Synopsis:

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.

Review:

It’s no secret that I am a bit of a wimp, and last year for r/Fantasy book bingo I reluctantly picked up a T.Kingfisher book to fill the horror square. I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying that book (A House With Good Bones), and so I went into this newest book with some excitement. I am so glad I took that chance last year because I have found that I really do enjoy Kingfisher’s writing a lot.

I’m not familiar with The Goose Girl, which this story is based on, but I don’t think you need to be to enjoy it. This book is quite dark as we have familial manipulation and trauma, so be warned. Cordelia is controlled by her mother the Sorceress – and when I say controlled I mean literally here, like a puppet. The pair of them go to visit our second main character Hester, and her brother, staying at their large house for an extended period of time.

The character of Hester was a delight, an older woman with bad joints and a heart of gold. Aside from the young Cordelia, the rest of the cast were older adults and it made for some really interesting character dynamics.

Characters aside, Kingfisher is a master at building tension. Right from the off we are uneasy thanks to the treatment of Cordelia, but as we progress through the pages things get darker and more wicked and the stakes steadily grow. We have many twists and turns but the whole thing is punctuated with wit and small sparks of humour from the supporting cast which help the overall tone not be too oppressive.

All in all, this was an excellent read, if darker than what I would usually pick up! I will definitely be reading more of T. Kingfisher’s books in the future.
Many thanks to @torbooks & @netgalley for sending an e-arc my way (and yes this review is late!).