If you're looking for a gothic, creepy, romance-infused read, this should absolutely be the next book on your TBR pile!

The main characters, Winnie and Mr. Quincy are so well written - flawed and with their own sets of fears and struggles, which makes them so much more likable.

I wasn't aware of the fact that the book was a spin-off of the author’s Regency Fairytales, but in all honestly, I don’t think reading the series before The Witchwood Knot is necessary (though I can't imagine I’d hurt to know more).

The dark, moody atmosphere would make this book a perfect Halloween read, so if you're looking for something, that will keep you on your toes without being scary to the point where you won't be able to sleep, I cannot recommend this book enough. I know it most definitely won't be the last Altwater’s book I’ll read.

After reading Small Miracles by Atwater, I was so excited to check out another story from her. The Witchwood Knot is slightly darker than Small Miracles, but includes some humor and wit that kept the story feeling light as well.

Our main character, Winifred , is intelligent and clever. I loved the way Atwater explained so much Fae magic and tricks through Winifred's clever avoidance of them or her frustration with herself If they were successful in fooling her. Throughout the book we discover she has cause to mistrust both humans and faeries, but she has strong character arc that shows us her growth and courage to overcome those past events.

My issues with this book came with the plot and world building. I do think both were a bit weak in this story. I wanted more details about how the magic worked throughout the story to better understand the implication at the end of the book. I think this also could've helped the plot a bit at the beginning as the first half of the book felt a bit slow.

The highlight of the book for me was the romance and how the characters really started out as enemies. They worked for their romance and had to do a lot of learning and growing to start their romance. I enjoyed this slow burn part of the book very much.

I'm still interested in continuing the series and I'll be checking out other books by Atwater in the future.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

good start to the new series and it was lovely to see some familiar faces from the previous series. really enjoyed winnie as a character however the romance was a bit slow and the ending felt rushed

I went into this expecting something similar to Olivia Atwater's Regency Faerie Tales series, but this is much darker than that, so I would advise you not to go into it expecting something light and cozy. This has much more of a gothic, haunted house setting, and the book's tone does reflect that.

I really enjoyed Winnie as a main character, she was a really strong heroine, and I always have fun with FMCs who are a little prickly and harder to love. However, most of the other characters fell a little bit flat for me, and I couldn't really get invested. Despite this, I did generally enjoy the romantic subplot, but please be aware that it is really not the focus of the story.

Overall, I really enjoy Olivia Atwater's writing, and although I was surprised by how different this was from the other books I've read from her, I'm still looking forward to reading more in this series.

Delightfully atmospheric and fantastically dark! This is much more gothic leaning than you would expect from Olivia Atwater, but I mean that in the best way.

I loved the fairytales woven throughout and felt these stories helped create such depth to the characters in a really natural way. The author tackled some of the heavier topics so well and with such genuine care with warnings included at the beginning of the book.

I adored the characters in this! Winnie is incredibly relatable and watching how she was able to navigate the conflicts in this story was amazing. Would highly recommend.

I need more gothic faerie tales from Olivia Atwater now!

📚The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater📚

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Tropes✨
🪵Gothic setting
🪵Evil faeries
🪵Haunted house
🪵Twists and turns

✨Summary✨
Miss Winifred Hall has arrived at Witchwood Manor at the behest of an old acquaintance, the dowager Lady Longfell. She was summoned by the elderly lady to take on the semi-false position of governess for the dowager’s grandson. In truth, the current Lord Longfell, the dowager’s son, is most likely the only man in England who does not believe in faeries. Unfortunately for him, they are very real and are somehow trapped inside his wooden manor. This leaves Winnie with the monumental task of trying to educate the young and stubborn future Lord Longfell, master Robert, while also trying to solve the mysteries of the manor. Not to mention the equally mysterious, and presumably dangerous butler, Mr. Quincy, with whom Winnie must also contend.
Will Winnifred solve all of the manor’s mysteries in time, or will all of the inhabitants be doomed within, including Winnie?

✨Critiques✨
The story does drag a bit in the middle, but there are enough twists and turns that make up for this.

