I love and adore fairy tale retellings, and this one was so creative, funny, and suspenseful! The opening conversation between Anja and the king had me laughing out loud. I love a heroine who is relatable and quirky. I will admit it got really slow after that for a few chapters, but once she really got into solving the mystery of Snow’s poisoning, boy did it take off. I was hooked! I don’t want to spoiler anything, but it fits with the Snow White fairy tale so well!!! Anja and her bodyguard make a great sleuthing team, and the romance between them while not the focus of the story, did bring further enjoyment. There are other whimsical side characters that bring lightness at times of high suspense including a talking cat. Loved this book and highly recommend it!

5/5 stars
0/5 spicy peppers (This is not a romance, but many Kingfisher books have romantic subplots, so I figured I'd include this.)

TLDR at the end.

Have you ever read a book and been completely unable to put it down? (Of course you have; you're a reader!) That was this book for me. I found myself walking around reading the book trying to do things like load the dishwasher and spectacularly failing because of course. This was also a profoundly bad idea given that I am recovering from a broken leg, but who can blame a person so totally engrossed by a book. Eventually I just sat down and finished it because what was the point in trying to do anything else?

Everyone knows the original tale by the Brothers Grimm. This book is not that. Sure, we loosely see a few of the same or similar characters, and this book is just as creepy and disturbing, but that's about it. What we do have is 35-year-old Anja, a larger woman who is obsessed with poisons and antidotes, who is called upon by the king to investigate whether a very ill 12-year-old Snow White is being poisoned.

I absolutely adored the cast of characters. Anyone who's a fan of Kingfisher knows that she frequently writes non-stereotypical leads, and here we were delivered such a wonderful group of them:
1) Anja is no fighter, but she's smart, funny, tactless, and fully capable of her own adventure story. I loved that she is a larger, somewhat dowdy woman, and that aspect is just part of her rather than something that's harped on throughout the story. She doesn't have to me a young, beautiful, thin, overpowered woman to have her own adventure or love story. I also appreciated that she wasn't maternal, and she faced the aggravating treatment many women without children are posed with.
2) Snow is not exactly a likeable girl, which is something I actually really loved about her. She doesn't have to be a perfect, beautiful princess, of which she is neither, to be worth saving.
3) Javier, the object of Anja's affection, is a late-30s guard who is assigned to Anja's protection detail along with Aaron. (As an aside, I fully expected a threesome between Anja, Javier, and Aaron, which is absolutely NOT Kingfisher's style. I think I've been reading too much smut for my own good.)
4) Grayling, also known as "His Gloriousness, God-King of Deserts, Lord of Rooftops ... He Who Treads the Serpent's Tail," etc., is my favorite character. A one-eyed gray cat, he is in and out of sight at his own convenience. He reminds me of my own very grumpy gray cat, and he's kind of the antithesis of Bone Dog in Nettle & Bone. (The afore mentioned book as phenomenal if you haven't read it already.)

As far a pacing goes, at first I felt the book was a little slow, especially prior to Anya arriving at the palace. As I continued reading, I realized how perfectly paced it really is: slow and light-hearted, to somewhat unsettling, and finally to real horror. It was a perfect buildup of tension. Regarding style, I love the parenthetical side notes, as they remind me a bit of Terry Pratchett's footnotes.

TLDR: To wrap it up, I adored Hemlock & Silver. It delivered everything that I love about T. Kingfisher's books:
- It was funny and delightfully creepy.
- The main characters were not your typical super young and beautiful badasses, though I'd argue Anya is a badass in her own right.
- The side characters with any real screen time made their own mark on the story. Eloise and her hair come to mind, as well as Lady Sorrel.
- The romance, while not spicy at all, was perfectly pining and sweet. I love a good romantic subplot.

T. Kingfisher's wit always draws me into her books from the very first line. I love when a book literally has me hooked from an opening page and she does it every single time. Anja is another of her great female protagonists. Her sardonic sense of humor is just a joy to read. Her narration was everything I wanted. It was a joy to follow her, Grayling (a narcissistic talking-cat), and Javier (her guard) as she tries to figure out what is going on with the king's daughter, Snow.

