Healer Anja drinks poison—not to die, but to save those everyone else has given up on. Her quiet, herb-filled life is interrupted when the King summons her: his daughter Snow is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.
With the help of a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and her scientific mind, Anja tries everything—but nothing works. That is, until she discovers a hidden, magical world inside a mirror that may hold the key to Snow’s mysterious illness. The world-building is subtle but enchanting, and the characters are complex and compelling.
I absolutely loved Anja—smart, funny, unapologetic, and relatable. I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was perfect, making the story even more immersive. While the tale draws inspiration from Snow White, it feels like an original story, which makes it all the more captivating.

This dark retelling of snow white did not feel dark but more like a whole new story. I loved the book and the characters. The FMC was so funny and the audio book made it even better because you can feel her humor in her reading. Such a good narrator! I also loved the cat, the scenes with the cat had me laughing out loud every time. Honestly, this story was better than Snow White. The world was so original and descriptive and it was easy to get immersed in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVE T. Kingfisher and her magical reimaginings of classic fairy tale elements. She has a fabulous mastery of language and uses it to create imagery that burns its way into my brain. Her world-building is original and dark and twisted and absolutely brilliant. The plotting and pacing were, as always, spot on and perfectly blended tension and revelation from beginning to end.

I was hooked on this story from the opening moments, and the narration definitely helped with that feeling. Jennifer Pickens is magical here - she captures the emotion and the tension of the story perfectly and left me utterly rapt and waiting for the next plot development. She was the perfect narrator for this tale!

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of Hemlock and Silver!

This book is a retelling that is a mashup between Snow White and a dash of Alice in Wonderland. This book is a retelling that is truly unique!

I loved Anja! She was a fantastic main character! I loved when an author uses the main character to watch and evaluate the main events and that’s what Anja does. She tries to solve the puzzle while not being directly impacted by the poisonings. She is a unique healer in that she isn’t really a healer, she’s more of a scientist who happens to use her knowledge to heal people. She has a great scientific mind while still being believable which I feel like can be hard to manage.

The whole concept of the mirror world was amazing! The way Kingfisher writes it is definitely inventive and unique. It makes me leery of mirrors now!

The audiobook was extraordinarily well narrated. I definitely got Anja vibes from the narrator. She did a great job of inviting you into the story.

I definitely recommend this book even if you aren’t a classic retellings person. This is truly a familiar yet unique experience!

My favorite T Kingfisher yet! Her humor, her knowledge/research, her storytelling cannot be topped. I thought finding a new world inside the silver of the mirrors was unique and exciting. My favorite part was the main character. I'd follow her in her every day life. She was funny, smart, awkward and relatable. The audio production was fantastic and the narrator did a marvelous job. I highly recommend!

This book was a delightful mix of Snow White and Alice and Wonderland, with a creepy twist! If you are looking for a perfect fall book for your TBR, look no further! The main character, Anja, is bright but relatable, and her cutting commentary throughout the book is very funny. I love that despite being a dark fairytale retelling, she acknowledges the absurd and comments on it. This witty commentary really shines through in the audiobook narrated by Jennifer Pickens. I also loved the slow burn romance in this book. Another Kingfisher strength, this book makes every glance tension filled with a satisfying ending to their story. Overall, this was a fun retelling that brought a creepy but engaging spin to these classic tales!

I thoroughly enjoyed Hemlock and Silver, a loose retelling of Snow White. The story follows Anja,, an antidote specialist tasked with uncovering what is making the king’s daughter sick. What begins as a straightforward investigation quickly unravels into something much deeper, leading Anja to discoveries far beyond what she could have imagined.

T. Kingfisher brings her signature humor and pragmatism to Anja's character, making her interactions with the strange and unknown both entertaining and relatable. I especially loved the way mirrors were woven into the story—those concepts felt fresh, and thought-provoking.

There is a bit of a disconnect between the first and second half of the book, almost as if the opening served as an extended introduction to the main plot. Still, the worldbuilding and twists held my attention throughout. By the end, I found myself wishing for a sequel to dive even deeper into the world and its fascinating ideas.

A witty, darkly magical, and memorable retelling—I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.

Anja js a healer in this Snow White reimagining. She knows just about everything about every plant and what it does when ingested or used as poison which is why she’s chosen by the King to help figure out what has happened to one of his daughters. Snow is sick and dying and nobody knows why so it’s up to Anja to solve the mystery with her unique and unorthodox ways. She’s accompanied by some amazing side characters along the way.

