Winnie arrives at Witchwood as a governess, but we soon realize that she is there for more sinister, magical reasons because Witchwood is cursed. Winnie must use her wit and thinking to break the curse or it will affect the future heirs of Witchwood.

This book promised a lot, but did not deliver. The beginning of the story was filled with lush, descriptive prose, but this was not continued throughout which was frustrating. It felt like the author did a lot of telling instead of showing. At numerous times, the author incorporated whole flashback chapters that felt out of place and would have been better suited to being sprinkled throughout chapters. The characters were not that interesting and the enemies to lovers romance felt SO forced and uncomfortable.

The Witchwood Knot is an incredible feat- a dark, gothic fantasy with rich worldbuilding, vivid characters, and a compelling mystery with life and death stakes that sets the stage for bigger battles to come. Winifred knows a lot about magic and faeries when she arrives at Witchwood Manor, but she quickly understands that she knows just enough to make her aware of her ignorance. Olivia Atwater is a master of “show, don’t tell,” and part of what makes this story great is how truly unpredictable it is.

In Winifred and Mr Quincy, Atwater gives us one of my favorite setups, where the love interests are inherently, inescapably at odds and working against each other, until of course, they are not. Winifred is competent and brave and not nearly as cold or detached as she would like to be. Mr. Quincy is delightfully cunning and sinister with a surprisingly soft and gooey center, revealed in a way that’s truly earned. The way their mutual wariness fades into respect and then deepens to something more is masterful. Such. Delicious. Chemistry

No one is only one thing in this book. There is no assumption that characters must be “likeable,” even children. Robert, Winifred’s charge, is refreshingly snarky and full of bravado, as a young lord might well be. Winifred abandons her search for her long lost faerie mentor to rescue him because any child is worth saving, as she herself was once saved. A central tenet of this text seems to be that while we may be shaped by what happens to us, our true character is defined more by the choices we make.

I thought Atwater handled the trauma in Winifred’s life deftly and appropriately. There is no gratuitous sexual assault on page, thankfully. We see from the beginning how being a girl and then a woman in the world has shaped Winifred, without needing to know all of the details. The backstory we do get comes at the right moment when we need to understand the root of Winifred’s deepest fear, the articulation of which in turn helps her (and the reader) understand something essential and pivotal about Mr Quincy- the person his choices have made/continue to make him versus who he might have become.

I don’t want to give anything more away about this gem of a book. I will now need to read everything that Olivia Atwater has ever written.

CW: mention of child sexual abuse

I didn’t even realize until a couple of weeks ago that a new Olivia Atwater book was coming out soon, and ofcourse I couldn’t stop myself from requesting an arc because how can I miss it. And this turned out to be both what I was expecting and more.

Firstly, I was very excited to know that this book is set in the same world as the Regency Faerie Tales trilogy. So I went in expecting a similar charming and cozy fantasy story with some mystery and lots of love, but this one is definitely much darker. The author creates a very good gothic atmosphere in Witchwood Manor and we can palpably feel the eeriness of the place, always worried about what monster might be lurking around in the corner (or the walls or under the floor). I also really enjoyed how the author incorporates some of the history of our main character Winnie, as well as world building information about faeries, in the form of short stories within the narrative, told as cautionary tales to a young boy. This structure gives the book a gothic fairytale vibe and made it quite enjoyable, despite some of the darker turns it takes. The writing is easy to breeze through like how I’ve come to expect from the author, with enough unpredictability to keep me hooked.

Winnie is an interesting protagonist. I liked how we don’t get to know her properly in the beginning and her backstory is unraveled slowly due to circumstances. She gives out a cold and guarded impression due to her history, but it was nice to see her start feeling for the people she meets in Witchwood manor, and making choices which she never thought she would. Mr. Quincy is an enigma until we get to know his story and then it’s quite easy to sympathize for him. There is some banter between them but their dynamic progresses from prickly and antagonistic to falling for each other fairly quickly, seeming a bit unrealistic, but I guess that was unavoidable considering it’s a short book. The rest of the cast is also written well and it’s not hard to like some of the other characters, but most of them get very little page time. I also really enjoyed the little mentions of my favorites from the previous trilogy, though the current timeline might mean that we’ll never get to actually meet them again.

