T Kingfisher is one of those authors that I know I will love anything she writes. I’m obsessed with her storytelling, her books are always so atmospheric and well written that it’s so easy to get lost in the story and this book was no different. I was hooked from the very first page.

2.7 Stars (outliner)
One Liner: Kinda underwhelming

Cordelia, a fourteen-year-old, knows her mother is different. Why else would she insist Cordelia keep no secret from her and make her obedient for hours? Why else would Cordelia have no friends and live in a house with no doors closed?
Hester is a fifty-plus spinster living with her brother Samuel, a Squire. However, when deliberate planning brings Cordelia and her mother to Hester’s doorstep, the old woman knows she needs to do something.
But facing someone like Cordelia’s mother is not easy. Can Hester save her brother and Cordelia from a sorceress?
The story comes in the third-person POV of Cordelia and Hester.

My Thoughts:
The book is marketed as the reimagining of The Goose Girl, a dark fairytale by the Grimms brothers. However, due to my lack of familiarity with the original, I read this as a standalone.
This is my first book by the author. I can see that she writes well. Some scenes are compelling and atmospheric. However, the whole thing needs more work. The book works on the presumption that readers would fill the gaps based on what is provided. While we can do that to an extent, other elements need to be detailed.
I don’t mind vague settings as I write such stuff myself. But then I write short stories. A full-length novel can do with a little more information. The descriptions could have been a wee bit elaborate.
The dual POV of Cordelia and Hester (two totally different characters) is a good idea. However, adding 3-4 short bits from the mother’s (Evangeline) POV would have elevated the book. Right now, we get to know her plans because she reveals everything to her daughter. This weakens her characterization.
The magic elements are interesting but with no detail. The how, what, where, etc., are not answered. Are we supposed to gather this information from those bookish snippets included? No idea!
The pacing is slow; not because there’s detail but because things don’t seem to happen quickly. I don’t deny that some of it is necessary for the plot. That doesn’t mean all those repeated dinners couldn’t have been helpful in another way too.
The last quarter is where things happen. I’m in two minds about this. While I like that the haphazard attempts align with the plotline developed until then, I do wish the young girl could have done more.
There is more talk (monologues and dialogues) and less action, which isn’t a good thing in this genre. It makes the story feel flat and surface-level.
The ending is nice and works for HEA fans like me.

To summarize, A Sorceress Comes to Call has a great premise but only seems to skim the surface without delving deep into the dark elements. Can’t help but feel it could have been a lot better.
I did read Goose Girl after finishing the book. This one is almost nothing like the fairytale. Falada, the horse, and the geese are the only common elements.
Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group (Tor Books), for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This is the second book I’ve read by T. Kingfisher and I love how she creates stories that are whimsical, but dark. This book is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl and it had the same nostalgic, folklore-y atmosphere. We have a young sheltered girl named Cordelia who is manipulated by her mother’s magic. When her mother sets her sights on a prosperous marriage, Cordelia is introduced to a whole cast of older quirky characters that added humor and depth to the story. The story was immersive and well-paced and I can’t wait to pick up more by this author

Will be updating review on Tiktok and YouTube on August 1.

In a dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s “Goose Girl,” Cordelia lives under the oppressive rule of her sorceress mother, who isolates her and enforces silence and stillness for long periods. The only solace Cordelia finds is in her daily rides with Falada, her mother’s white horse. After a suspicious death in their town, Cordelia and her mother flee to a remote manor, aiming to ensnare the Squire into marriage. The Squire’s sister, Hester, notices Cordelia’s fear and peculiar behavior, realizing she must confront a wicked witch to save her brother and the young girl.

This was my first TJ Kingfisher novel, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty much an instant five-star read for me. While the story has dark elements and a truly villainous antagonist, it’s also filled with heart, bravery, humor, dark magic, and even a bit of romance. The romance between Hester and Lord Evermore was lovely and entertaining.

