I’m relatively new to T. Kingfisher’s work, having only read Thornhedge before A Sorceress Comes to Call, but I am fully convinced she is a wonderful writer and I cannot wait to get to her other books!

If you’re familiar with the story of The Goose Girl from the Brothers Grimm, you might recognize a name here, or a plot device there, but A Sorceress Comes to Call is very much a story of Kingfisher’s own design and it is absolutely brilliant. It’s intense, dark, and heart-wrenching, and Cordelia, the lonely and naive 14-year-old girl at the center of the story, was so easy to fall in love with.

But Cordelia isn’t the only star of the show. While trying to win the affection of a rich man, Cordelia’s mother, Evangeline, sees one of my favorite characters, Penelope, as competition. Penelope isn’t a traditional beauty, but everyone is mesmerized by her anyway because of her inner-beauty and confidence. It’s a stark contrast to the toxic and narcissistic behavior of Cordelia’s beautiful mother, Evangeline, who despises Penelope. I loved that Evangeline felt threatened by Penelope and witnessing how her fear evolved and twisted.

Towards the end of the book, when everything comes to a head, there’s some action that I found a bit confusing. The description of what was going on wasn’t good enough for me personally. In the end, I understood as much as the characters did, but I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get a grasp on what was happening as it happened. It’s fully possible this is because of my inability to picture things, but obviously I can’t be sure.

There are so many plot points I wish I could comment on but I can’t do so without spoiling things! There are some twisty bits and some crazy parts and also there’s this one part where… ahhhh! Just read this book!

Well, T. Kingfisher has done it again! While I've not read all of her books, every one I have read has been thoroughly enjoyable and she's never let me down. I love Kingfisher's style of humor, whether in an otherwise creepy novel or in a more charming tale like A Sorceress Comes to Call. Never fear, there is still plenty of darkness and gore in this one!

Cordelia is the daughter of a powerful and utterly ruthless sorceress, Evangeline, who is also a pretty terrible mother. She wants to marry well so she can marry Cordelia to a wealthy man and she'll stop at nothing, not even murder, to get her way. Cordelia has spent her life in fear of "being made obedient" to her mother's whims, but as she starts to become close to Hester, the spinster sister of the squire Evangeline plans to marry, and Hester's friends, Cordelia begins to realize she has the power to stand up for herself.

Every character is utterly delightful, from the anxious Cordelia and vindictive Evangeline to the charming Penelope and unflappable Willard. I loved them all and they made me laugh plenty as they tried to outfox Evangeline's sorcery. This is one of my favorite books so far this year.

Thanks NetGalley and Tor Books for an advanced copy of this book.

This was my first time reading T. Kingfisher, and I thoroughly enjoyed this dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl. The characters were a highlight, particularly the sassiness of Hester, Imogene, and Penelope, and the sweet resilience of Cordelia. Hester's intelligence and courage stood out, while the romance between her and Lord Evermore added a touching element to the story. The narrative skillfully blends humor and darkness, reminiscent of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I'm eager to read more by T. Kingfisher!

By turns cozy and creepy, this story features Kingfisher’s skill in creating memorable characters that you’re sad to part with at the end… while also still being somewhat unsettled.

I will eat up anything that T Kingfisher writes and this one was no exception. I truly admire how T Kingfisher can write in so many different styles and voices and I loved this fairytale retelling that felt so far from the creepiness of the Twisted Ones, the cringey but cuteness of Paladin’s Grace, or the unsettling vibes of What Moves the Dead. What all her books share though is an addicting sense of wit, a cast of characters you feel immediately and strongly attached to, and of course, a few tears. A Sorceress Comes to Call follows a girl controlled by her mother who we slowly but surely discover is a sorceress, using her magic for evil. When the duo moves in to live with their next victims, we are thrown into an almost Agatha Christie-esque house party where the guests try to figure out not whodunnit, but howdunnit? and howthehelldowestopher….dunnit. I laughed, I cried, I got a bit confused, but I enjoyed the story thoroughly. My only wish was that we dove a bit more into the mother’s story, because I felt like there was something there. Something that could have made her what she is. But that being said, tears were shed, laughs were had, and as always, I’m thankful for the journey T Kingfisher took us on!

T. Kingfisher is an author who at this point has written a book for everyone, I feel like with each book they write, they fine tune their story telling more and more and that goes without saying for this new fantasy release. It’s a dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl, where a girl takes the place of another in the hopes of swapping lives with her. Rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic. Perfect for the upcoming spooky season.

