Hemlock and Silver
by T. Kingfisher
On This Page
Description
From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a dark reimagining of "Snow White" steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kindHealer 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 show more 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.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
. show less
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
”I had just taken poison when the king arrived to inform me that he had murdered his wife.”
A great first sentence isn’t everything, but it helps.
I still haven’t met a Kingfisher book I did not like. I like her style, I like her humanity, I like her imagination, I like her humour and characters with a wonderful narrative voice.
Anja is a nerdy expert on poisons. The king’s daughter, Snow, is sick. Is Snow being poisoned? Can Anja help? Our main character is not exactly a sleuth. She doesn’t do people very well, and her inner monologue is so hilarious at times. She might be a bit slow on the uptake, but let’s see us readers do better in the same situation instead of sitting with this book somewhere comfortable. One thing, show more though: Anja, saying that you don’t believe in magic when you are a character in a fantasy book just makes us readers roll our eyes, so stop already.
I loved the mirrors! (Be careful with mirrors.) Kingfisher is very good at writing scary stuff, and here it was leaping off the pages. It felt very “real”, oh dear.
The Snow White elements were interesting, but I also thought about [Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There] - obviously, but it was still fun.
Oh, there was a cat, too! A cat that ”had an expression like it was thinking about disemboweling everyone in the room.” The cat was wonderful! A most excellent cat! Give me more such cats in fiction! ”No sense asking why he was like this. He was a cat.”
”There are few things in life more disdainful than a one-eyed cat.”
I didn’t really want the book to end, but I did want to know what happened, so here I am, satisfied.
Quotes:
”This was actually quite centering, because you cannot be distracted while working with a venomous snake.”
”Javier grunted. I wondered how many words he was allotted a week and whether he had been going into a deficit with all the talking I’ve been demanding.”
”Slow down. There’s a large gap between doesn’t find you repulsive and kissing.”
I think you are on to something there, Anja. show less
A great first sentence isn’t everything, but it helps.
I still haven’t met a Kingfisher book I did not like. I like her style, I like her humanity, I like her imagination, I like her humour and characters with a wonderful narrative voice.
Anja is a nerdy expert on poisons. The king’s daughter, Snow, is sick. Is Snow being poisoned? Can Anja help? Our main character is not exactly a sleuth. She doesn’t do people very well, and her inner monologue is so hilarious at times. She might be a bit slow on the uptake, but let’s see us readers do better in the same situation instead of sitting with this book somewhere comfortable. One thing, show more though: Anja, saying that you don’t believe in magic when you are a character in a fantasy book just makes us readers roll our eyes, so stop already.
I loved the mirrors! (Be careful with mirrors.) Kingfisher is very good at writing scary stuff, and here it was leaping off the pages. It felt very “real”, oh dear.
The Snow White elements were interesting, but I also thought about [Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There] - obviously, but it was still fun.
Oh, there was a cat, too! A cat that ”had an expression like it was thinking about disemboweling everyone in the room.” The cat was wonderful! A most excellent cat! Give me more such cats in fiction! ”No sense asking why he was like this. He was a cat.”
”There are few things in life more disdainful than a one-eyed cat.”
I didn’t really want the book to end, but I did want to know what happened, so here I am, satisfied.
Quotes:
”This was actually quite centering, because you cannot be distracted while working with a venomous snake.”
”Javier grunted. I wondered how many words he was allotted a week and whether he had been going into a deficit with all the talking I’ve been demanding.”
”Slow down. There’s a large gap between doesn’t find you repulsive and kissing.”
I think you are on to something there, Anja. show less
Why yes, I did save all the books I was most looking forward to reading for my brief winter break and now I am wallowing in a hedonistic sugar, cheese, and reading induced haze. It's fantastic. So is this book, if you like T. Kingfisher. In fact, I think this book might be the ultimate synthesis to date of Kingfisher's various interests -- awkward characters having adventures with fairy tale overtones and more than a smidge of horror leaking around the edges -- it's a very good combination, although I found it legit creepier than some of her more light-hearted works. It's a delicious distillation of Snow White, reflected back in so many original and interesting ways, with really solid characters leading the show. Loved that this book, show more like so many I have been reading lately, has an active and fascinating setting that is so integral it may as well be another character. Yep, fantastic.
