Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the eARC. This book was great - I love when a book immediately draws me in and I don’t want to put it down until I’ve finished. I enjoyed having both Cordelia and Hester’s POVs and watching their relationship grow throughout the story. Evangeline is a terrifying sorceress and Kingfisher does an excellent job portraying that even if she did not have magic in her arsenal she would be a formidable woman without it. I would highly recommend picking this one up!

This is my first T. Kingfisher book and I’m so glad that this one was. I’ve always loved the tail of the goose girl so when I saw that this was going to be a dark retelling, I jumped on it right away. I am so happy that I listen to the audiobook, and I loved the dual narration that we had. the voice actor for Cordelia really did a good job with making her seem young and naïve, and a nervous scared rabbit. The book ended in a spot that I wasn’t quite sure about but I still thoroughly enjoyed the story. I wish it was a tad longer, but also it was perfect. I really enjoyed the twist interns that we had throughout the story. All the characters are super lovable and unique and this has become a favorite of mine very quickly. Like I said, I wish that we may be got a bit more with the characters but also the pacing was so well done that I think it’s just that wishful thinking that readers get after reading, a great book and that may be more pages wouldn’t have been a plus.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

I think that fantasy written by T. Kingfisher is definitely for me! A Sorceress Comes to Call is a Goose Girl retelling (full disclosure I have never read Goose Girl) and there was so much about this book that was just so fun. The characters (especially our main characters Hester and Cordelia) felt so real. I was rooting for them SO hard and I was hoping that everyone would get a happy ending, while simultaneously being stressed for everyone else. This was also surprisingly so funny??? Like there were many times when I genuinely laughed out loud, and it was a good break between the dark moments. Also, recently I have really not been a fan of romantic subplots, but the little taste between Lord Evermore and Hester had me melting (maybe the regency era was sweeping me up). It was great to see Cordelia grow as a person as she gained confidence in herself, and this was a great mix of fantasy and horror with some genuinely scary moments (I'm definitely not going around any horses for a couple days).

I have Nettle & Bone on my shelves and I will definitely be prioritizing this for the fall! I'm excited to reread this and see if it'll sneak its way into my top favorites.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest opinion

4.5 stars rounded up to 5!!

A Sorceress Comes to Call is a reimagining of Grimm’s ‘The Goose Girl’ and I knew basically nothing about this fairy tale except for one thing and that thing wasn’t even accurate. (I thought it was a fairy tale about a girl being turned into a goose. Spoiler: she isn’t turned into a goose, she’s a princess who’s maid impersonates her and then she herds geese as a peasant girl.)
The story is told from 14 year old Cordelia’s and 50-something Hester’s point of view. Cordelia’s mother, Evangeline, is a sorceress but Cordelia doesn’t really know what that means, except that her mother can make her “obedient” when she’s displeased with her. Her mother has talked forever about how Cordelia will one day marry a rich man and they will be set for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile her mother has “benefactors” who provide the money they need to live. When Cordelia’s mother sets her sights on a new Benefactor, a Duke named Samuel, they move to his estate while Evangeline is making Samuel fall in love with her; the Duke’s sister Hester knows something is off about Evangeline. What follows is the household discovering what horrors Evangeline can truly inflict on them all.

T. Kingfisher has done it again! She has become one of my favorite authors. Her writing is atmospheric and her female leads are well developed and easy to root for. That said, Evangeline is a horrible horrible woman. If parental abuse or the depiction of narcissistic parents is triggering, approach this with caution.
BUT, Cordelia and Hester were both amazing characters to follow and the contrast of two very different women worked so very well. Cordelia is naïve and terrified and Hester is strong and life experienced. I wasn’t expecting to relate so strongly to Hester but I really did. She has a few moments of vulnerability about how she views her self worth and it’s heartbreaking but deeply relatable. Not to mention Hester looking after Cordelia and being a good parental figure was very heartwarming.

The horror elements were lighter and probably would work for a wider range of readers. It’s just enough to qualify but it’s not so over the top to scare non-horror readers away. It’s very much about the characters and how they work together to solve a very big problem. And also the resolution is chef’s kiss

Overall if you like Kingfisher you’re probably going to like Sorceress Comes to Call and if you haven’t read her yet this would be a great book to start with! (But really any of hers are good to start with!)

