A very, very loose retelling of The Goose Girl, in that there are geese and a horse named Falada and that's about it.

I enjoyed this, more for its examination of an abusive mother-daughter relationship (although I ended up wanting more, chiefly on what Cordelia was), and for its dual POV perspective between a fourteen year old and a fifty-one year old (yay older heroines!).

It is Regency-adjacent in tone, although the world setting is nebulous and vaguely Englandy it doesn't quite feel like England. And the upstairs-downstairs relationships (particularly Willard and Alice) had my whole heart.

Anywho, a solid Kingfisher book, even if it's not a favorite.

I received an ARC from NetGalley

After loving Thornhedge, I was excited to dive into "A Sorceress Comes to Call," expecting to connect with the characters just as I did with Toadling. However, I found it difficult to relate to the dual protagonists in this story. While I really liked Cordelia, I felt that my connection with her might have been stronger if the narrative focused solely on her perspective, without Hester’s viewpoint.

That said, Kingfisher’s writing remains engaging and imaginative. Although this book didn’t resonate with me as much as Thornhedge, I still appreciate Kingfisher’s storytelling and am looking forward to her next novel. Fans of her work will likely find much to enjoy here, even if it didn’t fully hit the mark for me.

Thank you so much to T. Kingfisher, NetGalley, and Tor for sending me the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unsurprisingly, Kingfisher extends her run of quirky, uniquely fantastical storytelling with her latest novel. A Sorcerer Comes to Call is witty, warm, and filled with irresistibly charming and relatable characters.

In this story we follow Cordelia, a naïve, well-meaning young girl treated horribly by her sorcerous mother and forced to live a secluded life away from her peers and larger society. Cordelia navigates young adulthood endeavoring to avoid becoming magically “obedient” to her mother, Evangeline, forced to be a puppet for long stretches of time at her mother’s whim. When Evangeline hatches a plan to entrap an old squire and gain his riches, Cordelia is drawn to act, as it’s one thing to endure her mother’s cruelty herself, but quite another when others are put in harm’s way.

This novel was such a fun read. I was drawn to how each character was fleshed out and the way in which their lives entangled, giving Cordelia a newfound sense of home and family. Despite her skittishness, Cordelia is a character you can’t help but root for in her efforts to convince her new hosts that magic is much more than cheap parlor tricks, a truth they must recognize at the risk of great peril. If you enjoyed the author’s other stories, this one is a can’t-miss!

When I read the excerpt and requested the ARC, I was really hoping for something creepy. And boy did it deliver.

This was an amazing tale of a young girl imprisoned in her mother's vicarious dreams. Talk about next level pagent mom here. Evangeline made mistakes and now plans to live her ideal life through Cordelia. As a sorceress, she can redefine the term living vicariously. Cordelia spends her childhood obedient to Evangeline's machinations to rise up the social ladder. The best a middle-aged woman with a brat can hope for is a mid-tier squire, but that squire has friends in higher places. Places Evangeline plans to see Cordelia circulate. For Evangeline, it's all about the money. For Cordelia, it's all about the people.

However, it probably isn't best to build your plans on the oppressed. Life is not going to turn out in your favor. But man, oh man, that fall from her pedestal. Excellent story the whole way through. I really wanted to read this one in one sitting. Definitely go nab this one on August 6th.

Once again, in her inimitable way, T. Kingfisher has taken a (too) familiar fairy tale and transmuted it into "something rich and strange" that possibly captures a little of the uncanny feeling the tale may have had for its first listeners. I don't want to give away any surprises, but just as a taste, the goose girl is in her 50's with a bad knee, and the heroine is not who you would suspect. I loved this tale and it's meditation on abuse, control, and evil is chilling, while the humorous bits enhance and deepen the story in the way that adding a bit of salt adds richness to cooking. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest book by the amazing T. Kingfisher, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

In this retelling of the Brothers Grimm's "Goose Girl," Cordelia's mom, Evangeline, has kept her isolated and controlled, her only friend being their horse, Falada, her mother's familiar. She discovers that Evangeline is a sorceress and has set her sights on marriage to the wealthy Squire. Squire's sister, Hester, sees through Evangeline's plans and hopes to avoid her brother's marriage to Evangeline.

T. Kingfisher writes such immersive, magical books and this one is no exception. It's dark, with themes of abuse and coercion, but also the power of good over evil, as Hester, her maid and friends to their best to save Cordelia. Cordelia will steal your heart, with her naivety as to how things work, and her belief in goodness. There's tension, humor, magic, great characters, geese, and even ghosts! It's so descriptive that it will put you into this other world. I loved having both the audio and digital versions so as to never be far away from this story! Another highly recommended book from this author!

Ursula just never misses. It's always such a delight to dive into the weird, funny, sweet, and thoughtful worlds she constructs. She's a go-to for me when I'm recommending books to customers at work; regardless of their genre preferences there's a Kingfisher book for everyone.

4.5/5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Netgalley, Tor and T. Kingfisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Welp, T. Kingfisher always delights me with her books and this retelling of The Goose Girl is no exception. One of my favorite parts of T. Kingfisher’s books is that she often puts a spot light on older characters and gives them a romance to boot. In a world full of teenage heroine’s and 20 somethings romance, this 50 year old appreciates that. Though our young protagonist, Cordelia, takes center stage she has 50 something Hester right by her side and neither outshine the other.

A Sorceress Comes to Call manages to portray some dark themes while at the same time being humorous and a little cozy. The cast of characters is so fun and I felt like they were each fleshed out and full humans. The friendships between the characters are so sweet and I loved seeing their relationships form and grow stronger as they rally around our child FMC. It definitely gives found family vibes!

