Thank you NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing Ltd for the eARC of Netherford Hall!

Sapphic, witchy Pride & Prejudice - that could be the whole review right there! There were a lot of things that I really loved about this loose retelling: great characters, beautiful and complex family relationships, inclusive romance, and a sprinkling of unexpected twists. At times, the writing style is reflective of Jane Austen as a sort of 'Easter egg'.

The world-building and magic systems are both very unique. I do think that the hierarchy of the magic system could be explained a little further, especially in the first half of the novel. The second half of the novel almost feels like a different novel with how much the pace changes and all the sudden revelations into the world and magic system.

This take on Pride & Prejudice was fresh, original, and something that I definitely needed to read! Great series potential, and the ending shows us a lot of what can be expected in the next novel - which seems to build more on the fantasy aspects of the story. Looking forward to more!
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Thank you Kensington for my free ARC of Netherford Hall by Natania Barron — available now!

» READ IF YOU «
✨ love any kind of Austen retelling, especially the wackier ones
🦄 ever struggled to let your individuality shine
🧙 adore the idea of Regency-era witches

» SYNOPSIS «
Edith is in a bind. To save her family home (and her family, really) she'll need to make a financially smart marriage match, and fast. But her annoying tenant Poppy keeps getting in the way — gosh she's infuriating......ly adorable. Secrets and enemies abound though, so Edith and Poppy will have to be smart, savvy, and true to themselves in order to save Netherford and secure the lives they truly desire.

» REVIEW «
This was such a cute little unique retelling of our beloved Jane Austen! The premise is very similar to P&P, but it diverges in the best kinds of ways to include all manner of wild characters and situations. I love Poppy and Edith and their banter, and am a huge fan of historical romance in general, so this story truly was right up my alley. Plus, witches?! Come on. What a great inclusion. This is a nicely paced, well-written retelling with characters you will fall for and be invested in. Would love to see more stories set in this world!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Actual rating around 3.25. While I still overall enjoyed this book, I'm a bit bummed because it doesn't entirely live up to the promise. Billing anything as pride and prejudice related is always dangerous territory because it is so beloved and well-known. I wish this book had leaned in less. It certainly delivered on the vibes, but the plot is pretty different, and the characters were a loose Elizabeth and Darcy (with a strong Jane for sure). Everyone else was not from P&P and even pulled from wildly different places (hello bro and sis ophelia and laertes). Anyway, I couldn't stop trying to compare which is really unfair and also pulled me out of this story, which could have stood well enough on its own.

Luckily the vibes were very good, the setting, the set-up, the queer-norm world were all great. The magic I have some quibbles with, and the story was way too jam-packed with characters and lead ins to future books. A stronger editing job would've really been helpful for the pacing and honing in on the key elements of the story.

Thank you to netgalley and Rebellion for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a Regency book so I was excited to read my favourite era have more spooky and witchy elements.

I really love this book! It’s funny but also profound. I most enjoyed the setting, this alternative version of regency London with werewolf and vampire and witches. The mystery and the paranormal are really great!
I also love the romance and the character. The dynamic is lovely, I just want more. I hope we will have a second book about them, maybe. Or about other characters in this world with them as secondary characters. I would really like it!
And I love the references at Jane Austen’s works. This book is really my thing.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

My enjoyment of this books was very high. I had some problems with the pacing and the long chapters at first but later realized that was a part of the books charm and ended up not minding it at all.
It had witches, vampires, regency sapphics… What more can you ask for? The story felt very put together and i was reading the pages very fast. It had a large set of characters and I learned to love them all. I somehow do wish that we could have focused on the romance more and seen more scenes with the mcs interacting but other than that i enjoyed this book very much and found it super entertaining.

I really love period novels so when I got a chance to read this book I was so excited. I really loved the sprinkles of magic that was through the book as I continued to read the book. I couldn’t put it down.

Netherford Hall by Natania Barron is a wonderful paranormal historical romance set in an alternate version of regency England where witches, vampires, and werewolves are the norm.