I enjoyed reading about the mirror world and learning about it along with Anja. The mystery of what was going on with Snow was intriguing and I love where T. Kingfisher took this tale. Such an interesting twist! She always has such interesting twists on classic tales and I look forward to reading even more of her books.

There was a great amount of mystery, some darker elements, and a cute romance. It was utterly perfect and I cannot recommend it enough.

I've never read a T. Kingfisher book that I didn't love.

Healer Anja is my favorite kind of weirdo. She's in her 30s and works professionally as a curer of poisons and toxins, spending her days helping people who've overdosed and dosing chickens with chime adder venom. One day, the king arrives in her workshop and tells her that his daughter, Snow, is gravely ill and surely it is poison, for everything else has been ruled out. Promising only that she will try, Anja rides off with the king and his envoy to the villa of Witherleaf, where the norm is not as it seems and the specter of an assassin looms.

Kingfisher never fails to make me laugh, snort, or at the very least do that little nose huff when something is funny. You know the one. Further, she never fails to catch me off guard, either, just when I think I know what's going on. As with her Paladin series, the body horror and the actual culprits are MUCH worse than I thought they were gonna be, and the comic/stress relief is so welcomingly jarring that it takes the edge off without ruining the atmosphere.

And the light romance! Ugh, I'm such a sucker for romance and Kingfisher is one of my favorite people for this. The characters are adults with their own adult problems and hang ups and desires, and just like in her Paladin series, these characters are so grounded and real. Their aches and pains are the reality of age, they are larger than a high schooler and so very aware of their bodies and limitations, but they don't hate themselves for it, and I love it so much. And the awkward flirting juxtaposed with the body horror? More, please! Always more!

I love Kingfishers books, her characters, the weird worlds she makes, all of it. Her books feel like an ADVENTURE, and this one is no exception.

Super huge thanks to Tor and NetGalley for this free eARC for an honest review!

I'm a fan of T. Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier series (this is my second title outside that series that I have tried) but sadly I didn't love this. The book did not keep my interest and I found that no matter when I picked it up the pacing had left me wanting to read other books unfortunately.

I DNF'ed the title.

You know it’s a Kingfisher book when it’s funny, and there’s a very smart middle-aged heroine, and also deeply scary villains, and ALSO it teaches you about weird science you never considered before, and also usually there is a male lead who is buff, I guess.
All of that holds true here!
Plus an extremely clever riff on Snow White, with a hint of Jackelope Wife mysticism if you’re into that! I am. I surely am.

If T Kingfisher decided to start writing a series on what the paint on a wall looks like as it dried, I would submit an arc request. There's something in there that I cannot put down. I would like to read everything she's written, and then peek into her mind. Please start giving guided tours, thanks.

I enjoyed this, is what I'm saying. I like my fairy tales warped and changed and "influenced by, not copied", so this was great. I found myself wanting to get little side stories of everyone involved, the characters felt fully fleshed out and real. Much like the people in the mirror, I found myself thinking if I just turned a page quickly, I might catch a glimpse of them going about their business, completely independent of the story itself.

One last note, I will always be in awe of the mythology and religion in her books. They feel so ancient and known.

Healer Anja will be the first to tell you she's not much of a healer, unless what's she's healing is the effects of poison. Poisons have fascinated her since childhood, and she's studied them intensely. So it's not terribly surprising when the king comes to her workshop, begging her to see to his daughter, who is afflicted by something that no other healer has been able to figure out. She reluctantly agrees, and watches, studies, tests, finds nothing. But then she sees the princess take a bite of a silvery apple, and then discovers the source of it, and it's no longer just about the poison.

Some reviewers say that this took a really long time to get going, and it's true that we don't get to the mirror world until halfway through, but I was invested from the beginning. Anja is a great character--she knows who she is and makes no apologies for it. She's not good with people, she's blunt, she's smart, and it's all presented with Kingfisher's usual wittiness. Then we fall through the mirror, and it took me a little bit to get back in the groove of the story--just a big shift in the feel. But given some time, I found my way back in, and enjoyed it straight through the end. I don't feel like the world-building within the mirror was as strong (there are parts of it that still feel a little hand-wavey "magic!"), but the story was still engaging and, in the end, I really enjoyed this one.

