I can’t believe I got to review TWO T. Kingfisher books this year! First I reviewed Hemlock & Silver and now…Snake-Eater! I’m a huge fan of Kingfisher’s books and it was an absolute treat to review both of these books. So what is Snake-Eater about?

In Snake-Eater, Selena and her dog Copper end up moving out to Quartz Creek. She wants to stay with her aunt there, to get away from her awful partner, but as it turns out, her aunt has died. Selena is able to move into her aunt’s house though and quickly becomes friends with her neighbor Grandma Billy and a local priest. Things seem to be looking up. Well, that is until a roadrunner god named Snake-Eater, who was “friends” with her aunt, decides that since Selena’s aunt is gone, Selena will have to take her place…or else!

While Hemlock & Silver was a fantasy book with a touch of horror, Snake-Eater is more horror than fantasy. Although the book is slow burn horror. The supernatural aspect of the book takes its time growing and building in the background for awhile. We get to know Selena, Grandma Billy, the priest and a little bit of the other people in town too. We grow to care about our main characters and then things start to get crazy. There are some really neat plot twists in this book.

I love how this book focuses more on the characters than plot for awhile. I absolutely love Selena, Copper, and Grandma Billy. All of the characters in the book are pretty great though. Yes, even Snake-Eater. whew. Scary roadrunner god for sure. I will never look at roadrunner’s the same way again.

There is definitely some humor in this book too, which keeps things from getting too dark. I love T. Kingfisher’s dialogue. The writing in this book is excellent overall. I enjoyed this book a lot.

Snake-Eater is a really good book. I couldn’t tell you if I liked Hemlock & Silver or this book better. Though, comparing them really isn’t fair. The two books, while by the same author, are radically different. Both are excellent. You should read both of them!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of this book for review. Snake-Eater will attack bookstores everywhere on November 11th, 2025.

Quick very high level summary.
Selena’s inheritance of her aunt's house in the remote desert town seems like the perfect escape from her troubles. So she loads up her dog Copper and takes the chance on this new life. Little does she know that her aunt has debts that need to be paid.

My Take.
As expected the writing is well done. Kingfisher gives us a town that is seemingly beautiful yet unsettling. Its another unique horror fantasy with a folktale feel from Kingfisher. I did enjoy it, book's atmosphere, character development seems well done for the size of the story but I wanted more magic, more focus on the desert g-ds. Overall still an enjoyable read.

T. Kingfisher does it again!

This story follows Selena, a woman looking to leave behind her life in the city and reconnect with her Aunt Amelia in the small town of Quartz Creek. When she arrives, Selena and her dog Copper are quickly ushered into the town's routines and customs with help from their neighbor, Grandma Billy, and the local priest. Soon, Selena and Copper begin to notice that things aren't quite as they seem in their new home. They encounter a desert-god who begins to haunt their house and threatens to disrupt life as they know it in Quartz Creek.

To be quite honest, I wasn't sure how this book would play out based on the description. But, like with every T. Kingfisher story, I had faith and I'm so glad I did! T. Kingfisher astounds me with her ability to tell such unique and refreshing tales. This story feels more on the cozy side, but had some genuinely creepy/eerie moments throughout. I thought it was a good balance for this type of story and it really worked for me. I loved this book and read it in less than two days because I just couldn't put it down!

This story would appeal to those looking for a book with a small town, found family, and folk horror.

Thanks to 47North and Netgalley gor a copy of this ARC

I usually have a bit of a love hate with the protagonists of T. Kingfishers books. Usually because they feel like 2015 Tumblr user and will say things that active my memories of that era like a code phrase activating a sleeper agent. Selena though feels a lot more modern and vulnerable in a particularly endearing way.

In fact most of the characters are endearing. They feel like they exist somewhere in the world, tangible and solid.

The story itself self is pretty standard T. Kingfisher affair so if you like her other stuff you’ll probably enjoy this to.

An excellent replacement for people who ho once enjoyed american gods btw

Thank you 47North and NetGalley for the ARC

Selena arrives in Quartz Creek hoping to stay with her aunt after running away from her partner. Only to find out her aunt died a year ago. After being convinced to stay overnight, Selena and her dog Copper end up staying a lot longer than expected. When Selena starts seeing strange things she might just find out that there’s more going on in this town than she thought.

This was everything I love about a T Kingfisher book. She manages to write banter and relationships between characters with ease. There’s a creepiness to this book but I don’t think it’s quite a horror novel. Definitely more on the fantasy with horror elements end (cosy horror??), accompanied with Kingfisher’s ability to find humour in any situation.

