Book Review: A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

April 27, 2026 Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

A Sorceress Comes to Call
Publisher: Titan Books UK
Pub Date: 6 August 2024
Genre: Fantasy Horror

Panda Rating:

_{(4.5 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes a dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic.
Perfect for fans of Naomi Novic, Alix E. Harrow and Nettle & Bone.

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms―there are no secrets in this house!―Cordelia isn’t allowed 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 a few quirks set her mother apart. Other parents can’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless―obedient―for hours or days on end. Other mothers aren’t… sorcerers.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS

Ableism, physical & emotional child abuse, parental mariticide recounted, murder, infidelity, loss of autonomy (possession) including forced self-harm, murder & suicide, animal attack (horse), animal death & harm (horse, geese)

TL;DR: I don’t know why I was so pleasantly surprised by this, but I was and I’m so glad that I read it! Kingfisher has definitely won her way into my auto-buy author list by this point. I love her writing and the way she balances the dark and hopeful moments, and still manages to work in witty banter between the horrifying without diminishing or cheapening the seriousness of such events. Cordelia and Hester were fantastic characters who I had no trouble rooting for—I loved the found family in this so much! I will say that if you’re interested in an unlikely band of protagonists (who are older!), good overcoming evil, fantastic found family, and delightful banter amidst darker moments, I would highly recommend checking it out!

#FirstLinesFriday: 17 November 2023

November 17, 2023November 17, 2023 Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“The trees were full of crows and the woods were full of madmen. The pit was full of bones and her hands were full of wires.”

Mini Book Review: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

November 11, 2023 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Thornhedge
Publisher: Tor
Pub Date: 15 August 2023
Genre: Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

_{(4 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.

There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Death, murder, suicide (mentioned), blood, animal cruelty & death (mentioned)

Despite the underlying darkness of this story, Thornhedge was surprisingly sweet and wholesome. I’m so glad Kingfisher has fantasies that allow me to experience her immersive worlds, intriguing characters and wonderful writing. I otherwise would’ve missed out on a great author since I don’t read horror!