I picked this up on a whim yesterday and ended up finishing it in one sitting.
Synopsis: In a retelling of The Grimm Brother's Goose Girl, we follow Cordelia, a young girl with an...interesting mother. A mother who can compel her to do anything she wishes, won't allow her to have any friends, and uses her suspiciously sentient horse to spy on her. After a neighbor's suspect death, Cordelia's mother decides to uproot them and stay with a wealthy older man in a remote country manor. Her mother intends to lure this man into marriage, but Cordelia knows that this can only mean bad news for him, his sister Hester, and the rest of their staff. Banding together, Hester wants to save Cordelia from her tyrannical mother, and Cordelia intends to save Hester and her family from the wicked witch that is her mother.
Plot: Although I've read stories with similar aspects to this one, there was something about this that made me unable to put it down. I think the vibes that this story brought were truly spectacular and almost palpable. It drew me in from the first page and I just had to know what happened to these characters. The story is dark and macabre, with murder, gore, and witchcraft. If you like dark fantasy, gothic horror, or sinister fairytale retellings, you will absolutely love this. With spooky season just around the corner, I picked this up at just the right time. I haven't read the original story so I cannot compare it in that sense, but regardless, I enjoyed it nevertheless. The Regency Era is such an interesting time, with lots of intricacies to play with as a writer, and mixing that with witchcraft, geese, and a headless horse--along with excellent storytelling--is a recipe for success. I was fully expecting this to be a four-star read, but ultimately the conclusion did leave me a little disappointed in execution. I feel as though I'm very picky with the "taking the villain" down scenes, and although this one was surprising in some "stomping" ways, I still was a little underwhelmed.
Characters: Cordelia was fascinating. She reminded me of some of the characters in the YA title BELLADONNA by Adalyn Grace, which I loved. Sometimes I get tired of the ever-strong heroine, so it is a nice change to have someone so timid and naive. However, still, when put to the test, Cordelia is stronger than she initially thought. There were so many tense scenes where I just wished for her to escape unscathed, and I think not knowing where her crazy mother was taking the scene made it more unhinged. Evangeline, Cordelia's mother, is established as the villain immediately with no redeeming qualities. I love a horrible character but I feel as though if we had gotten a little bit more backstory, it would have made her an even stronger character. We dive straight into the novel, and the action, which is great, but it leaves something to be desired in knowing the relationship between Cordelia and her mother in the previous 14 years before the narrative starts. The side characters are really wonderful here and add elements to the story that fill it out nicely. Our girl Cordelia is still learning what life is like on the outside, so whether it is coming to Hester to ask about "compromising positions" with boys or chatting with family friends on how to take down her mother, the friendship and makeshift family created was fantastic.
I have another T. Kingfisher book on my shelf and now I'm very excited to get to it.
A very strong 3.5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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