Now that was a gothic! I had previously read Half a Soul, but still need to read the other books in this world.

Also, is there anything hotter in a Victorian novel than when two people touch hands without gloves?

Winnie is hired by an old friend to be a governess to the woman's young and rude grandson. Winnie is not at all a governess but she agrees because she is trying to do her own secret investigation at the house. Upon arriving to the house, she meets a butler... and then the cook says they don't have a butler. Turns out that there are faeries living in the house, and none of the staff can talk about it. Winnie's charge is a brat and his father is sinister, but when the faeries steal the brat, she must team up with the fae butler to rescue the kid and complete her own ~secret mission.~

I loved the dual human/faerie mirror house and the chemistry between Winnie and Mr. Quincy. I didn't really care too much about Winnie's secret mission, but I enjoyed the resolution. As a gothic novel, this had the innocent maiden, creepy house, knives, and ghosts that I enjoy. Plus, our MC is strong and smart and carries knives (biggest benefit of modern novels lol). I was also entertained by Winnie's skeleton cat familiar and am realizing that I really just love necromancy & pets in books?

This book takes place about a generation after Half a Soul. The current Lord Sorcier is a different Lord Sorcier than the one we used to know, but Lady Hollowvale's protection of the workhouse kids is mentioned. This is marked as the beginning of a new series, so while it takes place in the same world, it truly is a spinoff and I expect us to hear about Winnie, Quincy, and/or Robert in later books.

CW: like other gothic novels, themes include threats of sexual violence against the innocent maiden MC including childhood sexual abuse, grooming, and an employer harassing/assaulting his employee. If this is triggering, please be aware of this theme when reading other gothic novels.