Set in the same universe as Atwater's Regency Faerie Tales this one is set a few years in the future after a new Lord Sorcier has entered the scene. Faeries have all but disappeared and Winnie is on a mission to find them, reasons unbeknownst to us readers. She finds them in a haunted house occupied by an old woman. As she takes on the job as a governess to become an occupant there, she is alarmed by many things. There is an ominous presence in the house that is more than just belonging to the fae. This book was dark, haunting, romantic and gave me extreme Coraline vibes, which is a children's book that I absolutely adore. Due to the dark nature of this book's setting this book isn't as cozy as her previous series, but it is extremely readable and mysterious. I can't wait to get my hands on the next installment. Gothic and fae, what's not to love?

Content Warning: Sexual assault

Like Olivia's other books, this one is beautifully written and the world is so imaginative. You do not need to read the other books to read this one. I did find the story to be slower than her others which for me made it really hard to get into it. But if that's not going to bother you then this is 100% worth the read. The mystery, relationships, and atmosphere are *chefs kiss*.

The Witchwood Knot is the first in Olivia Atwater’s new historical fantasy series of “Victorian Faerie Tales.” Her previous (loosely connected) “Regency Faerie Tales” were whimsical and light, reflecting the more fun side of that era, while this one is much darker, pulling influences from the Gothic novels that had come back into vogue during the era. Balanced with “fairytale”-esque prose, frequently returning to the “Once upon a time…” preamble to introduce chapters, the story is as engaging as those she is influenced by. There’s also a dark message to match the darker aesthetics, with multiple characters in the story grappling with being victims of predatory men in a misogynistic society, leaving them vulnerable to sexual harassment and assault, and reeling from the resulting trauma.
Winnie is a solid protagonist, and I love the way she simultaneously pays homage to the heroines of Gothic romances and also subverts some of the familiar tropes. She’s a governess, putting her in a delicate situation, although the twist is she’s actually a magical protector for her charge, due to her experience with faeries. She’s also not the most saintly person, as she sometimes lies and manipulates people, but she does it solely in order to get by and survive in this cruel world, and she does have a good heart, with an awareness of her own flaws.
Mr. Quincy was an…odd love interest, being literally beastly and ratlike at first, but he won me over as he did Winnie. I did feel like they didn’t spend as much time together as I would have liked, especially at first, but it was cute nonetheless.
This was a great first entry to a new series, and I’m excited for what’s to come. If you enjoy historical fantasy romance, especially if it has a mix of Gothic and fairytale vibes, I’d recommend checking this out!

This was my first Olivia Atwater book, and it definitely will not be my last! I really enjoyed the concept of this book in how it uses faeries in a dark fantasy taking place in a Victorian England manor. It kept my attention as we learned bits and pieces about the mystery behind the manor.

I also loved our heroine Winnie. While some people may not like her because she comes off as arrogant, manipulating, and a liar, I found it made a lot more sense once you learn more about her past. Unfortunately, I was not very attached to any of the other characters besides her and Mr. Quincy as they were all mostly forgettable for the most part besides playing plot roles here and there.

While I liked the relationship that developed between Winnie and Mr. Quincy, I thought the romance aspect of it came a bit out of nowhere. It seemed a bit rushed and therefore a little unrealistic as if it was included as an afterthought.

Overall, I enjoyed this read and look forward to reading Atwater's previous series as well as the continuation of this new book series! Thank you Starwatch Press and NetGalley for this ARC!

My first time reading Olivia Atwater, and what an introduction. I'm not instantly drawn to books on fairies but I do love gothic mansions and anything similar to Naomi Novik so I'm glad I gave this a shot.
There's bad fairies, blood magic, a haunted mansion and a cat familiar who is not exactly living.
The romance felt a little shoehorned in but I didn't mind it, and with that ending I'm eagerly anticipating a sequel.

I loved this! I usually enjoy reading things that are set in the Victorian especially when they have fairy tale aspects--I feel like those two things just work so well together and that was definitely the case here. I loved the characters and I thought that the plot was well-paced, and I loved getting to see everything lushly unfold. Anyone looking for a Victorian gothic, sort of creepy story is going to love this!

I requested this book more on a whim, than because I knew a lot about it and ngl I am very happy about it.

I know of Olivia Atwater as a Fantasy Romance author and I think this book is also tagged as such, at least on gr, however, to my pleasant surprise, there was very little romance in this.
The Story very much focused on our fmc and her character development, which I really enjoyed. Meanwhile there was still just enough mystery around our mmc to hold some interest there as well.
Overall this definitely convinced me to check out some other stuff by the author, even though I am usually very much not a romance reader.

This was my first time reading Atwater and I’m grateful that I was given an arc for this! The pacing and storytelling for this novella was ultimately what contributed to me giving it 3 stars but I enjoyed it still. I think I will definitely be recommending this to other to get their perspective.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review!!