✨Elements I Loved✨
The immediate gothic feel. The author’s unique writing style. The FMC, Winnifred - she’s a strong protagonist with a Victorian stiff upper lip, but is still complex.

🪄Standout magic features🪄
It’s interesting to read a story where faeries truly are evil or at least not good. Some have small standards such as not hurting children, but that’s it. The fae are not good in this world, which provides an interesting and different perspective from other faerie or fae stories/novels.

👩🏻My Recommendation👩🏻
This is a fantastic story to read if you’re craving a gothic story full of evil, dangerous faeries, a haunted, semi-sentient house, with unforeseen twists, turns, and dangers, and a plot driven story rather than a fluffy romance novel. The writing style is enjoyable and consistently fits in the Victorian style. It’s an all around wonderful book for the fall or even people who enjoy a well written gothic style novel at anytime of the year.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing the ARC.

This book was so good that I ran off to buy the other series this author wrote, the Regency Faerie Tales, before I was even halfway done with this book. I had heard a lot about Olivia Atwater and Half a Soul, but I hadn't gotten to reading her stories yet before I got this ARC from Netgalley. I had no clue what I was missing out on it seems.

The Witchwood Knot ticked all the boxes for me:
- A strong, magical, smart, yet flawed main character who works through her personal history and the hardships she has faced during the book
- A mysterious setting in an old manor close to some magical woods
- Faerie trickery and mischief
- A dash of romance and self-sacrifice

I had difficulty putting this book down once I finally had a few hours to read in peace. Some scenes actually made my skin crawl reading them (I am looking at you, Lord Longfell), while others brought a smile to my face.

I will do my utmost best to wait patiently for the next book in this series, but will most undoubtedly devour the other series this author has written in the meantime.

I really enjoyed this book I didn’t know what to expect with it but I really ended up enjoying it, Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book.

3.75 stars. Read Olivia's Regency Faerie Tales and thoroughly enjoyed those books!
Like the earlier series, The Witchwood Knot is a whimsical and easy read. The story takes on a much more gothic and slightly darker storyline, but continues to be charming. Slow burn romance is an absolute favorite of mine and the story includes a great one!

I wish that we had delved further into character backgrounds. Winnie's abilities were an interesting aspect that I would have liked to learn more about. Overall, I had a good time with the book. I love Olivia's writing style so I had high hopes. Half a Soul remains my favorite of hers, however, I was surprised by how much I liked this story's more haunting atmosphere.

Thanks to NetGalley, Starwatch Press publishers and Olivia Atwater for providing me with an e-arc!
(Posted review to Goodreads 6/9 with 4 stars rounded up)

The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Water is a unique gothic fairy tale set in Victorian England that follows Winnie, a black magician tasked with caring for Mr. Robert Murray, the young heir to the Witchwood Manor. Along the way, we meet many interesting characters, including Mr. Quincy (who has a rat tail! I'm sold). I was pleasantly surprised by The Witchwood Knot, especially by their character's flaws and fears, the descriptions of Witchwood Manor, and the beautiful prose.

The Witchwood Knot includes a brief romance that is healing and unique. There are no cliche tropes, I breezed through the novel while loving every second. It itched a scratch I wasn't even aware I had for a dark fairy tale and characters who are unique and lovable. I loved Winnie and Mr. Quincy in particular—Winnie for her shield of coldness and calculation, Mr. Quincy for his rat tail, red eyes, and respect and care for other beings hidden behind a biting mask.

Some of my favorite quotes include:

"Innocence is so offensive, isn't it?" he asked her finally. "It is never content in its existence. It must force itself upon the rest of the world, insisting that true horror is a fiction.


It was somewhat flattering, Winnie realized, to be considered as a worthy opponent, instead of as a woman.


Based on the ending, I assume that there will be a second novel. I'm excited to pick up the next book and will be sure to read Atwater's other series in the meantime. Thank you, Olivia Atwater, Starwatch Press, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars and added to my favorites of 2024 shelf!

I had such a good time here!! The Witchwood Knot has a perfect mixture of intrigue, character and fantasy elements. Despite the Victorian sensibilities it never once felt stuffy and the romance felt deep and sweet without having to resort to tropes too often.

