4/5 ⭐

The Witchwood Knot is a gothic horror and dark fantasy tale of a haunted manor. We follow our FMC Winnie who takes up residence at Witchwood Manor as the new governess. In reality she is there to uncover the secrets to Witchwood Manor and the tortured faeries that inhabit it. Without going too much into the plot, I will have to say this is the perfect book for spooky season. Atwater does a great job at weaving together elements of a whimsical faerie tale, with a gothic horror story. It's just enough to spook you, but not quite enough to fully creep you out.

While the story starts off a little slow, I understand the need for the build up. The latter half of the book is much quicker paced and sucks you in. This is actually my first Olivia Atwater book so I don't have any comparison to her previous books or their relation to this one. Overall I'd recommend. Her writing is ver whimsical and capturing. It's definitely a cozy, gothic and spooky fall read!

***I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to the author/publishing company and netgalley for this opportunity!

Enjoyed this book so much!! I am a sucker for a fantasy romance. The world building was so good and interesting. There is a slight moment within the book were the story slows down. But overall it was a thrilling ride & love story that I enjoyed.

3 stars

This is a Regency fairytale story with some gothic vibes and overall I did enjoy the story and the characters but the pacing was a bit off and the setting and world building was odd and confusing to say the least and after reading some other reviews (since this is my first Olivia Atwater book) I realized this was part of an ongoing "universe" and I feel that's why I had this feeling of missing some of the plot. Still, this was entertaining and engaging even if I didn't love the romance.
I'll definitely be reading the previous books in the future because I feel like this will help me enjoy this one more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read any of Olivia’s books before so this was my first time and this took me down a road of a gothic Victorian manor with new governess Winnie and the secrets of the manor that no one can seem to talk about. We later learn than Winnie has been sent to the manor to save the dowagers grandson from faeries.
I loved the eery whimsical gothic feel to this book and the FMC was strong, powerful, take no prisoners sort of a woman which I always love in a story. It wasn’t my favourite read hence the 3 stars but I enjoyed it non the less, thank you NetGalley for the arc

3.5

I have had Olivia Atwater’s [book:Half a Soul|60717747] on my TBR for ages, so when I saw she had a new book up for request on NetGalley I immediately hit request. The Witchwood Knot apparently spins off of her Regency Faerie Tales series, though I don’t think not reading that series first hindered my enjoyment of this at all. I think there were nods and call backs to the previous series that might have made more sense if I had read those first.

Overall, I went into this expecting a cozy fantasy romance and that is mostly what I got. The romance is there but it doesn’t really come into play until the very end of the book and I think there could have been a little more fluff to show the change from “enemies” to more. Both characters have sharp edges, they are liars and have ulterior motives but I really liked them and their banter and enjoyed watching their character arcs. I also enjoyed the mystery plot, though the world building tended to be hazier in the way most fae stories are, which is why I don’t usually gravitate towards them. That being said, I liked where we left off and would be interested in continuing this series, especially if it continues to follow Winnie and Mr. Quincy, though her previous series had different main characters for each book.

Also, there is an undead cat familiar and I love him with all my heart 🖤

I knew I was a fan of Olivia Atwater from the Regency Faery Tales series and this cemented her as an auto buy author. This book was a bit darker than her previous works, but in all of these historical stories she brings up some of the not so squeaky clean aspects of that time period without making the book depressing to read. The atmosphere was incredible. It was truly Gothic and I would recommend reading this book during the fall/winter months. I devoured this in one sitting and I cannot wait for more!

3.5 stars rounded up

I really love the whole series but there were a lot of places where I had to stop and try to remember if someone was a new character or a reference to a previous book. I can see how it would be a confusing world to be thrust into with no prior knowledge of how the rules work. Having Winnie tell the other stories as fairy tales to Robert was a clever way to add backstory but there could have been more.

Overall it was a really enjoyable read - I practically read it in one sitting

Thank you NetGalley and Starwatch Press for the eARC.

Before I say anything else - I really think someone needs to fix the blurb for this book! The things it mentions happen half-way through the book!

I really enjoyed Olivia Atwater's Regency Faerie Tale series, particularly Half a Soul, so I was very excited to pick up The Witchwood Knot.

It was great to be back in magical England, with its devious fair folk and brave humans.
Winnie arrives at Witchwood Manor to pose as governess to her old benefactor's grandson, while secretly protecting him. Something is not quite right at the Manor, but no one seems to be able to talk about it (literally), so it's up to Winnie to figure it all out, and keep the boy safe. Lucky for her, she is a magician and is also very familiar with faeries and their quirks.

