If you love fairy tale reimaginings that take what we know and make them queer, pick up Call Forth a Fox. It’s a story about sisters, about what we hide from each other, and loss. At the same time, it asks questions about choice, love, and agency. Keep reading this book review of Call Forth a Fox for my full thoughts.
Summary
The western wood is where Ro’s father built their garden, taught her to forage, and told her tales of the faeries who live there—how to summon them, how to protect herself, and warnings of what they are capable of. Now, her father is gone, the garden has withered, and their family is struggling. Her mother and sister want to move into town, but Ro doesn’t want to give up the memories of her father and his stories—or the charming village girl who shares Ro’s love of the trees. And the forest isn’t ready to let her go either.
One winter night, on her way home from foraging, Ro encounters a fox being attacked by a bear. She fights the bear to save the fox’s life, only to see the bear turn into a boy after her sister shoots him with an arrow. When the boy wakes, he has no memory of who he is—all he knows is Ro’s name and that he has to kill the fox.
Ro never believed in the faeries from her father’s stories, but she can’t deny the magic surrounding her and that both the boy and the fox are victims of a faerie curse. She’ll have to remember everything her father taught her in order to extract herself from this deadly game and keep her precious fox out of harm’s way.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Immediately when you begin Call Forth a Fox you are confronted with this sister relationship. The give and pull of siblings. How we can resent, love, and support each other. But at the same time, how we each have different relationships with our family. The sisters in Call Forth a Fox are confronting the loss of their father and also their absent mother who’s trying to bring them to a new town for more opportunities. For Ro, she has to figure out what her father kept from them and if that will change how she sees him.
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At the same time, they’re both confronted with discoveries. It’s a potential new friendship as well as a bear and fox which crash into their lives. To find out the stories we never believed might actually be true. Call Forth a Fox in many ways is about what we would do for answers. And what happens when that comes at odds with keeping ourselves and our family safe? It’s a story which explores agency and the power people have over us – whether that be magical or love.
Find Call Forth a Fox on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.