I really loved the idea for this story and thought it had real potential, but unfortunately, whilst enjoyable, it fell somewhat short of that potential for me.

Set in a Regency style period but where same sex relationships are fully accepted, Marigold nonetheless feels different and struggles to find her place in society. Indeed, she prefers running wild in the meadows and communing with nature spirits over fancy dresses and balls.

When her somewhat estranged Grandmother arrives and informs her that she is, in fact, a witch and offers to train her to be the next Honey witch, Mari finally feels like she has a future ahead where she fits. However, there is a catch - Honey witches have been cursed by the Ash witch to never know true love. Nonetheless Marigold jumps at the chance to explore her magic and so leaves to live with her Grandmother on the tiny and magical isle of Innisfree.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the story and was excited for Mari to begin her magical training on Innisfree - however, whilst I enjoyed the nature descriptions, the pacing became rather slow and although the magic system was quite unique, other than basic protection it seemed to be more about love spells and enhanced lipsticks than true nature magic, which seemed a shame, because it could have been so much more interesting if it had been explored more deeply.

The theme of lonliness is explored well after her Grandmother dies and eventually Mari invites her local childhood friend to stay. He is accompanied by his adopted and sceptical sister Lottie, someone who has clearly been through a past trauma. The rest of the novel is then mostly focussed on the budding relationship between Mari and Lottie but, whilst I did enjoy this slow burn aspect of the novel and was indeed rooting for them, I did feel it came at the expense of the magical side of the story and I would have preferred more balance. The story actually moves away from Innisfree for a time during which we lose that magical nature connection.

Despite the fact that Marigold is is her early 20s the novel did, for the most part, read rather YA and the pacing unfortunately fluctuated. I correctly guessed the plot twist at 49% in but Mari only grasped it at 89%, leading to a rather rushed yet inevitable magical confrontation at the end where the curse is finally tackled. This was then followed by a ridiculously short epilogue.

In all it was an enjoyable read but it didn't fully live up to it's potential and I felt it needed more depth and more time exploring the magic of the nature spirits. As such I am rating it 3.5 stars - a good and enjoyable read but sadly not one I am likely to re-visit.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Orbit, part of the Little, Brown Book Group UK, for granting access to an electronic arc of this book for review.

This was so cute and fun and a really interesting story.

It is a sapphic romance with fantasy between marigold and Lottie.

The writing was so so good and beautiful descriptions. It felt almost cozy fantasy/romantasy at times.

A beautiful romance with fantasy about magic and witches etc so good!!

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields is a cottagecore witchy novel. This is the story of Marigold and Lottie.
 
Marigold doesn’t believe in magic, and she isn’t a fan of suitors. When she gets the opportunity to visit the small island of Innisfree, she immediately takes it and is trained as the new Honey Witch. I loved how Marigold got a bit more independence and she truly embraced it and is empowered through her magic.
 
Lottie is very skeptical of magic, and she is more of a loveable grump. She was the opposite of Marigold in a lot of ways, but this makes them fit together even better and they complement each other beautifully. Marigold tries to bring magic into Lottie’s life and through it they get a lot closer, and sparks start flying. But the Honey With is cursed and no one can fall in love with her and that added a great plot twist to the story. The writing style is vivid and magical, and I could basically smell the flowers and hear the bees and absolutely loved that.
 
Overall, The Honey Witch is an absolutely stunning debut and basically what I want spring to look and feel like. 5 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Redhook for this ARC for review!

The Honey Witch is a sweet sapphic witchy romance between Marigold and Lottie.

When I started this novel I thought I would get to the point to DNF because it was so slow at the beginning. But by mid way I really started enjoying Marigolds adventure to becoming a great Honey Witch. I loved the writing style and it kept me engaged.

I just wish the historical background had been a bit more realised. I don't think there is setting a book in the 1830s and not commenting on the time period. While saying that, I was glad that queer people were just accepted and it didn't matter. But as someone who reads a lot of historical romance, I like the ones that actually make use of the time period.

The romance was quite sweet and Marigold building her own small family around her is what I really liked about this story.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really, really, wanted to like this. I did. Just mot as much as I wanted.