Thanks to Tor for the copy of this book!

This is my first T. Kingfisher book and I adored the way she wrote such an atmospheric witchy book. This is gothic, slowburn, and so eerie. While I loved the setup of the first half, I audibly gasped at a certain turning point in the book, and from then on things just didn't really slow down! I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the dual narration for Cordelia and Hester. It was a perfect way to highlight the different backgrounds and positions of these two ladies, and I loved how everything came together in the end!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced e-arc of this book for review.

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. Which makes me sad since this book had such promise at the beginning. It opened with a girl (Ophelia) whose mother who control her body completely at any time to make her "obedient" and as you could imagine, she both feared and hated her mother due to how she wielded her powers on her. This immediately peeked my interest as I love a good vs. evil type fairy tale. (Side note: could not help but imagine her mother as Mother Gothel when reading LOL)

With all this, I thought we would be in for a haunting tale but it ended up being somewhat dull for me - which is why I DNF'd it the first time I started reading it. It felt like a lot of dialogue, not a lot of action - like it could have been much shorter and achieved the same thing. There was some humorous bits that I enjoyed and the found-family, but in the end it just felt like I was missing something from the experience.

I'm not sure if maybe I had the wrong expectations going into this or if T. Kingfisher's writing just isn't for me (since I have tried reading their books before). But overall I think I would have enjoyed this more if it had a bit more action to keep the pacing going or if it was shorter.

Would still recommend this book to others that are looking for a dark fantasy retelling that focuses on characters' connections and has a Disney-esque vibe to it.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

This is my first full-length novel by Kingfisher. And I gladly jumped at the chance to review and early copy because I thought this book would be a homerun for me. I think I was expecting a little more magic - or at least a wider range of use for the sorceress' magic. It seemed limited and stifled and, while powerful, didn't quite evoke a feeling of fear and terror of Evangeline. I think some misplaced expectations on my part also lead to this novel not hitting the mark. Like I said, I anticipated a little more magic and a little more horror, if I'm being honest. I read Kingfisher's Thornhedge and was fully shook. THAT novella was magic and I was hanging on every word. Sorceress just unfortunately did not have the same effect.

4.5 stars rounded up

This is another amazing stand alone fantasy/horror novel by T. Kingfisher. It is based very loosely on the Brothers Grimm “Goose Girl” (I wasn’t familiar with the tale and looked it up after reading this- I would suggest you do the same to avoid spoilers.)

This novel has great pacing, a great plot, lovable characters with the banter we all love from Kingfisher, a really despicable villain you will love to hate, and themes of strong female friendship and coming of age.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. This review was left voluntarily.

Huh. I had to sit with it. Not a typical Kingfisher. It doesn’t have as much humor or even gallows humor. It was an interesting plot we got with what I would call a regency thriller gothic novel? Is that a thing? Look it’s a thing.

"A Sorceress Comes to Call" follows Cordelia and an older woman named Hester who is the sister to the local squire. Cordelia has a very lonely upbringing and is constantly dealing with her mother forcing "obedience" on her. And the only friend she has is her mother's horse Falada who she rides sometimes with her neighbor. One day though Cordelia realizes that her "odd mother" is something more. Hester, realizes there's something odd about Cordelia and her mother, but knows that she has to do what she can to prevent him from coming to harm after they come to call on him and seem intent on staying put.

I loved the characters and the way Kingfisher portrayed consent in this book. The characters of Cordelia, Hester, Penelope Green, and Imogene were fantastic and I would love a short story showing things five years in the future. Cordelia just grows throughout the book and goes from timid to quite brave. And Hester, she finally gets brave too and decides to go for something that she didn't really think she could ever have. I loved that this book was very much about women and some men that stood and backed them up.

The setting of the book takes place in a Regency type fictional era. If you read it with that lens it makes quite a lot of sense. And as I said above, there are Gothic elements that were quite good.

The ending was great and also sad, but I just thought that Kingfisher ended it on a perfect note.

Anyway go read Kingfisher’s backlist!

Read this dark fantasy if you like:
✨Grimm’s fairytales
✨sorcery and magic
✨dual pov
✨found family
✨murder
✨geese and a demon horse

Thank you Net Galley and Tor Publishing Group for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

My thoughts 💭
A dark, loose retelling of the Grimm’s fairytale The Goose Girl with a good blend of horror and fairytale. I love a good fairytale retelling and this one was easy to follow.