I really liked Winnie as a character. She is determined and resourceful, hard and soft at the same time. Olivia Atwater doesn't shy away from difficult topics (even though they are presented in a 'lighter' way, suitable to the tone of her books), so Winnie has a sad backstory.

Mr Quincy was delightfully morally grey, I really enjoyed their interactions, especially how Winnie didn't give an inch and slowly earned his regard. Although the romance felt a bit under-developed to me.

Unfortunately, the plot didn't really draw me in, it wasn't particularly exciting for me, which is why my rating isn't higher. Some parts were quite repetitive, and it was also relatively predictable.

I think the world needed a better introduction, especially for readers who haven't picked up the Regency series. They will have no clue what a Lord Sorcier is! The characters also make brief allusions to the 'current situation', and I couldn't tell until later on if I was supposed to remember something from a previous book, or have any clue how and why things had changed.

Overall, I enjoyed it, it was a solid 3.5 stars read for me, but can't quite bring myself to round it up.

I fell in love with Olivia Atwater’s writing after having read her Regency series. Half a Soul easily being my favorite of said series. The Witchwood Knot being #1 out of all her books that I’ve read. The characters are strong and the storyline is original and fresh… although I do feel one of the characters would be better off without a certain added body part, but I digress.
I was pleasantly surprised to find frequent connections to her Regency books. I hope that continues throughout the series. With the Regency Faerie Tales the main characters were all connected in one way or another but switched for each book. I could see that happening with the Victorian Faerie Tales as well, but would prefer if it did not. I genuinely enjoyed Winnie and would love to see her story continued in future books.

3 stars...thank you NetGalley for the ARC...I enjoy a good Dark(ish)Faerie story. This was a quick read for me. There was magic, and fae debauchery. It didn't quite catch my fancy thoroughly but it may just be right up someone else's alley. I liked the characters and the loyalty Winnie showed towards the other characters.

At first I was just expecting a haunted house with some faeries and a sassy butler, but I got so much more than that.

This was a great read for Halloween season. It will also be fantastic for anyone looking for an intriguing story on how to protect a child hellbent on walking into danger. Or anyone who loves a gothic romance. Or anyone who has loves a female heroine who takes no shit from any man (or child or half rat).

🐈‍⬛🧡This is one of my favorite covers I have seen in a long time. Lisa Marie Pompilio outdid herself.🧡🐈‍⬛


My favorite things in this story include:

✨A dead cat who comes to life as a familiar. And hates men? And protects women? And only has one eye? Amazing. Iconic. 90% of the time an author includes a cat I know I will love the story.
✨Magicians.
✨A rat man.
✨Winnie. I loved Winnie. I loved that she lies and cheats. I love a spinster in her twenties who is suspiciously unmarried. I loved that she is smart. I love women who carry knives with them. I love her resilience.
✨The quote: “I will return when he has cried enough to suit me.” SCREAMING. CRYING. THROWING UP.

On a more serious note, I loved that the author included a Content Warning (TW: sexual harassment). My heart belongs to authors who put their readers’ mental health first. I also loved Olivia Atwater’s Afterword for this story.

Thank you so much to Olivia Atwater, Starwatch Press, and NetGalley for the eARC of The Witchwood Knot! I think many fans of romance or gothic romance alike will adore this book.

I came oh so close to not finishing this book. I simply did not connect with it in any way. Finding out after the fact that a great deal of the backstory is apparently contained in another book, or series of books, likely explains some of this. But I am not sure I would have connected with it even with more of the backstory. I liked Winnie - she takes no cr*p, she is smart and clever. But I could not understand how she came to be, or to stay, in Witchwood Manor. The butler who wasn't a butler is somehow supposed to serve as both villain and love interest. At all times while having a tail. It just didn't work for me. It was also hard to get invested when one main character cannot die, and the other will wake up alive even if she dies while dreaming in the Witchwood Knot. I ended the book feeling like I had just read a big knot that I wasn't able to untangle.

2 stars. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a complimentary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

Thank you to Olivia Atwater, NetGalley, and _ for an ARC copy of "The Witchwood Knot". All opinions are entirely my own.