Let's start with i liked. I LOVED the prose. The author writes in such a descriptive way without veering into purple prose territory, and I liked the descriptions of Innisfree. The first part of this book was splendid. I could almost picture the sunlight,and the honey, the spells, everything. I loved it all.

However, the main character is insufferable. She's exactly what's wrong with a lot of strong female characters in histfic and fiction. She doesn't want marriage, or the social roles that come with marriage, and that's all right. But she's quite rude to another girl who just wants a nice boy to notice her, mocking her when the girl leaves. She gets called out by her grandma for this.

Go. Off. Grandma. You tell her. She and Lottie aren't *that* different. Marigold is just as mean, but hides it behind smiles and courtesy. Speaking of Lottie, i LOVE her. She's a skeptic, which is kinda inconsistent with where she lives. Like, if you grew up on an isle with a grandma who is consistently successful with her spells or whatever, I think you might believe her, idk man. But she's a fun character.And Marigold gets ZERO development, I'm sorry.


Overall, three stars. If you like sapphic cozy fantasy, with bridgerton vibes, set in a queernormative world, then you'll like this book.

3 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

If you're looking for a low-stakes fantasy with cottage-core vibes, and a sapphic storyline, then The Honey Witch does all that. I often felt like I was reading a story that would translate well into a Nintendo Switch cosy fantasy game, full of quirky characters and a quest to undertake to save the isle of Innisfree from the bad Ash Witch, whilst making sure the villagers are happy, the beehives are well kept, and gardens are flourishing.

I can't decide if low-stakes fantasy is for me or not. This was just okay. I didn't invest fully in the storyline, often feeling like I was battling between reading a middle grade quest with juvenile characters and a very adult romantic storyline. From the start, I struggled with Marigold as the main protagonist. Partially this was down to the author's inconsistencies with the use of modern then period-appropriate language and dialogue - this is a historical fantasy with a Regency era backdrop. It felt clunky and incomplete in the setup, and the adult behaviour from Marigold was missing for a good portion of this novel which was somewhat confusing to get a true read on her, especially when this is being marketed as an adult read. Everything is unnecessarily dramatic until it's built into more mature scenes that I enjoyed slightly more but I felt as though I had a small case of whiplash from the change too.

I admit to enjoying from 50% on a great deal more until the ending goes very dramatic and unrealistic again. Whilst it made sense for the storyline to hold out hope for the romance, it compromised the fantasy element with some very convenient writing devices that I didn't find all that enjoyable and deflated some of the interest I had started to build. But I do repeat, perhaps I am not the right reader for this. I love cosy fantasy, but I do feel like I need some stakes to remain interested in character development and storyline progression, and The Honey Witch was a bit of an uphill battle at times for me to get through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of the book.

I absolutely loved this read. I knew I was going to love it even before I picked it up. The love between Mari and Lottie was everything. I smiled with them and I cried with them. I knew there was something about Lottie and had a theory about her, which proved to be not what I was thinking but it was a great plot twist all the same.

I can't wait to read Sydney's next work.

— 3 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Marigold's heart belongs to the wilder world. It is as if she is an extension of nature, a season of herself— summer, winter, spring, autumn, and Marigold Claude.”

📖 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 368 pages
👤 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sydney J. Shields
🏢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: Orbit, UK
📅 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 14 May 2024

What you can expect:
— Cosy Romantasy
— Regency Inspired Setting
— Third Person POV
— Singular POV
— Sapphic Grumpy X Sunshine
— Cottagecore & Studio Ghibli Aesthetic
— Slow Burn Romance
— Magic System Based On Honey
— Animal Spirit Companions
— Only One Bed
— Close Proximity
— Queer Fated Mates
— Found Family

The Honey Witch is a Cosy Romantasy by debut author Sydney J. Shields. Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who’ve tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a 'no one can fall in love with the Honey Witch' stipulation. When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy sceptic who doesn’t believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home—at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.