This did feel somewhat directionless at times, but I was very invested in the characters and specifically Selena’s growth that I didn’t mind just following them along in their day to day. Watching Selena change from overthinking every conversation to slowly coming into her own was very satisfying.

I’m always a fan of a creepy bird, there are so many birds that just look liked they’re absolutely take you apart. Though I will say we took a turn with this specific creepy bird I was not expecting. You’ll have to read and find out what I mean by that.

This one was kind of hard for me to read only because I saw so many similarities between Selena and myself in regard to her relationship. The story was great, not my favorite read ever but still incredibly enjoyable. T. Kingfishers writing, as always, absolutely phenomenal and such a pleasure to read.

T. Kingfisher is one of my very favorite authors, and Snake-Eater may be my favorite of her books so far. This beautiful love letter to the desert, folklore, found family, and most of all, accepting yourself will 100% be one of my very favorite reads of 2025!

Selena arrives in the small desert town of Quartz Creek, on the run from her ex-boyfriend and hoping to stay with her aunt until she can get her feet back under her. When she discovers that her aunt has passed away and no one has claimed her home, she decides to stay for just a few days. But what she finds is a friendly community in a desert of greater beauty than she expected, filled with creatures straight out of mythology. Her new friends instruct her to respect the desert spirits and leave them alone; but one spirit had unfinished business with her aunt, and now he’s coming after Selena.

The setting was one of my favorite parts of this book; the accurate and loving descriptions of the desert infused the story with a wonderfully deep sense of place. I live in the desert, and Kingfisher fully captured its vast beauty. My other favorite part was the characters; T. Kingfisher writes the most human characters of almost any genre writer. Selena is such a real person, you can’t help but love her and root for her through this whole story. All the other characters are also wonderfully, imperfectly real, and I frankly fell in love with the whole desert town of Quartz Hill.

I truly loved this story; it felt like it was written just for me. It’s a wild and beautiful tale of desert spirits, the power of friends, and kindness winning over strength. Snake-Eater is not as frightening as some of her horror novels; I would say this one is more magical realism with a dark lean than horror, although there are definitely moments that fully creeped me out. (I will never look at a road runner the same way, that’s for sure!) Filled with her trademark humor and so much heart, new and existing fans of T. Kingfisher are sure to love Snake-Eater. I will definitely buy myself a copy when it publishes later this year!

I would recommend Snake-Eater to fans of T. Kingfisher, as well as to readers who enjoy desert settings, folklore-inspired tales, and found family.

Thank you to NetGalley & 47North for the arc! All thoughts & opinions in the review are my own.

I loved the premise of this book, but was skeptical reading it at the beginning. It starts of really slowly and you know Selena has some secrets, but the story unfolds quite naturally (as much as gods can be natural) and comes to a satisfying conclusion. I really enjoyed the writing and I thought that it being a story about self-growth within this external plot was really well done.

I love T Kingfisher and I will genuinely read anything she puts out. Especially because there's so much humor packed into what is such a serious and thought provoking story every time.

While I miss the North Carolinas as a setting, the desert was a fun one to venture to. I liked the discussions about how people there just live on a few months of work and the rest of the time, no one's seen as a burden, they're all just... living.

Also, I really liked how the priest was handled, and as someone who's left the church, I really enjoyed the musings of how to believe in both the soul, native religious beings, and god all at once. It was just so fulfilling to read about.

I want my own grandma billy. Is there another house in the desert I could move into?

Thank you to 47North, NetGalley & T. Kingfisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Genre(s): fantasy, horror.

Overall impression: another unique and bite-sized fantasy novel with horror elements by T. Kingfisher. The story unfolded slowly with a lot of time spent on character construction and world-building. The characters had a wide variety of personalities and a strong sense of community. It truly felt like a safe haven in the desert, where you could escape to if the demands of life became a bit too much to deal with. The resident spirits and gods were fun to learn about too and added a layer of adventure towards the end of the novel. I just had a bit of trouble with the writing style and pacing in this novel, so found it a bit less enjoyable compared to The Twisted Ones, The Hollow Places and A House with Good Bones.