I really wasn't ready for how dark this book was at the start. Cordelia is a young girl whose mother is a sorceress that exerts control over her to a disturbing level. Despite being incredibly sheltered and heavily abused, Cordelia still hopes for better but feels helpless to change her path. Cordelia's mother gets her hooks into a rich man that she is intent on tricking into marriage, which is how Cordelia meets Hester, the soon-to-be-groom's spinster sister. Cordelia and Hester strike up an unlikely friendship and both are intent on stopping Cordelia's mother. I had a hard time getting into this book at first because of the heavy nature of it but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. I felt that once Cordelia and Hester met the mood of the book also lightened a bit and felt more hopeful. The whole book feels like someone is going to jump out of a dark corner and scare the crap out of you, which is part of the charm!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for this eARC!

When T. Kingfisher writes it, I read it! This is yet another incredible hit. I love how the author creates an atmosphere that enriches the book on multiple levels. Unfamiliar with Grimms' "Goose Girl," I found everything fresh and original in Kingfisher's voice. The story felt like a dark coming-of-age tale, infused with mystery, magic, and murder! While the pacing occasionally seemed uneven, I never mind slowing down in T. Kingfisher's books to savor the story. I also felt the pacing reflected the main character's emotions and the lull in her life before everything intensified and a lot started happening. I felt like a conspirator along with the characters, and always interested in what was going to happen next.

If you enjoy T. Kingfisher's work, this book will be another hit for you!

A wonderful gothic twist on a lesser known fairy tale. This book is apparently a twist on the Grimm's tale The Goose Girl. I am very unfamiliar with that story, and that turned out to be fine. This book did have some pretty great geese, I will say. But mostly, it's about Cordelia, whose mother is a sorceress who can make people obedient. Her main target is Cordelia herself, who she operates like a puppet, and when she's not obedient, controls her life similarly: no friends, no school, no agency. It's a sad life. And then one day, Evangeline decides it's time for her to get married, an event that cannot be done through sorcery (at least, not directly), and so she sets her sights on a slightly dorky older squire, moving herself and Cordelia to his country manor to court him. Enter Hester, who is our other hero. A middle aged spinster with a bad knee, Hester has Evangeline's number from day one. She knows she's bad news, just not how bad news she is (sorcerers of Evangeline's caliber are so rare they're basically considered myth). She wants to save her brother from a bad marriage, herself from living under a tyrant, and Cordelia from a clearly super abusive situation. How would you solve this problem?
Well, Hester solves it with a house party, and that's just the start of the chaos.
One of my favorite pieces of this is how well Kingfisher maintains a fairy tale tone while filling it out into a full novel. The setting is vague, aside from the country manors, the timing is murky, the characters are archetypal, and the plot is very well shaped. Despite making it much more gothic and adding an evil horse, it still feels a lot like a fairy tale. It's also really well written, walking the line between gothic and horrible and lighthearted and charming. The balance is weird but very effective. It's a good book. I'm going to have to read more T. Kingfisher.

Cordelia is expected to be "pleasant and polite and unexceptional." And . . . obedient. Her mother's one goal in life is for her daughter to marry a rich man, and she'll stop at nothing to make that happen. And "nothing" can really be something when you're a sorceress with the ability to control others' actions.

Well, let's face it - since Kingfisher is my favorite author, this pretty much had a five-star rating before it was even in my hot little hands. I just loved everything about it, from the ordinary women battling evil to the vigilante geese. This was fun with a capital F, and a delightful read from beginning to end.

I always have the hardest time trying to review Kingfisher’s books. They’re so good that I tuck right into reading and forget to make notes. This one was an absolute blast. I was horrified at what Cordelia’s mother, Evangeline, put her through.

But I loved watching her blossom as more people took an interest in her. She was raised in such a secluded and controlling environment, where every misstep meant being under absolute control of her mother, that she became an entirely new Cordelia around others.

I would love to come back to this world at some point, though I’m not sure where the author could go from here.

Such an absolute blast from one of my favorite authors.