This book is everything that I love about T. Kingfisher - an unapologetically smart and funny heroine, a problem that is much much weirder than it seems to be at first, a sweet hunk of a guy who is more helpful than he initially appears, and a storyline that I kind of wish would never end. For fans of Alix Harrow, Naomi Novik, and obviously for those of us who already love T. Kingfisher, this may be one of her best yet. An absolute must for public library collections, and one that I'll be highly recommending the minute it hits the shelf.

I love dark reimagined fairy tales! And T. Kingfisher’s version of Snow White is brilliant. This is the first time I’m reading something from this author and I love her storytelling. Her writing style is flawless, pulls me right in from the beginning. This is a very compelling and fascinating story that has a good plot, poison apples, an alternate dimension and friendly nightmares. I will definitely be reading more of her books from now on!

Firstly, thanks VERY much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for an e-ARC of this book.

Absolutely loved it. I think I've read most of T. Kingfisher's fantasy books to date (and 1 of her horror books, which was absolutely terrifying, and I will not be reading another because it was so freaky...sorry...just not my thing, but I was curious). I have loved all of them. T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors and I was absolutely thrilled that my request to read this book was approved.

This one had a similar tone to "Nettle & Bone". It had a good mix of suspense and humor, with a smidgen of romance that made me squeal with delight. This is a very loose Snow White retelling with some darker elements and was told in first person by Anja, whose specialty is in poisons. It was a bit slow to start, but once Anja discovered the mirror magic, the plot really ramped up. However, even though it was a slower start, I was totally fine with it and was engaged. Anja's thoughts were really interesting and the plot needed that setup.

I really love how a lot of T. Kingfisher's main characters are older (typically 30s-40s) and not stereotypical in their appearances. This makes them infinitely more relatable and loveable for a reader like me. Anja is 35, taller than average, and plus size. She also has no tact and says what is on her mind. Superb.

HIGHLY recommend this book.

T. Kingfisher is an author that either satisfies, or doesn't. Her narrative voice tends to feel very cozy and conversational regardless of the subject matter, which gives some of her titles the unique feeling of 'cozy horror'. Personally, I found Hemlock & Silver to be some of her best work, as someone who loves Kingfisher but recognizes some of the general complaints readers may have.

This is a very loose Snow White retelling, as healer Anja, an expert in poisons, seeks to discover the source of Princess Snow's mysterious illness. However, the overall plot is entirely unique, despite featuring things like apples, queens, mirrors, and so on. It is told with Kingfisher's typical lighthearted, colloquial prose, and Anja is a worthy and relatable heroine. The characters are imperfect, average people who don't do everything with a smug attitude and a flourish; they freak out when appropriate and buckle down when necessary.

5 stars for being engaging, creative, having lovable characters, and wrapping everything up neatly. If you're in the mood for an exciting fairy tale that leaves you feeling content in the end, this would be the book.

T Kingfisher first seduced me with "Paladin's Grace" and I have been hooked ever since. Thankfully, "Hemlock & Silver" didn't disappoint!! This book follows healer Anja as she tries to uncover who is poisoning Princess Snow. With the help of a talking cat, rooster, and brooding palace guard, she explores a world within her mirror to find the source of Snow's illness before it is too late.

"Hemlock & Silver" is a unique retelling of the Snow White fairy tale. It draws inspiration from the classic story, but also creates a rich world and even richer characters that make it feel brand new. It blends mystery, mirror magic, quirky characters, and a sweet romance in a lovely way. The book balances comedy with the gruesome world inside the mirror well. Our main character, Anja, is so relatable and endearing. She truly loves poisons and healing. When she is stumped by the mysterious poison she is tasked to pinpoint, the audience is frustrated right along with her. As a plus sized person, I felt really seen by Anja. She is a larger woman, and has some moments of minor self doubt that I can relate to. However, she picks herself up and finds confidence in herself, not through the eyes of any one else. I really loved that touch. There is a scene were she is frustrated by an uncomfortable chair that was too small, and I just about fell in love with her.

