ALC Review: A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Release date: 6 August 2024
Rating: 5/5
Narrators: Eliza Foss, Jennifer Pickens
Narration Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic
Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.
After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.
Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.
Review
I’ve been requesting Kingfisher ARC’s from Tor for literal years, and I finally got approved for one. After absolutely loving Nettle & Bone and liking Thornhedge quite a bit, I knew Kingfisher’s newest fairytale iteration would be right up my alley, and it did not disappoint. A Sorceress Comes to Call perfectly embodies a dark fairytale with a silver lining and quite the comeuppance for the nasty, gold digging, spiteful mother. Pick this one up this spooky season for the perfect read to go with the darker and cooler days.
I’ve read three of Kingfisher’s books, all of them fairytales, and the strongest appeal to me among all of them lies in the wonderful found family element they all possess. Sure, they all have fantastic dark but whimsical qualities to them, but the found family aspect strikes me to the heart the most. Though Cordelia has a mother, her mother is complete trash, and she seems to have no hope of ever getting out from under her mother’s thumb. Enter: the prospective step-dad. Though Cordelia’s mom latches on to a new beau in order to fund her lifestyle, she finds quite the friend in the man’s sister, Hester, whose wit and cunning are a match and rival to the evil sorceress.
While Cordelia is the main character for readers, for me, Hester really shines brighter than all the others. She’s sharp, empathetic, and kind—and she won’t hesitate to get rid of someone who threatens her family. After a short while of knowing her, Hester considers Cordelia among the members of her family. Once Kingfisher establishes this connection, readers get quite a wild ride of scheming to do away with the evil sorceress.
Narration for this title wonderfully provided by Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens, who provide the voices for the alternation between Hester and Cordelia. Both did amazing jobs, and the book went by too fast for their reading of it.
My thanks to Macmillan Audio and Tor for the ALC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.
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