Hemlock & Silver is a solid T. Kingfisher read. It’s a Snow White inspired fairytale, told from an unexpected point of view. There is a mystery to be solved, a helping of body horror, and a little bit of romance. The setting is very different from the world of the Temple of the White Rat, and yet it feels comfortably familiar. You don’t know where you are, but you can trust the storyteller to take you somewhere interesting (complimentary).
Anja is called a healer, but really, she specializes in poisons and their antidotes. She’s a researcher more than a practitioner. The King arrives just as she has dosed herself with poison asking her to save his daughter, Snow. I have spent three days trying to hit the important plot points without telling too much, and I’m just going to pop the book blurb in here and get on with my reaction:
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.
Anja is a compelling character because she is curious and compassionate. Her desire to understand what is happening to Snow drives the book. Before the King barged into her life, she was focused on finding an antidote to combat lotus smoke overdoses. She has some feelings about interrupting that research to save a princess, but once she arrives, the mystery draws her in. She faces a number of ethical dilemmas and she thinks them through carefully. I’m all in favor of curiosity, compassion, and ethics leading the way.
Anja’s world feels self contained. If someone were looking for a place to start with T. Kingfisher that felt like a representative taste without several books of world building, this would be a good one. Greyling the cat is also a good reason to pick up Hemlock & Silver. Javier may be right that he isn’t a cat, but he is an excellent feline.
I received this as an advance reader copy from Tor Books and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.