When the long absent gentlewitch, Edith Rookwood, returns to Netherford Hall, the village of Netherford is thrown into turmoil. One of the villagers most affected is Poppy Brightwell, who has been frequenting Netherford Hall for many years. With the family now in residence, she must stay away from a place which seems to call to her. Not only that, but she has an undeniable attraction to Edith, and it seems her feelings are reciprocated.

I really enjoyed this story, it had just enough romance, mystery, magic and action to keep me glued to my ereader. I am an avid reader of historical romance, and the regency period in particular, so I found the setting both familiar but refreshingly different.

There were quite a few characters in the story, and some complex relationships between them. It was interesting figuring out how they all related to each other and trying to figure out where they fit in the scheme of things.

The only issue I had with the book was the way some of the transitions between scenes was mostly absent. Several times I was so confused that I thought I had skipped a page or two and had to go back and reread several times to figure out what was going on.

Still, even with that bit of confusion, I loved Netherford Hall, and recommend it to lovers of historical romance or paranormal romance. I will be watching for book 2 in the series.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This one was a little too slow moving for me, maybe a little boring even. However, I do see lots of people enjoying the pacing, ambiance and themes, so I would still recommend it to people who normally enjoy cozy historical fantasies.

This book would most definitely benefit from having better chapter divisions. A 40 page chapter that focuses on one character, then a different one, then goes back to the previous and takes place during three different events is too much. It made the reading experience feel tired and confusing, since there were no stops to signal where we were about to follow someone else.

The cozy fantasy vibes, the usually accepted and even expected queerness, and the alternate historical time period with paranormal creatures being mentioned regularly create a very nice atmosphere and leave an open door for multiple companion installments.

This was a great mystery about legacy and family. I loved seeing the string of everyone coming to the estate, everyone wanting something and everyone hiding secrets, including our leading ladies!

For fans of sapphic historical romance and especially those that have enjoyed Pride & Prejudice before, this was a delightful read that sprinkles a little magic throughout as well. I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, and am excited to recommend it in the future.

I don’t often hand out one-star reviews but there is really no other rating I can give Netherford Hall. It was simply a bad book with no redeeming qualities. The characters are flat and uninteresting, are awfully one-dimensional, and have no personality whatsoever. The author seems to think that giving them one or two defining characteristics is the same as developing them fully. It really isn’t. The relationships between the characters are equally boring. None of them have any sort of chemistry, and the main romance is depressingly unremarkable. The two characters don’t fit together, they despise each other for a good portion of the book and then suddenly fall into each other’s arms without having gotten to know each other in between.

The plot was pretty much non-existent nearly until the end. I couldn’t understand what was the driving force of the book and found myself bored from start to end. Perhaps the author attempted to bring some life into her narration by regularly switching points of views. All this achieved was give a sense she didn’t know what she was doing and that the point of views were chosen at random. As for the world building, it is obvious to me that the author put much thought into it. It would have been useful to actually inform the reader about the intricacies of that worldbuilding. As it were, after having read the book, I still have no idea what a gentlewitch is (or any of the other types of witches and other creatures mentioned, save for vampires), and that was pretty important to understand the story.

What a brilliant novel!
I really enjoyed the setting, not only the time period but also the different houses and families, that were connected in interesting ways through social obligations and magical hierarchy.
I also adored the two main characters and their relationship. The build-up felt very natural and the growing adoration Edith and Poppy held for each other made me swoon multiple times. Especially Edith's more masculine appearance was a nice surprise and really made me fall in love with her even more. We definitely don't have enough masculine women, who are still noble and respected, in literature.
The supporting cast was a very vibrant one and I really liked every single one. I even wished we could have read more about the Vampires.
The magic system was pretty interesting and complex and I sometimes lost track a little bit, but nevertheless was the magic very present in the story and very different from other fantasy novels I read so far.
The overall vibes were also perfect and I can't wait to read another novel from Netherford. If you enjoy witches, magic, a nice historical setting á la Bridgerton or Pride and Prejudice and casual queerness then this is the perfect read for you!
This book enchanted me and definitely deserves the highest rating!

