Thanks to NetGalley and the wonderful publisher for my first ARC!

This book while I initially thought to be a spinoff within the Regency Fairytales world, simply separated by time, is certainly more of a sequel-ish entity than expected.

It relies a lot on expositionary information that readers of the Regency series would already be aware of and eventually the novelty of recognizing the repeated info becomes weary to old readers' enjoyment of this series.

Winnie is an excellent protagonist and moments where Atwater let's her wit and frustrations out are gems in this reading.

Witchwood Manor is well-described and for readers like myself who require a lot of physical detail to properly map out a space in their head, Atwater has a great grasp of writing that out.

Definitely a lot exposition wise but with this style of world-building that's kinda the norm.

Fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to this E-Arc.

*4.25

This book gave me all the gothic vibes with a little bit of romance. It was definitely a dark read. It’s perfect for the Halloween season. The story was set at a haunted mansion where sinister things are afoot. I enjoyed the way that Olivia Atwater writes a story. It was engaging throughout the novel. It was hard to put down. I look forwarding to read more of Atwater’s novels in the future.

I really enjoyed this as I enjoy Olivia Atwaters. That being said, I wish the romance between Winnie and Mr Quincy was more fleshed out. And that it had leaned more into gothic elements. Still a pleasant fun read.

This was a brilliant gothic fairytale and a very atmospheric and appropriate read as the dark nights draw in. Winnie was an enjoyable strong female lead and the narrative throughout with the female cast of characters really represented the differences in trauma responses and the validity of them all.
Oliver was so close to my heart reading this, especially as I just lost my own cat called Ollie! I hope he is protecting me the way Oliver protects Winnie.
Rich in detail and description I do wish there had been more build up with Mr Quincy and slightly more depth to the Lord's motives.
Overall a great gothic fairytale inspired story with scope to build on the world and expand out to Winnie's sisters and Mr Quincy's siblings.

I think this was the first period dark faerie tale I’ve read. I really liked it. It was creepy & engaging. Filled with faerie lore but also a good mystery with a little romance added. Definitely a new take on the dark faerie tale genre for me. I can’t wait to read this author’s other books set in the same world. She deals with some difficult subjects sensitively- past childhood trauma & sexual assault. I love Miss Winnifred Hall & her belt of weapons. You will be rooting for her to solve the mystery, rescue the young lord, and maybe others along the way. Thank you Starwatch Press & NetGalley for the advance copy!

3.5 stars

A beautifully written little dark faerie tale. This was my first Olivia Atwater book and it was quick, creepy, and enjoyable. I loved the gothic atmosphere, the haunted manor setting, the questionable characters, and the way the human and faerie realms were entwined. I loved Winnie as the strong & clever MC, and a number of the side characters grew on me as well. There was only a hint of romance - I would have loved a bit more but it was very sweet nonetheless. I think if it were longer I would have had more time to become invested, but it did keep me interested and wanting to know what happened. A great read for this time of year.

Thank you to Starwatch Press for the ARC!

I requested this because although I LOVE gothic fiction, I really am not keen on the fae elements in books, usually, and thought I would try something different. That said, I did really enjoy this book , the setting, characters and general vibe of the story were all interesting and worked together really well.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NETGALLEY for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a short and sweet story about Winifred Hall's time at Witchwood Manor - she initially is there to take care of a young boy, but she ends up having quite an adventure with the faeries of Witchwood Knot.

My favorite character was the ghost cat familiar, Oliver. I also enjoyed the magical elements thrown throughout this story and the message that the author conveys regarding the way children and women are mistreated when they deny the desires of men.

I would love to read more from Olivia Atwater in the future and I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read about faeries.

I think fans of Atwater's regency books may or may not like this depending on what brought them to those books in the first place. If they were primarily interested in the regency or "bridgerton-esque" vibes of the other books this may not be for them. However, if they were simply interested in a genre fiction infused with fairy lore I think they will enjoy this a lot. It's a pitch perfect Victorian gothic full of whimsy and faeries.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a very fun, darkly comic Victorian-era gothic mystery, complete with devious faeries and magic and a seemingly haunted house. While I found the pacing a little slow to begin with, once I was into the main story I was hooked in. I loved the snarky confidence of FMC Winnie, and the darkly mysterious presence of Mr Quincy from the get go. I've seen it billed as a gothic romance, but seeing as the romance plot doesn't kick in properly until quite far in, I'd say it's more of a mystery with romantic elements! I enjoyed how this book managed to be cosy and whimsical while also being darkly fantastical, and I think I'll definitely be checking out the author's other books set in the same universe.

I've fallen in love with Olivia Atwater as an author because of her Regency fairytales, so I was more than excited to see her now tackling the Victorian times. "The Witchwood Knot" is the first in that new series, and it's just as beautifully, almost whimsically written as its predecessors. It tells the story of Winifred Hall who newly arrives at Witchwood Manor to become the governess to the master's son. The manor quickly reveals to be haunted in some way, with the fae having their grabby hands all over it.