Tropes:
➵ Evil roadrunner god
➵ Minor spirits & gods
➵ Autistic FMC
➵ Speech scripting
➵ Animal companion
➵ Mental health representation
➵ Traumatic past
➵ Found family
➵ Witty dialogue
➵ Small town
➵ Set in the desert

⤷ Plot:
It didn't feel like there was a clear direction for the story at the start of the novel. Selena moved to her late-Aunt's house in a small town and spent a lot of time getting settled in. She formed a few friendships, went to community dinners and learned how to take care of her vegetable garden so she had food for survival in the long run. But otherwise, it was a lot of pottering around and felt very slow and aimless. There was a bit of action towards the middle and end of the book, where she met some monsters and had to go find Snake-Eater to get him to leave their town alone. But it took a while to get there because of the pacing.

⤷ Characters:
Selena was our main character - a neurodivergent woman that escaped an abusive relationship and ended up in her late-Aunt's house in Quartz Creek. She formed a few strong core friendships with the Priest and Grandma, who helped her integrate into their community. They allowed her to express herself and unmask, giving her the freedom she was denied when with her ex. I found her to be extremely likeable and relatable. I thought the autism representation was very spot on and appreciated that it focused on her strengths and abilities, whilst nor forcing her to mask and conform.

Grandma and the Priest had the most hilarious interactions and provided some much-needed comic relief when facing off against Snake-Eater and his minions. Grandma had a lot of stories from her past and helped ease some of Selena's anxiety and embarrassment. And the Priest was non-judgemental, even when discussing gods other than his own. All in all, they formed a really unconventional and cute found family and I loved the scenes where they were all together.

⤷ World-building:
The world-building around Quartz Creek was rich and detailed. It really felt like a small isolated town, disconnected from the outside world with limited wifi and service. The locals were inclusive and had a strong community spirit, making sure everyone got through the quiet season when work is scarce by sharing resources and food. It sounded like the perfect place to live to get away from everything and felt like a true sanctuary. Though it was set in the modern world, there were folklore elements integrated smoothly. We were introduced to spirits and minor gods, most of which were benign and worked on maintaining the land. I liked that their strength was fluid and they were connected to certain places or purposes (i.e. gardening). Like all of T. Kingfisher's other novels, it felt like a completely new world to explore and I had a lot of fun reading it.

⤷ Writing:
I'm a massive T. Kingfisher fan. Her writing is usually very reader-friendly and pretty easy to binge, and in relatively few pages she crafts very unique stories with interesting fantasy/horror lore. Snake-Eater read a bit differently from her other books and the writing style was a bit trickier to get through. I want to preface this by saying that I have autism and I read books to relax and unmask. But because of how much speech scripting and social anxiety I deal with in daily life and at work, I personally found it quite exhausting to read about it in this book. It took away some of the enjoyment of reading for me but I recognise that this isn't something that might bother other readers who don't experience it daily. I'm not sure if Snake-Eater will appeal to the wider audience or not but I really hope it does because it's one of the best representations of autism in a high masking woman that I've read about.

This book was bizarre! It was not at all what I expected, but I ended up really enjoying it. I thought it would be scary based off the synopsis, and there were some creepy moments, but this is definitely not a horror novel. It was mostly a weird, twisted fantasy with lots of humor, characters that you can't help but love, and a heartfelt, feel-good ending. The story did start a little slow and I wasn't sure that I would like it all, but the pace did pick up and I found myself completely invested in this very strange, captivating tale.

Snake-Eater was my first ever Kingfisher book and I have to pay compliments to the author's writing style. The prose was straightforward and easy to read with no unnecessary fillers. I was transported into this atmospheric, imaginative world without being bored to death with lengthy descriptions. The dialogue was laid back and more accustomed to real people rather than fictional characters. I loved it! I will definitely be looking for more to read from this author. I think fans of this author and fantasy readers are going to love this book!

Thank you to 47North for granting me a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

For someone who doesn’t know what anxiety feels like, this book is eye opening. But as someone existing in a heightened state of anxiety lately, this book did not make me feel good. That all being said, the writing is excellent and I can’t wait to read more T. Kingfisher books.

Thank you to NetGalley and 47North for an ARC of Snake-Eater.

There is something about T. Kingfisher's writing that just soothes my soul. I can always relate to the character she writes and her quiet wit is perfection. I absolutely would have skipped this based on the plot if it was by any other author, but I'm glad I didn't! I loved the wild cast of characters, the desert setting, and especially the ending. Pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this one.

