"did i finish this book, or did this book finish me? "

"Trauma porn with pretty prose to distract you from the fact that this could have been a Colleen Hover book if Hover wanted to exploit the gays (derogatory). "

" โ€˜I fail to understand why men think violence will intimidate women. Women, who bleed all over themselves every month. Women who burst open in childbirth.โ€�

Virginia Feito has taken the tried and true โ€œgoverness in a creepy manorโ€� setup and gleefully dismembered it, figurativelyโ€� and maybe a little literally.

Our antiheroine, Winifred Notty, is a governess with some serious issues, like an unnervingly casual relationship with violence, a habit of daydreaming about revenge, and the kind of inner monologue that would make Patrick Bateman blush. She steps into the stately (and severely haunted feeling) Ensor House just in time for Christmas, bringing with her a suitcase full of sarcasm, secrets, and maybe a sharp object or two.

Feitoโ€™s writing is wickedly sharp! Like, โ€œyou might cut yourself on a sentenceโ€� sharp. One moment, youโ€™re laughing at Winifredโ€™s dry wit, the next youโ€™re wondering if sheโ€™s about to strangle a child with a garland. Itโ€™s gothic horror meets pitch black comedy, with a dash of holiday cheer and a hefty pour of madness.

A gloriously twisted romp through Victorian repression, class snobbery, and homicidal tendencies. Youโ€™ll laugh. Youโ€™ll cringe and youโ€™ll double check that your nanny doesnโ€™t have a thousand yard stare.

I absolutely adored my time with this book and give it my Highest Recommendation!"