I do have to say that the descriptions of the story given on goodreads and co are not the very best, because they reveal a story development that actually happens much later in the book. At first, it's more of a slightly gothic-y haunted mansion story with faeries - and of course we meet our love interest rather soon. Mr. Quincy is not my favourite of Atwater's dashing fae love interests as a person, but I liked him a lot (even though I could have lived happily without a certain um, physical attribute of his). Winifred is great protagonist, layered and capable and relatable. She is, perhaps, a bit Too Good At Everything, but in books like these I don't even mind that much.

While I generally enjoyed the settings of Atwater's previous books a bit more and wasn't completely captivated by Witchwood Manor, I still think this is actually one of her strongest books. And that's because of the subject matter: "The Witchwood Knot" focuses heavily on consent and the consequences of sexual abuse and harassment, and it got rather dark at times because of it. The romance is absolutely amazing because consent is at its core, and while, as I said before, Mr. Quincy is not my fave out of all the fae love interests, his absolute insistence on consent and his unwavering support of Winnie makes him perfect for this book. I love him for the things he stands for.

All in all, a great start to the Victorian fairytales series that didn't blow me away but had something important to say. You can read it without having read Atwater's Regency fairytales, but you will miss out on quite a bit of lore and background, which surprised me. 3,5 stars.

Set in a Victorian Era setting, Winnie finds herself in a house that has WAY more secrets than she bargained for.

I was not convinced that I would enjoy it as much at the beginning as I felt the world building was relatively lacking and I wound up feeling pretty confused. As the story goes on, however, I found myself absolutely invested in Winnie and Mr. Quincy. I truly wound up loving this book by the end. This story is marketed as a gothic romance, but the romance doesn’t sink in until the later half/last quarter of the book, so I don’t necessarily recommend it to romance lovers. That being said, the tension is *chef’s kiss* and the dark magic wrapped up in this world is so worth reading. I definitely recommend it, especially as a spooky fall read!

**This copy of The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater was given to me as an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review. This does not change the way I rate books nor the way it is reviewed. Thank you to Olivia Atwater, Netgalley and Starwatch Press. **

The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater was a pleasant and beautifully written novel. Taking a darker stance than her previous work, Atwater tells an enchanting gothic romance with elements of mystery, magic and fae folklore.
The story revolves around Winnie, a young spinster, hired by Lady Longfell to be a governess of Witchwood Manor. However, the title is a guise. It seems the Lady has hired Winnie for her magical abilities and knowledge in dealings with the Fae. WitchWood Manor is cursed by the Fae; it is up to Winnie to help lift the curse and save her young charge, Robert Murray.

The pace of the book, like many gothic novels, is slow at the beginning. It creates this haunting sense, almost as if anything could happen at any time. Once things began to pick up and we really got a sense of what world we were looking into, I feel like the novel really flourished.

Things I loved:
- Winnie: She was a strong female character. A Survivor of SA, who went from being cold and detached in order to survive the world she lived in to Empowered and self assured.
- Mr.Quincy: I love me a morally grey man. Especially when he's a fae. I loved that Atwater made him more FAE. Like Holly Black does her mmc's, She gave that man a TAIL. I loved it. My only wish was that we got to see him more. That we got more moments between him and Winnie at the beginning.
- A Ghost cat familiar
- The mythology this book sets up: This book obviously is setting up for a grandeur story. I dont think we've seen the last of Winnie and Mr.Quincy, and that we will see other beloved characters from the previous Novels.
- The theme: Atwater could've written another gothic romance novel that focused on the MC finding love and have left it at that. But she took it a step further. She wove a story with an undelying Theme that made the world believable. That brought some realism to this fairytale. I was able to connect with the MC more because of it.
- The afterword from the Author: I usually dont read the afterword but I did this time. Words cannot express how wonderful it felt to read it. I love the author even more for it and would love to see other authors follow.

Things that I enjoyed but wish had been expanded upon:
- Side Characters: Some characters felt like there were there to just be there, only appearing when needed for the plot. Their interactions with the main characters couldve been more fleshed out.
- The Slow Burn: I am a sucker for slow burns and while this book is definitely a VERY slow burn, I feel like once the romance did happen, it kinda came out of nowhere. I wish there had been more interactions where the line between flirtation and wit were blurred between Quincy and Winnie.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and am looking forward to the expansion of the world we were introduced to! Can't wait until the next book :)

The Witchwood Knot is a gothic, spirited tale full of depth arrives at a dark and dreadful manor tasked with caring for sets out to rescue the boy with an unlikely companion. A truly unique story full of energy and intrigue that drew me in and kept my mind turning the whole way through. The story lives on past the last page and will leave you in anticipation captivating storytelling blew me away. This author is a profoundly skilled writer and highly look forward to picking publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC! and character. The book follows a Victorian Governess who a young boy who is soon abducted by the Fair Folk. She for more! Absolutely 5/5 stars. The masterful

This is a beautifully written victorian style novel, set in a gothic fantasy land. I did not read the plot beforehand or have any experience with this author but was intrigued by the book cover and let me tell you it did not disappoint. I have never read a book like this before I felt it was a tad long winded at times but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It is based in a spooky manor following the life of the “governesses” Winnifred Hall which you can’t help but admire. The other characters such as Mr Quincy and Oliver (the cat) you grow to like even though they are unconventional. I would recommend this book to any fantasy lovers as it is something unique.