While Cordelia is a decent FMC, albeit very naïve, it’s understandable given her upbringing. The side characters—Hester, Imogene, Penelope, and Willard—truly shine with their wit and charm. Except for the obvious villain and her eerie familiar, every character is likable and feels like someone you’d want as a friend. And did I mention there are defense geese?

I flew through reading this in under two days and found myself wanting more. If you’re listening, TJ Kingfisher, can we have a sequel featuring Cordelia and Hester? Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the advance copy. The expected publication date is August 6, 2024.

A Sorceress Comes to Call is a Regency era reimagining of The Goose Girl, originally written by Dorothea Viehmann and collected by the Brothers Grimm. Rather than centering on a naive princess taken advantage of by her mother’s waiting maid (as in the original story), A Sorceress Comes to Call explores distorted parental authority and warped expectations of children’s obedience and subservience, through use of the source fairytale’s themes.

This novel is highly character driven, and details the myriad of abuses that Cordelia, the protagonist, endures (and sees enacted on others) at the hands of her mother, Evangeline. The cast that eventually surrounds Cordelia and Evangeline are so charming despite their circumstances, and their characterization is really well written— though some characters did feel somewhat underutilized.

T. Kingfisher’s talent for writing macabre fantasy is obviously well-suited to reimagining fairytales like those collected by the Brothers Grimm, and A Sorceress Comes to Call reflects this. In narrative voice and tone, this novel resides somewhere between A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and Nettle & Bone, two of T. Kingfisher’s other novels (and I will say that, in this regard, I still favor her novella Thornhedge).

Thank you to Netgalley & Tor publishing for giving me this advance review copy for free made, it made my quirky heart happy! This review was left voluntarily-

Cordelia is an extremely sheltered 14 year old girl, exactly as her mother wishes. She lives secluded from the rest of the world, only sharing her life with her evil sorceress mother, Evangeline, and their beautiful but devilish horse Falada. Cordelia of course, is unaware of the spectrum to which her mother would be classified as evil or a sorceress, classic fairytale vibes. When Evangeline's mother is no longer supported by a wealthy benefactor, she finds better avenues to provide for her and her daughter, tricking a wealthy Squire into welcoming them into his home. But this man does not live alone and his sister Hester sees right through Evangeline's 'Woe is me' facade. Will Evangeline win over the Squire? Will Hester be able to save her brother from the clutches of doom? Read to find out!
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T Kingfisher does a great job of balancing the heaviness with comedic breaks, and the intensity is never hidden, it is direct and in your face, which makes it a bit easier to swallow than to constantly be reading between the lines.

TLDR:
Filled with dark humor, evil stepmother-esque magic and a touch of murder, this book is well rounded and would recommend for lovers of twisted fairytales and dark humor!

(trigger warning) emotional and physical abuse, child abuse and forced activity without consent.

Does anyone do retellings quite like T. Kingfisher?!?

A Sorceress Comes to Call follows Cordelia, whose sorceress mother Evangeline is after a new husband and will do anything to find one. Cordelia gets pulled into a new household, a new life, and set of expectations. There is an overwhelming sense of dread and creepy atmosphere that totally captivated me.

The characters are all wonderful, you never know Evangeline's next move, Cordelia is a wonderful main character to follow with her bravery and innocence, and our other POV character Hester is such a force of nature!

Totally dark and beautiful, this is T. Kingfisher at her best!

This is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm story of the goose girl and it is a standalone. To be honest I didn’t know this before reading and I kept thinking it reminded me of reading a Brothers Grimm story, which I loved 🖤 We follow two main POVs throughout this story, one of Cordelia a 14 year old girl who lives a lonely life with her mother, who gives off strong mother gothel vibes. Our other pov is of Hester who is 51 and sister to a wealthy man called the Squire. Hester and Cordelia’s lives come crashing together when her mother sweeps in trying to lure the Squire into marriage. This story is so full of drama, magic and even murder. It is dark, and brutal with a bit of comedy. Cordelia’s mother is a great villain for this book as I really didn’t like her, not that many would. I found Hester to be rather funny to me and I loved the geese 🪿 There is diffidently a found family aspect to this book as well and I had a great time with this read. I would look up triggers/ warnings before reading 🖤

I love reimagined fairytales and this book was no exception. Kudos to T. Kingfisher on a wonderful read.

