If you like scandals, this book is for you!

Especially if it is taboo scandals from the 1800's. Well...it is taboo in this day and age as well.

First I fear I should warn you, it has a slow start to it. Or at least it did for me. But it is worth the push through to say the least. Lydia is easily relatable and you can't help but feel for her. Especially if you happen to have siblings even more so if it is sisters. Their relationships were spot on in my opinion, you either want to disown them and never want to speak with then again or you'll do whatever you must to protect them.

This is very much a ghost story with a touch of romance and sibling rivalry. Oh and a jerk named Cyrus.

It's been two centuries since the famed Salem Witch Trials took place, but that doesn't mean a Massachusetts woman can't still be accused of conjuring evil. Lydia Montrose should know. Although the 18-year-old is quiet and serious, there's a restless itch inside her that sometimes grows into more. It's whispers of a scandal involving her older sister, however, that forces the family to flee Boston. As they settle into Willow Hall—their country home in tiny, isolated New Oldburg—both Lydia and her younger sister, Emeline, feel happier, especially thanks to their association with handsome John Barrett. While Lydia falls helplessly in love with the only man who's ever really noticed her, Caroline, the eldest, only grows more self-centered.

Despite its idyllic setting, Willow Hall is a place acquainted with tragedy and sorrow. It's not long before its quiet darkness seeps into the sisters' souls, taunting them with a power that will take its toll on the entire Montrose family. As the dormant force that lies asleep inside Lydia slowly awakens, she will have to harness what she doesn't understand in order to save everyone and everything she's ever loved ...

The Witch of Willow Hall, a debut novel by Hester Fox, has gotten a lot of buzz this year. And deservedly so. Its bewitching (See what I did there?) backdrop, compelling plot line, and shivery Gothic vibe combine to create a read that is engrossing and entertaining. Lydia is a sympathetic heroine whose bravery and kindness make her an appealing character to follow. Her relationship with her sisters feels authentic, true. While this is a sad novel, it ends on a hopeful note which, combined with its other appealing aspects, makes The Witch of Willow Hall a very satisfying read. I loved it.

(Readalikes: Reminds me of The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare and a little bit of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), violence, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of The Witch of Willow Hall from the generous folks at Harlequin via those at NetGalley. Thank you!

I enjoyed this book; however, we don't have a strong historical fiction YA readership at our library so I won't likely order it for the collection.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this ARC an exchange for an honest review .

The Witch of Willow Hall fell completely flat for me.
I expected so much more. With the title the ‘The Witch of Willow Hall’ I expected more witchy content. The entirety of the book Lydia doesn’t know she’s a witch and discovers fairly close to the end she is when her mother confirms it.

This was more of a ghost story than anything. Lydia has several contact with the dead throughout the story. We see a lot of feuds between Lydia and her sister, Catherine, as well. I couldn’t stand Catherine’s character. She was spiteful and a brat. It drove me crazy.

And the romance… I’ve noticed a pattern with many historical fiction books, there is ALWAYS romance (at least the ones I’ve read). I believe this is a big reason why I steer away from historical fiction. In ‘ The Witch of Willow Hall’ the romance was your typical ‘two men fighting over the hand of one girl’ feud. I’m so bored with these “duals”, they are so common.

Overall, this book was not a favorite. If you are looking for a paranormal, historical fiction, romance novel, this is your book. If you are looking for witchy, dark, gothic novel this isn’t your book.

In 1821, the Montrose family is forced to move from the city to the country. They move due to scandalous rumors concerning the oldest girl, Catherine. What are the rumors? Lydia, and her younger sister Emeline love living in the country while their oldest sister Catherine hates it. Catherinemisses all the activities that she participated in. However all three sisters enjoy the new business associate, John Barrett. Lydia starts to fall in love with John but then Catherine takes an interest in John and starts to flirt with him. Meanwhile Lydia is seeing things and hearing voices that try to get her to do bad things. Will she do bad things? Lydia must decide who she is and what she wants.

The author has written a suspenseful novel. There is a menace in the atmosphere of Willow Hall with gothic undertones. Dark twists in the novel held my interest and attention while reading this novel. There vivid details in the descriptions of Willow Hall. The story is also about the sisters relationships with each other. Catherine isn’t an easy sister to live with but her parents don’t discipline her and never have. The book has a historical and suspernatural feel to it. It is a suspenseful mystery.

