excellent book. was so excited to receive this ARC. it became one of my top favorite reads. cannot wait to read more from this author.

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me and I DNFed at 27%

Thank you for the opportunity and I’m sorry me and the book didn’t vibe!

a novel that does hold potential but ends up being too heavy on exposition and rather clunky on a sentence level.

5/5 stars!
I loved this book and I’ve been recommending it to all my friends.
Bron was a loveable main character and while Darcy was often an arse, I loved their enemies to lovers arc.
Alongside the romance plot, there was just enough mystery and family fluff to keep me interested. I’m not a fan of books that are 100% romance so this had just the right amount of romance for me.
My favourite character was definitely Ada, I love when a child character is well written.

DNF review - Unfortunately the book didn't hook me quick enough which means my download ran out before I could try again. I love the idea of book retellings but this one wasn't for me which is a shame I love trying out new genres.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to review this.

This book expects you to be intermediate with your understanding of gender theory. You also need to be familiar with the beats and tropes of 19th century womens fiction.

This book is very atmospheric. There is a family in a large house that full of secrets and Bron is determined to uncover them all.

If you’ve been looking for a modern queer take on this classic tale this book is for you

Happy belated pub day to this debut novel! I was ecstatic for the premise of this queer novel before I even read it, and after reading it, I have lots and lots of thoughts. Admittedly, not all of them are fully formed yet, and some are positive and some are not. Let’s discuss, shall we?

The positives first, as always. The novel follows Bron, a character who by description seems to be non-binary but uses he/him pronouns, in what feels like a modern-day gothic romance novel. The likes of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters are clear inspirations, with the mold of Jane Eyre showing up as a canonic muse for the protagonist. I love those novels, and the pitching of this book as a modern-day, gender-fluid reimagining works. Bron operating as a “governess” for a young girl with suspicious origins, and falling in love with the mysterious and brooding older son nicknamed Darcy (who is also queer), is refreshing and fun. I was curious about the mysterious elements all the way to the end, and it kept me moving through the novel.

That being said, I take some issue with the way in which queerness is treated in the novel as a recurring theme. I don’t need every book with queer representation to be making powerful strides in queer theory and the representation of what it means to be a queer person. But this book pitches itself as a story that reimagines classic novels with a queer lens, something that I would imagine includes details and nuances specific to queer identity. I expected conversations regarding gender identity, presentation, even something giving slight nuance to the topic of pronouns. Instead, Bron’s character is borderline spineless, refusing to take pride, ownership, or responsibility for his identity, and he carries a shame about his identity and overarching self-loathing throughout the entirety of the book that becomes quite difficult to root for or feel is adequate and appropriate representation of queer identities. With no boundaries being pushed or realistic/meaningful conversations being had about the slew of queer characters in the book, it fell decently flat. Overall, I give this novel 2.5 ⭐️

*Thank you again to NetGalley and Black and White Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This was a beautifully done historical novel, I cared about the characters in this story. C.A. Castle has a great writing style and left me wanting to read more like this. I was invested in the characters and how good they were written.

A romance mixed with mystery and found family, with the feelings of classic literature, the Manor House governess is a book for anyone who loves the found family trope, showing complex and loveable characters, and a fresh and different take on a contemporary story

Balm for the soul this book, honestly.

Thankfully, it wasn't exactly the enemies-to-lovers theme which mostly annoys me. Instead, it was way more: love, intrigue, making up your own version of normal – no matter if it is linked with being non-binary, friendship generally, and the expectations and judgments that comes with meeting new people. I especially enjoyed the meeting on the train that turned out to be a sort of surprise.

'How can men get away with all sorts of trickery, and yet it is nonconfirming people like himself that the world is taught to fear.' (31%)

Yay for fluidity and not confirming! I highlighted lots more, but let's stick to this. And give a well-deserved place on my books-that-matter shelf on Goodreads.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Interesting genderqueer take on a regency novel. References to Jane Austen and good description didn’t quite save the storyline which was oddly paced.