This is a gotchic, fantasy novel about magicians and fairies struggling to gain purchase on the world they live in. The main character, Winifred (Winnie) Hall is a young magician who is tasked with teaching a young lord everything she knows about fairies. The young boy is kidnapped and Winnie must free him from the fairy queen, Lady Mourningwood. Our main male character, Mr. Quincy is a dubious fairy servant who attempts to twart Winnie before ultimately helping her in her quest.

There were a few things I liked about this novel I loved the setting, it sometimes reminded me of regency England, which is a favorite time period of mine. I also liked that it linked to her other stories Half a Soul, however, I found myself confused because it had been months since I read it and could not remember the particulars. A small synopsis of Half a Soul would have been great to fill in the reader on the connection between the two worlds. I liked Winnie's character and her relationship to the dowager.

There were a few things I did not like about the novel. First and foremost, I EXTREMELY disliked the way the main male character is described. He is described as having red eyes and a rat tail, which only allowed me to imagine him as the rat king from The Nutcracker. I could not find him even remotely attractive in my mind, with a rat tail. I also found the story to be a bit confusing at times. Although I liked the mystery, myth, and lore, I found myself to be extremely confused by the switching between Witchwood Knot and Witchwood Manor. I could not fully grasp why there was a switch between the settings. I struggled with the overall connection to the plot and found the book to be a bit dragging at times.

It didn't quite hit the mark for me. I was a bigger fan of Half A Soul, than I was this book. I would reccommend it to other's who enjoy Olivia Atwater's novels but I most likely won't continue the series.

I think I finally have my thoughts gathered about this one and I'm not on the fence with how to actually rate this anymore because at the end of the day I did devour this and I enjoyed it. So let's begin.

First I want to say I really like the overall premise of this story: cursed house with a trickster faerie lurking within. And it's set in Victorian England, which is a fave era of mine. Gimme gimme!

However (and this is where my fence sitting came in) right off the bat, I felt like I was missing something important and kept going back to read passages thinking I looked over some hint or description. But, while this is within the same world as her previous series and can be read apart from that, I was a bit lost in the beginning of the book -- which is where my initial frustration lived. That is not the author's fault of course, because had I read other reviews first I may have gotten the advise (and it's why I've changed my star rating that some of you may have seen before, because this is a really cool and exciting read, but I'm all about transparency.)

With that all being said: I got the gist of it, as Atwater does a decent job of filling in those spots for those of us who hadn't read her previous series and it just makes me want to read her others that much more! So while I did have some harsh thoughts on it at first, I've slept on it and am RUNNING to get her other series because this universe is so cool and creepy and I love it.

Absolutely loved this one. I cannot wait to purchase it and put it with my Half a Soul trilogy. I am a huge fan of how the stories are intertwined and I cannot wait for this series to continue. I don’t collect many physical books, but Olivia Atwater will soon have her own shelf

Olivia Atwater did it again! I’ve loved her regency faerie tales, so when I saw this on NetGalley I knew I had to try and get an arc because I was so excited to read another book in this world.

We follow Winnie who gets hired as a governess at Witchwood Knot, however the house is not as it seems, while trying to take care of Robert she also needs to solve the reason behind why the staff gets tormented.

This was definitely darker than the other trilogy and definitely check TW before going into it. Personally I loved everything about it, the world is just so interesting, the faeries and humans are just terrible in this. Winnie was great to read about, she was so strong and just so cool, I also really enjoyed Cook and Winnie’s sisters (hopefully we get stories behind them soon). Quincy reminded me so much of Lord Longshadow that I love, so it goes without saying that I also loved Quincy.

The gothic atmosphere was on point and although darker than the rest it still had its fluffy moments and such great banter. The little mentions of all the characters I loved were so heartwarming. If you still haven’t read the original trilogy please do, so you can get into this when it comes out! Olivia Atwater never fails!

Thank you netgalley and Starwatch Press for allowing me to get an arc of this.

Beautiful writing! I thoroughly enjoyed this gothic novel, and I loved the romance subplot. I haven’t read much in this genre but this have convinced me to branch out of my regular reading genres.

📣 a kissing-only, evocative Faerie tale featuring an intrepid heroine & lots of mystery.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what are you currently reading? I’m about 30% into a historical fantasy called The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden.

The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater is a Victorian Faerie Tale—as the series name states—& it’s an absolute delight for those of us who want dangerous Faeries, a brave heroine who is adept at navigating this world, lots of secrets, & a questionable yet attractive possible love interest.