I went into The Honey Witch feeling ready to be swept away into a magical tale filled with love, magic and adventure. Author Sydney J. Shield's writing delivered on bringing the whimsical and enchanting setting to life before my very eyes. I often felt as if I was standing right alongside Marigold as she bravely ventured into this new era of her life, feeling her very wants and fears as if they were my own. Unfortunately when it came to character interactions, this descriptive writing often came across as stiff and unemotional. I very much wanted to connect with the cast of characters in its entirety and sometimes found that to be a struggle. My one other major struggle with this story was its pacing. I was having the best time during the first 20% as we get introduced to all of our major characters and the main lore of the plot. Getting to see Marigold start from the beginning and hone her craft as a Honey Witch was great, however this could have benefited from further description and interaction as opposed to being in the background. However from that point... I was lost. I'm still struggling to consider what actually happened throughout the middle portion of the book other than a slow and unfortunately dragging attempt at building character relations. The main plotline and conflict seemed to all but disappear until that final 20-15% which is a shame as I loved the beginning of the story and its end. The middle portion really let it down for me and whilst I understand the slow-pacing to be found in a 'cosy' book and a slow-burn romance... that typically compliments a persistent plot point to help further aid the story. I truly have nothing but respect and admiration for the author as for a debut The Honey Witch remains a beautifully written tale. I had just hoped for more from the plot itself, personally.

I enjoyed the complexities of Marigold's character and the flaws we see how work through. When we are first introduced to Marigold, she's suffocating. Suffocating under the pressure of her peers and their insistence that she fit into the societal mould that she knows deep down isn't who she is. All Marigold wants is to feel the freedom that she feels under the moon in her secret spot. Unfortunately this experience results in Marigold’s overall attitude and mindset towards love to seem quite bitter and dismissive. She's quick to scoff at a couple's act of love and even finds herself mocking a woman behind her back. I was really glad to see her grandmother, Althea, hold her accountable for this behaviour. Marigold’s path in life is not the only path to take, and she was quick to learn that the ability to choose which path you follow is a power and a privilege on its own. I was really proud of her overall character development and quickly grew to like Marigold as a character. I love that she has flaws and issues to work though as this made her easier to relate to and root for.

August was without a double my favourite of the trio with his boundless energy and unwavering loyalty. I thoroughly enjoyed his subtle yet well-intentioned actions in bringing Marigold and Lottie together. There's nothing better than a friend who sees the potential before the couple themselves ever do. Lottie was a confusing character to follow as I quickly figured out that she was the intended love interest. Without spoiling anything, her overall mannerisms and contribution to the plot definitely confused me. However I had a nice time getting to know this prickly woman and better understand the life events that moulded Lottie into the character that we meet. I definitely picked up on the plot twists surrounding her character and where her character arc was going, however still I enjoyed watching Lottie go outside of that hint of predictability and see her growth from beginning to end.

When it comes to the romantic development between Marigold and Lottie, I definitely found it to remain true to the slow burn element of the story until that final 20%. I thoroughly enjoyed the moments of pining and tension, however I did find that Magnolia quickly went from quietly loathing to quickly infatuated. Lottie was slower to catch on (that we saw), and things definitely unhit 'pause' in the last third of the story. As a couple I definitely enjoyed their interactions. The quiet and tender moments. The moments of laughter and joy. It was heart-warming to watch two young and lonely women fight against the odds to be together. I wish there had been more of a gradual growth to their development, but ultimately I was left satisfied with where the story was left off.

One thing that definitely confused me, and I don't want to go as far as to call it a gap in the plot but... also maybe? The curse placed upon the Honey Witch line was specifically placed with the intent to 'end their bloodline' as their curse made it impossible for them to love and be loved. This very quickly turned out to just... not matter? For starters, you don't need love to create a child. Secondly, Althea decided to forgo the natural way entirely and instead had a child through... magic? She literally used her magic to create her daughter, which bore no consequence as that daughter was able to go on and have children organically after cutting ties with her witch heritage. So for the purpose of the curse to bare no effect since the Honey Witch line continued without consequence confused me. It would've made much more sense to me personally, had the curse been intended purely to isolate Honey Witches and force them to suffer by seeing love around them and never able to attain it for themselves. Literally anything else but what is was, for in the end it was null and void anyway?