Thank you to Netgalley and T. Kingfisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

This was just a treat! One of the best paced full length novels from T Kingfisher, this is a delightful mash up of horror, fantasy, and Regency romance. It ticked all my boxes: a great cast of characters, an interesting inspiration point in fairytale, magic, suspense, romance - just all the things that are for me

I struggled with this at first because it got off to a slow start and I couldn't tell where it was going. But just keep reading! Once Cordelia's mom whisks them off to the squires house, this story gets <i>going</i> and you are firmly ensconced in classic Kingfisher territory. Yes to the quippy older women! Yes to the weirdness! Yes to the magic! Yes to the odd sense of coziness! Yes to the power! YES to the young heroine you can't help but root for.

Kingfisher says in the author note that she was inspired by her friend Sabrina Jefferies’ regency romances, and there is a romance here. It’s sweet and subtle and reminded me of the quiet yearning in Middlemarch.


If you’ve read other Goose Girl stories, and you’re worried about Falada the horse in this story, <spoiker>yes he DOES get his head cut off, but by then you’ve learned that he’s not actually a horse at all, he’s a demon bound into a horse shape by the sorceress, and he’s kinda evil, so you don’t feel bad for him. At least, I didn’t, I didn’t see him as a horse at all at that point.</spoiler>


Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my early copy of an ARC.

I continue to be a huge T. Kingfisher fan--the concept of this book is fantastic, and she nailed it. The setting and tone are that of a regency romance, but the characters are completely Kingfisher's unique and delightful creations. And it's not really a romance--it's a horror story/fairy tale.

I think Cordelia, a child forced to be obedient by her sorceress mother (think puppeteering), was meant to be the protagonist. But for me, Hester, a 50-year-old unmarried woman trying to save her brother from the evil designs of the sorceress, was the true main character. I adored her. I felt like this was her story. I'll also accept that the two are partners on this journey.

Apparently the book is a retelling of Goose Girl, but I had no idea until I'd finished it. It makes me want to read that story again (or at least Shannon Hale's version of it, which is fantastic).

I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially if you love well drawn characters, a bit of magic and danger, excellent writing, and original ideas. (Like I said, everyone!)

Thank you to @torbooks and @macmillan.audio for the advance copies of the ebook and audiobook. I may have to buy the physical copy when it publishes to display on my bulging bookshelves.

Cordelia knows her mother is different. She uses magic to force Cordelia into silence and obedience. When her mother sets her sights on marrying a wealthy older man, Cordelia befriends his kind and wise sister.

Another favorite by T Kingfisher! She can really deliver a powerful and entertaining story. This one has magic but is not too deep in the realm of fantasy as it seems to take place in our real world, yet much older times. Add an evil mother and innocent daughter, and it has a true fairytale component to it.

“Those were stories of course. But they were old stories, all mixed up with fairy tales and giants and the Devil holding court at the crossroads.”

A Sorceress Comes to Call comes out 8/6.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the arc. I adored this! It was so so good. T Kingfisher makes it so easy to fall into their stories. This was more fantasy than horror which I very much appreciated (though there is some gore at the end that would gross out those who are squeamish). Cordelia and Hester are such great MCs. Cordelia has been through so much because of how awful and abusive her mother is and it was so nice to see both Cordelia and her mother get what they deserve. This had such a fantastic cast of characters and great lighter humor moment. The geese were a personal favourite of mine. This was so hard to put down and I really recommend it.

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.