Overall, this was a short gothic fantasy with fairytale vibes and a willful protagonist who I came to like. It is both whimsical and dark, and concludes satisfactorily but also leaves enough loose ends that it’ll be interesting to see how it all resolves in the next book, and I also wonder if we’ll meet these characters again. I look forward to it.

Really good fun! I wasn’t expecting this to be so gothic, since my only point of comparison for Atwater is Half A Soul, but I absolutely devoured it. Wonderfully obstinate heroine, great supporting cast, a love interest who grew on me with time, and great pacing. Just as a note, I didn’t realize this was a sequel series to the Regency Faerie Tales so I think it probably has some spoilers for later books in the first trilogy but I’ve only read the first book and I was able to follow the story without any problems. The romance gets resolved but the larger plot ends on a bit of a cliffhanger— I will certainly be looking out for the next book!

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Gothic Fantasy
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 11/28/2023

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: The ailing Dowager of Witchwood Manor has brought on a governess to protect her grandson from the dark faeries that plague her manor. The governess is a magician and must work with an unlikely ally to save her ward and those who reside in the manor.

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: As the first book of a series, be aware that it ends on a cliffhanger. This is a wonderfully dark and mysterious faerie tale full of twists and turns. This is a quick read with a beautifully crafted world, which is amazing with how short the book is.

There is mild, Victorian Era romance, but it’s very minimal and not really a main driver of the plot. If you’re looking for spice, you won’t find it in this book.

I still have a ton of questions….I am left wanting more; I want to know more about the Mr. Quincy and more about Winnie. I want to hear more about Master Robert and Lord Longfell. I’m hoping that the next book will go more into the construction of Witchwood Manor and more on how the curse and Knot came into existence.

The book seems to go by quickly, but it doesn’t lack too much when you take into consideration that it is the first of a series. I like the book, but I would have loved more character development. Truly I wish it was longer, but overall -- you should read this book if you like Gothic fantasy (that isn't driven by romance), magic, parallel worlds, and unlikely allies.

A lovely, truly morose Victorian novel, The Witchwood knot encompasses all the wondrous little fairytale terrors, from wistful dream realms to vengeful ghosts, wrapped up in this beautiful little gothic telling.


For fans of A.G. Slater and Holly Black’s grim depiction of fairies, this will truly be a treat! The lore is something akin to Grimm’s Fairytales with a sprinkle of the macabre. The Witchwood Knot is full of creatures that bait humans into revealing their true name, favors that bind magic, familiars that only exist in the dark, and a manor chock full of magic, monsters, and ghosts (every dark fantasy reader’s favorite triad). At every dark corner in the novel, I found something new and grisly to explore.

The writing itself was wondrous and thrilling. The work was brimming with compelling themes and stubborn, ruthless characters worthy of the landscape they occupy. From the brooding Mr. Quincy, clearly taken from a thread of Wuthering Heights (no complaints here!), to the cunning governess, Winifred Hall, all of the players were immaculate. And for the characters to be dropped in the center Victorian England—the environment was the perfect realm for these little conniving, clawing creatures to come out and call forth chaos.

Even though this story is fresh, it feels like a re-telling—but not in a stale, predictable way, but beautiful and whimsical, in its own right. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Publishing for the ARC.

This review can also be viewed on Goodreads and Instagram (see links attached).