This was my first dive into sapphic regency romance and I can safely say it won't be my last! I went into this read with zero expectations and I wasn't disappointed at all.

If you like Pride-and-Prejudice, witches, and sapphic stories, this is a great book for you, this book follows Poppy, a normal girl in a world of magic with a special connection to an ancient house, Netherford Hall, and Edith, a witch who recently lost most of his family to a fire in London. I really enjoyed this book, the relationship between the protagonist evolves really organically, and doesn't feel rushed, the magic system implemented in here is kinda fresh to any other i read recently, is weird and cryptic, but also kinda understandable, so i have great hope for the future books, the plot was interesting overall, and i didn't find myself bored, i read it in long sessions because sometimes i couldn't put it down, one of my fave reads of the year so far

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest rating.

Not quite Austen with witches

Billing this as 'Pride and Prejudice and witches' set up my huge expectations for a mash-up of one of my most favourite novels with one of my most favourite genres. Sadly, however, it's the set-up of P&P that opens the book, and then any trace of Austen is abandoned thereafter. I can safely say that it's a very good novel of the fantasy/romantasy genre, but as a piece of pseudo Austenalia, I don't think anyone could be convinced.

I was more reminded of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, His Dark Materials, Wrede's Cecelia and Kate Novels, or India Holton's League of Gentlewomen Witches: of alternate Regency or Victorian worlds where magic reigns supreme, and this series opener does well in comparison to those. I just don't feel comparing it to Austen and also failing to foreshadow any other Austen novels lives up to the high concept precis.

And the plot is good, the magic system slightly under-developed (but that goes along with the exploratory (minor) Chosen One plot), and the characters are interesting enough, although not a patch on Lizzie and Darcy. I will definitely be following this series with interest.

Three stars.

This seemed like a perfect book for me because I love sapphic regency romance and anything witchy. Alas, it wasn’t. I was hoping for witty banter and politely delivered passive aggression. Though there may be some of that later on in the book, I couldn’t get past the abundance of descriptions.

I don’t visualize imagery when I read, so the detailed rundowns of exactly what every item of clothing looked like distracted me from the story for me rather than enhancing it. I suspect this wouldn’t be a problem for most readers, but other readers with aphantasia may struggle similarly.

I also never felt like I got a clear sense of any of the characters’ personalities, and had a hard time telling them apart.

Ultimately, I DNF at 18% because my kindle warned me that Chapter 5 was very long and—given that it was about a ball that attendees would no doubt be dressing up for—I wasn’t willing to wade through even more outfit descriptions.

This would be a better fit for readers who enjoy vivid imagery or are fascinated by regency era fashion. I suspect the story itself is cute and charming, I just wasn’t the right reader for it.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

4/5 Stars

This as an amazing read! Netherfield Hall is now definitely one of my favourite Jane Austen retellings. It was unique and imaginative, while still including some familiar features that made Pride and Prejudice a classic. As soon as I heard this was a queer Pride and Prejudice retelling with witches I knew I was sold. This completely lived up to my expectations and I’m fully expecting it to become a fave for queer fans this August.

This is a delightfully witchy sapphic romance that is at the same time cozy and high stakes. We have witches, we have vampires, we have fae lurking in the background lore, and it's a whole lot of fun! I love the symbolism of the flora in the story, the celebration of handy crafts and "women's work" and architecture, and wow that reveal was not at all expected but really well done!

Poppy is such a charming, headstrong, stick to her guns character. I love how she has her values, and sticks with them the whole book regardless of where her heart is pulling her. Edith, well is Edith! She definitely grew on me after I started to understand her and her motivations better. The cast of secondary characters is fleshed out and lovable and really pulls at your heartstrings!

I did have a few moments where I was almost screaming "not the time!" at the main characters, but you know, when you're going to wear maybe that is the time. Overall, I found the plot well paced and the book a very enjoyable read. At first I found the magic system confusing, but the book gives you world building a piece at a time, like a spider spinning a web, and towards the end I really appreciated not being spoonfed information. It made the payoff more valuable.

The ending sets up perfectly for a book 2, and let's just say, I'm intrigued!