Unfortunately I didn't love this one as much as I wanted to. Everything about it should have worked but it just didn't. It may be I just wasn't in the mood for a book like this and I am definitely willing to give it another shot later.
I will say I can definitely see other people really enjoying this one. The writing is beautiful and the setting is amazing. The concept is unique and the mc is great. Like. I said it has all the elements for a perfect 5 stars it just wasn't in the right mood. I would definitely say check it out.

The Honey Witch is a cozy fantasy that I found to be an excellent palate cleanser. This story of a girl taking over as the honey witch is enchanting. I love a good witchy romance and this one doesn’t disappoint. It has great queer representation. If you are looking for an uplifting and heartwarming fantasy look no further.

- I both loved and was frustrated with THE HONEY WITCH. I adored the isle of Innisfree, with its beautiful cottage and friendly spirits and bees. Truly, the beauty of nature is on display in this book.
- I also loved the romance element of the story. The concept of bringing a skeptic around to believing in magic and falling in love along the way was so sweet.
- However, the world building of this book left a lot to be desired for me. Unrelated magical powers popped up when they needed to, the rules of society were never quite clear, and the plot reveal at the end was so obvious so early on that it actually became frustrating waiting for the characters to figure it out.
- This book also kind of confused romantic love and physical intimacy in a way I didn’t like. I don’t want to go into it here due to spoilers, but I’d love to talk about it if you’ve read this book.

The Honey Witch 100% delivered on the whimsical, cozy fantasy vibes that I was expecting going in, and I couldn't be happier. If you are wanting to find a cottage-core, delightfully magical story centered around family, friendship, and self-discovery, look no further. 

I honestly feel like this book was made for me—nature-based witchcraft, an overabundance of plants, a grumpy/sunshine sapphic romance? And all wrapped up in a regency-inspired setting? There's even a cat. What else could a girl ask for? Sydney J. Shields did an excellent job creating a world that felt so incredibly real. From the characters to the setting to the magic, I felt like I was truly immersed in the story while reading and loved every minute of it.

As far as the characters go, Marigold and Lottie together were everything. The blossoming of their friendship, and ultimately their relationship, made my heart so happy. I loved every interaction that they had with one another, and the banter and sass were excellent. And don't even get me started on the ship scene... and the inn scene... I was literally screaming and kicking my feet; my little heart couldn't handle it. I also appreciated the growth that both Marigold and Lottie go through after they start becoming more involved in each other's lives. I liked the other characters as well (August, Mr. Benny, Marigold's siblings and parents). I particularly enjoyed reading about the time that Marigold and her grandmother, Althea, spent time together on Innisfree while she was training to be the next honey witch.

Speaking of Innisfree, I could spend literally the rest of my life there, and I would die happy. To be surrounded by bees and fields of flowers on a sunny day and go home to my cozy cottage at night and have a cup of tea by the fire—what a life! The whole place gave off strong Studio Ghibli vibes, and I was loving it.

The magic system was unique, and I was really intrigued by the concept of the honey and ash witches. The power that went along with both was interesting to read about as well, especially the honey magic. How Marigold interacted with the bees and the concept of the different types of honey for different uses was cool. I also appreciated that while there was clearly fantasy type magic happening, the witchcraft itself that was practiced felt similar to that practiced in the real world today. I loved the take too that Marigold wasn't just immediately a pro with her honey magic and that we actually got to see her learning, practicing, and putting in hard work over a long period of time. 

While I did end up enjoying this book greatly, the first 20% or so was a little hard for me to get through. The writing (mostly dialogue) in the beginning was... odd. In my opinion, it didn't flow well when characters were speaking with each other, and some of the wording itself was questionable. However, after the 20% mark, this seemed to get better. Another issue I had was with pacing near the end of the book. There were time skips happening that didn't quite register with my brain, and I had to go back several times to re-read sections because I felt like I had missed something. The foreshadowing got repetitive as well and was, in my opinion, rather obvious, which made the ending less satisfying.