3 stars

now, you all know how much i loved half a soul. that book became everything to me in a very short amount of time, and i fell head over heels with Olivia's writing, this book, however, fell a little flat for me.

don't get me wrong, i loved winnie. she held herself amazingly and made such a great main character. she was blunt and arrogant and i really loved that, though i can understand how it can irritate some people. HOWEVER, i really did not need to hear her hatred from children again, and again, and AGAIN!!! I GET IT.

i really feel like there was a lot of development that we missed out on throughout the book. i felt somethings, like the world building, were very single sided and only scratched the surface when I KNOW there's more to it than that.

as for the other characters, i couldn't get myself to really care about any of them too much. they were all flat and lowkey boring, which i hate to say because i loved half a soul. but this just goes to show how reading tastes evolve!!

i do recommend this book, though you'd have to be the right audience to read. i 100% recommend reading any and ALL of olivia atwaters books because her writing is just so amazing and immersive.

I originally requested this arc after reading the perfection that was "Half a Soul", This book is JUST AS GOOD as "Half A Soul", but holy hell is this book gothic and DARK and full of sinister characters!! My favorite "character" by far was the house, though..

Winnie's personality reminded me EXACTLY of Lada from Kiersten White's "And I Darken" (who just happens to be in my top 3 female characters of all time).

Mr Quincy is.........perplexing. Can we trust him? Is he a bad guy? Where do his loyalties lies???

I really appreciated how Atwater handled writing about triggering topics childhood abuse/sexual harassment) since a lot of authors do a horrible job exploring these hard to talk about issues.

This book leaves an open ending for future books........and I am here for that!!!

This book has a spoiler for "Half A Soul" so I would recommend this book to anyone AFTER they have read that book (if they plan on reading it).

I will ABSOLUTELY be buying a hard copy of this when it is out and I already know this will be an annual re-read during the spooky season. Another stunner from Olivia Atwater.

Also, the cover is GORGEOUS. Props to the artist.

5/5 stars.

The Witchwood Knot will be perfect for fans of Susanna Clarke! I absolutely adored this book. Olivia Atwater can do almost no wrong for me and this might be my favorite of hers so far!

Winnie starts a new job as a governess as a favor to Lady Longfell, but when she arrives, all is not as it seems at Witchwood Manor. Faeries and even darker forces are at work and Winnie gets sucked into a knot of plots and dangerous secrets while finding herself inexplicably drawn to the mysterious Mr. Quincy. But Mr. Quincy has his own secrets as well.

I loved the creepy, haunted house atmosphere of The Witchwood Knot, loved Ollie as a familiar, loved that we got a different, darker side to human magic than we got in The Recency Faerie Stories. I also really loved how Atwater wove in faerie tales, lore, and references to her Regency stories. It made for very effective storytelling. And the way all the character backgrounds, romance, and plotlines came together at the end was fabulous.

Obviously I loved this book and if the things I've said above appeal to you, I HIGHLY recommend you check out The Witchwood Knot. That being said, there's a few things that might not fly quite as well for some readers.
- The pacing is slower and the plot is a bit meandering at times. For me, the thriller-like feeling I got from it more than made up for any lulls in action and I was hooked throughout.
- The side character characterization is not a main focus, so if you prefer a full cast of vibrant characters, this may not be for you
- You don't need to have read the Regency stories to read The Witchwood Knot, but I think having that background is really rewarding and it helps make the world feel fuller and more lived in cause Witchwood Knot just isn't able to do all of that in a single book.

I'm still thinking about The Witchwood Knot over a week later since I finished it, and I'm eagerly awaiting what the next book will do!

Thanks to Olivia Atwater, Starwatch Press, and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have never before read anything from this author, but I had a few books at home with her name that I purchased from Fairyloot, so I knew her. That is, among other things, one of the reasons why I requested this book from Netgalley. Naturally, I liked the blurb too; it seemed interesting, and I really love me some historical fiction, so I said, "Why not just read it for the winter season? It seems fitting."

Once I began reading, there were two things that I immediately noticed. Firstly, the writing style was beautiful, engaging, and whimsical—a perfect fit for this type of novel. The second thing was the main character. She was fierce, unapologetic, and a real badass from the beginning, which I loved. I won't lie; it surprised me at first because I didn't really expect such a fierce heroine in a historical romance novel. Nonetheless, I enjoyed her character the most.

Now, about the story of the book, if you are expecting an easy and light autumn/winter read, then you are wrong here. This book was darker than expected and advertised; it depicts child abuse. So, if that is something you don't want to read about, skip the book. The author gives you a fair warning in the beginning, though. The story takes us into a Manor that is cursed, and the dowager wants our main character, Winnie, to keep her grandson Robert safe. Well, Robert manages to get kidnapped (twice!), and so Winnie has to rescue him. I'll be honest; not much happens in this book. It's slow-paced, and if you are here for the romance, then you have to wait until 80% of the book is read. But if you like mystery books and gothic tales with horror elements, then this novel is for you. The writing makes this book a lot better; I think it's really fitting for this type of novel.

Now, I want to briefly touch upon the male main character. Yes, he has a rat tail and red eyes, so if that is something you just can't take, then you don't have to read this.