This book was absolutely beautiful. It was so fun to read and I enjoyed the regal time period feel: I am a huge fan of Jane Austen’s setting and this book gave me a modern twist on it. It also reminded me of Bridgerton. I enjoyed it so nuch

2.5 stars somewhat generously rounded up to 3 stars

Where do I even start? Let's go with the handful of things I actually enjoyed about the book. The overall concept was great. A queer, genderfluid governess sweeping gender norms and expectations takes a job and gets the aloof, uptight son of his employer to fall in love with him. I like a good story where a character finds themselves and goes out into the world confident. It had potential. Tie in a little bit of drama with a mystery at the center, and you have even more going for you. Bonus points if it's an Own Voice story. Unfortunately, that's where the good parts end, in untapped potential and a dash of positive representation.

This book wanted so badly to be a regency novel that made a statement about gender and queerness, but it did it very poorly. At least half of the conversations about being queer, genderfluid, trans, etc were dumped awkwardly in the most random places, like sticking a round peg in a square hole, It got crammed in there, sure, but it didn't work well and stood out in a not great way. It made for a very bumpy read, which is disappointing because important points were made. I think with a little polish, this aspect could have been much smoother.

When it came to the regency novel bit, well, if you want to write a regency novel, just write an actual regency novel. No need to dress it up as a modern novel. The writing style very much read like an old-fashioned novel in everything from descriptions to dialogue. You'd be reading along, half-convinced you were in the 19th century enjoying masquerades, furtive flirting, and social intrigue when suddenly in the next paragraph someone is pulling up email on their phone or responding "C U then x" and ruining the whole mood. It just didn't work well AT ALL. And I get that the MC is into these novels, so if it had been first person, all from his perspective, I could see him dressing up things in his mind, but even then the dialogue would have been modern. As it was, the dialogue felt forced and stilted. I may not be a rich British man, but I have a hard time believing anyone in modern British society actually talks like that. It felt very unnatural and messed up the flow of the entire book.

And while we are discussing the MC's love of classic literature, I find it somewhat unbelievable he wouldn't have known who Christopher Marlowe was. I can see maybe not having read much from him or not being as big of a fan, but to not know who he was at all? I don't buy it.

The overall writing style, regency want-to-be or not, was quite rough in places. People would be having normal conversations and then it would be interrupted. Sometimes the interruption was a summery of the rest of the conversation instead of just letting it play out, only to dump you back into the conversation a couple sentences later. Other times the interruptions were the MCs internal ramblings giving you a needless background info dump. And the way it switched from present to past (sometimes very recent past) was awkward and lumpy. It was sometimes hard to keep track of what was going on. Either way, it did not flow well at all.

Now for the story itself. There honestly wasn't much of a plot, which made for a very dull read. I found my mind wandering more than once and had to force myself to pay attention. It was a lot of the MC practically stalking Darcy, Darcy avoiding the MC, them making amends, and the whole thing repeating. I didn't feel any connection between Bron and Darcy. I wasn't rooting against them, but I honestly didn't care if they got together. They had zero chemistry, even in the middle of making out. The way Darcy treated Bron was off putting (obviously meant to be a nod to the original Mr. Darcy but done poorly) and, as I said above, Bron was basically stalking Darcy. He was constantly watching him and looking for excuses to sneak into his room and every STOLE A PAIR OF HIS UNDERWEAR TO JERK OFF TO. Like, ew. No. It was more creepy than endearing.

The hostility between characters didn't really make sense. Years had evidentially passed, but it was all treated as a fresh wound. The big "secret" was clear as day so the "big reveal" wasn't really all that big. But did that stop the author from writing a long, rambling section where the MC made up scenario after scenario of how things surely went down? Hahahaha Nope. So many pages wasted on speculation that ended up being only half-true at best. It felt a bit like the author was trying to hit a word count for the chapter and decided to throw this part in to hit it. (I fully admit I skimmed most of it because it was tedious and did nothing but delay the actual progression of the plot.)

Most of the side characters were flat or straight out annoying. I really don't think I liked any of them, if I'm entirely honest. They were NPCs strolling in and out of the story with their rehearsed lines. They all could have died tragically (one of them kind of did) and I would've shrugged and turned the page.

And the ending was, well, not exactly bad, but it wasn't good either. After pushing myself through the dregs of this book I wanted a crisp, happy ending. And while it wasn't unhappy, it was abrupt and a bit open ended and terribly unsatisfactory.