A decent dark fairytale but not T. Kingfisher's best. The story follows 14 year old Cordelia, who is quite ignorant in the ways of the world, as she is swept along in her mother's schemes to marry a rich man, the Squire, and Hester, the Squire's sister, who suspects that something sinister is afoot.

I really enjoyed the way Cordelia was taken in and adopted by Hester and her friends, especially since Cordelia had grown up quite sheltered and isolated by her mother. Where the story fell a bit flat for me was in Cordelia's relationship to her abusers. It felt very one dimensional. In general it didn't feel like Cordelia had much emotional depth. The writing and the pacing meant we really got to know the characters on a deep, human level but the characterization fell a bit flat for me.

I think the murder mystery and stopping Evangeline made for an interesting story here, but the fairytale aspect worked much better in Kingfisher's other books, such as Thornhedge, which have somewhat less of a human quality to them and I didn't expect them to go quite as deep.

Papa was a rollin' stone........But Momma? She be a Sorceress. Oh, yeah.

T. Kingfisher has outdone herself in A Sorceress Comes to Call. Kingfisher has an uncanny talent for creating fairytales for adults. Her genius mind is her magic wand. She crafts characters in a stylish manner that bring shock, the unexpected, and bits of humorous dialogue to her well-planned storylines. And we, most certainly, are hooked from the first pages.

Cordelia is but fourteen years old. She's been pressed tightly by her mother's thumb of obedience. There are no doors on any of the rooms. Evangeline sees to that. Every movement is observed and scrutinized by Evangeline. But Cordelia loves Falada, her beautiful white horse with green eyes. She takes comfort in staying in Falada's stall for hours or riding him around the countryside. He is her only friend.

Evangeline wakes Cordelia in the middle of the night. Something gruesome has occurred and they must leave Little Haw immediately. After a long journey they are taken in by Squire Samuel Chatham. Evangeline has her eyes set on the Squire. His sister, Hester, seems to be onto something in regard to Evangeline. Stay tuned. The flames will rise higher and higher in this one.

A Sorceress Comes to Call is filled with intrigue as well as quirky dialogue with laugh out loud moments. Kingfisher dabs this with traces of Horror and then jabs the storyline with hilarity as well. Kingfisher knows how to entertain her readers. Check this one out if you've not had the pleasure of her novels. Oh, so good. Due to publish. 8/6/24.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Tor Publishing and to the talented T. Kingfisher for the opportunity.

I've heard high praise about T Kingfisher in the genre of dark fantasy so was excited when I could get a copy of an arc, as I've never read anything by her.
A Sorceress Comes to Call is about a Sorceress Evangeline and her daughter Cordelia. Cordelia doesn't know her mother is a sorceress, but is unhappy with how her mother controls her and forces her to be obedient.
When her mother sets her sights on marrying a wealthy older man Cordelia starts to understand what her mother is. Cordelia becomes friends with the older man's sister Hester and together they start to see the truth.

This was described as a retelling of Goose Girl (which I am not familiar with, but do love a good fairytale re-telling).
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was fantastic. The star of the show for me was Hester, but the whole cast of characters was great.
If you like dark fantasy/paranormal I would recommend checking this out. I will definitely be checking out more from this author.
4.5 stars from me!
This titles releases Aug 6!
Thank you to Netgalley and TOR publishing for the advanced reader copy.

"From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress Comes to Call - a dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl," rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic.

Cordelia knows her mother is...unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms - there are no secrets in this house - and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.

But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers.

When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family."

It's T. Kingfisher a "The Goose Girl!" That's win win in my book!

This book brings about an old England feel mixed with the realism of magic delivered from sorcerers. They should have been eliminated ages ago, but we soon find out that out FMC’s mother is the worse of them all.
Can she be held back or is she determined to crush everything in her wake? Cordelia tries so hard to keep her mother in check but she simply can’t.
I was entertained by this book during the middle but the beginning and the end was hard to keep interest. It was a good story, but I wish more things tied together.

T. Kingfisher has done it again. A Sorceress Comes to Call was everything I hoped it would be after reading its synopsis! Such an easy 5 out of 5 stars for me. I mean…an insanely unnerving horse that can laugh? Yes, please.