Lastly and most importantly, the child abuse was depicted pretty vividly, in my opinion. It made me, as a reader, really uncomfortable, and I do like the message the author tried to tell—that not all assault victims have to hide away and that different people react differently to situations.

All in all, it was a good book. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I like fantasy books and romance books with a lot of romance in them and more plot, and this doesn't exactly fit into that category. But it was fun to read something drastically different for once. I do think I will still check out the second book in the series, but only because I loved Winnie so much.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing an early copy of this book. This review is unbiased.

I’m not usually a big Gothic fan, but what I read the synopsis for this book? I had to read it! And it does not disappoint.

I’m not sure if I were a nanny, I would go to this much trouble to save a child, but that again I’d be afraid of fairies, and the things that go bump in the night and day at Witchwood Manner.

I definitely look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

ARC review, thank you Netgalley for this opportunity!
Release date: November 28th, 2023
———
“𝒯𝑜𝒹𝒶𝓎, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓅𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝓁𝓉𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓉 - 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉”
———
What a perfect book for the spooky fall season! The book is set in gothic Victorian England with a fantasy twist and a very (VERY) slight romance subplot (just some kissing).

The Witchwood Knot follows Winnie who is called to Witchwood Manor for help. Winnie is tasked with keeping young Master Robert safe from the faeries. As she navigates the wonders of Witchwood, she discovers that not everything is as it seems and there are dangers lurking around every corner.

I absolutely loved Winnie as an FMC! She’s cold and calculating but she’s just trying in earnest to protect herself. With the help of Mr. Quincy, Winnie discovers more secrets of Witchwood and then some. Mr. Quick was such a fun character to watch unfold!

I enjoyed this so much. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to read a slightly creepy, dark gothic Victorian story!

Wait, this was so charming!!

This was my first Olivia Atwater and I really loved it. It’s a wonderful gothic victorian story of faeries and bargains. I thought it was a lovely start to a new series and found our main character to be smart and fun to follow.

Winnifrid Hall has been hired as a governess even without any experience or credentials. Luckily her skillset comes in handy when her charge appears to be taken by faeries plaguing Witchwood Manor.

Atwater’s writing is so engaging and I was immediately drawn to this story. It was more of an adventure story with a darker side, rather than a romance, but I found the love story told here to be an interesting meeting of minds and sharp edges.

Thank you to the editior for an advanced reader copy of this book! This was as charming and magical as I hoped it would be. A perfectly crafted new story by the author of half a soul. Full review on my goodreads

So gothic/creepy books seem to be trending this year and the Witchwood Knot fits that bill. It does start off a little slow but like most Gothic writers to include the greats like Poe, I believe this is intentional to help build atmosphere and suspense.

Winnie is both a brave and smart character. I think overall, everything was fairly believable considering some characters can be brave but dumb. This wasn't the case here in my opinion. Everything was well thought out in terms of actions.

I also thought the realms with the faeries was surprising. Think light vs. dark faeries here. There's not much romance here, but if you're just looking for a creepy/spooky book - this is the one.

This is my first book by Olivia Atwater and I've been intrigued to read her regency faerie tale books. So I saw this book was set in the same world and thought it would be a nice place to start. And I loved every minute of reading this story. It's the perfect autumnal book with gothic vibes. So I'm glad I read it when I did. And for sure her other books have moved up on my tbr :).

The Witchwood Knot has definite gothic vibes and a creepy atmosphere that pulled me in. While somewhat slow moving, as most gothic novels go, I appreciated Winnie’s character. She’s smart and not afraid to take on the monster of the house.

I enjoyed the concept of “the knot” realm and the sinister environment with the fairies was a new experience for me. Definitely darker vibes here.

Overall enjoyed this one, although I thought I was signing up for more of a romance, and that part was pretty much nonexistent and kinda came out of nowhere, IMO.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. The Witchwood Knot is scheduled for release on 11/28/23.

4,5/5 - rounded to 5

I really enjoyed the story and characters in this book, but I did feel like I was missing something that seemed to have been told before this book? Like the main reason why Winnie stayed in the mansion, yes she was hired for a job as governess, but there was a point where she could have left and didn't and I didn't get the whole reason why.

Loved Winnie, she experienced some tragic things through her life, and I feel like near the end of this book she was starting to gain more of herself back.

Mr Quincy was a great character, and really played into the "trickster faerie myth" that I remember reading about when I was kid. (even though he may not have been a full fae but regardless) loved him.

Winnie gets a job at the Witchwood Mansion to be a new governess for the Lady of the houses grandson, and thought Winnie hates kids, she sticks through the job as she has some things she needs to do in the Mansion. Along the way she meets the other mansion staff and realize they aren't able to talk about things that go on in the Mansion, when they're awake that is. As the story unfolds you begin to see whats truly inside the Mansion and Winnies determined to finish what she needs too.

I can't wait to read the next book and I hope we get to see more of Winnie and Mr Quincy.
(will also be checking out the series that came before this)

Thank you NetGalley, Starwater Press and Olivia Atwater for the ARC!