Second time around listened to the audio book. Great reader. I’m a little more troubled about Mirror Snow, as in, why didn’t anyone wonder where she was? And which Snow was Snow? But it’s ok to have some mystery in a wildly inventive adventure like this.
Advanced Reader's Copy Provided by Edelweiss. show less
Second time around listened to the audio book. Great reader. I’m a little more troubled about Mirror Snow, as in, why didn’t anyone wonder where she was? And which Snow was Snow? But it’s ok to have some mystery in a wildly inventive adventure like this.
Advanced Reader's Copy Provided by Edelweiss. show less
Healer Anja is visited by the king, who believes that his daughter Snow is being poisoned. Anja, a self-taught expert on poisons since her cousin died of hemlock when they were children, packs up her supplies and goes (you don't say no to a king, after all). What she finds is stranger than she could have imagined, involving porous mirrors, a talking cat, a silvery apple, a handsome bodyguard, and uncanny mirror-gelds.
Quotes
I could imagine everyone telling him that he had done the right thing, the needful thing, and no one actually suggesting how terrible the right thing must have been. (5)
"That's the thing about learning. You get to keep it." (24)
"If you keep asking questions, you will find answers." (26)
The human body is a strange show more combination of incredibly fragile and unspeakably tough. (46)
Maybe the point of gods and saints is that they can make the monstrous choices that people can't. (51)
A good healer wants to help the person. Whereas what I wanted was to solve the problem. (111)
Discovery is rarely without risks. (182)
I suppose it's easier to accept things if you don't know they're impossible. (190)
Gut feelings aren't very scientific, but they're often the result of a lot of observations that you don't know that you're making, so I wasn't ready to discount mine entirely. (194)
"Blood is exactly as magic as mirrors." (286) show less
Quotes
I could imagine everyone telling him that he had done the right thing, the needful thing, and no one actually suggesting how terrible the right thing must have been. (5)
"That's the thing about learning. You get to keep it." (24)
"If you keep asking questions, you will find answers." (26)
The human body is a strange show more combination of incredibly fragile and unspeakably tough. (46)
Maybe the point of gods and saints is that they can make the monstrous choices that people can't. (51)
A good healer wants to help the person. Whereas what I wanted was to solve the problem. (111)
Discovery is rarely without risks. (182)
I suppose it's easier to accept things if you don't know they're impossible. (190)
Gut feelings aren't very scientific, but they're often the result of a lot of observations that you don't know that you're making, so I wasn't ready to discount mine entirely. (194)
"Blood is exactly as magic as mirrors." (286) show less
Anja, an expert in poisons and antidotes, is asked by the king to determine if his ailing twelve-year old, Snow, is being poisoned.
This is a very loose retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (sans dwarfs). Mostly it feels like its own story but every so often Kingfisher weaves in another element of the original tale – and puts her own spin on it, of course. I really enjoyed that!
I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of Kingfisher’s practical, down-to-earth and unconventional protagonist with a royal household (even if said household is a distant, desert retreat rather than the main palace). There is also a similar contrast between the mystery about whether Snow is being poisoned, which involves attention to mundane, unglamorous show more matters like Snow’s symptoms and habits, with the mystery of why Snow is being poisoned, which much is more the plot from a fantasy.
Occasionally I skimmed over details about poisons that made me feel squeamish, but I didn’t mind the horror elements – perhaps because Anja didn’t really mind them. Or at least her scientific fascination for what she discovers is stronger than any fear or disgust. Some of the time she’s also accompanied by a bodyguard, which might have also contributed to my perception that Anja was sufficiently invulnerable that I could relax enough to enjoy her adventures, even when those were rather creepy.