The only reason this was not a five star read for me was I felt the beginning of the story was a bit slow to pick up. However, I understood why this was necessary for the story structure. That being said, once the plot intensifies, the pacing of the book is very effective and makes it easy to keep reading. When I enjoy a story this much, it can be difficult to review. It is much easier to critique specific things I did not like. So, I hope my insight into who may like this book may be useful! "Hemlock & Silver" is a great addition to the tbr of readers who love folklore retellings and plot forward romance stories. Fans of "Howls Moving Castle", the tone/whimsy of the film "Mirror Mirror", and T Kingfisher's writing style in general should absolutely give this book a try!

Anja is a Healer, a title given to her as what she does, really has no other title. She is a scholar, with one of the most inquisitive minds of her time. She is a merchants daughter, and loves her father dearly. She is the sister of two beautiful women who have started families of their own. Most of all she is a problem solver, the problems she solve involve poisons.

Anja pours herself into trying to find cures for poisons and to help as many people as she can. Although, she's not a "people person", even more so when the people are children.

Anja often tests her remedies on herself, when a rooster just wont do the trick. Once day when Anja was doing such testing, the King walks in.

Remember Anja, is very much not a people person, She's somewhat of an awkward sort of person. Does very well with problems, Does not do well with small talk. So when the King summons her to help save his daughter, after some brief awkward exchanges, where she promptly forgets any manners she has for royalty.... She is on her way across the desert to see the princess. Luckily she's got two trusty guards for the trip.

While Snow has an emotional rollercoaster of an adventure crossing the desert for a few days, meeting the court, spending time with the king and praying to the saints she makes it there alive. The real adventure starts once she meets the Princess, Snow.

T. Kingfisher has the absolute best way of making you really get in to Anja's head. Her inner monologue is absolute gold. The "side characters" are also very flushed out, everyone from her very trusty ( some would even say lusty ) body guard, to our one eyed mysterious feline friend. You don't feel like you are missing bits and pieces that bring them together.

I really enjoy how the world building is done. Its detailed without taking away from the story or being a bit to intense. When the story brings you to somewhere else, you instantly know that your in a new place, without it being jarring.

The plot was tied up rather nicely in the end. The bread crumbs left through the story are all collected and we find our selves at an ending that leaves you wanting more of the story, but it still has great closure.

If you are like me and loved Nettle and Bone you will most certainly enjoy this as well! I feel very much that lady Sorel and The Dust witch would be great friends.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group | Tor Books for the digital ARC for review.

A fun and enchanting read! The characters were vivid and compelling, each adding depth, charm and some mystery to the story. The writing was smooth and immersive, I kept telling myself I'd take a break soon, but the plot pulled me right back in every time. A true page-turner with just the right mix of magic and heart.

T. Kingfisher knows how to tell a story! I love a reimagining and this version of Snow White did not disappoint. In Hemlock & Silver, Kingfisher welcomes the reader to a beautiful and fully realized world - so interesting and creative. I loved the desert fantasy setting. I was born and raised in the Sonoran Desert and it never occurred to me how fun it would be for a traditionally European setting to be placed there. (In Arizona, there are lizard motifs all over public spaces, on the freeway walls, etc. My brothers and I always joked that thousands of years from now the future will assume we worshiped them. Saint Lizard!) Give me more middle-aged, introverted, herb gathering, poison-expert female main characters! Anja was a delight. I also thoroughly enjoyed her relationship journey with Javier. The mirror gelds are a fascinating idea, and I don't think I can look at my reflection the same way ever again. I will definitely be picking up a hard copy of this book, with that beautiful cover and green sprayed edges. T. Kingfisher has become a must-buy for me and I look forward to the next one! Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC!

This dark fairy tale from T. Kingfisher has the absolute best protagonist! I was hooked from page one and loved the tension the slow build provided in the first third of the book.