Loved loved LOVED this book! Huge thank you to Netgalley & Starwatch Press for approving my request to read this! This is my first time reading Olivia Atwater and I am declaring myself obsessed, once I finish this review, I’m gonna go buy her entire backlog and read everything else she’s written. This was such an enjoyable piece of speculative fiction, absolutely perfect for readers who enjoy the dark whimsy and cozy charm of authors like Diana Wynne Jones and Heather Fawcett.

3.5 stars

Things I liked:
-the gothic fairytale vibes
-Oliver the undead cat
-the imagery of the Witchwood Knot, looking through mirrors and seeing the other side of the manor, the toy soldiers, etc.
-Winnie was a wonderful protagonist

Things i didn't like:
-the story was slow, I would have liked more action and romance
-I felt at times that I was missing something

Overall this was good, I just wished it would have been shorter or less slow.

Olivia Atwood books are now filed in my mind as *treat read*. This was darker than her previous books but the world of faerie remains the same. I loved all the characters. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC!

I loved this Victorian gothic fantasy. Great mood setting and perfect book to read in the fall or winter. This book gives dark fairytale (with literal faeries) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was a subplot of romance that I honestly did not see coming. Once I got the initial hint of it, I actually didn't love it at first- but by the end of the book, I was suddenly rooting for these characters like my life depended on it.

Overall really liked this book! Looking forward to see what Olivia does with the rest of the series.

As 'The Witchwood Knot' is connected to the authors prior series, I expected this novel to be just as cozy and humorous as 'Half a Soul'. So I was quite surprised, that this novel is darker in tone and leans into gothic. Though it stays pretty mellow and doesn't fully use the potential a gothic tale brings. I liked the romance, they are usually the strongest part in the authors novels.
There is little world building and I would say the story relies in parts on the knowledge from pevious series.

We follow Winnie in this Gothic Victorian vibe , with monsters , fantasy, a lil romance,this book is packed full of what every book girlie needs , this will be my favorite November read hands down ,if you are looking for a beautifully written book this is it !!

A dark, gothic fantasy read, set in Victorian England

'The faeries of Witchwood Manor have stolen its young lord. His governess intends to steal him back'.

Winifred Hall has travelled to Witchwood Manor to be the new governess. But Witchwood Manor isn't like any normal home, and Winifred is no normal governess. Faeries and danger roam the halls - in particular, Mr Quincy. When her charge is taken by the faeries, she knows she must save him, while battling faerie tricks, magic and debts.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
A dark, gothic and magical tale with faeries and magicians. Our FMC, Winnie, is so strong willed and is working to overcome traumas from her past. She is also a magician, with a familiar, Ollie the cat, who is very protective of her. I would like future installments, if they follow Winnie and her sisters, to delve deeper into this magician magic system.

I loved the split of the realms, the human realm and the faerie realms - tied together in the Witchwood Knot. I also loved a certain Mr Quincy, as their relationship grew further in the second half of the book. The romance aspect is very much the sub-plot - but I very much enjoyed the main plot of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Starwatch Press for this copy. This review is voluntary.

A dark offering from Olivia Atwater. The Witchwood Knot draws you in from the first page with its atmosphere of secrets and of things not being what they seem. Unlike other books that start out promising much and delivering little, this book’s secrets, once revealed, fit with the story like a key in a lock. It doesn’t hurt my feelings a bit that the main character has a cat, one loyal to his person even after death. This book is dark but without that darkness, the ending wouldn’t be as satisfying.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would! I generally haven't had great experiences with gothic romances but I liked the tone and feel of this one.

This was my first book by Olivia Atwater, so I went in completely blind.

We follow a young woman named Winnie which is a governess as Witchwood Manor. But Winnie is way more than just a governess and the Witchwood Manor is way more than just a simple house.

Together with Winnie we discover the secrets of Witchwood Manor and the family that lives there. It is a regency fantasy with a little murder mystery on the side.

The book started pretty slow, but got faster around 50%. While at the beginning I was not very invested in the story, the second half redeemed it for me.