Don't get me wrong, despite my reservations with the story The Honey Witch is undoubtably beautifully written. With its sapphic romances and queer rep, its focus on grief and overall cosy setting, I definitely recommend this story to any who are considering it. Whilst I had higher hopes for this story, I urge you all to give this debut author a chance and make a judgement for yourself. What didn't quite work for me, may be the fasted five-star rating you could give.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐔𝐊 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

Where do I even START with this book.

Marigold hates high society, and honestly - I'm right with her on that one.

From the very beginning Marigold has always known she was different, brought up in Bardshire, she has no exceptional talent that she can put her finger on. She's not had a marriage proposal, and is yet to meet her 'Prince Charming'. For Marigold, these things interest her little. She does not want this life for herself and is determined to do anything other than marry off into a wealthy family and settle down and be the dotting housewife. Social events and Ballrooms are a bore, they say all is fair in love and war but she has been stung before - since then Marigold has chosen to close her heart off, in exchange to find her purpose in life instead.

When Marigold discovers she comes from a line of witches, specifically Honey Witches - her whole life changes. Sort out by her gandmother she discovers there is much more to what happened to her as a child. Her grandmother is the last Honey Witch left and has made it her life's commitment to protect Innisfree from the Ash Witch who has become consumed in becoming immortal. In order to be a Honey Witch, Marigold must accept she will be cursed and condemned to a lonely life.

When she meets Lottie Bruke, Marigold is struck with wonder. A woman who does not believe in magic. Who casts off the idea of it being real as some fantasy. Yet, Marigold is determined to make her believe that it exists. She is determined to prove that magic is here for the taking and to protect Innisfree from the harmful claws of the Ash witch who seeks to destroy this beautiful land. She will protect Innisfree at all costs no matter what it takes.

The Honey Witch is a warm, bubbly, endearing, magical whirlwind of a story and it was an absolute pleasure to read from start to finish.

Some of the themes include:
- Generational curses
- Found Family
- Budding Romance
- Self discovery
- a brave, kind hearted MFC
- a feisty, brooding love interest
- family dynamics

I found the detail that went into this book truly joyous, the imagery, the cottage, the land of Innisfree were all such fantastic visuals that I could imagine. The concept of honey witches and ash witches had me hooked and I loved the story behind their existence, and how this lead into Marigold self discovery, her friendships, and how it unravelled the bonds and family secrets.

I also loved how this was a slow burn and how natural the relationship between Lottie and Marigold developed, none of it felt rushed which was amazing given how this was quite a short read!

I'd honestly recommend this book to anyone.

I just felt this was a little bit “meh”.


The characters lacked depth, it had a pseudo-regency setting but while also mish-mashing in loads of LGBT acceptance and modern language. The characters read much younger than their stated ages, which then made the spicy scenes feel a little weird. The magic system wasn’t really that well developed and it all felt very YA.

It’s a miss for me.

"Love is worth the risk"
'What any woman wants for herself is no for you to decide. You would do well to remember that"

This was a bittersweet tale of love, loss and self-discovery. Marigold wants more from her life than just being a wife in the Bardshire society, feeling the pull of something more, something she can't quite understand, something that calls to her alone. Against her mother's wishes, she leaves to go to Innisfree with her grandmother, choosing to become a Honey Witch who vows to forsake love for her magic and the ability to protect the isle. She soon mourns the loss of her grandmother while embracing her new life, becoming lonelier as time goes on. Until one day, she is determined to prove a grumpy non-believer that magic is real. Her resolve is tested, can the curse really stop her from having both?

This is a beautiful meander along the countryside, with fanciful creatures and the humble bee playing an important role in Marigold coming into her powers and understanding herself. It is a journey of acceptance and honesty and the need to risk it all, in order to save everything.

I loved the relationship between Marigold and her grandmother, which was heartbreaking considering the short time they had together. I loved how she helped Marigold confront her own biases in the short time that they had together. That being said, it felt as though the part of the story where she was learning the craft was rushed, I understand that this was trying to convey how short a time that they had together but it just felt like it wasn't enough for her to be able to practice without the guidance of her grandmother. The tension between Marigold and Lottie was deliciously drawn out, pushing Marigold closer to testing the boundaries set by the curse.