And honestly, I could go on about what I didn't like, but we'd be here all day. Suffice it to say I did not enjoy this book, despite it promising many of the things I love in a story. I came very close to DNFing around 30%, but since I don't review books I DNF, I basically hate-read it so I could finish and leave a review. There was also some piece of me that hoped it would get better and live up to it's potential, but alas, that was a wasted dream. I can't really say I recommend this book, but since there's nothing inherently problematic or wrong with it, I'm sure there's an audience out there somewhere who will love it. I'm just not part of it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

Great concept but execution was a bit lackluster. A gender fluid retelling of Brōnte/Austen era literature drew me in, and Bron goes through a coming of gender age story throughout that is a delight to read. I was drawn in for the first few chapters, but then the writing struggled to keep my interest.

However, the story takes place in the 21st century but is written in a 17th century style that made it confusing to really know when this story took place. I think the overall story would've benefitted by taking place in the 17th century (with that suspension of belief regarding acceptance of queer people) and the story would've been richer for it.

I'd love to see a sequel that follows more of Ada's story as she grows up!

Unfortunately DNF’d at 27%

This is definitely someone’s book, but it just wasn’t working for me. I found myself unable to care about any of the characters and found like the way the important themes were explored such as gender, sexuality, class and education were all missing the mark for me.

surprisingly nice and quick read. it took some time to get into, but from the third chapter onwards i really started enjoying it. the book manages to combine the romantic vibes from classics with more contemporary discussions of gender and class differences, which was refreshing. the only thing that kind of disappointed me was the very odd pacing at the end.

Stifled by the rigid rules at an all-boys boarding school, orphan Bron found refuge in books and movies. Now an adult, he takes a job tutoring at opulent Greenwood Manor, where the warm Edwards family embraces Bron's unconventional gender identity. Yet eldest son Darcy remains aloof. When a fire disrupts life at the manor, Bron uncovers secrets reminiscent of his beloved books. Amid this turmoil, Bron's growing feelings for Darcy further tangle his search for answers.

This contemporary Gothic romance is more Gothic than romance. The characters are wonderful, the mystery intriguing, and writing style engrossing. I couldn't put it down.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This is an unusual book in that it is set in the 21st century but written very much in the style of 19th century literature. There are numerous nods to various authors and but particularly the Brontes and Jane Austen. It was like reading a period drama with mobile phones and internet! Centering around Brontë Ellis ‘Bron’, a gender-fluid teaching assistant (who uses the he pronoun) who has obtained a new job as a tutor, at Greenwood Manor in Cambridge, to a rather precocious 9 year old called Ada.

Briefly, Bron has spent his life trying to be comfortable in his own skin and for the first time he feels truly accepted by Mr Edwards and his daughter Ada. But when Mr Edwards son Darcy is added into the mix Bron is confused, about his feelings for Darcy, and Darcy’s for him. As a reader of 19th century literature it was pretty clear where the story was going but that was fine …

The story is quite simple and to me seemed secondary to Bron and his coming of age story. A slow burner that is atmospheric, gothic in style, and emotional with a constant undercurrent of confusion on the part of Bran. Full disclosure in that I did find some of the modern references and language grated a bit in the literary style used but that’s probably just me. I enjoyed the book, the main character was wonderful and the storyline pleasant. A gentle read paying homage to a gentler time in literature.

Brontë (Bron) Ellis is tired of his teaching-assistant job at St Mary’s all-boys school. Given the chance to become tutor to a precocious young girl from a wealthy family, coupled with an opportunity to reinvent himself in the university city of Cambridge, Bron sets off without a backward glance. He is welcomed at Greenwood House, where he tentatively begins to feel more himself, exploring his own identity and sexuality, until he uncovers secrets he doesn’t expect to find in the freethinking Edwards family.

Admittedly, this novel is not what I expected but, being a fan of historical novels, I was lured by the idea that it might be a reinvention of the Jane Eyre classic. It is a well-written gender-bent exploration, but didn’t hold my attention as much as I would have liked, and in places the plot forgot its pace, which, unfortunately, didn’t have me reaching for the next chapter. This will appeal to lgbtq fans who enjoy the appeal of 19th-century classic literature woven through a contemporary setting.

Ended up DNF at 25%. I tried really hard to love this book but it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t look myself in the main character like i normally can.