While Hemlock & Silver is a retelling of Snow White, Snow takes a back seat to Anja—a tall, sturdy, and 35(!) year old healer. She is smart and her town’s go-to for solving problems, specifically those involving poison.

Once Anja starts to solve Snow’s mystery, the story picks up—and it gets delightfully weird. The love story plot isn’t front and center, but it’s so sweet. Oh, and there’s a feisty cat. Pretty sure Kingfisher has met my fluffy little demon.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! all thoughts and opinions are my own ✨

i was going back and forth on the rating for a little while, but ultimately, i've decided to give this one 3.5 stars ⭐

t. kingfisher is one of my favourite authors—so naturally, hemlock and silver crash landed on the list of my most anticipated reads of the year. and while i did enjoy the story overall, there were a few aspects that fell short. maybe it's my own fault for going in with such high expectations, but i dare you to read this novel's synopsis and try not to do the same.

my biggest problem with the book is the pacing, in that it takes quite a long time for the story to get going. our main character, anja, is a healer who specializes in the study of poisons and their respective antidotes. by the end of the first chapter, she is approached by the king and asked to cure his daughter, snow. but anja doesn't even meet snow until a quarter of the way into the book. even then, things don't become truly interesting until around the 45-50% mark. don't get me wrong, there were a few moments here and there that struck me as sinister slash intriguing, but i would have preferred it if kingfisher had gotten the ball rolling much sooner.

now, onto the things i did like. though this novel is advertised as a fairy tale retelling of snow white, i think the author did an amazing job of providing us with a fresh, new take on the classic story. i always enjoy seeing beloved narratives presented with a wholly original twist. the romance was also very sweet; i appreciated that it acted as more of a subplot instead of overshadowing the fantasy elements. and, as always, there were some hilarious one-liners thrown in there that actually made me laugh out loud.

the second half of the book was definitely much stronger than the first half. if i could split them apart, i'd say that the second half deserved a solid four stars, whereas the first was worth two and a half stars at best. hence, the overall 3.5-star rating—i think it's a decent compromise. i'd still recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a grimdark retelling with a creative flair. if you don't mind the slower pace at the beginning, it might become your new favourite!

Let’s be honest, I would read T. Kingfisher’s grocery list if I could. It doesn’t matter what it is.. if she’s selling, I’m buying.

This book might actually be my favorite one yet, although after reading it, I’ll never look at a mirror the same way 😅 Think Snow White but way darker, wittier, twistier, much more creepy and way cooler side characters

In true Kingfisher style, the main character is as relatable as they come. Anja is blunt, awkward and clumsy.. But she’s also an expert in poison. Because of this, she is summoned by the king in an effort to figure out why Princess Snow is so sick.

✨Many thanks to Tor Publishing for gifting me this arc via NetGalley. I give this review freely and honestly

As a longtime reader of T. Kingfisher's horror and a first time reader of her fantasy, wow, this book was a delight.

Kingfisher excels in the first person prose, and brings Anja to life in a way I didn't expect. Anja is incredibly unique in the fantasy genre right now: not secretly royal, possessing no secret powers, just a woman with a hyperfixation that brings her joy! And, well, the fact that that hyperfixation happens to be poison? So much the better. She is a little dicey on social niceties, but she tries her best (and her asides in parentheses like these are always a hoot). As someone who is prone to similar interests (but not poison!), Anja was a breath of fresh air. She knew what she knew, and admitted what she didn't. She was intelligent, but her intelligence was not all-knowing. She's one of my favourite protagonists I've read in a long, long time.

As for the story... it did end up a lot darker than I thought. I mean, the premise is that Anja has to save a princess who's being (potentially) poisoned, so I really should have expected it, but somehow I did not. You could see hints of Kingfisher's horror inclinations in some parts, but the rest of the book was so cozy that it never really dipped too far into it. The world was consistent enough that I followed along without issue, but left enough mystery (especially at the end!) that everything felt real, like other stories existed just beyond the pages.

In the end, this is a story about loneliness and grief as much as about poisons and people. How the losses we experience drive us forward, and can dictate our paths, but they don't have to define us. It was incredibly poignant and beautiful.

Well done, Kingfisher!