacing had been faster and that there was maybe a bit less of Anja ruminating about poisons.

T. Kingfisher has been so hit or miss for me lately that I was a little nervous picking this up. I seem to enjoy her thrillers more than I have her fantasy books lately. However, this book did not disappoint. I loved it from start to finish. It has a unique magical system where people can walk into mirrors and be transported to another dimension. The FMC is strong and intelligent and quite funny to be honest. I've also noticed that a lot of fantasy books this year have amazing side characters this year, this book included. We have a little romance, a little court intrigue, and mystery that has you suspecting every character. I loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Tor Books, and Tor Publishing Group for this advanced copy! You can pick up Hemlock & Silver on August 19, 2025.

T. Kingfisher returns with another gorgeously haunting fairytale retelling, this time in the veins of Snow White. Our protagonist, Anja, is a poison expert who'd rather solve problems than work with people. So imagine her shock and devastation when the king comes knocking on her door demanding a cure for his sick (poisoned??) daughter.

I loved Anja's journey as she navigated court politics, sneaky twelve-year-olds, and sanctimonious talking cats. Her dialogue (internal and external) was hilariously awkward and relatable, especially with a certain handsome bodyguard. You can tell she's driven by not just the demands of the king but her natural curiosity and desire for answers. She wants to understand Snow's sickness just as much as she wants to cure it, and unfortunately, the answer lies behind a magical silver mirror.

The inner workings of the mirror realm were absolutely fascinating. Awake and sleeping reflections, mirror objects, the rules of what can and can't exist in either realm. The mirror gelds, while grotesque at first, were an interesting addition to the story (and very in line with Kingfisher's typical horror fantasy writing). I just love the imagination and creativity that went into taking key elements of the original Snow White story and making it completely unique.

All in all, if you love mysteries, fairytale retellings, and slight gothic horror vibes, this is your book!

Hemlock and Silver is a kind of reimagining of the Snow White fairytale. Healer Anja is handpicked by the king to find the mysterious poison that he believes is killing his daughter, Snow. Anja is more of a poison expert than a healer but to avoid the possible witch accusations, she sticks with the healer moniker. The king brings Anja to his palace in the desert and then leaves her there with Snow to figure it all out. Helped by her bodyguard, Javier, Anja races to find what is ailing Snow before it takes her life and learns that there's more to this world than she first thought.

T. Kingfisher does it again! While I didn't like this book as much as her others, Anja could be a little too dense sometimes, her trademark wit and ability to weave a story kept me engaged! The story gave an interesting twist to Snow White and it made me think a little of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell with the mirrors. The mirror-gelds were delightfully creepy and sweet all at the same time, they're impossible to forget!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Every single time, I think: She puts out several books a year. SURELY, they can’t ALL BE AMAZING.

Then I’m wrong.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Poison and magic and apples and tiny princesses and middle-aged healers and love and snakes and roosters and mirrors and mirrors and mirrors.

Did I mention the talking cat?

Seriously, Kingfisher could put out 8735479 books per year, and I’d be first in line for every one.

I continue to be stunned at how often T. Kingfisher manages to release new titles and how often I fall in love with them! I think that people who enjoyed Nettle & Bone in particular will have a great time with this one, which is more Snow White inspired than a Snow White retelling.. As per usual, Kingfisher can't help but let her fantasy evolve a little bit more into horror as the book goes on, which is one of the things I really enjoy about her writing.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on ebook from NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: This was a lot of fun to read and really well done. It's supposed to be a re-imaging of Snow White but it also had some heavy influences from Alice in Wonderland. Prior to reading this I had read most of Kingfisher's other books as well and really enjoyed them.

Anja studies poisons and tries to find cures for them. Her reputation becomes a bit of a curse when the King comes to ask for her help. His daughter Snow is dying and he wants Anja to figure out if it's poison. Now Anja must journey with the King and his retinue to a reclusive estate to figure out if poison is the cause of Snow's illness. She is watched closely by two guards for her safety since now she is a target too! What Anja finds is stranger than any poison she could have perceived.

I love that Kingfisher uses more non-traditional female characters in her story. Anja is middle aged and happy with her life, she's not looking to uproot herself or achieve anything (accept for better cures for poisonings). She is big in stature (both in height and padding) and lacks any sort of social grace, being way too blunt for most people. I loved her and enjoyed watching her navigate this odd situation. Along the way, she befriends her guards and meets a strangely irritating (and talking) cat. All of these characters were fun to read about and very well done. This is a big of a romance as well which was very sweet.

There are a lot of musings about poison throughout the story and this does slow the story down a bit but I found them amusing. I enjoyed the mystery here and the strange magic that was uncovered. As with many of Kingfisher's stories, this has elements of horror and is fairly creepy at times. It is also very tongue-in-cheek at times and full of fun characters and witty dialogue.