Dramatic and atmospheric--a perfect October read!

Lydia Montrose's life swirls with secrets--the one that has torn her family apart and caused a permanent move from Boston; the one that her older sister is hiding; the one that involves a childhood bully; and the one that she and generations of her ancestors share, even if Lydia herself hasn't acknowledged it yet. When the ominous setting of Willow Hall--a dark place with secrets of its own--brings all of these secrets together in a potentially disastrous way, Lydia may be the only person who can save what is left of her family. But is it too late for her to figure out what she is and gain control of her latent abilities?

I honestly couldn't stop reading until I found out for sure!

Blended perfectly with all of the supernatural and family drama is a delightful romance, making The Witch of Willow Hall a novel that also made me smile and blink back happy tears, keeping me hopeful of an HEA even when things looked their bleakest.

This was such a strong debut novel--I can't wait to see what Ms. Fox has in store for us next!

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This is one that I wanted to love more than I did.

This was an atmospheric book, but it was more of a ghost story than a witchy read and I was looking for the witchy aspect. I almost wish the witchy aspect wasn’t included, especially since it doesn’t show up until the 70ish% mark.

That being said, I think if you know you’re not getting much of the Willow Hall Witch, you’ll find yourself enjoying this one, especially if you like historical fiction or period ghost stories.

The overall plot was pretty slow and character driven, but if you’re in the mood for it, it’s one that can be oddly hypnotic. This was also a pretty dark book. There was a surprising amount of death and violence in this book, especially for the bleak and melancholic tone this book had.

I think it just boils down to this one not being a book for me. That being said I did want to include one positive for the way witchcraft was portrayed in this book. While there are some parts that edge on the supernatural, there was also a lot of herb use and looking at the witches as healers.

I was really excited for this book, I believe I read it around Halloween time when I was customizing my reading list for the month around witches, goblins, and ghouls. It was the perfect page turning fit. It was a great addition to the gothic romance section of my reading that I had badly neglected. I think this was a perfect break out book for the author and I can't wait to read more by her. This wasn't a spooky read, it was more creepy, which was perfect. I am a huge scaredy cat so anything to spooky tends to put me off but this one had just the right amount of creep to make it entertaining for my taste preferences.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

→ What I Liked:

The Romance
I enjoyed the connection between the main character, Lydia, and her love interest. Their interactions were by far my favorite to read and the romance was really what kept me going through this. I really wanted to know how things came together (or didn’t) for the two of them.

The Readability
While it took some time to gain my interest, this took on an unputdownable quality for me. It really turned into quite the page turner and I read the entire second half of the book in one sitting.

→ What I Didn’t Like:

The Characters
Besides Lydia and, to some extent, her love interest, there wasn’t much depth among the characters. They all felt quite one-dimensional and were defined by one or two qualities that didn’t really change. I also hated the way the older sister Catherine was written -- she was a stereotypical catty teenage girl whose only purpose was to cause strife. I’ve been over characterizations like these for a while now.

The Lack of Subtlety
I was literally rolling my eyes at the beginning of this with how hard it was hitting me over the head with the witch stuff. There were plenty of “hints” about Lydia’s true nature, but they were so blatant that they may as well have been screaming off the page. It really drew from the story itself for me.

The Ending
There was so much stuffed into this ending that it felt very rushed to me. A lot of it just felt so very… convenient. And the focus was so much on the romance and so little on the witchcraft that I was left dissatisfied and with very many questions. I want a sequel to learn more about Lydia’s abilities and family history, but felt like the way this ended didn’t leave much room for that.

→ TL;DR:
~Romance was enjoyable
~Page-turner
~Side characters needed work
~Lots of eyerolls
~Ending was too rushed
~Would recommend, but think of this more as a YA romance with paranormal elements than a fantasy or horror with romance on the side
~Will pick up Hester Fox's next book

This was a really well-written book, and I greatly enjoyed reading it. Gothic and fast-paced, it was a welcome read after a few disappointing reads.