Overall, this was an easy read that will be enjoyed by fans of cottage-core, regency-inspired, slow-burn romances. And how beautiful is that cover?

3.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to Netalley and Little Brown Book Group for the opportunity to read this story

This book had such cottagecore vibes with a soft magic system I hadn't seen before. The writing was very descriptive and often it was easy to imagine what was going on.

I liked the idea of honey magic, the concept itself was intresting as was the curse. The main focuses of this story was love and, to some extent death. Unfortunately I don't think either were explored as fully as it could have been. The love seemed very straight forward and the deaths were relatively predictable and such low stakes that the characters had very little emotional response.

I think the world was trying to be regency whilst being accepting but the blurred lines between the established strict society and then acceptance of love was pretty but didn't seem to entirely fit. Alot of people and relationships felt thrown in to try and distract from the obvious twist but if you are looking for a soft, cottagecore esk book I think this would suit you.

The romance tries to be forbidden but really isn't and the deaths are so glossed over you forget about them. Plus the characters I think the most interesting, the mother and grandmother are barely in the story which I think was a shame.

Overall I am quite passive towards it. This didn't feel like a story about a 21 year old and didn't have as much depth as I expected from the description.

Thank you netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review of the Honey Witch by #sydneyjshields

The Honey Witch is a story following Marigold as she finds her calling as the Honey Witch, but to discover her powers, she must forsake love as her family has been cursed!

I found this book really easy to read and enjoyed picking it up. I did, however, find that the story changed as it went on from being quite a YA cozy feeling fantasy, to then later on being more new adult romantasy. This could be viewed as a conscious choice by the author to show growth of character as they find their place in things but it didn't feel intentional for me.

I thought the way the author normalised same sex relationships was well done. The world building had some interesting elements but I feel some of the explanations didn't quite sit right, particularly the Honey witches and the Ash witches being opposites.

As a debut novel, this was enjoyable and Sydney will be one to keep and eye on for future works.

#thehoneywitch #netgalley #fantasy #magic #sapphic

Rating : 2 ★

The Honey Witch follows our main character Marigold, a young woman who doesn't want to conform to society's standards and what is expected of her. So when her grandmother unexpected visit reveals that she's a honey witch and now has a choice between love (marriage) and magic (power), it's without a doubt that Marigold chooses the later. Or so she thought ...

I adored the first couple of chapters of the book, the writing was beautiful and very quote worthy with lots of landscape descriptions but unfortunately it all fell down very quickly after that.
I loved the concept of the story and being in a cottage/witchy mood, i thought this book would be perfect for me but i have a few problems with the writing and plot that can't allow me to give it more than a 2 stars rating.

First of all the writing and writing style. As i said before i adored the descriptions of nature at the beginning of the book, there was something very magical almost lyrical but it very quickly felt quite repetitive and brushed over. Something else, more important and that i couldn't ignore was the contemporary language used for a story taking place in 1800s. The writing and especially dialogues clashed with the time period and felt so out of place which took me out of the story many times.

Something that might be more specific to my tastes as a reader was the cringiness of most dialogues as well. I'm sure most people found nothing wrong with that but for an adult book i found the way the characters were speaking to each other almost juvenile which now brings us to the characters ...

*sigh* if you expect some depth or dimension, you won't find that in this book. I didn't go into The Honey Witch expecting it but with that being said when the side stories are such a big part of the main story, a bit of background and work on those characters would have been appreciated.

If I'm being honest we have a lot of plot holes and an overall lack of explanations when it comes to 1. the magic system and 2. the story lines :

I wanted more out of the magic system. It was the main aspect of the book that pulled me in and i was left screaming for more. After Marigold accepts to become a Honey Witch, she immediately performs the ritual (which felt extremely rushed) and went to live with her grandmother at her island cottage. From there, the 'training' of becoming a honey witch must begin but where the hell is that training ? There's no true teaching/learning process, or none that is shared with us. It's a lot of "you'll see" from her grandmother and Marigold simply following her like a puppy and yolo ? I have so many questions, why does a witch have to perform a ritual to become a witch ? How does it even run in the family ? Why doesn't she train more ? If she did, why didn't we see that ? There's a grimoire of 6000+ pages and she only opens it once her grandmother passes away ? The fact that the magic is based on honey and ash in itself is questionable so, please, at least give us knowledge.

