3.5 rounded up

This story offers a unique take on the classic Snow White story. Our protagonist, Anja, is a skilled healer who bravely poisons herself to discover cures for various toxins. One day, while recovering from a self-administered poison, the King unexpectedly arrives. He has heard of Anja's peculiar methods and seeks her help for his daughter, Snow, who is mysteriously dying, with no one able to find a cause. Anja accepts this unusual challenge. Around the halfway point, the story truly picks up as Anja uncovers a magical world hidden behind mirrors—a discovery that proves to be the key to understanding Snow's condition and ultimately saving her.

This was a really fun retelling, and I thoroughly enjoyed it overall, especially the writing style. It managed to keep me guessing throughout, which I always appreciate in a mystery. I also didn't mind the subtle hint of romance that developed as the story unfolded.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 8/19/2025.

I love Kingfisher's writing style, and she is still one of my favorite authors. The theme of this book just wasn't quite my thing. Fairy tale retellings are hit or miss for me, so this story fell a little flat, but I have also never been a fan of Snow White. I did really enjoy the science aspects of this story, plus the talking cat was fun. It was a solid novel, just not earth shattering in my opinion.

hands-down my favorite kingfisher fairy tale. this was polished and primed, and i burned through it. the characters were charming and well-developed, and i loved how much of a mystery this plot turned out to be. also the world building was fantastic?? i loved how much societal lore she was able to sneak into this one. it really made the world feel whole. give the summary a read, and if your fancy is struck, give this one a spin.

Thank you to Macmillan for the audio ARC!

First things first, I absolutely LOVED Anja! From her snark to her personal poison use but especially the way she thinks! This character was written very differently than you typical FMC, you will live in her head and fully understand how she thinks. As a neurodivergent person, it was really a fun ride to be on with a character who processes things similar to how I do. I was absolutely hooked and devoured this one in a day!

This was my first read by T. Kingfisher and will not be my last. This was also my first time for the narrator as well, Jennifer Pickens embodied Anja and really brought her to life. The book is marketed as a retelling of Snow White but for me it felt more original and if anything, I would say closer to Alice in Wonderland with the imagery and the pacing.

The book was not spicy but it didn’t need to be. It has a sweet romance subplot that was very well balanced with the rest of the story.

if ursula writes it, i'm going to read it.

well, in this case i listened to the audiobook and ATE it up. i literally could not stop listening. the narrator was perfect!!

urusla does it again with this snow white retelling. this had all the humor, wit, brilliance, and coziness of a t. kingfisher book. i loved the unique spin on the snow white story with a darker twist on the mirror aspect. she knows how to add the right blend of eerie, adventure, and darkness, with the most endearing and quirky characters. i LOVED anja! she was intelligent, blunt, yet so sweet and curious about the world. i also appreciate that she was an older character (35!) than most fantasy fmc's these days.

such a fun book, perfect if you're looking for a cozy fantasy!!!!

4 ⭐️ This was a lot of unexpected fun. This is a loose retelling of Snow White that is NOT told from Snow’s pov. This story holds its own as an original story with only nods to the Disney/Brother’s Grimm versions. This is about Anja, a poison expert and healer in her mid 30s, single spinster with no maternal instincts, self proclaimed larger woman who speaks her mind in the most blunt and curious ways. I loved her. I didn’t love the lack of body positivity but everything else about our heroine drew me in from page 1 to the end. Anja is called by the King to help his 12 year old daughter, Snow, who he believes is being poisoned as she has an ongoing mysterious illness that no other healer can diagnose. Once in the King’s manor, Anja finds more than a sick child, but another world, beyond the mirrors and must find a way make sense of this possibly sinister world. My very favorite part of this entire book is Grayling, the cat. He was everything I ever want my cats to be, snarky, unbothered and reminded me of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. In fact, a lot of this book mirrored parts of the Alice in Wonderland live action movies from the land to the creatures, and even the villain. This all came together so beautifully in my head.

This book could be considered dark fantasy for some, but I’d use the work dark very very conservatively in that it isn’t dark at all. To me this could be considered YA fantasy, I would probably allow my almost 10 year old daughter to read this book. I was graciously gifted an advanced listeners copy of this book and the narrator, Jennifer Pickens, was fantastic. She kept this book moving at a quick and immersive pace, all while nailing each of the characters. My daughter listened to part of it with me and was deeply engrossed, she called dibs on listening next. You’ll get a cozy magical story that has a wholesome side love story. The only reason I can’t rate this higher is because there are some loose ends that annoyed me, but otherwise it is a solid read that pulled me out of small slump.

TL;DR
* Fairy tale inspired but original story
* Smart, witty, curious and bold FMC in her 30s
* Magical world, creatures and lands
* A talking CAT!
* Side love story, that feels cozy and wholesome
* Snow White x Alice in Wonderland
* Amazing audio narration

This was my 73rd book of 2025
Format: Gifted ALC

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the advanced listeners copy in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published on August 19, 2025.