Winnie Hall is the new governess at Witchwood Manor, a place that gives off some *great* sinister vibes. The cook tries to warn Winnie off but Winnie won’t be deterred & we soon learn why: the dowager—whom she has a history with—has asked Winnie to come protect her grandson.

This book is creepy in the best kinds of ways & Atwater describes the manor so evocatively. Not to mention how the author writes the heroine Winnie, who is methodical & smart & resilient & also a practitioner of Magic. I love cheering on a heroine who’s outwitting the seemingly stronger forces set against her & I had lots of opportunity to do that with this book.

Check out my CWs but otherwise, a really great read that delivers on those whimsically dangerous vibes I love so much with Faerie stories.

4.5 ⭐️. Out 11/28.

CWs: Winnie’s employer when she was a child tried to groom her; past sexual assault attempt when Winnie was a child. In present day, Winnie’s employer touches her when she’s sleeping/exploring the Witchwood Knot.

[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a line of brightly colored houses: pink, green, & then orange.]

This was the perfect gothic, atmospheric, and eerie but somehow cozy read all at once! From page one, the autumnal vibes were incredible. A creepy manor with ghosts, faeries, magicians and mysteries afoot.

As with the Regency Fairytales by this author, the writing was top notch and the story struck a perfect balance of humour and depth. I will say, I felt the tone overall was darker and leaned more into the gothic aspect in this one. I think you can read it without having read the original trilogy, but I feel like you would be doing the story and yourself a disservice because there are a lot of important character and plot elements mentioned.

I looved our protagonist Winnie! She was smart, driven, powerful, self-aware and a breath of fresh air. Seeing her try to get to the bottom of the mysteries of Witchwood Knot was quite the fun and creepy adventure. Mr. Quincy, the mysterious butler was also incredible. The side characters and villains were also well developed. Thoroughly loved this book but the ending stressed me out and I'm not sure it meant what I think it meant???? Need the next book immediately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Starwatch Press for the eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater.

My initial thoughts were that this story was instantly charming with a little bit of a spooky vibe. As the story unfolds, the tone becomes more macabre, and as you learn more about some of the characters and Winnie’s history, things get even darker.

Winnie is a clever, strong and witty woman. She’s kind of an undercover bada**, and has overcome a lot, but she is still really likable in her imperfections, and even made me laugh a few times.

I found that the idea of a Victorian tale with magic and fae to be a bit unique! I have not read the Regency era books by this author, although Half a Soul is on my TBR! From what it seems, while this can be read as a standalone, I’d have had a better understanding of the world and some of the characters of faerie if I had read the other books. Sometimes I did feel a little lost in that way. This caused a bit of a lull for me at the 40-60% mark, but I did pick back up pace after about 70% through the end.

What is unexpected about this book, is that you might think that it could be a bit predictable/straightforward as far as who the monsters and bad guys are. However it touches upon the predatory nature of men, both humans in a position of power, and those with actual magical power. There are moments of crossed boundaries, and childhood grooming. It was done in a way that had me nervous or angry for the fmc, but wasn’t distressing to me as someone who can be sensitive with those topics. The authors note reflecting on this and the characters was also more moving than I expected and I appreciated that.

I feel like fans of Emily Wilde, who are looking for something more grim and less academic, or someone who falls in a cross roads of enjoying time period pieces, fae (not the 6’4 with abs fae but the pale with tails fae) AND spookiness, will enjoy this. While that might be specific, it definitely exists, so it’s cool there is now a book to cater to that!

(Possible/Slight spoilers ahead)

Overall I enjoyed this story for what it was, despite the lull I experienced in the middle. I think the romance did happen a bit suddenly, they could have just turned out to be friends honestly, but I don’t really mind. Maybe there just could have been a bit more build up or a few more flirtatious moments in the beginning. The romance didn’t seem to be much of a thing at all until about 80% in. But Winnie found someone she feels safe and kinship with, so I’m happy for her (and Robert). Also the willow tree moment was sweet, redeeming the jump into Winnie’s interest/attraction to him.

There might have been a few loose ends, but perhaps that’s to lead into a second book, hard to tell. The last few pages kind of felt like “okay let’s wrap this up!” After all that time in the story. I don’t really think a second book, at least with these specific characters, is completely necessary.. but it seems like there is more to the story with the magicians and the OTHER bad guys. If there ends up being another book with new main characters, I would likely read it though.