LOVED THIS BOOK. I enjoyed every second I spent reading The Witchwood Knot, from the moment Winnie arrives to serve as the governess to spoiled child Robert at a haunted mansion in England to the very end. Winnie was, in fact, hired not as a governess, but as a magician protector for Robert. When she arrives at Witchwood Manor, she's greeted by Mr. Quincy, a butler with wine red eyes, a cook, and a housekeeper who refuses to live in the haunted house. Luckily, Winnie knows how to handle herself around faeries. But when Robert is kidnapped by fae despite all of her precautions and a human monster begins terrorizing Winnie, she only has one possibly ally she can turn to: the very same Mr. Quincy who was so unwelcoming when she arrived.

This is a gothic romance in an England with faeries, magicians, familiars, and necromancers. Atwater's prose is beautiful, with chapter-long intervals of true faerie stories. Winnie is a flawed character who knows herself perfectly: she recognizes her strengths and her limitations, and she struggles to abide by her own ethical code. Atwater has written a restrained romance with an earned HEA. Mr. Quincy may start out as an ambiguous character, but as he and Winnie work together and begin to understand each other, both they and the reader see how well matched they are. Also - Oliver the familiar is one of the most delightful kitty characters I've read in a while!

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

The Witchwood Knot is a gloriously dark yet cozy faerie tale. The story is wrapped in mystery and has a whimsy quality throughout. The fae lore in a victorian setting added an otherworldly feel to the book. Alongside the enigma of the manor there’s a romantic sub-plot. I didn’t expect this as I went into the book blindly but I really enjoyed the slow-burn which crept upon me, it was truly heartwarming. What stood out for me is the FMC. She is great, the strength she shows despite adversity was something to admire. The author explores themes around women and society through this character beautifully. Overall a lovely gothic read. Thank you to NetGalley and Starwatch Press for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I fell in love with this book piece by piece. The setting of Witchwood Manor and the Witchwood Knot was dark, magical, haunting, and beautiful all at once.

Winnie Hall is a force to be reckoned with as our knowledgeable “governess” who comes to Witchwood Manor under false pretenses. She knows all about the faerie world and its magic. Winnie is just the first in a cast of characters who grow to be incredibly likeable, or despised, take your pick depending on the scale of good vs evil with some morally grey undertones. Oliver the cat being one of my favorites. Winnie finds friendship and assistance in the most unlikely places as she seeks to find a way to break the Witchwood Knot.

This gothic tale is full of ghostly horrors (although not too scary) leading up to a rather satisfying conclusion albeit setting the stage for next books. I’m definitely looking forward to the next one!!

This was the first time I read a book like this. A Victorian era fantasy novel was not something I had on my book bingo card, but I’m so glad that I read it. The gothic, dark elements of this book were thoroughly enjoyable. The magic system was compelling and one that I found to be unique. If you want to be immersed into a gothic fantasy with a sinister house and a strong FMC, this is the story for you. With this being said, if you go into to this book hoping for a hard hitting romance, I find that it falls a little short. There was a lot of tension and potential for the two characters, but their romance was rushed and limited. I also found that some of the plot points during the climax and resolution of this story were a bit muddy. Taking into account the numerous other books I have read throughout the years, the FMC, Winnie was one of my favorite characters. Her desires, needs, and morals were so thoughtfully conveyed that she easily became my most routed for character. I would say this book is worth the read just for her character exploration alone. :)

Victorian governess Winifred Hall knows a con when she sees one. When her bratty young charge transforms overnight into a perfectly behaved block of wood, she soon realises that the real boy has been abducted by the Fair Folk. Unfortunately, the lord of Witchwood Manor is the only man in England who doesn’t believe in faeries—which leaves Winnie in the unenviable position of rescuing the young lord-to-be all by herself.

This is the second book by Olivia Atwater I have read, and it’s very clear to see how much she has grown from that novel to this one.

The Witchwood Knot is a gothic regency faerie tale complete with a haunted house, a mysterious butler, and an ailing Lady of the house.

I loved every second of this book. I was ensnared from the first sentence and the story continued to keep me in its grasp. This is a delightfully spooky and atmospheric fairytale.

It’s amazing how well fleshed out the setting and characters are. Winnie is such a fresh and cunning fmc. She’s witty, cynical, and more than willing to do what’s necessary.

“”Am I weeping, Your Lordship?” she asked him. Suddenly, her voice was calm and sensible again.
Lord Longfell frowned. “You are not, of course,” he said slowly.
“Then I cannot be in too much distress, now can I?” Winnie asked him””

4.75/5 stars

This book releases Nov 28th 2023

Thank you so much to the publishers and NetGalley for e-arc in exchange for an honest review.