One of my favorite reads of the year so far!! From the first chapter I was completely hooked and loved every minute of this story. The mystery element was so entertaining, the characters were well rounded and interesting, the writing was amazing, and it was sooo funny! I was cracking up throughout this book when I wasn’t engrossed in the mystery unfolding. This was such a solid read!

The narrator did an amazing job, I loved their portrayal of the characters!

Thank you so much T. Kingfisher and Macmillan Audio for providing this free ALC. This is my honest review. Happy pub day!

Rounding up to a 5 star. This was a fantastic retelling of Snow White and felt like everything I wanted out of a T. Kingfisher novel.

Anya was such a good protagonist, classic T. Kingfisher heroine where she's incredibly competent at her job but not so competent with people. Her being more of a scientist, gave me the vibes I liked from A House with Good Bones and she felt a bit like all the best bits of Grace, Mara, and Hala.

I really liked the use of the mirror and the way the evil queen was used. Just very refreshing and humorous as well as just creepy enough.

First, let me say that I am finding that I love the retelling or fairy tales. I love the re imagination of the story telling, especially when it is done well.
T. Kingfisher does a great job in the retelling of Snow White. It is not Snow White fairytale we know but it has a 12 year old princess named Snow who is very sick. Her father the King hires a poison expert named Anja who travels with a snake that she drinks its poison. Anja also has a funny sense of humor too.
Anja comes to the castle and watches Snow, and everything she eats. Snow has a funny looking blue haired cat with one eye that has a weird presence. This story has a lot of symbolism of the Snow White fairytale: queens, mirrors, apples, and poison.
This is a dark tale that starts off slow but then picks up at the half way point it really picks up. The way this story turns with Anya on the trail of the culprit behind princess Snow’s sickness.
I really enjoyed this tell, and the great descriptive writing of T. Kingsfisher.
This is a great book for fans of fairytale retelling and dark fantasy lovers. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for allowing me the opportunity to review this arc.

Rating: 4.25/5 stars

This was such a unique and eerie fairy tale retelling. I loved Anja as a character - practical, a little chaotic, and so easy to root for. The dark magic, poison lore, and talking cat made for such a fun and weirdly charming story.

It was creepy in all the right ways and still managed to be heartwarming. I’ll definitely be picking up more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC!

This was a wonderfully engaging and fun twist on the Snow White fairy tale. I really enjoyed Anja's perspective and character voice. This story is written in a similar vein as Nettle & Bone, and I believe you will enjoy it if you enjoyed that one. In this story, Anja is a scientist obsessed with poison and finding cures for various poisons. She says several times that she is interested by the problem solving process rather than the care-giving nature of healing. She is engaged by the King to hopefully cure his daughter, Snow, who is mysteriously ill. She arrives at the palace and enters into an adventure along with her bodyguard companion, Javier, Jennifer Pickens does an excellent job bringing the characters and story to life with her narration, and I strongly recommend the audiobook edition of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an ALC in return for my honest thoughts.

This is beautifully written dark fantasy/Mythology by T Kingfisher! Hemlock and silver is what you get if you mix snow white, apothecary diaries (manga/anime) and The Others movie! And add a talking cat! Mind bending but a pleasant light hearted story. I loved the narration on the ALC that was provided to me prior to the release of the book, the pacing by Jennifer Pickens was just right.

Anja is a healer who loves her lil lab and lives in her own world until the king arrives personally to seek her to save her ailing daughter snow. But things are not so simple, there is a magic mirror that opens up to another world and Anja has to navigate this world to find the truth of what really is the mystery behind Snow’s illness. Will she figure it out in time or lose her own life?

Thank you to author T. Kingfisher for a fantasy book where our FMC is 35, more full-figured and not the most beautiful creature to ever grace the lands! A character who leads with intellect, humor, has insecurities and made me lol more than once. We get mystery, adventure, a talking animal, and Romance without overly complicated world building.. This was a fun read - a clever play on Snow White with many subtle nods I’d love to mention - but no spoilers!! A fun 5⭐️ read for me I enjoyed every moment of.

