Review By: Heather Turner
Published: 2025
Genres: Horror, Contemporary Fantasy, Mystery, Folklore
Audience: Grades 10–12, Adult
Goodreads Link: Snake-Eater
Content Warnings: Anxiety, mental health struggles, gaslighting, manipulative/abusive partners, religious trauma, sexual assault, violence, and animal cruelty.
Publisher’s Summary
From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author T. Kingfisher comes an enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert—only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god.
With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind. Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.
Review
T. Kingfisher’s Snake-Eater is a quiet, strange, and deeply affecting novel that is almost genre-defying. It blends elements of contemporary fantasy, folklore, and emotional realism in a way that feels entirely its own. I have never read a book quite like it, and that uniqueness is one of its greatest strengths.
The story follows Selena, a young woman who begins the novel broken, anxious, and emotionally scarred. She has escaped a psychologically abusive partner only after years of being told by her mother that there was something devilish and wrong inside her. With nowhere else to go, Selena flees to the desert town where her Aunt Amelia once lived, only to arrive and discover her aunt died a year earlier. Hungry, grieving, and barely holding herself together, Selena is slowly taken in by the town and its eccentric, compassionate residents. Alongside this grounded emotional journey is a subtle thread of magical realism: desert gods (little “g”) including a nurturing squash god and an unsettlingly obsessive roadrunner god exist alongside humans and influence events in meaningful ways.
While Selena is the heart of the story, the side characters truly shine. Grandma Billy is the kind of fiercely loyal, shotgun-owning elder everyone wishes they had in their corner. A Catholic priest who is not quite what he seems, a peacock named Merv, and the endlessly lovable dog Copper (who does survive—Gordon Korman would approve) all add warmth and humor. Potlucks, community, and stubborn kindness become acts of salvation.
There are no illustrations, but Kingfisher’s prose vividly paints both the desert landscape and the emotional interior of its characters. This is also notably a book without a sequel and without a traditionally “happy” ending. Selena’s story has a true ending, and that finality feels honest and earned.
I would recommend Snake-Eater to older teens and adults who enjoy character-driven stories, folklore-inflected fantasy, and narratives about recovery and found family. Curricular connections could include discussions of trauma, resilience, myth-making, and community care. Activities might include creating local folklore, examining modern myths, or mapping emotional character growth. The book offers meaningful representation of emotional abuse and healing without sensationalism.
Readers who have enjoyed other T. Kingfisher works, such as The Seventh Bride or A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, will recognize her signature blend of humor, darkness, and compassion though Snake-Eater stands firmly on its own as something quietly special.
📖 Curricular & Psychological Connections
This title is highly recommended for older teens and adults, particularly for its nuanced look at trauma and recovery.
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Found Family: The novel examines how community care and “chosen” relatives can facilitate healing where biological families have failed.
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Myth-Making: It provides a great case study for ELA classes on how authors create modern folklore and internal mythologies.
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Resilience: Selena’s growth from a state of paralyzing anxiety to self-advocacy is a powerful narrative of emotional resilience.