Though you are never really sure where this book is set, it reads like historical fantasy which is one of my favorite sub genres of fantasy. There is a clear plot in which the characters must find a way to fight the villain, but this book is more about the friendships and the recognizable mood T. Kingfisher employs. Her familiar wit is also sprinkled throughout the book.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. If you like sorcery, ghosts and overall mayhem, this book delivers all of that in spades!

I enjoyed how fast this story clipped along, keeping me engaged the whole time. Hester was a great character, and I loved the variety of people she surround herself with. This was my first T. Kingfisher novel, and I found her style to be very approachable even with the fantastical subject matter. There was a late twist that got gory to a degree that surprised me, given the general coziness previously. Overall though a great read for any lover of fantasy and strong, complex female leads.

T. Kingfisher has fast become one of my favorite authors. From “A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking” to the Paladin books, she creates intense, engaging stories with deep, interesting characters and fantastical conundrums. I found “A Sorceress Comes to Call” equally thrilling, as Kingfisher takes the Goose Girl fairy tale and turns it into a sinister, startling tale of a wicked sorceress and those who stand against her. Kingfisher is a master of putting her characters through the ringer, and there were so many times when I had no idea how they would get out of the scrapes, but Kingfisher also writes about deeply hopeful, scrappy and clever. I know the good guys will win, but the road to victory is never the same or predictable. I loved that the main characters were a fourteen year old girl and a woman of late middle age. I also enjoyed the fantasy, Regency-esque setting and social constraints.
I devoured this book, and I will eagerly await more from T. Kingfisher!!

I requested a copy of the ARC from the publisher, Tor Books, on NetGalley and was approved in exchange for consideration of a review. All opinions discussed are my own and are subjective to myself as a reader.

To be completely transparent with you, I did not even peep at the book description before diving into this one because T. Kingfisher has been on my auto buy author list for years.

I was delighted to discover that this was another fairy tale retelling as I consider THORNHEDGE one of my top favorites by her.

A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL is a darker, more imaginative retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, which is a fairy tale I have not ever read or had told to me. I decided to wait and read the source material once I finished so that I wouldn't potentially spoil the book, but as it turns out, it was a very loose reimagining and I very much preferred Kingfisher's weaving of the tale.

This is one of those rare books for me where I did NOT want to put it down once I started. I find it difficult to sit still for more than an hour at a time - I'll get up, go do something else for a bit and then come back. I was content to sit like a rock and read this one until life forced me to put it aside until more time could be made.

As is the standard for this author, Kingfisher writes a captivating tale with an array of fascinating characters, dark & dangerous magic, humor and the resilience of the human spirit.

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TL;DR: A darker Kingfisher than I’m used to be still just as delightful.
Source: NetGalley! Thank you to the publisher!

Plot: A truly abusive mother and her daughter go seeking a rich husband, and her daughter finds a way to fight back. I actually was pleasantly surprised by this one.
Characters: As is the usual with T. Kingfisher’s characters they are unique and quirky in their own ways.
Setting: A very regency/Victorian in style setting. I quite liked it but I could see others not.
Magic: It was mostly used by the ‘villain’ of the piece, so seemed quite nefarious but I think it was an excellent system for the setting.

Thoughts:

Yet another lovely T. Kingfisher down. I really love Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher, and this one is no exception. In fact this would have been a fast DNF for me if I hadn’t trusted her with it. This one follows Cordelia whose mother is a horrifyingly abusive controller (something I can’t stand to read 90% of the time) and how she finds a group of friends and new family to help her break away and stop her mother.

This one is surprisingly dark as well. Cordelia’s mother can not only perform small sorceries, such as drawing an eye somewhere, but she can also inflict ‘Obedience’ on her victims where she completely controls their bodies while they are aware and conscious. This includes murder, several in fact.

The characters on this are just as unique and quirky as you can expect with a T. Kingfisher. Cordelia is one of two primary points of view, the other being a woman in her 50s who quickly becomes an aid to the other girl. The relationship the two strike up was so wholesome, I’m not going to lie. I loved that the most.

With a darker bits than expected A Sorceress Comes to Call is a great example of how good T. Kingfisher can be even with heavy and hard topics. This is definitely one I recommend in general, and especially for fans of her work.

4 out of 5 steady little ponies

This book oscillates between wanting to be cozy fantasy and wanting to be an eerie fairytale retelling. It spends most of its time hovering in the realm of cozy fantasy, so I bounced off of probably 70% of this book. When it became eerie and chilling in the back half of the book is when I felt like it really began to shine. Unfortunately it was just too little too late for me. In the end, it’s simply a fine book.

I cannot get enough of T. Kingfisher's fairy tale retellings. I love the dark, modern take that she gives to the classic tales. I am not as familiar with the tale of the Goose Girl, but could not put this book down. Cordelia, Hester, Evangeline, Evermoor, and every other character are fantastically written, and the pacing of the whole story is perfect. This is the perfect combination of fairy tale whimsy, dark fantasy, with a dash of regency romance and horror that will satisfy and delight any fantasy reader. T. Kingfisher has definitely become one of my new favorite authors and I can't wait to see what she writes next. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

T. Kingfisher is the master of fairy tale retellings, breathing new life into them and creating brand new tales for the ages. I love how dark this gets and all of the wild twists and turns throughout. Cordelia is such a resilient character and when she finally has her breakthrough moment that she does not belong to her mom, it is epic. I also really loved Esther and her internal dialogue. She is especially funny at the start of the book and it had me laughing out loud.

The story is paced out so perfectly, hitting the right beats as the music of the story plays along. The pacing combined with some beautiful and sometimes eerie narration by Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens adds something special to the audiobook. I loved listening to this story be told while I followed along with my physical ARC. I was so immersed in the world.

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!