A Sorceress Comes to Call

I knew I was going to love this book from the very beginning. Well, as long as it had a decent ending I would love it. It did not disappoint.

The themes about parental abuse and forced isolation really spoke to me. Cordelia was way braver and more bold than I’d expected of anyone who has been abused their whole life, but I loved it. It made it feel like there was hope for getting out of awful situations.

This book was doing so much. It was dark, and cozy, and charming. T. Kingfisher has a way of telling dark, horrible, terrifying stories in a way that feels almost cozy and charming. The middle part of this book reminded me a little of Pride and Prejudice, but then something would happen to remind me how dark and twisted this story actually was.

I love Heaster as a protagonist and I love that we have an older person as a main character in the story. I also love that Heaster kept referring to the sorceress as Doom in her head. She used the expectations of old people against the sorceress in the best way possible, and often in amusing ways.

Seeing from both Hester and Cordelia’s perspective really helped paint a better picture of what was going on. Cordelia is socially awkward and doesn’t know how to handle many of the situations thrust upon her, but she knows that her mother is a sorceress and she knows some of her mother’s plans. While Hester might not know everything that is going on, she has a much better grasp on the social dynamics than Cordelia. In addition, we get to see Cordelia’s awkwardness both from Cordelia herself, and from an outsider.

As painful as it was to see Cordelia try and often mess up in social situations, I also loved that she was finally getting out of the isolation she had grown up with. I also love the conflicted feelings Cordelia has when she meets another sorceress who is really nice to her. It forces Cordelia to see things from a perspective she might not have encountered otherwise.

The side characters are wonderful. Practically all of them felt very alive and real. We have so many fun characters to hang out with too!

Basically I loved everything about this book. It’s one of my favorite T. Kingfisher books, and one I will definitely be rereading.

SPOILERS!!!

Also Cordelia is definitely a sorceress too, but she doesn’t realize it. Aaaah!!