This seems to blend elements of Snow White (there are apples and witches involved) along with some elements of Alice in Wonderland (mirrors, other worlds, and an obnoxious talking cat). It was well done and easy to read.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I greatly enjoyed this and am looking forward to Kingfisher's future books. This is an entertaining blend of mystery, fairy tales, magic, and horror that I really enjoyed. The characters are quirky and fun. This is all written in Kingfisher's signature style, which is a bit blunt at times but also witty, darkly humorous, and easy to read. While I don't think this is my absolute favorite Kingfisher book, I still really loved it.

4.5 ⭐️

Hemlock & Silver is as if Snow White was made into a Studio Ghibli film. T. Kingfisher takes familiar elements from a classic fairytale and weaves them into a wholly original story, filled with brilliant prose and a hilariously peculiar female main character.

This was my first Kingfisher novel, and I had no idea what to expect, but I loved every second of it. The writing is immersive, the worldbuilding lush, and the protagonist’s eccentric charm leaps off the page.

As if that weren’t enough, I deeply appreciated seeing a plus-sized, single, neurodivergent heroine in her thirties leading the story.

There’s nothing more to say except: read this book when it comes out on August 19!

Hemlock & Silver is a Snow White retelling that feels wholly unique told through Kingfisher’s distinctive writing voice. I’m also a huge fan of Kingfisher’s ability to blend the truly weird with laugh out loud moments, and that ability is on full display in Hemlock & Silver. The world building in this story is fascinating since it draws inspiration from Snow White but also adds unique elements making it feel new without having to go into too much detail. The characters are quite simply amazing. I really enjoyed Anja’s character as a whole, but especially how she viewed the world through a scientific lens. I was also a big fan of the awkward yet adorable relationship that develops between Anja and her guard. Also how can I not love this book when it features a talking feisty feline with all the arrogance you would expect from a cat. The plot itself was interesting, dark, and imaginative. Every time I thought I had the story figured out, we would learn something new that changed the narrative. The audiobook is narrated by Jennifer Pickens who absolutely nailed Anja’s character from her unique outlook to her awkwardness to her sense of humor. It was truly the perfect delivery for this book. Pickens also kept the story interesting and engaging making it an audiobook that you did not want to pause.

I think this will be another favorite author for me. I loved her book A Sorceress Comes To Call. It was outstanding. This one was also good. Not quite as good as Sorceress though. I didn't get the Snow White vibe everyone says it's based on. I did enjoy it though and it has a princess named Snow and lots of mirrors. This was just a way darker read than any Snow White book I've ever read. Still good.

When the King asks Healer Anja to come save his daughter she really has no choice. I mean who can say no to the King. Reluctantly she agrees and goes. She is assigned two body guards since the King believes someone is truly poisoning his daughter.

When they arrive at their destination and Healer Anja gets busy things start to happen. Just not exactly what she expected. The Kings daughter, Snow, is a typical twelve year old. But it's obvious she is very sick. She barely eats and when she does she tends to get violently ill. Anja is flummoxed as to what is happening to the princess. She's tested for everything she can think of. But when she sees Snow eating an apple after telling her and everyone around her to not allow anything that has not been throughly inspected things start to unravel. Also when Anja eats some of the apple and falls through the mirror in her room she's in for a series of events that are most unusual.

The King had killed his wife because he caught her cutting the heart out of their youngest daughter and he didn't want to lose Snow. She was all he had left. On the other side of the mirrors things are grey/silver. Everything appears to be ok until it isn't. When Anja realizes that Snow has been going through the mirrors trying to find her younger sister she knows she has to help. One of her guards Javier, who caught her coming back through the mirror, helps her. They encounter a host of strange things. And the reason for Snow being so sick.

There is also a very pretentious cat named Grayling. He can go in and out of the mirrors at will. And he talks. He is quite the hateful creature also. Just your typical cat really. He has only one eye. He does help Anja quite a bit and they sort of become friends. As much as you can be true friends with a cat. I do love cats so don't get upset. They are a bit snobbish and hateful at times.

This book is different from most I read. It was enjoyable and I'm glad I read it. I loved the ending and that there was a bit of a love story involved. I did think that the King should have stayed to make sure his daughter was going to be ok though. That was one thing I didn't like. He was her father. She his only living child....

A lot of likable characters and a couple that I didn't like. That always to be expected in a good book. A thorough description of the trip to the Princess and what took effect once reached. You get to know the characters well. Most of them. It has some dark parts and will keep you turning the pages to find out what or who is causing Snow's illness.

Thank you #TorPublishingGroup, #Goodreads, #MacmillanAudio, for this ARC. I won a physical copy from Goodreads. I thank them so much.

5 stars! Hemlock & Silver is a fantastic Snow White retelling, with some Alice and Wonderland vibes that come together so well. Some reviews have mentioned the book begins with a slow start, but I honestly loved the world-building and getting to know Anja, especially her wit and humor. All of the characters were unique and likable (especially looking at you cat). I will be recommending this to my book club- and looking into more books by T. Kingfisher!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the eArc!