I liked how the romance is very much a subplot, too.
I’ve enjoyed all of Kingfisher’s fantasy but, upon reflection, I think this one qualifies as one of my favourites!
This is a very loose retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (sans dwarfs). Mostly it feels like its own story but every so often Kingfisher weaves in another element of the original tale – and puts her own spin on it, of course. I really enjoyed that!
I also enjoyed the juxtaposition of Kingfisher’s practical, down-to-earth and unconventional protagonist with a royal household (even if said household is a distant, desert retreat rather than the main palace). There is also a similar contrast between the mystery about whether Snow is being poisoned, which involves attention to mundane, unglamorous show more matters like Snow’s symptoms and habits, with the mystery of why Snow is being poisoned, which much is more the plot from a fantasy.
Occasionally I skimmed over details about poisons that made me feel squeamish, but I didn’t mind the horror elements – perhaps because Anja didn’t really mind them. Or at least her scientific fascination for what she discovers is stronger than any fear or disgust. Some of the time she’s also accompanied by a bodyguard, which might have also contributed to my perception that Anja was sufficiently invulnerable that I could relax enough to enjoy her adventures, even when those were rather creepy.
I liked how the romance is very much a subplot, too.
I’ve enjoyed all of Kingfisher’s fantasy but, upon reflection, I think this one qualifies as one of my favourites!
At thirty-five, I was more than old enough to know that evil could present a fair face, but I had never heard that it got tired. Quite the opposite, really. Evil is relentlessly energetic.
“That’s the thing about learning. You get to keep it.”show less
“I would rather have the answer,” I muttered.
“Maybe you’ll find the answer to a different question. If you never find the antidote for hemlock, but you do find one of … oh … colchicum, say … would you still consider your time wasted?”
I considered that for a few moments. Calchicum is our autumn crocus, which is beautiful and grows in many gardens. Every now and again, someone takes it into their head to eat some. It can take up to a week to die, and it’s not nearly as painless as poison hemlock. “That would be pretty useful,” I admitted grudgingly. “But I’d rather find an antidote for both. And anyway” – I thumped the book again – “if Herkelion was wrong, then I don’t know how to go about finding either one.” According to the herbwife, I would probably need to poison either dogs or prisoners, and I had moral objects on both counts. (Also, I was twelve and unlikely to be given access to the palace prisons for scientific purposes.)
Middle-aged healer Anja is shocked when the king himself arrives at her workroom, desperate for her help. She's devoted her life to discovering antidotes for poisons, and the king is convinced that his daughter Snow is being poisoned in some mysterious way. When Anja arrives at the distant palace where Snow is currently living, there's definitely a mystery there -- but is it poison? And if it is, can Anja discover the cure before the little girl is beyond help?
So good. I love Anja beyond all reason, and those who know me know I'm a major sucker for fairy tale retellings, as well. There are bits of Snow White here, just enough to tie into the story, without taking away from the fact that this book is entirely its own, new thing. It's show more scary but not too scary for me, and there's a little light romance that enhances the story even though it's not the main focus. Recommended if any of these things pique your interest. show less
So good. I love Anja beyond all reason, and those who know me know I'm a major sucker for fairy tale retellings, as well. There are bits of Snow White here, just enough to tie into the story, without taking away from the fact that this book is entirely its own, new thing. It's show more scary but not too scary for me, and there's a little light romance that enhances the story even though it's not the main focus. Recommended if any of these things pique your interest. show less
I don't think I really need to go into detail about why I picked this book up in the first place. It's a T. Kingfisher fantasy retelling. OF COURSE I bought a copy. In a lot of ways, this one was closer to the Snow White fairy tale than a lot of Kingfisher's fairy tale reimaginings are, though it's still a very loose retelling. (For example, don't expect any dwarfs to show up.)