4.5 stars

Per me ogni T. Kingfisher è un regalo, e questo non fa eccezione. Originale l'ambientazione e perfettamente coerente sia l'elemento soprannaturale che la reazione della protagonista, credibile insieme nella sua fragilità e nell'analisi dei danni di una relazione tossica.
Brillante la scrittura, piacevoli i personaggi secondari, umani e non; e ho apprezzato che non ci sia traccia, per una volta, di un interesse amoroso, che sarebbe sttao completamente fuori luogo in quella che è, alla fine, una storia di accettazione e crescita.
Con i mostri.
E, in tutta onestà, i roadrunner fanno VERAMENTE paura. OO

T. Kingfisher has a gift for writing horror that’s as human as it is haunting, and Snake-Eater might be one of her most quietly powerful works yet. It’s eerie, heartfelt, and laced with the kind of dark whimsy that only she can pull off.

This book blends slow-burn suspense, rich folklore, and a small-town setting that feels both comforting and deeply unsettling. There’s a deep sense of place, and the desert atmosphere practically hums with something ancient and watching. The horror here doesn’t rely on gore or jump scares—it creeps in slowly, wrapped in humor, grief, and the uncanny.

The protagonist is one of the most relatable I’ve read in a while—sharp, struggling, funny, and real. And the supporting cast? Utterly unforgettable. There’s found family, quiet healing, and a dog who absolutely steals scenes.

If you like your horror thoughtful, character-driven, and tinged with myth, this one belongs on your shelf.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This wasn't my favorite of T. Kingfisher, the cover implies more of a horror bent, but I couldn't really get on board with the tone, it was a little all over the place

This story follows Selena, who’s burnt out and heads to the desert town of Quartz Creek, hoping to stay with her aunt—only to find out her aunt passed away a year ago. She ends up staying in the house anyway with her dog, Copper, and starts to settle in. But it’s not long before she realizes the town isn’t exactly normal. There are spirits and gods lurking around, and one of them believes Selena is supposed to take over her aunt’s role.

Selena was the standout for me. She overthinks every conversation, worries about saying the wrong thing, and constantly tries to plan out how to talk to people without sounding annoying—which is literally me. I don’t think I’ve ever related to a character so much. It felt nice to see that kind of anxiety portrayed in such a real and honest way.

The setting was vivid and just the right mix of cozy and eerie. I felt like I could actually see the desert town, right down to the spiders hiding in corners (gave me chills, honestly). It wasn’t full-on horror, but it had just enough weird and unsettling moments to keep things interesting. Mostly, though, it’s a story about finding your place and building a life, even in the strangest of circumstances.

I’d absolutely love to read more stories set in Quartz Creek. The world created here is one I’d happily return to.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Another five star from T. Kingfisher. I don't think I've ever given Kingfisher less than a four star and it's been more five star than fours by I think a good margin.

As always, I love Kingfisher's characters. Selena and her dog, Copper, are lovely. I was so happy to see Selena's healing. Copper is the best dog. I loved the rest of the characters too. It really felt like the whole town was a family and Grandma Billy was a delight.

The writing was, as always, charming. Kingfisher has a way with humor that I always love, without making every book or character sound the same.

I won't get too deep into the plot or anything, but the book is the perfect length, the way the world is introduced is interesting and fun, and I even teared up a little at the end. I just really loved it. Easy five stars. I'll read anything T. Kingfisher puts out, no questions.

T. Kingfisher delivers yet another delightful creepy-cozy tale. The pleasure in her writing, though, is not the ease in which she weaves the macabre elements into her story but the humanity she threads in as well. From the moment we meet the central character, Selena, it is clear that she is using some coping techniques perhaps acquired through therapy and that she clearly suffered some emotional abuse. She is looking to escape her situation, but the relative she runs to is no longer there. In her stead, Selena finds a community, even a found family that embraces her, helps her and allows her to help them. Of course, there is that Kingfisher-signature supernatural menace to deal with but her newfound family comes through to support her there too. Through to the perfect ending that brings this story full circle, this was an excellent read.
I received access to this eARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, 47North) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Selena is a woman who's running away from her partner, and when she's informed that her estranged aunt passed away, she goes to her aunt's little town in the middle of the desert called Quartz Creek. At first, Selena feels out of the water with the news of her aunt's death, the strange town, and her new quirky neighbors. But it gets a whole lot stranger when she encounters spirits visiting her and messing up with her new normal.

I was hesitant to read this one because of possible horror elements teased in the story description, and that this is my first T. Kingfisher book so I wasn't sure what I was expecting. I'm glad that I found myself surprised and entertained through and through! It was a bit slow at first, but when the pace picks up, it REALLY picks up. The cast of characters in this book combined are hilarious and lovable! I love how Selena develops throughout the story, from this woman who's a bumbling mess to a more confident character. The paranormal/horror elements are just right for someone who's not into the horror genre.

Thank you NetGalley and 47North for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.