ALC Review: Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher, Narrated by Jennifer Pickens
- Story Eater
- Jul 28
- 3 min read
Release date: 19 August 2025
Rating: 4.5/5
Narrator: Jennifer Pickens
Book Boxes/Special Editions: Waterstones Signed SE, US First Printings,
Synopsis: Healer 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 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.
Review
Kingfisher's books have two separate categories for me. Fairytale retellings—such as Nettle & Bone, Thornhedge, A Sorceress Comes to Call, and Hemlock & Silver—and then all the other ones. I tried reading some of the other ones, but I hated one and DNF'ed it earlier than I usually do books I DNF. Despite my general abhorrence for retellings, something about a Kingfisher retelling keeps me from my usual feelings of aversion, so I continue to read/ listen to them and find I keep liking them. I'll keep reading/listening to them until I stop liking them.
I think I like Kingfisher's retellings because they don't feel lazy and actually retell the story instead of just take characters/places out of the original story and simply change physical aspects, shove them back in, and call it a retelling. In Kingfisher's, the original fairytale only provides the skeletal frame. Characters, places, and even magic tend to be written as original, presenting the reader with a new perspective, which I genuinely love. I haven't really read too many other authors who do this (J. J. Fischer comes to mind immediately). Of course, I don't mean to say not a lot of other authors do. I simply haven't read many yet.
Though I heartily enjoyed all the Kingfisher retellings before this one, I think I like Hemlock & Silver best out of the four so far. The opening grabbed me expertly. I put the audiobook down after about 10% the first day I started it because the day was over, (one must sleep), and I picked it up the next day while I cleaned and listened to the other 90% of it straight through. I speed my books up to 2x, so it wasn't as long as the time advertised, but nearly 6 hours is still a long time for me to listen to anything without zoning out at least a few times. I did not have to take a break from listening or zone out even once. I also got an impressive amount of cleaning done.
Jennifer Pickens has to be one of my favorite narrators ever. Pickens narrates A Sorceress Comes to Call as well. I enjoyed that book too, but I can't think if I would like Hemlock & Silver as much if it were not narrated by the same person. Pickens has a rich, soothing tone with excellent characterization and great dramatic effect. Fantastically brilliant job with the telling and the material was amazing as well.
Overall, 4/5 for the story and 5/5 for narration. If one weren't overtaxed with a barrage of stacks of books, I'd definitely add a physical copy of Hemlock & Silver to my collection.
My profuse thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.
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