I picked up this book thinking I was in for a fun romance and a quick read. While it's a simply written book, it's far deeper than I expected. While there is romance, this is so much more. It's a lovely historical tale of women empowerment and the lengths a person would go to protect the people they love. It was just a little spooky which was nice (spookier would have been fine but it's just enough I can recommend it to my less brave friends).
I really enjoyed this book. I will say that it has some slight issues but nothing that ruined the book.

I really tried to get into this book for months, but it just seemed like something was missing. I didn't much care for the "mysterious handsome suitor". I just wanted to read about a witch doing witchy things.

I think I will re-try this book in the future, but for now I am giving it 3 stars because despite it not being my cup of tea, it was very well written.

Honest truth, I went into this book expecting many spooks and scares, but instead The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox gave me all the feels. With a heroine stuck living an Austen life with a sibling determined to live her best Bronte, this was a very enjoyable historical fiction novel with bits of paranormal and hints of regency romance.

Three sisters and a terrible rumor or secret driving them out of society, breaking up engagements, and forcing a brother oversea — this is what we’re told from the start. The secret? It’s one that takes quite some time to get to and, by the time it comes around, it feels a little out of place or lackluster. There was no build-up to it and it seemed like it was merely an afterthought to move the family to Willow Hall and have it fit American Gothic conventions. That said, I did love the secret and the story! I think that must be why I felt disappointed by it. So much more could have been done with it, yet it ends up being simply there as a prop to instigate angst between Lydia and Darcy stand-in, John Barrett.

Apart from the angst-inducing secret, there isn’t much else to discuss about The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox. It’s a good historical American Gothic novel looking to channel Austen and Bronte. Don’t go into it expecting a good scare, and be prepared for regency style angst.

((links to be added once review goes live))

Now, The Witch of Willow Hall is exactly what I wanted to read. Ms. Fox establishes the historical setting with the type of clarity that I love in historical fiction. Plus, there is plenty of mysterious, otherworldly happenings to satisfy my need to escape into fantasy. The story has a surprising dark side that may cause more than one reader to cast it aside for the ick factor, but there is also an unexpected sweetness to the story that more than made up for it. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this one and don’t regret it a minute.

I liked this book a lot and I love mysteries/thrillers that also happen to be in the historical fiction genre.

This was a delightfully creepy read - a perfect book for anyone that likes a bit of mystery, a little romance and a dash of the supernatural. From beginning to the end there are so many twists and turns - some that you'll see coming, some that will come out of nowhere.

Lydia is the middle of three sisters and after a scandal she must break off her engagement as the family flees from Boston to the country home that her father had recently purchased near New Oldbury. Once there things begin happening that can't be explained and there's a new neighbor that has Lydia's interest but she can't figure out if it's herself or her sister that he's keen on seeing.

Overall this book was a great read and very enjoyable.

A spooky, atmospheric read as a family reeling from scandal finds themselves at a country retreat that is haunted by echoes of the past. Creepy and compelling.

Posted to Goodreads: The Montrose sisters Catherine, Lydia and Emeline have been moved from Boston to a small town to get away from scandal. However, not everything is normal at Willow Hall where there may be supernatural forces at work.

I got this book at BEA and I expected a supernatural romance but instead I got a family drama book with just a little bit of a supernatural aspect. The book was fine but I think I would have liked it way better if I knew what to expect when I began reading it.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Hey book slayers!

It’s been a while since I have had the chance to write a review, I’ve read some great books and just didn’t sit down to blog about them, and I really need to start setting time aside for this, because I truly do love sharing my opinions on these great books I read. This time, I was sent another ARC through NetGalley in the form of The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox in exchange for an honest review. The book was released at the beginning of October, and you should definitely go to your local bookstore and pick it up, it’s definitely BookishWiccan approved!

My Rating: 4.5 / 5

First, let me say, there will be spoilers. SO, if you don’t want the book ruined for you before you read it, close this post, NOW. If you keep reading, don’t say I didn’t warn you! Now, let’s dive on in to the review.

Honestly, I was expecting something completely different when I picked this book up. I am not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t what I read, and I think I am more thankful for that than not. I wasn’t expecting to love this book so much; to connect and develop such a love for these characters. Between Lydia, and Emeline, as well as Catherine, John, Ada, and all the others, I truly felt like I was a fly on the wall of the early 1800’s Boston family.