There were two aspects of this story that stood out in my mind that made it such an incredibly good read. Predominantly, my favorite part of A Sorceress Comes to Call was simply the creepy, unsettling gore and gruesomeness that is woven throughout the tale. Ghosts, unnatural, sadistic creatures, horrific deaths…I found myself eagerly reading as quickly as possible to get from one unnerving scene to the next. T. Kingfisher has true skill at making a reader’s skin crawl in the best of ways.

My second favorite aspect of this book was simply the average age of the majority of its characters. Sure, the heroine is incredibly young; it suits the story and I loved her character. But everyone else is predominantly over the age of 30, with most of them already having gray hairs, sore joints, and a wealth of lived experience to support their lush and layered character development. To see love and life, fear and aging through the eyes of a “middle aged” individual is wonderfully refreshing after reading so many books based on storylines supported by 18-28 year old characters.

I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t enjoy about this book. It left me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire story and I look forward to re-reading it very soon.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to enjoy and review the ARC of this beautiful story. I look forward to getting my hands on a physical copy for my bookshelves.

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is set to be published on August 6, 2024.

A Sorceress Comes to Call was a spellbinding tale of found family and sinister magic with a regency era flare. Cordelia finds herself in stuck in a unhappy family of three with an evil sorceress mother and her trustly companion Fadala (her horse). Her mom is determined to marry rich and drags her to the home of squire samuel and his sister lady Hester to woo the squire into proposing. Soon Hester realizes the evil they have welcomed into their home and creates a plan to save not only her brother but asl Cordelia. I thoroughly enjoyed the found family aspect of the novel and the young and elderly characters coming together to defeat doom.

T. Kingfisher's ability to jump between genres and write absolute bangers every time is something that needs to be studied. A Sorceress Comes to Call is just another addition to her incredible backlog of books. I have never been disappointed by a book of hers and I can't imagine I ever will be. I absolutely ate this book up. Will be recommending it to everyone.

Do you suppose when T.Kingfisher finishes writing a book they throw their head back and cackle with glee from their cleverness?! If I were them, I would!

This is an entertaining retelling of ‘The Goose Girl’ which sharing the thoughts of young Cordelia and matronly Hester as they navigate the treachery that is Doom, aka Cordelia’s mother. Another Gothic tale that will keep you reading long after your bedtime. It has all the elements that make up good story telling. Characters that you can love and some you hate. An excellent plot and a wonderful way of storytelling that moves you right along the path. Mix in some humor and a possessed horse and it adds up to a favorite read for the year!

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing and T Kingfisher for the digital copy in exchange for my review.

Summary: Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.

But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t evil sorcerers.

When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.

Review: I ADORED this book. I was enthralled the entire time I was reading. The entire time. I loved the story and the magic and the different characters. This would be a perfect, magical October read. Perfection. The audiobook was amazing as well.

A Sorceress Comes to Call 🐴🪿🖤

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Author: T. Kingfisher

“Mother could make me obedient. Mother could make me stab you while I was obedient, and afterward everyone would say they didn’t believe it. And there is nothing I could do to stop her.”

Cordelia is living in the home of Hester while her sorceress mother tries to woo Hester’s brother into marriage. Hester becomes suspicious of the mother, Evangeline, and fears for Cordelia’s safety. Both Hester and Cordelia try to find a way to get rid of Evangeline.

🪿I was so excited by the premise of this book, and I had heard so many great things about T. Kingfisher. However, while the book was enjoyable, I did not feel that it lived up to the hype. The pacing was inconsistent. There were portions of the book where I was very intrigued and others where I was bored.
🪿If you want a combination of fantasy and horror, this book is for you. It has the magical elements of a fantasy, but the evil villain and gore of a horror. I loved the regency era setting with a dark twist.
🪿This book is described as a retelling of The Goose Girl. I have never read this fairytale, so I can’t say how closely this novel follows that story. The geese did have a very small part in the plot.
🪿My favorite part of this novel is the characters. Kingfisher did a wonderful job developing each of the house guests, especially Hester and Cordelia.

I know this book will have a large fan base, and I am excited to read more from this author! Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the opportunity to read and review this novel.