Just a heads up: please make sure you read the trigger warnings for this book! While this may have been a mostly cozy story, there are plenty of darker elements involved also. Loss and grief, especially, are discussed at length. Gonna be honest, I cried multiple times even without having an issue with the triggers.

Overall, I found The Honey Witch to be an excellent debut and am definitely looking forward to reading more books from this author!

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This one was cozy and delightful, but I also found it soooooo slow to start that it really took me quite some time to get hooked. I’m still glad I read it, but wish I’d have had an easier time getting into it!

The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love--and twenty one year-old Marigold Claude has made her peace with that. Whisked away to the family cottage on the tiny island by her grandmother, Marigold looks forward to the solace and magic that comes with the title of Honey Witch; she's never had much interest in true love anyways.

However, when disgruntled skeptic Lottie Burke comes to Innisfree and winds up on Marigold's doorstep, Marigold makes it her quest to prove to Lottie that magic does indeed exist. But as Lottie and Marigold become entangled on Innisfree, a darker magic is stirring and threatens to upend more than Marigold can afford to lose.

And what ensues, dear readers, is what should have been a sapphic cottage core delight of a story. I say should have, because for as much as I desperately wanted to love "The Honey Witch," I found it much too slow to connect to and I rode the waves of that boredom through the final chapter. What Sydney Shields attempted in her debut is a sugary sweet, queer love story that is everything a reader could want, but the characters felt one-dimensional and ultimately fell flat for me. Looking back, this is one I could have DNF'd but I was determined to see where it would go; regrettably, that turned out to be not much of anywhere.

I really wanted to like this but the writing style was not for me. I DNF’d this at 16%. It felt like we were just being told everything that happened after the fact in a very abrupt, disconnected way. It seemed to lack emotion and I could not connect with the characters at all. I may pick this up at a later date to try it again because I love the premise.

Thank you to NetGalley, Redhook Books, and Sydney J. Shields for the opportunity to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love love LOVED this book. It was whimsical and funny and just spoke to my soul. It was the perfect mix of cozy fantasy, romance, and heartwarming self discovery. I laughed, I cried, and I screamed and kicked my feet. There’s a reason I’ve featured it so many times on my Instagram feed. I’m completely obsessed. The characters resonated with me on a deep level and I could not put it down. Chefs kiss. 5/5 stars. No notes!

This one just did not work for me. Cozy fantasy as a subgenre is often a hit or miss one though I keep picking them up because of those times it has hit so I am not necessarily the *perfect* audience for this book. The cozy vibes were the one thing that I thought were done really well. Shields really nails the atmosphere of Innisfree. And if you're a cozy fantasy reader who just wants to ready cozies for the vibes I think this book would work really well for you. However, I want more than just vibes and that's where this book ended up falling apart for me. The world building in this one felt loose to the point that the bits that were included often didn't make sense. And I'm not one to naturally get nitpicky about world building. I also just found most of the book to be too boring for my personal taste as I need plot propelling me through the vibes not just the vibes. The writing also was a miss for me. It felt too twee, too juvenile at many points for an adult book about adult aged characters, and weirdly dramatic at random bits sparsed throughout.

Unfortunately, this wasn't for me. I wanted more from the plot--the antagonist was mentioned once and then didn't come back until the last twenty pages for the big showdown and I wasn't invested in the main relationship enough to make up for the lack of action. Fans of cottagecore will certainly appreciate this, though!

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The perfect read for Pride month for all fantasy lovers, I really enjoyed this sapphic witchy book!

This was a cute, quick read. I loved the premise and the characters. The writing was a little stilted, and the dialogue felt disingenuous. Definitely feels like a first novel.

*3.5 stars*

Y’all, the VIBES!! This book gave me everything I was looking for in terms of cozy, summer, cottagecore, and witchy vibes. The audiobook narrator only added to the vibes in the *best* way. If you are looking for a relaxing, summer, cozy fantasy, definitely consider picking this one up.