I liked Olivia’s regency books but something hit here that I just didn’t get before. I think she gets fairies right better than anyone else really, and I liked that Minnie was tricky and started off self-serving. Some of the fairy names were hard to keep straight but it is what it is. Also what a cliffhanger!! I’m so excited to see what comes next

Gothic, gripping, intense. I really enjoyed it. Thank you to the author and publisher for the chance to read this, in exchange for an honest review

'The hundred eyes of Witchwood Manor loomed above, grinning through torrential rain.'

The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater is a dark faerie tale with a Gothic ambience - wherein Winifred Hall untangles the dark menace behind Witchwood Manor, finds out information regarding the mysterious disappearance of her once-protector and rescues the kidnapped young heir to the Manor, all while conquering her inner demons and befriending the hostile faerie butler.

Winifred is a strong and clever lead character, bringing iron knives in her chateleine and lies with her governess guise to deal with whatever is tormenting Witchwood Manor. She is beset by both human and faerie menaces during the course of the fast-paced story and her character growth in dealing with them is doubly remarkable.

Though this book can be read as a standalone, the stakes grow higher as the story progresses and I'm looking forward to the next books in this series (Victorian Faerie Tales). I'm also intrigued enough by the layered world-building and several tidbits in the storyline to read the other books in this world (Regency Faerie Tales). Atwood's writing with the Gothic vibes complete the package!

Thanks to NetGalley, Starwatch Press publishers and Olivia Atwater for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

The rating for this book is 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for Goodreads and NetGalley as I'm interested in this series.

[Half a star for the premise and the whole book; Half a star for the story arc; One star for the characters; Half a star for the writing; Half a star for the world-building and description - 3 1/2 stars in total].

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for this review.

Apologies for my delay, I’ve had a very hectic few months.

Can’t recall a lot so I might reread it and revisit this, but I recall that the beginning was really good and really hooked me!

Was quickly taken in by this gothic fantasy. Had a hard time putting it down and was so absorbed that I read it quickly. Will be picking up other books by the author. Found the characters to be interesting and multidimensional. Loved the darkness of the fae and their complexity. The issue of sexual abuse did arise and was handled well. Will definitely be recommending this book.

I loved this book! I originally received a copy of this book from netgalley to review but I ended up buying the book anyway because of how much I enjoyed reading it.

I have lived many other books by this author, she writes in an easy flowing manner. And it is just a delightful, easy read.

This is honestly such an amazing read.
It keeps you on your toes and sends shivers down your spine, its scary, misterious, witty and tangled and it has all the best things: creepy houses, magic, crime and a baddas main character

What I enjoyed most about this book was the vibes. This was a super well-written gothic fae story. It wasn't "dark" in terms of violence, sex, horror, or gore....just dark regarding a looming curse that has fallen over the manor, the forest, and the local village. Victorian governess Winifred/Winnie is a magician and the house's faerie butler, Mr Quincy hides awful secrets behind his charming smile. I felt absolutely no chemistry between these characters so the romance (albeit slow, slow, slow burn) was just not there for me. And the last thing - the pacing was slow for me. Started off fine and then it was just so slow! And then the ending was great! So what happened in the middle? Not much excitement, in my opinion. But we are set up for more Victorian Faerie Tales so we'll see what happens next!

What a delightfully dark faerie tale!

I loved this! From the enigmatic Mr Quincy to the hardened Winnie to the true monster of Witchwood Manor, the characters were all excellent and made me want to know more about them.

I love the lessons about the faerie world that we were able to get from Winnie that contributed to the worldbuilding. In this book, faerie is mischievous and cruel, with a gothic Victorian setting.

Plot was really good, as well. And I'm looking forward to seeing more of this developed in future books. Can't wait to see more!

This was my first time reading books by Olivia Atwater and overall I quite enjoyed this gothic fantasy about the mystery of a haunting manor and magical creatures. It has slow pacing and a good plot. But I think the characters could have developed more cause I didn't really connect with them. Because of the insufficient development of chemistry between the two main characters, I also think the subplot romance is lacking. But maybe I'll give it a try to read another author's works.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this e-arc.