Kingfisher's books have two separate categories for me. Fairytale retellings—such as Nettle & Bone, Thornhedge, A Sorceress Comes to Call, and Hemlock & Silver—and then all the other ones. I tried reading some of the other ones, but I hated one and DNF'ed it earlier than I usually do books I DNF. Despite my general abhorrence for retellings, something about a Kingfisher retelling keeps me from my usual feelings of aversion, so I continue to read/ listen to them and find I keep liking them. I'll keep reading/listening to them until I stop liking them.

I think I like Kingfisher's retellings because they don't feel lazy and actually retell the story instead of just take characters/places out of the original story and simply change physical aspects, shove them back in, and call it a retelling. In Kingfisher's, the original fairytale only provides the skeletal frame. Characters, places, and even magic tend to be written as original, presenting the reader with a new perspective, which I genuinely love. I haven't really read too many other authors who do this (J. J. Fischer comes to mind immediately). Of course, I don't mean to say not a lot of other authors do. I simply haven't read many yet.

Though I heartily enjoyed all the Kingfisher retellings before this one, I think I like Hemlock & Silver best out of the four so far. The opening grabbed me expertly. I put the audiobook down after about 10% the first day I started it because the day was over, (one must sleep), and I picked it up the next day while I cleaned and listened to the other 90% of it straight through. I speed my books up to 2x, so it wasn't as long as the time advertised, but nearly 6 hours is still a long time for me to listen to anything without zoning out at least a few times. I did not have to take a break from listening or zone out even once. I also got an impressive amount of cleaning done. 

Jennifer Pickens has to be one of my favorite narrators ever. Pickens narrates A Sorceress Comes to Call as well. I enjoyed that book too, but I can't think if I would like Hemlock & Silver as much if it were not narrated by the same person. Pickens has a rich, soothing tone with excellent characterization and great dramatic effect. Fantastically brilliant job with the telling and the material was amazing as well.

Overall, 4/5 for the story and 5/5 for narration. If one weren't overtaxed with a barrage of stacks of books, I'd definitely add a physical copy of Hemlock & Silver to my collection.

My profuse thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.

Hemlock & Silver is a dark reimagining of Snow White that focuses on Healer Anja. Anja is the expert on poisons, often testing poisons on herself in search of their antidote. When the King summons her to help his dying daughter, Snow, Anja is determined to find what is causing Snow's symptoms. Following Snow for several days with no new clues, Anja begins to suspect that Snow's condition might not be poison-related at all. After an experiment lands Anja in a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror, Anja quickly finds there is more to Snow's condition. With the help of a royal guard and a narcissistic cat, Anja must find the cause of Snow's sickness before it's too late.

Although slow to begin, this book quickly sucked me in. Anja is a strong character with her witty banter and use of the scientific method. It was fun to see a main character who was awkward in social situations and would rather hang out with her snake and test out poisons than converse with people in the court. I loved her interactions with the magical mirror and was captivated by the creatures that hid within. Overall, this was another fantastic book by T. Kingfisher.

Hemlock & Silver is out August 19th.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to review Hemlock & Silver. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I generally enjoy T. Kingfisher books, however I have noticed that almost all of her FMC's are all kinda the same. The same is true for Hemlock and Silver. This Snow White retelling is fun, with imagery that feels akin to Alice in Wonderland. I did personally find the narrator to not be that engaging for the audiobook, however it does fit for my view of the FMC.

10/10, no notes.

I mean, I typically love Kingfisher's writing and main characters, but this time it really feels like Anja was written for me. Kingfisher's characters always feel like familiar friends or people you know, both in characterization and narration, and Anja is no exception. A healer by necessity rather than choice (it's kind of hard to research or cure poisons without patients who have been poisoned), I absolutely adored her no-nonsense but extremely curious approach to everything. Her reaction to getting pulled through a mirror to a mirror realm is to immediately try and catalog how it works and how to affect differences upon each world (rather than, y'know, freaking out). Even though Snow White isn't one of my favored fairytales, I loved seeing this retelling and spin on it, and I loved the fresh angle Kingfisher got to play with in poisons and mirrors.

I also feel like audiobook form is one of the best forms to experience Kingfisher's novels, as she always embodies her characters with such voice and wit that the narrators can bring to life. Here, I was laughing out loud at a number of places with the combination of the line and the delivery.

Okay, I lied, one note, and that's that for all of Anja's curiosity and bluntness, that she wouldn't just ask Javier his experience with their little mirror experiment and just made assumptions.

Can Kingfisher ever go wrong? No. I love the way they write. Smart, witty, relatable. Hemlock & Silver was no different. A strong female main character who's wicked smart and focused. A magic that's quite interesting to explore. Love the poison study and healer aspect, apothecaries fascinate me. Oh and a sentient cat. Wonderful.