Narrator Jennifer Pickens brought our heroine and this story to life with her masterful voice. I was completely immersed in this adventure.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to an advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own

T. Kingfisher has done it again—Hemlock & Silver is a unique and utterly charming Snow & Rose retelling, brimming with the author’s trademark flourish and subversion. Kingfisher takes the familiar and twists it into something wholly her own, balancing humor, heart, and a touch of the macabre.

Our heroine, Anya, is the kind of character I can never get enough of: not your conventional beauty, not your sword-swinging chosen one, but a pragmatic, sharp-minded healer fixated on her craft--poisons, or rather finding their antidotes. Alongside her we meet Javier, the man of few words whose quiet presence grows on you; Snow, at the heart of the story’s conflict; Grayling, a talking cat who provides both comic relief and sharp insight; and, of course, Anya’s rooster, who I couldn’t help but picture as Hei Hei from Moana.

The narration was pitch-perfect—clear, engaging, and deftly differentiated between characters. Each voice was distinct without ever slipping into caricature, which meant no confusion, no distracting silliness, just immersive storytelling at its finest.

What I loved most was Kingfisher’s inventive reimagining of magic mirrors and mirror worlds, paired with her gift for building heroines you can’t help but love by the final page. This story is witty, inventive, and deeply satisfying—a fairytale retelling with a touch of weird that only Kingfisher could conjure.

Hands down favorite book of the year so far! No one does fairytale retellings like T Kingfisher does.

This poison-laced Snow White retelling follows the passionate and wonderfully awkward Anja on a twisted adventure through a Hollow Places-esque world, with just the right amount of horror and romance. This book is an absolute gem for long term Kingfisher fans as well as newcomers.

The audio narrator, Jennifer Pickens, embodied the characters perfectly, and I love how she made each character’s voice pop with life.

This will definitely be in my top 3 favorite books at the end of the year and I urge everyone to give it a try!

I really enjoyed this, it kept me captivated and trying to guess what was going to happen. This is the first T. kingfisher book I have read and I will definitely be reading more. The narrator was good as well.

This was such a breath of fresh air! The main character Anja was so witty and fun to follow, and the writing overall was very simple and easy. If you're looking for a quick, fun fairytale retelling, I definitely recommend this book.

Also, I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job.

There is something so charming and hilarious and also darkly comforting in Kingfisher’s writing style and Hemlock & Silver bleeds that signature wit from the very first page. Anja is our grumpy middle aged protagonist - a healer who sees more so the problems of illness instead of the people attached to them. She’s assigned the task of determining who (or what) is poisoning the Princess - though she’d really rather not deal with nobility and be left alone to her experiments, studies, scientific methods, and yes, venomous snakes.

There is also a romance with one of the bodyguard’s assigned to Anja but it’s a very mature, yet adorable sideplot that doesn’t step on the toes of the main storyline. Those who liked the romance in the Saint of Steel series or Swordheart will appreciate seeing that same kind of approach here. You’ll get just a little bit of your fix while we wait for the next installment in Saint 👀
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Kingfisher lures you in with the mystery and brings in fantastical and eerie new elements to the story that had me glued to the audiobook for hours at a time. Jennifer Pickens does a fantastic job capturing Kingfisher’s voice and tone. Pickens also narrated Sorceress and I think that her and Kingfisher’s story are just a great match. I really hope the two of them get the chance to work together again with Kingfisher’s upcoming books.
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Dry, hilarious, clever, dark, and so funny - Hemlock & Silver is yet another T Kingfisher book that I know I’m going to want to re-read some day. Ahhh, I love that feeling!!
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*I received an audio ARC from Macmillan Audio & NetGalley. All opinions are my own*
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Hisses & Kisses 🐍

I have never read a T. Kingfisher book that I didn’t like 😍 When I heard this was a dark reimagining of Snow White, I was very intrigued!

For like the first 10% I didn’t really see how it was going to incorporate Snow White, other than the name Snow, but was still really curious about the story. We start off really just learning about our MC, Healer Anja, who is the best - she’s a mid-30s poison healer and just has the driest humor!

Very quickly, however, it really makes sense how it’s a reimagining. We still have the main components of Snow White with the young Princess, an evil Queen, and, of course, apples. Other than that it is such a unique and adventure filled story that keeps you hooked to the very end.

If this all sounds interesting to you, you should absolutely check it out as it just released today, August 19!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.