To start, this book is based in the 1820s, starting in Boston, Mass., with a little story pre-cursor in 1811, giving you a slight insight into the background of the story and why it begins as it does.

When the book begins, we are greeted by Catherine, Lydia, Emeline, and their mother, as they travel from Boston to New Oldbury (what a town name!), after the family has been shunned from the Boston social society – but more on that later. Catherine is complaining of having to be so far away from the place she called home, and moving to “the edge of the world”, Lydia is drowning in her own thoughts, and Emeline just cannot wait to get out of the carriage and explore her new surroundings, while their mother is just trying to hold things together. The Montrose ladies are traveling to meet their father/husband at the new home he had built – intended originally to be a summer home, turned into their new permanent residence. What they don’t know, is the history of this massive estate, and what it will mean for their family. But more on that in a bit…

The Montrose girls are learning to adjust in a new, very small town, and it’s quite the change from the hustle and bustle of Boston. Their father had moved them to what was supposed to be their new summer home in New Oldbury, and they took up permanent residence. Father was in the milling business and there was great prospect for new mills and a chance to make great money. Seeing as the rumors about the Montrose girls continued to swirl around Boston, the family decided it would be best to uproot and move to a new home, away from judging eyes. New Oldbury doesn’t have the same feel to Catherine and Lydia, both young women in their late teens/early twenties. It’s missing the shops and the social aspects, despite being an elaborate home, the city wasn’t necessarily what the girls pictured, and they are trying to figure out how to best live their new lives.

Willow Hall, nestled on the outskirts of New Oldbury, in the midst of a forest full of secrets, has been home to many tragedies, and the Montrose girls slowly learn of the mishappenings on their new property from their father’s business partner they have a chance encounter with. One day while Catherine, Lydia and Emeline are exploring their new surroundings, Emeline’s dog, Snip, gets away from her and runs off. A storm begins, and Lydia takes it as her duty to return her younger sisters best friend, and off she runs through the forest to find the dog. It is on this walk where Lydia first meets Mr. John Barrett, her father’s business partner. Over the course of the next few weeks, Lydia learns that Mr. Barrett is actually not only her fathers business partner, but he owns half of the land their property sits on, and just out of view, deep in the forest, is where Mr. Barrett calls home.

Now, Willow Hall is known to locals as a haunted place, and after the tragedy that happened in the home prior to the Montrose family purchasing, the hauntings of Willow Hall became stronger once the Montrose family moved in. The first hints of witchcraft and the supernatural were those of voices and ghost sightings, a message in a fogged mirror, all chalked up to being coincidences, or family members trying to frighten others. As time goes by, more and more supernatural happenings take place at Willow Hall, and eventually, the worst imaginable, a death.

This book had so much to offer, from a strained relationship between siblings, a father absent to his children, and falling in love with a handsome stranger – to death and heartbreak, joy and self discovery. It offered beginnings of life and ends of life, dreams dreamt, dreams crushed, and dreams achieved. The journey Lydia (our main character) takes from the beginning of this book through to the end is one that drew me in completely. I wanted to know what was going to happen to her, and what she would choose to do. She is loyal to a fault to her family; and I frantically flipped through the pages wondering what decision she would make next.

The curveballs this book threw at you were amazing, and for the most part, quite unexpected. It took a long time for the mention of witchcraft to surface, but, the subtle hints at it throughout the book definitely add to its ambiance. The way Hester Fox created such an atmosphere I could lose myself in was something that I have had a hard time finding in many of the books I’ve read recently. It was refreshing, and not something I normally find myself reading (historical fiction), but the added supernatural elements drew me in.

There were parts of this book that moved me to tears, whether it has to do with touching on my own personal past experiences, or just becoming to attached to the characters that my heart literally breaks when theirs does. I cried tears of happiness, tears of sadness, and even tears of anger. Whatever it was, I am so thankful Hester Fox resonated such feelings in me, this book was a welcome change from the major fantasy books I have been reading (though that will always be my favourite genre!).

I had so much more I wanted to add to this review, but, I decided to try to take a bunch of the spoilers I had written out, because I truly believe you should read this book to get its full effect. It was well written and very enticing, and definitely something I will read again.

Creep it real, witches.

Stay spooky, and stay wild, moonchild.

Happy Reading!

Love,
J.