👍🏼
I LOVED the spinsters! Sometimes regency era style books can be hard to read because of all the sexism, so I love when women are able to defy those expectations, even if just a little. The female characters in this story are chef’s kiss!

👎🏼
This story had some pacing issues that caused my rating to personally be lower. I was absolutely HOOKED on this story at the beginning and then somewhere along the way, it just stalled until the end when EVERYTHING happened all at once. In my opinion, this book was about 50 pages too long.

Favorite characters:
🖤Penelope, Imogene, Hester, Alice the maid, and the butler who’s on holiday

This book was so creepy and thrilling! I cannot wait to reread it during the fall season!! Perfect for Halloween!

5 horrific stars!

Wow. This book was so far beyond my expectations that I'm not even sure where to start. I wasn't overly familiar with the goose girl fairytale going into the book, and I think that might have worked out a bit more in my favor, because I really didn't know where the book was going to go. I found it incredibly refreshing to have a protagonist like Hester. An older, normal woman who is thrown into a face off with a younger evil sorceress. Hester is so resilient, even in the face of chronic pain and trying to take care of a child that is not hers but so desperately needs her help.

All I can say is that you truly should pick up this book when it comes out!

Absolutely one of the best books I've read this year. I can't express how much I love T. Kingfisher's writing and how exciting it is for me to dive into another one of her books. At this point I have almost completed her backlist, but this one might be her best yet. Along with Thornhedge and Nettle & Bone (which are also amazing), A Sorceress Comes to Call is a dark fairytale retelling that blends together magic and horror. This one is a loose retelling of The Goose Girl, but I personally thought it had a lot in common with Ella Enchanted (a childhood favorite), if Ella had a more depraved mother. Despite Cordelia being controlled by her mother, she's a strong character. She's very young, only about 14, but I appreciated her resiliency so much. Hester was delightful, too. Kingfisher tends to write very sarcastic, jaded older protagonists with hearts of gold, and I love all of them.
This story continually got creepier and creepier, with one quite unexpected scene being the most jarring and spooky. The characters (at least the non-evil ones) were a delight to read about, and I loved the found family aspects .

Kingfisher’s latest is well written and up to her usual high standards, but in all probability, I will never read it again. It brought back unpleasant echoes of reading The Yellow Wallpaper, only somewhat more entertaining.

Billed as a “dark retelling of Grimm’s The Goose Girl,” for those familiar with the tale, I’ll not that it really isn’t in most of the important ways. It does have a horse, a flock of geese, a young woman, and a mother, but the relationships between all those things are scrambled. For me, the choices that Kingfisher made missed the lessons of the fairy tale; should I be in marketing on this one, I’d suggest describing as ‘inspired by.’

It begins with Cordelia living with her mom in an isolated village hamlet. Told in limited third person, we’re squarely in Cordelia’s head, knowing what she knows and experiencing what she notices. Cordelia might be 14, but it becomes quickly apparent that she is so much younger, the likely outcome of a manipulative and literally controlling mother.

“She was made obedient less often as she grew older. She thought perhaps that it was more difficult for her mother to do than it had been when she was small–or perhaps it was only that she had learned to avoid the things that made her m other angry. But this time, Cordelia hadn’t avoided it.”

While Cordelia has figured out her sorceress mother isn’t normal, she only has an inkling on how abnormal she is. Her one escape is riding her mother’s beautiful horse Falada. One day, she gathers enough courage to ride to the limits of her range and has her heart broken when she discovers the truth about someone she thought of as a best friend. But even more change is coming; her mother is on the make for a new male benefactor and they are soon riding off to visit a rich man. Unfortunately, he comes with an unmarried sister, Hester, and a number of spirited servants.

At this point in the book, I was well worn out by Cordelia’s experience. Kingfisher is spot-on at capturing the viewpoint of someone who is abused but only dimly suspects just how abused, and it is an emotionally tough line to walk. Introducing the viewpoint of Hester, an older, physically limited spinster was a brilliant touch, allowing for more directional and courageous machinations, along with a touch of humor.

“One of the advantages of age was that you could think a great deal while simply sitting still, and no one would poke you and demand that you go do something useful.”

The story did feel like it got a bit lost with the introductions of two of Hester’s besties who come to visit her, although it later becomes clear why. Still, the stakes escalate as Cordelia’s mother incrementally weaves her web around the squire.

“I made you,’ her mother said, looking straight ahead. ‘I made him and I made you, and you belong to me. Don’t forget it.'”

It is a well-told story, and if I have quibbles with pacing in retrospect, it could just be because it was so hard to witness Cordelia’s life. Transformation does eventually come, in fits and stops, much like real life. It’s not an easy path.

“It was the calm of a burned-out house or a ravaged field, the calm that comes where there is no longer anything to lose.”

There is a little humor, mostly wry. The geese are a bright spot, but they don’t really show until the last quarter of the book. Ultimately, when I’m going to re-read Kingfisher, I’ll undoubtedly head for Nettle and Bone, or her alt and the delightful Castle Hangnail.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Tor/Forge. Clearly, opinions are my own. Quotes subject to change but give a feel for the writing.

This was a fantastic read. It was well paced and didn't drag at all. I appreciate that T. Kingfisher portrays protagonists that aren't always talented or young or know what they're doing. All of the characters were fully fleshed out, and the story moved at a great pace.

"And if all else fails, at least I'll have someone to drink myself unconscious with when it all goes to hell."

I have no idea how I have missed Kingfisher's other works. A Sorceress Comes to Call was fantastic and I've put A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking on hold at my local library. A Sorceress Comes to Call holds all of my favourite elements of fantasy, while adding new complexity and layers I haven't seen before. I was sucked into A Sorceress Comes to Call on page 5 and only put it down because I absolutely had to do things in real life. This book was everything I needed, everything I wanted, and more.

The dual POVs was a stroke of absolute genius. I feel like I've read this story from Cordelia's perspective before. I know what the beats are, what the arc might be, and the limited choices a girl with an abusive mother has. Cordelia's mother can literally take possession of your body and make you do anything, up to and including murder. Cordelia has been subject to this all of her life and without Hester's POV to contrast Cordelia, this would be a very different book. Kingfisher tackles the subject of domestic abuse with care, complexity, and hope. But she doesn't make this a story about domestic abuse, she makes it a story about friends banding together to rid the world of evil.

Hester is a fifty-year old woman, a spinster who refuses to marry because of the loss of her freedom. She has an absolutely wicked sense of humour, arthritic knees, and agency. Hester is such a beautiful contrast and companion to Cordelia. To see the adults working on a problem, to be concerned for the welfare of a child, and to actually execute action plans was amazing. Hester's wealth of experience and fear of Cordelia's mother grounded A Sorceress Comes to Call. By utilizing dual POVs, Kingfisher presented a common enemy which unites two very different women, and the reader.

A Sorceress Comes to Call deals with some terribly frightening possibilities. Kingfisher is intent on showing how one person with unchecked power can ruin everything for everyone. But, that's not to say that this is a terribly depressing book. Kingfisher's comedic relief, sarcasm, wit, and jokes made by every single character had me laughing out loud. I read completely random quotes to my husband because they were too funny to keep to myself. The beautiful humour in the face of terrible possibilities was the best thing about A Sorceress Comes to Call. Kingfisher carries such a unique voice in her writing, I want to describe A Sorceress Comes to Call as The House in the Cerulean Sea crossed with Charmed Life.

If you want to read a beautifully hopeful story in the face of everything, and laugh while doing it, Kingfisher is the author for you.

"Madam." He frowned at her. "I am a butler. Do you truly believe that I do not know how to dispatch a houseguest if required?"

Going into this, I knew absolutely nothing about this book or the story it is a retelling of. I was blown away by the writing, plot line, and the magnificent characters throughout this story. Beautifully written and the attention to detail is incredible!

T. Kingfisher lures readers in with this eerie and mysterious dark fairytale with beautiful poetic prose, intricate characters and relationships, and a bit of the dangerous unknown.

Cordelia has grown up with a strict set of rules from her mother. She’s isolated and alone with no one to turn to. But when her mother reveals herself as a sorceress with the ability to manipulate those around her and sets her sights on a manor estate with more money than Cordelia can imagine, what lengths will her mother go to get what she desires and at what costs to Cordelia and the manor’s inhabitants?

This story is loosely based on the “Goose Girl” and has a touch of gothic, magical vibes. The pace was a little slow for me until the end, and I loved seeing Cordelia step out of her shell and form relationships. Hester and her friendly (and romantic) dynamics were my favorite! I enjoyed seeing her character flourish.

This was my first read by T. Kingfisher, and I was blown away by the alluring and suspenseful nature of her storytelling. It drew me in and made me want to read more of her books because I absolutely loved it.

3.5/5

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*