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Healer Anja was a lot of fun, I loved Lady Sorrel, I liked Anja's guards and the serving team, and Snow—twelve-years-old, as is more appropriate to the original tale—was a very believable pre-teen. I feel like I should have predicted more of the mystery aspects of the presumed poisoning, but I got caught up in one show more of the specific hints and missed several others because I was obsessing over that hint.
There are a lot of things that I enjoyed a bunch but can't talk about due to spoilers. However, I will say that I didn't have any complaints with the way the poisoning plot developed or with the (eventual) (light) romance in the book. I loved Kingfisher's humor in this book, as usual. I found myself making lots of quick notes on my phone so that I could go back and find the quotes I loved best.
All told, I think this is a great addition to Kingfisher's fairy tale reimaginings... perhaps the best of them. I can see myself returning to this book soon to see what other hints I pick up on now that I know the answer to the specific clue I jumped at early on in my first reading. show less
I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Healer Anja was a lot of fun, I loved Lady Sorrel, I liked Anja's guards and the serving team, and Snow—twelve-years-old, as is more appropriate to the original tale—was a very believable pre-teen. I feel like I should have predicted more of the mystery aspects of the presumed poisoning, but I got caught up in one show more of the specific hints and missed several others because I was obsessing over that hint.
There are a lot of things that I enjoyed a bunch but can't talk about due to spoilers. However, I will say that I didn't have any complaints with the way the poisoning plot developed or with the (eventual) (light) romance in the book. I loved Kingfisher's humor in this book, as usual. I found myself making lots of quick notes on my phone so that I could go back and find the quotes I loved best.
All told, I think this is a great addition to Kingfisher's fairy tale reimaginings... perhaps the best of them. I can see myself returning to this book soon to see what other hints I pick up on now that I know the answer to the specific clue I jumped at early on in my first reading. show less
I'm not normally one to go for fantasies that have even the barest relationship to fairy tales, but the combination of my having liked another book of Kingfisher and then seeing this cover (with that wonderful snake) demanded I grab this one as soon as I could...and I'm so glad I did.
The wonderful humor and magic in this book make for a perfect journey of a story, and there's no way to avoid falling in love with the characters--even the smallest of them. I wish the cover flap of the book hadn't given quite so much away, but nevertheless, the reveals that come, when they come, are glorious, and I absolutely adored this book.
Also, make sure to do yourself a favor and read the acknowledgements!
Absolutely recommended. I'm a forever-fan of show more Kingfisher now. show less
The wonderful humor and magic in this book make for a perfect journey of a story, and there's no way to avoid falling in love with the characters--even the smallest of them. I wish the cover flap of the book hadn't given quite so much away, but nevertheless, the reveals that come, when they come, are glorious, and I absolutely adored this book.
Also, make sure to do yourself a favor and read the acknowledgements!
Absolutely recommended. I'm a forever-fan of show more Kingfisher now. show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Books Read in 2025
4,128 works; 98 members
Top Five Books of 2025
954 works; 303 members
Favorite Fairy Tales
269 works; 103 members
Author Information
100+ Works 38,425 Members
Ursula Vernon is a freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She received an undergraduate degree in anthropology at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She took several art classes in college. Her first children's book, Nurk: The Strange Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew, was published in 2008. Her other works include show more Black Dogs: The House of Diamond and the Dragonbreath series. She also writes and illustrates the webcomic Digger and the creator of The Biting Pear of Salamanca. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Hemlock and Silver
- Original title
- Hemlock & Silver
- Original publication date
- 2025-08-19
- People/Characters
- Anja; Javier; Snow; King Randolph; Lady Sorrell; Aaron (show all 8); Grayling (cat); The Mirror Queen
- Dedication
- For Sergei
- First words
- I had just taken poison when the king arrived to inform me that he had murdered his wife.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I went to collect my rooster, my snake, and my love, and to discover what happened after that.
- Blurbers
- Fawcett, Heather; Durst, Sarah Beth; Whitten, Hannah; Khaw, Cassandra
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 1,158
- Popularity
- 21,730
- Reviews
- 38
- Rating
- (4.06)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 3