The perfect mystery/thriller for readers who don't like mysteries/thrillers. Writing is too light and the story too slow.

I wasn’t able to finish this book. Because of this, it is my policy not to review the book on my site or on Goodreads/Amazon. I also didn’t mark it DNF.

I loved this book! Thank you for the ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t leaving reviews on netgalley and was solely sharing on Instagram. My apologies. Huge fan of this author! I actually received the tangible copy. Trying to clean up my netgally account.

A gothic witch story...does anything sound better? This was a pretty good book and it's perfect to read during the Fall, or even specifically around Halloween. It's beautifully atmospheric and a little bit spooky. If you like witch stories with gothic vibes then you may want to try this one.

I am working my way through my arc backlist, so I didn’t necessarily read the description of the book before picking it up to read. Being that it was 2020, I’d been trying to stick with lighter, fun reads as a contrast to the year. That said I enjoyed this book, but it was darker than I anticipated going in.

The Montrose family, including sisters Catherine, Lydia and Emmaline, are leaving their Boston home in 1821 and moving to the small town of New Oldbury due to a scandal. Their father is already at Willow Hall, meant to be the family's summer home, beginning a milling business. Lydia is sad to leave her home, but after some strange events in her life, she is eager to start afresh in New Oldbury. Lydia finds solace in being able to tend to her own herb garden and spends time with their neighbor, John Barrett. However, there seems to be spirits lurking in Willow Hall that call to Lydia and her younger sister Emmaline. While Catherine is busy trying to find a husband, Lydia's power is growing and the spirit of an ancestor hung at the Salem Witch is trying to help her. After a series of tragedies rocks the Montrose family, Lydia must decide to use her powers to pull everyone back together or seek revenge and risk another scandal.

The Witch of Willow Hall is an atmospheric historic gothic story of a young woman finding herself. From the start when Lydia shares a memory of a boy next door, I wanted to figure out the mystery of her abilities. The writing creates a mysterious air around all of New Oldbury and Willow Hall itself. It's clear that something has happened there and that spirits still remain. While most of the story focuses on Catherine and Lydia's strained relationship, it gives a basis for Lydia's emotions and intent when she learns to harness her power. I found Catherine's character to be really interesting and wanted to know more about what drove her actions and decisions. It was really interesting to see what decisions the family made. Lydia's abilities didn't seem like they were the main focus of the story amidst all of the family drama; however everything seemed to come together in the end.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

A very atmospheric read that favors fall and chilly weather. Such an amazing book to be transfixed by! I flew through this one pretty quickly. When I wasn't reading, I often found myself wondering about Lydia and Mr. Barrett....The characters were very involving and likeable and oftentimes, hateable. The writing style was brilliant! I must say, being my first read by this author, it will not be my last. I would recommend this one!

There were great elements of this book that I really enjoyed. Strong female leads, supernatural going ons, and a rich environment during a captivating time period all created a great book.

A very gothic and haunting historic tale. For me, it started out very strong, but I struggled a little bit in the middle. It was set in the perfect time period for this tale, I enjoyed the author's writing style and the world she created. Especially Willow Hall itself!

Why did it take me so long to pick up this book? I loved the creepy, atmospheric vibe, the layered and interesting characters, and the romantic themes in the story. This was the perfect book to read during the Fall/Winter months, and I'm looking forward to other books by Hester Fox.

I enjoyed this book for what it was. It wasn't revolutionary by any means, but it was entertaining while I was reading it.

A very enjoyable, creepy fall read! Spooky, suspenseful & a little bit witchy! A rich gothic mystery at it's finest!

I did not finish this one. It was more historical romance with a little bit of paranormal. Lydia and John were insta lovers and it just made no sense.

Well written, perfect for fall crunchy days and a hot cup of tea. Love books about witches. And books with old houses. And 100 characters.

This book reminded me so much of the gothic romantic suspense novels that I used to love reading growing up. They were my absolute favourite stories and this tale just made me feel all nostalgic and reminded me of my fondness for these types of stories.

There are some books that seem like they would be for you but sadly aren't. This is one of them for me.

The elements that called to me like a siren song to pick this book up were that it was historical fiction with a gothic atmosphere and accusations of witchiness. For me, the witch aspects of a book are interesting when leveraged as a way to push back upon independent, educated, and rebellious women. Though I also like the trope of the healer, and community resource, as a witch. And therefore, I look for that spirit when I read witchy books. In this case, those aspects were not there and instead was a mysterious ability more akin to magic, and an ability that wasn't well understood by our young witch.

My challenge with the book was in its construction and voice. There is simply too much told that bogged the flow down and bloated the story. A stronger editing hand could have gone a long way in supporting a leaner and more dynamic way of telling the tale of this family of young women who move from Boston to a remote estate that may be haunted. The pace was dragged out when it could have moved much more swiftly. I was frequently pulled out of the narrative with thoughts of "ok, got it." and wishing the story would move more quickly.

But the other aspect that didn't work for me was the tone which read as overly dramatic. The characters are teenage girls, but even teenage girls aren't always in a heightened state. As such I kept thinking this was a YA story, though still not one that I felt engaged or entertained me. I am aware that this is the author's debut and hope that future works will evolve and get better in time.

I want to thank Netgalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

These days, I normally I do my best to stay away from stories that involve witchcraft. That said, this story caught my attention for several reasons. The time period location, premise and book cover intrigued me. Interestingly enough, Lydia doesn’t realize she is a witch, even though things keep happening... Though, while reading this story, I began to realize that it’s not centered on witchcraft-thank goodness!

There are many intriguing aspects to the story, including, an atmospheric estate, mystery, romance, and good character development. Overall, great world-building and it had the creep vibe factor-which helped drive the story and kept one’s attention.

A fabulous Gothic story with all the right elements to entertain you!

Stephanie Hopkins

Gothic thriller with flair! I really liked this one - it was the perfect read for me on a cold, stormy winter night. The plot kept me enthralled and I had to find out how it ended! Highly recommended!

Well that was a weak effort at evocative historical fiction. Hampered by a lackluster mystery and nonexistent character depth, though there is a decent effort at creating a gothic atmosphere. Meh.

I was disappointed by this one. It felt more like a romance than it did historical fiction. I wish it was better done bit I just did not like it at all.