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mdelao630's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
magretfume's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This is a wonderfully written story and I do say wonderful because it gave me a real sense of wonder that I rarely find in fantasy anymore.
It's dark and beautiful, and immerses you its world.
The characters are compelling and more complex than I expected, the world building is great and the resolution so satisfying.
I listened the audiobook version. The narrators are fantastic at giving the eerie quality to the story and really added to my experience, so I would recommend this format.
It's dark and beautiful, and immerses you its world.
The characters are compelling and more complex than I expected, the world building is great and the resolution so satisfying.
I listened the audiobook version. The narrators are fantastic at giving the eerie quality to the story and really added to my experience, so I would recommend this format.
wildbookishrose's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
scarletranger's review
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
With wonderful characters and horrifyingly thrilling chills, Kingfisher has crafted a beautifully gothic novel of magic, domestic politics, and found family.
designatedbanana's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I have previously read T. Kingfisher’s horror stories so I was interested to see how she tackled fantasy. I was not disappointed, this book was wonderful!!
This book falls into the magical realism category and focuses more on the characters than the fantasy elements. It also had a good amount of horror elements, so if you’re coming from What Moves the Dead/The Hollow Places like me you’ll feel right at home. It also had a bit of an Agatha Christie who-done-it feel in that there was a whole house party where everyone was working together to stop the bad guy. There is also a shockingly complex romantic subplot, it dove into a kind of relationship that I don’t see explored very often and managed to cover a lot of ground in the small space it had.
Overall this book was the weirdest combination of fun, stressful, gross, and sad. It is absolutely worth a read!
I listened to the audiobook which had two narrators to differentiate the dual povs and they both did a lovely job! The book translated to audio beautifully, I would absolutely recommend it!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio who sent me this book as an ARC
This book falls into the magical realism category and focuses more on the characters than the fantasy elements. It also had a good amount of horror elements, so if you’re coming from What Moves the Dead/The Hollow Places like me you’ll feel right at home. It also had a bit of an Agatha Christie who-done-it feel in that there was a whole house party where everyone was working together to stop the bad guy. There is also a shockingly complex romantic subplot, it dove into a kind of relationship that I don’t see explored very often and managed to cover a lot of ground in the small space it had.
Overall this book was the weirdest combination of fun, stressful, gross, and sad. It is absolutely worth a read!
I listened to the audiobook which had two narrators to differentiate the dual povs and they both did a lovely job! The book translated to audio beautifully, I would absolutely recommend it!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio who sent me this book as an ARC
radagast_the_brown's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
inventive, interesting, and has a who-cares magic system that honestly doesn’t bother me because of thr plot interest.
many thanks to tor and netgalley for the advance readers copy.
many thanks to tor and netgalley for the advance readers copy.
macklin's review
So excited that I got the audiobook through Libro so early. I devoured it of course and it was so good. Dark and sad but still with that T Kingfisher humour too. Not really a retelling of the Goose Girl which disappointed me at first but it just means that this story is one of T Kingfisher’s more original tales which really is a treat itself.
mary_love's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A Sorceress Comes to Call - 4.5⭐
What have I been doing all my life that I have not read anything by T. Kingfisher?! This is not my usual bag, but the description of T. Kingfisher's newest book was just too juicy to miss. Thank you, NetGalley, for the audio ARC!
Woo! I loved this book. The book opens with Cordelia being completely controlled by her evil sorceress mother (and abuser), Evangeline, while sitting in church. The Gothic vibes throughout the first half of the book are *chef's kiss*. As a reader, at first you hear a bit of unbelievable gossip or a violent story from the newspaper read aloud, but as the book goes on, we see more and more of the gruesome truth behind everything. I love that, even toward the end before all is revealed, she maintains the old the Gothic style with murders "off camera" and gore out of sight. It's like you're being stalked by the evil and it's just circling until it strikes. It somehow makes the evildoing more shocking (and awesome haha).
The band of characters are typical of a Victorian tale:
Hester: the 50-year-old spinster sister who is way ahead of her time
Imogene: Hester's spicy best friend whose morals are grey
Richard: Hester's true love whom she will not marry
Penelope: The gregarious and beautiful friend who everyone loves
The Squire: The evil villain needed a rich man to marry, so he was the guy.
The dual POV between Hester and Cordelia was great! One of my biggest complaints with leading characters so young is that story falls into petulance, NOT THIS ONE! Hester's interpretations of events made this have so much depth. The mini romance was sweet, and, because they really loved each other, it solved the "if she would just tell someone" problem a lot of horror/fantasy/romance tends to have. I couldn't put it down because I cared what happened to the characters.
If I had to be picky, I was hoping for some of the things that felt "mysterious" to be unveiled at the end. It turned out that some of things I suspected may have been happening, were just side notes and not addressed.
Overall, Yes! So much fun! Gave me the creeps in the best way! Read for a good time. ;-)
What have I been doing all my life that I have not read anything by T. Kingfisher?! This is not my usual bag, but the description of T. Kingfisher's newest book was just too juicy to miss. Thank you, NetGalley, for the audio ARC!
Woo! I loved this book. The book opens with Cordelia being completely controlled by her evil sorceress mother (and abuser), Evangeline, while sitting in church. The Gothic vibes throughout the first half of the book are *chef's kiss*. As a reader, at first you hear a bit of unbelievable gossip or a violent story from the newspaper read aloud, but as the book goes on, we see more and more of the gruesome truth behind everything. I love that, even toward the end before all is revealed, she maintains the old the Gothic style with murders "off camera" and gore out of sight. It's like you're being stalked by the evil and it's just circling until it strikes. It somehow makes the evildoing more shocking (and awesome haha).
The band of characters are typical of a Victorian tale:
Hester: the 50-year-old spinster sister who is way ahead of her time
Imogene: Hester's spicy best friend whose morals are grey
Richard: Hester's true love whom she will not marry
Penelope: The gregarious and beautiful friend who everyone loves
The Squire: The evil villain needed a rich man to marry, so he was the guy.
The dual POV between Hester and Cordelia was great! One of my biggest complaints with leading characters so young is that story falls into petulance, NOT THIS ONE! Hester's interpretations of events made this have so much depth. The mini romance was sweet, and, because they really loved each other, it solved the "if she would just tell someone" problem a lot of horror/fantasy/romance tends to have. I couldn't put it down because I cared what happened to the characters.
If I had to be picky, I was hoping for some of the things that felt "mysterious" to be unveiled at the end. It turned out that some of things I suspected may have been happening, were just side notes and not addressed.
Overall, Yes! So much fun! Gave me the creeps in the best way! Read for a good time. ;-)
zoeymik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I don't know if I've read a retelling of "The Goose Girl" before, but I would certainly read another one. A Sorceress Comes to Call fits a lot of story into its pages, and I found it almost impossible to put down once I got started. While it felt like a straightforward fantasy for much of the beginning, it didn't take very long for elements of horror to begin to show up. If I had to choose, I'm not sure if I would say that it's fantasy or horror, but it had the best elements of both. The characters feel alive, and it is a read that had my full attention from start to finish.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.