A huge thank you to NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of A Sorceress Comes to Call.
The narrators Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens did a wonderful job with execution and moods.

T. Kingfisher had quickly become a favorite of mine and my household through her unwavering ability of storytelling. I devoured her What Moves the Dead and What Feasts at Night. I laughed and cringed through A House With Good Bones and felt for the oddballs of Thornhedge. All of these novels offer different stories for different palates and all are written so well, are so captivating that I lose myself happily the way I long to in a good book. Some are often a retelling with different point of views that make the lore, to me, more enjoyable than the originals.

My love for T. Kingfisher is for her ability to write so well with a big dose of witticism, but this is definitely the most serious journey I've read yet. Despite the lack of hilarity, I was completely hooked. So much so I finished this in one day. In truth this story had a personal hook, a loveless mother.
'Not even alchemy can change the past'. You meet Cordelia who is a young woman of innocence who desperately wants to get away. To experience kindness, who wats someone else to believe her. Her mother isn't who she says she is, who isn't how she appears to be. She hides something evil, with bad mean secrets. When she does finally get the nerve to break her silence, her worst fears come true. Come meet some amazing characters that befriend Cordelia and learn things they never thought possible. "Let all that glitters fade away".

Among all of T. Kingfisher's amazing publications, get ready to enjoy this Novel on August 6th. Also, if you have kids like myself and want them to have access to books that are well written, find her under the pen-name Ursula Vernon.

THANK YOU to NetGalley & the Publisher for giving me access to a free copy of the audiobook!

4.5 ⭐, rounded up!

I had never read the original Brothers Grimm story that this was based off of, so I immediately looked that up and read the synopsis to better understand the subtle nuances between the two when reading this one. I immediately loved the premise of the first one, so I was really excited to get this one going and it did not disappoint. I think I finished this within 3 days or something lol.

This story is extremely well-paced, and the things that it borrows from the original tale are not heavy or distracting at all. It was easy to see where the influences were, while this being its own completely standalone story which I really appreciated. I liked a lot of the elements in this story even more than I did in the Brothers Grimm version. The original story seemed nice and dark, but with obvious twists in characters that felt a little boring. This retelling was completely its own and didn't borrow from any of those super cliche plot elements. Loved it!

The narrator did a really good job with her tone, character differentiations in voice, and overall delivery of the work. She had the right sort of expression for each character and her pacing was good.

I think the only things I didn't like, or had minor gripes about, were very small and nearly insignificant. Just some minor logic things here and there that made you ask really obvious questions, that she would immediately answer following shortly behind. Of course, this is done intentionally so that It's sort of baits you into the next twist or plot point, but that's not necessarily a bad thing and it rarely happened so it wasn't super distracting.

Examples: At one point, one specific character starts to complain about a scary storm/monster watching her from outside and Cordelia thinks "surely this can't be my mother because she can't control the weather, only people's minds!" Of course my immediate thought was, well YEAH, because it's happening in her MIND... It's obviously still your mom doing it. Lol.

I found myself questioning how her mom got so strong, and how her mom learned her magic. And I started questioning whether Cordelia herself might actually have magic? And just about that time, Cordelia hears Patricia's voice (a ghost). I was actually very happily surprised by this. It was a twist I wasn't expecting and I love that magic can present itself in different ways for different people. It's not the same magical abilities that are passed down (So it seems). We never truly got to know the answers to any of this, because of the way that it ends, so it's sort of left up to interpretation which is fine and actually works really well in this story.

I kept wondering why they couldn't just shoot the horse in the head or something. I naturally figured they couldn't, because the horse was magic, but they use the exact "kill it in normal ways" approach later so it just felt a little confusing. They have all these hunting guns around and nobody's using them. I also don't fully understand why you would cut the horses head off, and only burn the head. I would think that you would burn the whole body for good measure just in case. It just seemed like a convenient slip up to progress a plot point but not extremely glaring.

Overall, I'm rounding up to give this 5 ⭐'s! I loved it and even though It might not make sense to give this a sequel (since it's based off a standalone story), I would 100% read it in a heartbeat.

I super enjoyed listening to this book, the dual POV's worked well to carry the story along. I enjoyed Cordelia and Hester's character and their interactions. This is labelled dark re-imagining of the Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl", I've never read the original story so I can't say one way another how closely it follows the Goose Girl but I liked the way the story unfolded. The one aspect that left me wanting more was the Cordelia's mother who I found was a pretty flat character and it seems that raison d'être in really one dimensional.

Overall, this was a fun fantasy and character driven book. This was my first T. Kingfisher book and I'm definitely interested in reading more.

Thank you to NetGally, Macmillan Audio and T.Kingfisher for an audio ARC.

If you haven’t read T. Kingfisher before, I recommend you pick up the whole backlog!!

This is such a great retelling, and at the start, I had no idea where it was going, but the twists, turns and horrors experienced, just wow!!

The VA was wonderful to listen to, and I really loved their voice for the the characters. Highly recommend this audiobook!!

A wonderfully dark and mysterious retelling of the Goose Girl. At one point I was curious why this wasn't going to be classified as middle grade as one of the characters is maybe 13, and then the horrors happened. I really enjoyed the characters, in the novel especially Hester and the other older company, I loved getting tidbits of their personality and history even though this was more of Codelia's story.

A great read that kept me on the edge of my seat! I was invested in the story and really enjoyed it!

This was my first read from Kingfisher, who appears to be a widely-beloved author... I think it's safe to say I can add myself to her fanbase!

I adored the story and I enjoyed the narration of both speakers minus a minor nitpick; I feel like one of the narrators began the book pronouncing Evangeline as "Evange-leen" and later on I noticed it switched to "Evange-line". Very minor, but just something I noticed! Other than that. both voices were very soothing and easy to listen to!

The description stated that this was a retelling of "A Goose Girl", which I wasn't familiar with prior to listening, so I decided to look up the original tale to compare after finishing. I vaguely see some similarities, but I feel like it's a bit of a stretch personally. (Take that with a grain of salt though, since I only just looked up the original tale)

I feel the characters were the strongest part of the book, the POVs between Hester and Cordelia blended so well together! I think the tradeoff to this, however, is that I feel the worldbuilding suffered. For the most part, you're thrown some context clues regarding the era the story takes place in, the fact that magic and magic users exist, and that Christianity exists (assumedly; "The Church" is how it's referred as). I honestly don't hate it though, I feel the characters carried the story regardless. Overall one of my favorite reads in a while, 4/5 Stars!

I will never not be amazed by kingfisher’s originality and ability to weave stories from even the simplest of ideas and plot devices.

This book is especially hard to read for those with difficult mother daughter relationships. It captured everything so unequivocally, in such a raw way. I loved the way magic and the rest of the side characters were portrayed. I loved the true kind of friendship our heroine found with others.

I LOVED this book so much. From the first page, I was HOOKED! The contrast between Cordeilla and Hester is chef's kiss. Kingfisher books can be hit or miss for me and this one was a definite HIT. I've already recommended it to a bunch of people!

I enjoy T. Kingfisher's writing a lot and this is by far my favorite of her books. Cordelia is a perfect character; strong, caring and brave. Kingfisher drops you into this world that feels like the past, but with magic and you are instantly absorbed in the story and atmosphere. A top contender to my favorite book of the year.

The book includes:
- Regency-era social norms
- an evil sorceress
- fun banter
- a girl trapped by her circumstances
- a woman pushing back against social norms
- disastrous dinner parties

Life is so simple, that is, until a sorceress comes knocking on your door and destroys the peaceful repetition of a monotonous life. This reimaging of the Rapunzel fable is exciting and addictive. While there are some heavier topics in this book, I had a blast reading this story. Somehow T Kingfisher is able to combine the stakes of malicious magicians with a social parody, and it makes for an addicting combination. Cordelia is a such a sweet little thing, and I loved watching her character arch in this story. I also adored Hestor and her steadfast determination to protect her himbo of a brother, and retain her freedom at any cost.

If you're looking for a Mother Gothel esque fantasy in a regency setting with a silly cast of characters, this is for you. I loved this book and T. Kingfisher has become one of my instant-read authors.

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, T. Kingfisher, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this book. This review is also available on my GoodReads - check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863

I really enjoyed the audiobook narrators for this book! They did a superb job.

The book starts out very mysterious and I have to say I was really drawn in. It was however missing some of T Kingfisher’s uniqueness that usually comes out. The horror aspects were decent but more “made for everyone” which appreciate personally as someone who doesn’t love horror. If you’re looking for a paranormal story that follows a mother and daughter then go for it! I didn’t see the connection to Goose Girl, but maybe that’s just me. I enjoyed the characters and the conflict. The romance wasn’t a prominent point but it was very sweet. I’m glad it had a happy ending for the good characters.

Definitely check TWs before reading.

T Kingfisher is cementing herself as the queen of fairytales. In A Sorceress Comes to Call, Kingfisher tackles the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl. I’m not familiar with the original tale, so I can’t comment on its trueness to the source material, but this reminded me of Kingfisher’s other book Nettle & Bone in that we follow our main character as she encounters magic and a host of other characters who team up to complete a task. In this case, it’s stopping the sorceress. (There was even a nod to Nettle & Bone where a character mentions a dog made of bones). I love Kingfisher’s characters and specifically how she writes a strong, no-nonsense but not unkind older adult woman (a la Hester). At this point T Kingfisher is an auto-buy author for me.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating 2.5

Cordelia knows her mother isn’t like other mothers, and it goes beyond the lack of doors in their house. Living an isolated life, Cordelia’s only friend is Falada, her mother’s horse. But when her mother decides it’s time for some changes, they leave town in the middle of the night to arrive at the country manor of a wealthy older man. It isn’t long before Cordelia sees that her mother has set her sights on marrying this man, and is willing to go to any lengths to have her way.

This story is told from a dual POV. This worked quite well as the two characters offered different details on the events that happened, creating a good balance. But the pacing of this one felt quite uneven. It started off strongly and I was certain this book was going to be one of the best I’d read in a while, but then there are pages and pages of repetitive scenes in slightly different settings (e.g., characters plotting the same thing in different settings). I think this book would have benefited from being more of a novella than a full-length novel.