Each character had their own storyline, which was more or less important to the main story and plot but overall everything was brushed over. August was such a good side character and deserved much more depth and background on his own but also for his friendship with Mari. Lottie was supposed to be the tortured artist with a scarred past but felt very flat to me acting like an irritable brat and putting her ill-temper on the curse didn't make any sense to me. Her relationship with Mari wasn't enjoyable to me either, the whole 'hate me i love you, love me i hate you' isn't appealing to me.
Marigold family dynamic reminded me a little bit of what we have in Pride & Prejudice or Little Women and i wish we could have had a solid build up there to make it less artificial and fake.

I smelled the conflict miles away, as soon as Marigold met Lottie actually and had no surprise at how everything turned out. This wouldn't have been much of a problem if the resolution was satisfactory enough but it was so extremely rushed and abrupt that i was left disappointed.

The character's interactions seemed extremely YA to me and we had all the tropes attached to it : enemy to lover (or the sorry excuse of one) and the one bed trope.

Maybe i was expecting more cute witchy vibes with a light romance in the mix, maybe i was expecting a contemporary story, maybe i wanted more spells and potions ... i don't know but The Honey Witch, unfortunately, wasn't it.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately DNFed at 40%, I just couldn't push further than that!

I was really anticipating this book so it really saddens me that I didn't enjoy it. The book does read more like a YA in my opinion. I didn't enjoy the dialogue, the magic system was simply vibes (not bad but it felt a bit limitless), the characters felt a bit flat (mind you that the love interest has yet to be introduced to me at 40% in). I know this is a cozy fantasy, but there really was no story.

I really wanted to like this :(

Thank you so much to Orbit Uk and Netgalley for approving me of an ARC. The Honey Witch sounded like a really cozy fantasy which I am always a big fan of, and I was so excited about the fact that it's sapphic! Sadly I had to DNF this @ 20%. The story sounded really interesting but I wasn't connecting at all with the main character and the way this was written. The characters felt very one dimensional to me especially Marigold - and although in theory I would've loved Marigold's character, I feel like the execution was a bit dull and stereotypical. It's so sad that I have to put this one down because usually I've always loved or at least enjoyed the releases but this one was just not for me.

3.75 stars

The Honey Witch was one of my most anticipated book releases of the year, and while the pace at the start was a bit slow it was still an enjoyable cozy read, I loved the queernormative regency world the story takes place in.

A few criticisms I have are that I did feel like the romance was a bit rushed at times, and that I felt that the writing style over explained some points, while I wish that I could have learnt a bit more about the magic system. There was also a quite obvious plot twist early on in the book that isn't revealed till near the end, which was a bit frustrating. Despite this I would still recommend it if you want to a read a witchy sapphic romance book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group and Netgalley for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

The Honey Witch is a cosy, cottagecore dream for the first half (or so) of the book, really taking its time to paint the beautiful setting and set up our main characters. Perfect for fans of Bridgerton & Half a Soul, the regency era setting and magic are an absolute perfect combination that gave me heaps of serotonin ✨

I’ll admit that the pacing of this book is quite strange - the first 30-40% felt quite long, but not necessarily in a negative way. Here we really got chance to get to know Marigold, her family, the society she lives within and fights and her longing to be that “wild woman” she feels inside. Some of the opening chapters were my absolute favourite and made for a promising start for me.

Once she begins her training, things started to fall apart for me - we loose a lot of time in Marigold’s journey of learning how to be a honey witch and I really wish we’d got to see more of her trial and error with her craft, and how she cares for the isle.
Weirdly, I almost wanted this to be a cottagecore version of Circe and to really feel that solitude; this would’ve gave Marigold the time to reflect on her previous relationships and connections with her family, all while honing her craft and being one with the island - instead August and Lottie lodge themselves into the plot and again, this is where things became confusing for me.