Maybe I am also missing some bigger context as I haven’t read the other books. It was a nice read, but a little hard to get through the beginning.

I have, of course, heard of Atwater’s other series, namely because of Half a Soul. While that book is still on my TBR list, I didn’t hesitate to request The Witchwood Knot, which was set in the same world. It promised to be a dark fairy tale with aspects of gothic fiction and romance, which is pretty in-line with some of my favorite books recently—i.e A Study in Drowning. And I liked The Witchwood Knot for what it was.

This was a relatively dark story, particularly when it delved into themes of trauma and harassment. This was something alluded to fairly early, particularly in relation to the backstory of the MC, Winifred Hall, as she became more and more immersed in the mysteries and the general strangeness of Witchwood Manor.

Generally speaking, I liked the cast of characters here. The ghost cat was an MVP, and I loved every scene he was in. Mr Quincy was an enigmatic presence, and I liked how Atwater portrayed his incongruous nature. Winifred was an easy favorite. She was resilient, confident, and relatively resourceful. And her quest—both to further her own aims and fulfil the terms of her employment—made her a relatively dynamic character.

The romance was on the subtler side for much of the story. There was a host of issues for Winifred to navigate—and her personal motivation influenced much of her early actions within the context of the plot—so her focus was, understandably, elsewhere. There was a gradual build toward it, though. I just wish there had been more scenes of them exploring the depths of this burgeoning relationship. And I say this because, in the end, they were two very interesting characters, and I wanted more from that end of the story.

The best part for me, though, was the fantasy adventure. The setting was suitably creepy with plenty of hidden corners and an almost maze-like quality. That, when combined with the overarching mystery concerning the house’s creation and the current troubles surrounding it, gave a sense of intrigue that kept the story moving at a good pace.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is a spinoff of another series. I personally don’t care about reading spoilers for the other books, but it’s something to think about when going into The Witchwood Knot.

Overall, The Witchwood Knot was good, and I had a lot of fun with it.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Starwatch Press) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater is a dark, spooky "fairy tale". I enjoyed the unique adventure story, however if the protagonists "worst fear" (which was completely unnecessary to the story) had been something else this book would have been better suited for middle grade and up. If this was re edited for that age group I think it could be a best seller. The book is very good.

3.5 stars

This was an enjoyable read. I went in expecting more romance then the story held, but I think the plot more then made up for the lack of romance.

This story had a lot of gothic elements which fits the vibe for a fall read. I really enjoyed the different characters and how they each played a role in moving the story along.

Winnifred Hall has been hired as the new governess at the cursed Witchwood Manor. However, Winnie's new position does come with quite a few challenges. When the young lord-to-be is kidnapped, Winnie has to enlist the help of the butler, Mr. Quincy (who is very mysterious and questionable), to aid in her retrieval of Robert. Together, as they adventure deeper into Witchwood Manor, they realize it is definitely more than what it appears to be.

With that being said, please meet my new favourite cozy read for fall. The Witchwood Knot is a beautifully dark gothic faerie tale with haunted house adventures. On the surface, I thought it was simply a combination of gothic influences and faerie lore, but it's really about trauma, love, revenge, and greed. I had so much fun reading this book. One minute, I was feeling the unease. The next minute, I was smiling and laughing, then it was back to feeling a little creeped out.

Lastly, Winnie is genuinely such a great character. She's not helpless. She is intelligent, resourceful, and fierce. She took this position for a reason and is fully prepared to outwit the dark secrets of Witchwood Knot. I loved her interactions with the other characters as well. Mr. Quincy is dark, mysterious, and fascinating. I was questioning his motives the whole time. I especially loved Oliver, the one-eyed, undead cat familiar. I want him as my own, and I would feed him all the treats.

Simply put, it's an atmospheric read best enjoyed curled up in a big puffy blanket with a cup of tea on a chilly fall day with a roaring fire. I'm excited for the other books that will be in this series.

*An e-ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.