I connected with the MC from the very beginning with her desire to avoid filling her dance card with awkward men and to instead run barefoot through the woods under the blue moon. And oh how I WISH I could communicate with bees and work magic in my cottage using herbs and honey (not to mention commune with spirit creatures). The relationships are slow and sweet and I loved watching Lottie slowly let down her walls. Oh! And Mr Benny! I wish I could give him a big, tight hug!

I will say that The Honey Witch is a fairly slow paced story. I didn’t find myself with the “I NEED to know what happens!” type of drive to read. But I mostly listened while doing my chores and man was it a lovely soundtrack to my late-spring days.

Thank you for the ARC copy @orbitbooks !

What an incredible debut and so different in the best way from what I imagined. Like Shields herself describes, this gives me Practical Magic vibes but make it sapphic. I loved our main duo, and although I had my suspicions for the *twist* from very early on, it didn’t take away from its reveal or how it played how. Shields has a way with words that stuck with me and the use of symbolism like honey and ash is beautiful and impactful. I pocketed so many phrases to look back on later. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next as I know she’s just finished her second book and I’d highly recommend this one. Good pacing. Beautiful prose. Great characters.

This was incredibly magic, and I have realized that bees can hold the same tenacity and magic as dragons can in our big fantasy books. I loved the entire magic system in this book, and really warmed to the connection of the main characters relationship with her grandmother. While the cover sucked me, the story held me in because it was charming, sensitive, and as sweet as honey.

Another cute cottagecore book for a win!
For a debut I was presently surprised with the writing style and the magical world that was built with honey and bees.

The love story didn't feel forced and you could really feel the love that Lottie and Mari had for each other even though Mari was cursed to never find her soulmate.

I did see where the story was going to go from the beginning but it didn't take me out of the story.

I recommend this book if you want a simple story about love and magic.

UUUUGH I am frustrated, slightly. I feel like The Honey Witch could have been a 5 star… if it didn’t feel like it had to have that stereotypical witch storyline of good vs evil. I would have scraped the “bad witch” from the whole storyline because it felt forced and took away from the heart of the story. Something else could have been introduced to add a third act conflict. As it is, The Honey Witch has cozy witchy vibes, with our MC being totally connected to her witch roots. She is sunshine, and once she got together with her friends and tried to get her counterpart grumpy woman to BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Loved that entire plot line. The characters interactions went between genuinely heart warming, to sometimes feeling kind of stiff and going through the motions vibe. Felt like certain interactions could have a second editing pass through. But OVERALL? It was such a great spring read. Cozy, the romance had sparks, the setting was spectacular. I wish we had spent more time with the spirits of the island, and maybe making connections with the villagers. It felt like a video game a little bit, I think if you like something like Starvalley you would like this as well. However, the villain is incredibly 2d and predictable. It felt like something that just had to happen because you NEED a bad guy in the plot? (You don’t really…)

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This story is a queer saffic cottagecore story about a beekeeper and magic and danger.
I love being able to see some classic tropes like grumpy/sunshine in queer space. Everyone deserves a cozy romance and I just ate that up! I think you need to walk into this book with no expectations because it is unlike most things you have read. While it had a slow start, when I finished the story, I enjoyed it!

This was such a cozy read filled with magic, witches, forbidden love, generational curses & friendships. This was the kind of book that you get attached to the characters and wanting to know more about them. I had an amazing time reading this, thank you for the adventure!

Thank you for this arc!

The Honey Witch has one of my absolute favorite covers of 2024. It is absolutely stunning. I was really excited to give it a try. Sadly, it didn’t really work for me and I ended up DNFing at 30%.

I really struggled to connect emotionally with this story. The writing style reads quickly and feels accessible but it just didn’t go in depth with the emotions the way that I prefer. The world sounds stunning and I love the witchy vibes, but I always felt like I was being kept at a distance. The part of the story that I did read felt a bit too generic for me and after reading the last page, I realized I predicted much of it already.

I have friends that are excited to give this book a try so I’m happy to share my copy with them to hopefully get it a positive review then. I can see why it might appeal to other readers but sadly it just didn’t work for me.