T. Kingfisher delivers another eerie, sharp-edged fairy tale full of wit, heart, and haunting atmosphere. Hemlock & Silver blends folklore, trauma, and dry humor into a rich, spellbinding read. The heroine is fierce, the magic is strange, and every page crackles with dark charm. A perfect pick for fans of Nettle & Bone and twisted forest tales.

Omg. This was so good. Thank you for NetGalley for letting me read this ARC! I haven’t read a TK book before and I loved the writing. A darker Snow White retelling, but where Snow is more a side character. The FMC was so funny and I loved her.

My favorite T. Kingfisher retelling yet.

I ususally struggle with a fairytale retelling, especially one as well known as Snow White, but this was so fun and unique! We get a classic Kingfisher FMC that is quirky and smart. A poisions (antidotes) expert who gets requisitioned by the king to help his daughter after his wife cut the heart out of his other daughter. We get a bodyguard romance, an incredibly sassy talking cat (???), and a very cool mirror magic system.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

This was such a great twist on the typical Snow White story! Snow White is not a fairytale that we typically see re-told often. This was more of Snow White mixed with Alice in Wonderland. The plot was very interesting and the magic in it was very different than what we typically see. It was creepy and definitely made me cringe in a good "reading a horror/fantasy/mystery" book type way. I loved it and it is perfect for the spooky season coming up. There were not many twists, but the ones that did happen will make you say "Ohhhh, okay" instead of "NO WAY!"

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. The narrator for this book actually helped me finish it, because I got bogged down in the middle, but she was entertaining and a perfect selection for the way the protagonist was so cerebral. I definitely would listen to more of this narrator's work.

I was provided with an ALC of the audiobook for review. The audiobook quality and narrator was top tier. This was a well done audiobook and would definitely recommend the format for anyone who likes or prefers audiobooks.

The story itself is a Snow White inspired fantasy, and really just inspired as it is a unique story.

Anja (FMC) is a quirky and relatable character. She’s a hyper focused poisons expert, so people who like science and medicine would probably like this book, as a lot of the discussion is rooted in science. While the book does take a while to get to the action, I didn’t find the book dragging on. There is light romance towards the end of this book and it was honestly unnecessary to the story in my opinion. Overall a good read.

I was pleasantly surprised to truly feel immersed in the dark retelling of Snow White. The narrator did a wonderful job of feeling like you are in the world. I just enjoyed the vibes, the mirror portals and magic. Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.
4.25 stars

Five stars. Five stars. FIVE STARS.

I pride myself on not handing out perfect scores all willy-nilly, but Hemlock and Silver deserves nothing less. Zero notes. Zero complaints. Unexpectedly and delightfully hilarious. The narrator? Phenomenal. Friends, I. ATE. THIS. UP.

After witnessing an arsenic-related death as a child, Anja has devoted her life to the study of poisons. Years later, she’s sought out by none other than the king to investigate the strange illness plaguing his daughter, Snow. One oddly colored apple and a talking cat later, and Anja is forced to reconcile everything she thought she knew about the world with the one she’s discovered beyond the mirror.

Anja is such a lovably odd and relatable character. I’ve never wanted to be a fictional person more, something she’d probably find horrifying and vaguely hilarious, given how painfully awkward she is. I would happily read another 300 pages of her failing to navigate small talk with nobles.

If you get the chance to read this in any format, don’t hesitate. But if the audiobook is an option? Snatch. It. Up. The narration is top-tier: perfectly paced, hilariously deadpan, and delivered with so much heart.

“Calm. I was calm.
I stared between Ironwood’s ears and focused on how calm I was, how easy my breathing was, how relaxed my hands were on the reins.
‘Good morning,’ said the king.
‘People think I’m your mistress,’ I hurled at him. Calmly.”

PERFECTION.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and T. Kingfisher for the privilege of this ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have missed feeling so happy and free after reading a cozy book, and this gave me just that.

This book felt like tumbling down a rabbit hole into a wonderland made of moss, magic, and murder but in the most whimsical, cozy way possible.

It’s a Snow White retelling, but not like anything I’ve ever read before. Think: herbs and magic mirrors, a bit of old-school fairytale darkness. A sarcastic plus-sized heroine who had me laughing out loud, and a talking cat who completely stole the show. Seriously, every time the cat opened its mouth, I was giggling (This was an audiobook so imagine what I looked like to my neighbors, walking down the street cackling to myself).

Anja, our main character, is funny, practical, and cynical in the best way. She blends botany, medicine, and quiet magic in a way that felt grounded and dreamy all at once. The world building is rich and weird, and there’s a subtle mystery that kept me wanting more.

And the romance? Soft, slow, swoony. It's that kind of romance that quietly simmers in the background but just punches you in the heart when it finally hits. Absolutely no shame, I would let Javier kill for me.

Also: the audiobook was fantastic: fun, expressive, and far from robotic. The narrator gave such life to Anja’s dry humor and the cat’s dramatic flair. I loved it.

If you’re a fan of Once Upon a Time, dark fairytales, cozy fantasy, or just want to escape into something strange and sweet; Hemlock & Silver is for you.