Reviews - The Witchwood Knot

1.03k reviews for:

The Witchwood Knot

Olivia Atwater

4.15 AVERAGE

burch727's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Content Warnings

ally_hally's review against another edition

3.75

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

shadowfalcon's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

jordan_h's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

balexandrahoward's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

nymphread's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Olivia Atwater has nailed historical fantasy stories in my eyes, with Half A Soul still being one of my favorite books of all time.

During my read of The Witchwood Knot, I noticed that while I really enjoyed myself, I didn’t quite fall in love with the prose or characters the way I did with her other work.

This might be because, although this book was certainly darker, I also felt like large swaths of it were ultimately not as fulfilling. The limited setting may have contributed, but I was also missing a bit of the humor present in her other works. Given the tone, I understand why humor might not have fit here, since the book leans so heavily on gothic tropes. After all, it features a manor, the mysterious lord of it, and the book’s heroine, Winnie, being called upon to work as a governess before revealing her true purpose and the fantastical nature of the property. With all those gothic vibes, I found myself wishing for a bit more of Atwater’s playfulness.

But I have to say, this didn’t hinder me in finding Winnie to be a compelling heroine to follow! She’s competent, intelligent, and doesn’t play around. Because of her childhood and her connection to the supernatural, she’s fully equipped to handle the freakiness of Witchwood Manor and its surrounding dangers. And while the book featured scenes depicting sexual assault, I thought those were handled in a very careful, respectful way. The author managed to show how Winnie’s past experience shaped her, and how that history influenced her reactions to actions taken against her in the book.

Atwater managed to tie this story into her other series wonderfully, and the appearance of familiar characters was a pleasant surprise. I did find myself wishing for more scenes that developed the relationship between Winnie and her love interest, Mr. Quincy. Their setup was strong, with them starting on opposite sides of a complex game, and Winnie stepping up to him and catching him off guard. I wanted there to be more of that energy! Whenever they clashed, with Winnie using her smarts and experience to go head-to-head with him, I caught a spark of the same charm I loved in Half A Soul. I just wish there had been more moments like that to really build on their chemistry.

Still, ultimately, I found the ending to be fitting and it clearly set things up for a sequel, which I’m very excited about! There are SO many unanswered questions and things left open to explore in a continuation. I just love Atwater’s writing in general, so I’ll definitely be on the lookout for whatever she publishes next.