Early Review – Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: August 19, 2025
ASIN: B0DDJBJ7JP
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for review
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.
Not to die, but to save— seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.
But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.
Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.
Or it might be the thing that kills them all.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on ebook from NetGalley for review.
Thoughts: This was a lot of fun to read and really well done. It’s supposed to be a re-imaging of Snow White but it also had some heavy influences from Alice in Wonderland. Prior to reading this I had read most of Kingfisher’s other books as well and really enjoyed them.
Anja studies poisons and tries to find cures for them. Her reputation becomes a bit of a curse when the King comes to ask for her help. His daughter Snow is dying and he wants Anja to figure out if it’s poison. Now Anja must journey with the King and his retinue to a reclusive estate to figure out if poison is the cause of Snow’s illness. She is watched closely by two guards for her safety since now she is a target too! What Anja finds is stranger than any poison she could have perceived.
I love that Kingfisher uses more non-traditional female characters in her story. Anja is middle aged and happy with her life, she’s not looking to uproot herself or achieve anything (accept for better cures for poisonings). She is big in stature (both in height and padding) and lacks any sort of social grace, being way too blunt for most people. I loved her and enjoyed watching her navigate this odd situation. Along the way, she befriends her guards and meets a strangely irritating (and talking) cat. All of these characters were fun to read about and very well done. This is a big of a romance as well which was very sweet.
There are a lot of musings about poison throughout the story and this does slow the story down a bit but I found them amusing. I enjoyed the mystery here and the strange magic that was uncovered. As with many of Kingfisher’s stories, this has elements of horror and is fairly creepy at times. It is also very tongue-in-cheek at times and full of fun characters and witty dialogue.
This seems to blend elements of Snow White (there are apples and witches involved) along with some elements of Alice in Wonderland (mirrors, other worlds, and an obnoxious talking cat). It was well done and easy to read.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I greatly enjoyed this and am looking forward to Kingfisher’s future books. This is an entertaining blend of mystery, fairy tales, magic, and horror that I really enjoyed. The characters are quirky and fun. This is all written in Kingfisher’s signature style, which is a bit blunt at times but also witty, darkly humorous, and easy to read. While I don’t think this is my absolute favorite Kingfisher book, I still really loved it.