I like August as a friend to Marigold - he has unwavering loyalty, with the energy and enthusiasm of a golden retriever, which I love, but I just wish we knew what made him tick a little better and his character was rooted in something deeper.
Lottie was confusing to me - it was obvious that she would become the love interest of the story and the romance is really where I feel let down. It chalked up to feel very YA to me. There didn’t seem to be a lot of depth to their relationship and I still struggle to see who Lottie really is as a person, aside from pushing people away if they try to get close and being an artist with a tragic past. I feel as though the author tried to make this an enemies to lovers situation, but it fell flat for me and didn’t feel like a genuine hatred to love.

I won’t spoil the plot for you; however I found the conflict to be predicable and, again to touch on the pacing, over FAR too quickly!
All the “action” was within the last 15-10% and the ending had me honestly a bit irritated with how abruptly it ended.
(SLIGHT SPOILER HERE)
I wanted to know more of how Ash and Honey witches could live in harmony, but we weren’t left with much reconciliation on this.

Where I do think this book shines is in the atmosphere and setting. I absolutely adored the descriptive writing style, particularly with the isle itself and the cottage. This book is THE perfect spring/summer read - Shields does such an amazing job of really placing you on the isle of Innisfree, with all of its flora, fauna, bees and spirits alive and breathing on the page. The cover really draws you into the beautiful atmosphere and I truly didn’t want to leave the world she had created - I could so clearly see, taste, smell and hear the world “around” me and there’s nothing I love more than when a book can take you to another world like this.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read for me, but unfortunately let me down with the romance and pacing. I do think this is incredibly promising from a debut author, so I’m very excited to see what Shields turns her hand to next.

Thank you again to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this 🖤

I didn’t have many expectations going into this, I liked the title and the loose premise and NetGalley kindly shared an e-copy with me to read and review prior to release.
For me the writing style was a little jumbled. This is set in the 1800s and the writing sometimes feels of that time period but then at times, it feels too contemporary. From the very beginning, the story is rushed – we meet a witch Althea and find out she is close to death. We then meet Marigold and we learn she has 2 siblings, she feels slightly out of place in society and feels quite different to most people around her. Althea is her grandmother, tells her she is a witch and she needs to decide if she wants to live that life – she’s close to death and needs a successor, Marigold goes with her despite her own mother being very against it.
It happens SO FAST. There doesn’t seem to be much time taken to process the information, Marigold just accepts it very quickly and it just seems like we need to get this part out of the way to get to the main Witchy story. Her grandmother being ill is mentioned from the outset and I can’t help but think that maybe that information should have been withheld – there may have been more of a mystery as to why her grandmother chooses now to tell Marigold all of this, we could have pieced together the signs of her being close to passing which would have made the passing feel much more emotional.
There is a lot of telling not showing and not enough real development to bring you into the story. As Marigold is a Honey Witch, she has an affinity with bees and there is a lot of description of bees and the harvesting of honey and potions which is nice and does slow the pace down, I just wish that was applied to the main plot and the character arcs so they felt a bit more rewarding and you have some time to really connect with what’s going on.
With the vast amount of telling not showing, I feel that the story and some important plot points were way too predictable. The romance element is one of these, though it’s very tender and sweet and the general feeling of the romance in this story is predictable from the outset, moves very quickly and left me struggling to connect.
Generally this book had some lovely moments and it did have a lot of potential but I felt it needed a lot more finessing. We could have had more development of the magic system as it felt very loose with unexplained elements. I thought it was too rushed, if more time was given to plot and character development, this would have resonated more.
If you like a very cozy romantasy with sweet romance and very mild conflict, then you’ll like this. I just needed more from this.

Thank you to RedHook and NetGalley for gifting me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was my saddest DNF of the year, I wanted to love it SO bad. The author’s descriptions were so beautifully crafted. I don’t often feel immersed in fictional worlds when I read, but that is what kept me going to 45%.

I felt the prose was too much and was at the expense of the pacing and plot. It also had a decently bad case of telling vs showing. Once the initial charm wore off, I kept waiting for something more to happen and could not get into the storyline. While this book was not for me, I can see many regency or cottage core readers enjoying it. I look forward to reading any future works Sydney J. Shields releases.