There’s almost no worldbuilding in this book. There’s magic, sorcerers, and a traditional fantasy vibe but then also things like Catholicism. In most cases this would be a massive negative for me, but there were enough good aspects of this work that it was only a minor dislike. One thing that helped to balance it was the characters. I enjoyed the voices of the two protagonists, and though Cordelia was painfully passive for most of the book, there was good reason for it. I also do like the author’s writing style and it helps the pages mostly fly by.

This was a decent one that was apparently a retelling of the fairytale “The Goose Girl.” While I’m no fairytale expert, I’m somewhat familiar with that one and didn’t think there were enough similarities aside from some cosmetic details to call this a retelling. If you’re a diehard Kingfisher fan or like rambling fantasies with minimal worldbuilding, you’ll probably love this one. I listened to the audiobook version, and the two narrators did an excellent job bringing the characters to life. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published August 6, 2024. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I did not fall as in love with the narration of this book but it was good enough for me to purchase the book when I can get it. The cadence of the voices were too slow and too soothing. I needed more emotive.

Overall I do recommend but I would have like more emotive performances.

***I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

4/5 Star Rating

The author did a fantastic job of creating the character's and maintaining their personalities throughout. I like the author's storytelling, as it did not seem redundant nor incomplete. The only thing I wish we could have seen more of would be the backstory of Evangeline, and how she got to be the way she is.

The book itself dives into a complex retelling of The Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl" in which our main character Cordelia exists in forced isolation due to her mother's abusive rule. As the story continues and the themes of abuse continue, Kingfisher does an excellent job of allowing Cordelia to find her way through the isolation and manipulation and find her true place in the world. I think the ending was rather sweet and I like that after everything Cordelia went through, she was able to find her own family, albeit a complex one.

A Sorceress Comes to Call weaves fantasy, folklore, and found family into a new gothic classic. I received this E-ARC edition through Macmillan Audio, narrated by Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens.

"A Sorceress Comes to Call" is an imaginative retelling of "The Goose Girl," a Grimms Fairytale I am not familiar with but certainly will be reading after the treat that was this novel by heavyweight T. Kingfisher. I have always enjoyed retellings that authors manage to put a unique spin on, and this one is sure to check many boxes for lovers of dark fantasy.

Cordelia is the mousy daughter of the powerful Sorceress Evangeline. Whether acting as her puppet or supplicant daughter, she knows her only role is "to marry a rich husband," a rather obscure idea for the 14-year-old. Cordelia's only refuge from her isolated life and emotionally abusive mother's control is her horse Falada. With her father done away with after refusing the hand of the sorceress and another benefactor having lost interest, Cordelia is rushed away to an older squire's home where Evangeline hopes to entrap a husband once and for all. When Cordelia meets the squire's older sister, she finally finds the strength to get out from her mother's magical grips once and for all.

Audiobook: This is the first full-length fantasy that I have enjoyed through an audiobook, and I believe the narrators did a superb job of bringing the characters to life. With one narrator taking a softer voice approach to Cordelia and the other taking a tighter vocalization for the sister Hester, it was easy to keep the storyline straight through the entire book. I would certainly seek to enjoy other novels by both of these narrators.

For fans of found family, folklore retellings, and survivors of mother dearest, I believe anyone will be able to build a home in this sweet novel. 4.5/5 stars.

I finished this three days ago and I am still obsessing over it. First the narrators did an amazing job. They were perfect for their roles! They nailed the voices.
The way the author describes the scenes and they way people look had me captivated. I listened all the way through. I could not stop. I neglected my family and home and just listened.
I was so in love with Penelope. I love the geese!
I just think everyone should listen to this one.

I love a gothic retelling and T. Kingfisher is the perfect person for the job. the story was beautifully told and the narrator was fantastic.

T. Kingfisher continues her retelling of classic fairy tales, for A Sorceress Comes to Call the reader is presented with a darker version of the Brohters Grimm's The Goose Girl. As in other works by Kingfisher, there is a bit of humor over a story of cruelties and oddities.

Cordelia has been raised in an abusive isolation, her only friend her mother's horse Falada. Forced to be silent or a mirror of her mother, Cordelia's life has not been her own. But now her mother has a new plan, to wed a wealthy squire, and even though she is a sorceress, she will having to user charm, cunning and guile, for sorcery is undone or revealed at a wedding. Cordelia is brought along to help her mother, but for once in her life Cordelia is treated with kindness and is conflicted in her role. The squire's sister Hester is highly observant and very well versed in the social milieu. Cordelia and Hester's viewpoints alternate for the narrative. (For the audiobook the narration is wonderfully handles by Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens).

While this is not new ground for Kingfisher, a protagonist in a complicated familial relationship pushed to a crisis, A Sorceress Comes to Call makes excellent use of its source material but derives much of its momentum from well realized characters and the shared histories that have shaped them and their interactions. Plus, fans of Kingfisher might catch some easter eggs to other Kingfisher books.

Recommended to readers of fantasy, fairy tales or darker retellings.