Netherford Hall

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I really wanted to like this one more than I did.

Netherford Hall is the start of Natania Barron's paranormal Austen retellings. This particular book is a queer Pride and Prejudice retelling with witches, and vampires. I love anything related to Jane Austen, and you all KNOW how much I love paranormal romances, so yeah, I jumped at this one. Unfortunately, it didn't really HIT the way I wanted it to. I don't think it's really the author's fault, either. I think this one is fully on me.

Netherford Hall is written GORGEOUSLY – Natania Barron is an AUTHOR, I just found myself not really caring about the characters, one way or another. I did like how bright Poppy was, but I thoroughly did not care about Edith, like, at all. She had a horrid backstory, and a horrible event happen to her and her family and it just didn't feel like she cared very much? It would have been nice to see some emotion on page, instead of her being sooo stoic. I know she's supposed to be Darcy in this Pride and Prejudice retelling, and that's literally what he's known for, but still. I want to care about the characters, especially the main two!!

The background / additional characters were lovely, though. Tons of representation – POC, queer, etc. All well done, and without really drawing attention to it in any particular way. This version of Britain is perfectly content to let people live their love lives however they want, which is so very refreshing. I wish more romances were written like this – we have enough prejudices in real life, thanks, we don't need to read about them, too! (Not all the time, at least) I really adored Edith's uncle, Auden, and I hope that we see more of him in future books.

I have an ARC of the next book in this series, The Viscount St. Albans, but I'm not sure I'm going to dive into it right away. I might need a bit of a break before I jump back into this world. Hopefully, I like the next book better than this one. Three and a half stars.