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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
This was a short but fun gothic story sure to appeal fans of the Brontës and Henry James. It's difficult to summarize without giving anything away, but here goes:
Theodora has left her familial home behind to take a job as governess at Broken Oak Manor - her only shot at employment after a rough exit from her last position. Within the dark halls of Broken Oak, Theodora makes a place for herself alongside a stern-exteriored housekeeper, her sweet and precocious charge, Ottoline, and Ottoline's father, Cassias. As Theodora grows precariously closer to Cassias, it becomes clearer and clearer that Broken Oak is hiding dark secrets that hold the key to all of their futures.
Overall, the novel was a great example of the gothic genre and a fun spooky story that was building toward a reveal. I did guess the reveal early on, but it was still satisfying to get there. As a result of the form and genre, it leaned much more heavily on plot and atmosphere than character depth - not a bad thing objectively, but not as aligned with my personal tastes.
I was bothered a bit by the pacing early on, particularly surrounding Theodora's initial place of employment. (Slight early spoiler ahead)The off-page sexual assault threw me off, given both the short attention given to those years (which I didn't even realize were years rather than weeks until it was mentioned later) of Theodora's life and the minimal exploration of its effects on her afterward. While it's established early on that Theodora grew up learning to bottle away her emotions, it never felt like those stowed emotions came to play in her character arc, which felt disappointing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quill and Crow for providing a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Theodora has left her familial home behind to take a job as governess at Broken Oak Manor - her only shot at employment after a rough exit from her last position. Within the dark halls of Broken Oak, Theodora makes a place for herself alongside a stern-exteriored housekeeper, her sweet and precocious charge, Ottoline, and Ottoline's father, Cassias. As Theodora grows precariously closer to Cassias, it becomes clearer and clearer that Broken Oak is hiding dark secrets that hold the key to all of their futures.
Overall, the novel was a great example of the gothic genre and a fun spooky story that was building toward a reveal. I did guess the reveal early on, but it was still satisfying to get there. As a result of the form and genre, it leaned much more heavily on plot and atmosphere than character depth - not a bad thing objectively, but not as aligned with my personal tastes.
I was bothered a bit by the pacing early on, particularly surrounding Theodora's initial place of employment. (Slight early spoiler ahead)
Thank you to NetGalley and Quill and Crow for providing a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Death of parent
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Thank you NetGalley and Quill and Crow Publishing House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book had a dull and slow start, but it became very atmospheric which was nice. The story did pick up a bit, and you couldn't help but become attached to the characters. I liked the spooky moments and wish that there were way more of them. The romantic aspects didn't really work for me. I found the plot lackluster; I kept waiting for something to happen, for there to be a crescendo, but what came was a bit anticlimactic. There needed to be more purpose to the actual story itself for this book to work.
This book had a dull and slow start, but it became very atmospheric which was nice. The story did pick up a bit, and you couldn't help but become attached to the characters. I liked the spooky moments and wish that there were way more of them. The romantic aspects didn't really work for me. I found the plot lackluster; I kept waiting for something to happen, for there to be a crescendo, but what came was a bit anticlimactic. There needed to be more purpose to the actual story itself for this book to work.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Thoroughly enjoyed - kept me guessing. Some wonderfully written sections.
I had the honor of reading the first draft of this story and quickly fell in love with it. I’m so happy to read it again now in all its polished beauty! Gorgeous writing, intriguing mysteries, swoon-worthy romance—I highly recommend this book!
Contains:
-Sexual Content
-Trauma
Contains:
-Sexual Content
-Trauma
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective