Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
Fantasy/ Fairy Tale Retellings
August 19, 2025–Tor Books
ARC

Review by Angela

I am a huge fan of T. Kingfisher, whether it be horror, fantasy, or dark fairy tale retellings. Hemlock & Silver is a retelling of Snow White, and I didn’t even read the blurb before I hit that request button.

Hemlock & Silver opens by introducing Anja, poison expert and healer, who is taken completely by surprise when the king appears in her workshop one day asking for her help. His daughter Snow has been suffering from a mysterious illness and even though she has been attended by numerous physicians, not one of them can identify what is making her sick. He is running out of options, so Anja reluctantly agrees.

The first half of the book is a lot of travel, and then Anja observing Snow and monitoring her daily routine. Testing her food, searching her rooms, and investigating every possible way someone could be poisoning her. There is a lot of talk of poisons, their uses and antidotes. The pacing is slow, but detailed, and gets readers ready for the second half of the story– when Anja accidentally falls through a mirror and realizes that there is a whole other world beyond what everyone sees, and Snow’s illness is rather supernatural in nature.

I was enchanted by Anja, and her competent, no-nonsense personality. She is rather tenacious once she discovers the mirror world, determined to investigate. Thank goodness she has help in the form of her steadfast guard and a talking cat, who is quite familiar with what goes on the other side of the mirror. The action in the second half really does pick up once fantasy elements are introduced. It was like a race to the end, as all the plot threads start to weave together.

As always there is a bit of humor thrown in during sticky situations just to lighten the mood amid all the dark themes. And a lovely, soft romance between Anja and Javier. I was rather pleased with them and their HFN ending. All in all, recommend this dark fairy tale re-telling.

Grade- B