Review – Hemlock & Silver

Posted June 5, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Hemlock & Silver

by T. Kingfisher

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 368
Rating: five-stars

Synopsis:
Healer Anja knows little of politics but much of poisons. When she is summoned to treat the mysterious illness afflicting the king’s daughter, she finds herself against the clock, desperate to track down the source of the poison killing Princess Snow. But the chance discovery of a strange alternate world inside a magic mirror leads Anja to darker discoveries, including what really happened to Snow’s dead sister, Rose, and why their mother seemingly went mad and cut out her heart.

Aided by a taciturn bodyguard, a narcissistic cat, and a late Renaissance understanding of the scientific method, Anja must navigate the mysteries of the mirror world before the dark queen that dwells within rises to threaten them all.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Welp, Hemlock & Silver is a very, very T. Kingfisher sort of book. If I’d read it blind, I think I’d have picked it for a Kingfisher novel, because it has her hallmarks: very inventive interpretation of a source story while adding her own characters, a lot of warmth, and of course a central middle-aged female character who is absolutely capable, if a bit out of her depth.

That’s not to say this is a retread of other books by Kingfisher: her interpretation of the Snow White story is its own thing (and though it includes Rose Red, it’s not the “Snow White and Rose Red” story I know; closer to the Snow White story people know best through Disney). Anja and her efforts at applying the scientific method in this fairytale/medieval-technology setting are recognisable as being Kingfisher’s work, but Anja’s her own person too. I loved the scenes where she gets absolutely fascinated by a new discovery — she and I probably have some things in common!

I liked the characters a lot, including some of the side characters like Lady Sorrel, and of course, Grayling. Some of the concepts were super cool, too, with a very original monster concept about which I won’t say too much.

I did want to hit Anja with a pillow about one conclusion she’d jumped to, though…

If you’re a fan of Kingfisher, you’ll love it; if you’ve never tried it, it strikes me as a pretty good place to start.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: book reviews, books, fairytale, SF/F, T. Kingfisher

Review – The Bone Way

Posted May 22, 2022 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Bone Way, Holly J. Underhill

The Bone Way is a sweet novella, which is basically a Sapphic Orpheus and Eurydice story: Teagan has been poisoned by a creature belonging to the Shadow Princess, a sort of underworld figure. Her wife Cress is determined to find her a cure by travelling the Bone Way to reach the Shadow Princess and make a deal with her. They originally plan to set out together, but Teagan has doubts, fearing that Cress will lose her life for nothing if the deal doesn’t work or they don’t make it to the end… so Cress sets out alone, and Teagan has to follow.

It’s a short book, and slips by quickly; there are a few flashbacks to help build the picture of their relationship and what they do, and which help provide a little worldbuilding, and then there’s the description of Teagan’s journey. It reads so fast that I didn’t quite get the passage of time out of it; the time limit on their return to their normal world felt easy (three days), although the journey did actually take them almost all of that.

The story is sweet and fairytale-like; it’s not a thick satisfying novel that fleshes out the whole world, but a glimpse of a couple’s story within that world. Behind it lurks a story I was perhaps a little more interested in: the story of the Shadow Princess and why she turned to dark magic, why she brought all her people with her, and exactly how those people live and what they feel about it. I’m especially curious about the little girl who helps Teagan, because she seemed more switched on and alive, and it felt like there was a story there as well…

The love between Cress and Teagan comes across as strong, but also realistic: they screw things up, they get angry with each other, they have mismatched priorities. The whole thing ends well and sweetly, and despite the Shadow Princess’ dire pronouncements (which say more about her untold story than anything), you get the feeling that Cress and Teagan can figure things out, together.