🎧 A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher @UrsulaV #ElizaFoss @JenWrenPickens @MacmillanAudio #LoveAudiobooks @SnyderBridge4

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia 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 simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.

T Kingfisher is on my automatic buy now list and has been since I first discovered the magic of her fantasy novels.  A Sorceress Comes to Call is a loose retelling of The Goose Girl, which I have never read, so cannot compare the two.  Kingfisher again did a fantastic job of drawing me into a new fairytale with interesting characters, acts of courage and a plan to thwart the evil Sorceress.

Cordelia and her mother, Evangeline, have lived in a little town their entire life.  She has been sheltered and sequestered in their cottage for most of it and has no friends.  Her mother even forcefully controls her for periods of time to make sure Cordelia can’t do anything to embarrass her or do anything that might bother Evangeline as most children are wont to do.  It is horrific and one of my worst fears is to be controlled like that.  Cordelia’s only escape is when she rides the white horse they keep, but that too is a lie.  After Evangeline throws a temper tantrum in their small village and kills someone, they have to find a new home and a new benefactor for her mother.  So they steal away to a new place for Evangeline to weave her web.

Hester escaped marrying the wrong man years ago, but it has made her unmarriable and now a spinster in her brother’s house.  The same thing that told her not to accept that marriage has woken her up in the middle of the night to let her know something bad is coming and beware.  When Squire, her brother, brings home a widow to stay at their estate until other arrangements can be made, Hestor knows exactly what that trouble is, she just isn’t sure what to think of Cordelia or how to save her smitten brother.  But if Hestor can call in some reinforcements for a house party, maybe, just maybe, she might be able to throw a few wrenches into Evangeline’s plans.

This was such an interesting story.  Told from both Cordelia and Evangeline’s PoV, we are pulled through this strange story where two women will bond together in order to save a kind man from a horrible fate.  There are a few twists, magic, mayhem and apparently warrior geese that may help to save the day.  I liked Hestor so much.  She and Richard were once lovers but she couldn’t marry him so she set him free.  But being with him again and working to save her brother has sparked some of those old feelings.  This gave the story just enough of a romance push and I loved the idea of a second chance for them.

The ending was so satisfactory for me and fitting for the characters.  I really liked that all the women didn’t really need a man to save them but at the end of the day the partnership shared was one of mutual benefit and didn’t overshadow the strength of the women.  Overall a new favorite from T. Kingfisher that I will relisten to again soon.

Narration:

Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens are the voices of Cordelia and Hester.  Each Pov was distinct and I really appreciate that when reading alternating PoVs that the narrators sound different, as they should.  Cordelia is 14 and Hester was closer to 50, so the use of two narrators added to that distinctive PoV for each.  I can’t say I’ve ever listened to either of the narrators before but their voices are crisp and their diction and pronunciation really good.  I enjoyed both narrators about the same and each had their own flair to add.  I was able to listen to the story at my usual 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip:  HERE

Rating Breakdown
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Narration (Audio)
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Robin

Reviewer at Books of My Heart

Reading is my #1 addiction…I’d go to a support group for it but who are we kidding -  I have no intentions of quitting anytime soon. By day, I’m a chemist and can be found sciencing and listening to books. On nights and weekends, I’m a wannabe Spartan and am often training and listening to books. I straight up LOVE almost everything by Brandon Sanderson and Ilona Andrews; they are my flagship authors and I might be slightly impartial where they are concerned. My other guilty pleasures are unusual fairytale retellings and uber alpha males.


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