I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately I got bored while reading and didn't enjoy it like I would have wanted to!

I loved reading The Honey Witch. All the components in this book, from the location, to the characters and romance, to the atmosphere, met my expectations and added to the overall story in a perfect way. I loved the queer representation and romance depicted in the story, and the use of Honey magic. This was a perfect little cozy fantasy.

Title: The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Publication Date- 05/15/24
Publisher- Random House
Overall Rating- 4.5 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Off the jump, pick this up if you are looking for a cozy, sapphic, fantasy. That’s really all you need to know.

The Honey Witch is a very wholesome, enjoyable and relaxing story. There’s not a lot to say in a review for a book like this, there’s not a ton of plot it’s mostly experiencing the story with the characters. If you require a lot of plot, you may not want to pick this one up. Sure, there are things keeping the story moving but they aren’t the main focus of the story.

This is a story about grief, sexuality, family, nature, hope, sacrifice and so much more. It isn’t typically a story I would enjoy but I was completely sucked in and wanted to follow these characters wherever they went. The environment is really important in the story and I felt connected to that aspect. The imagery of the spells and magic is very nature orientated which is something I personally gravitate toward.

The writing is magical and atmospheric, it was one of my favorite aspects of the story. If cozy fantasy is your thing you want to at least try this and bonus points if you enjoy the other aspects I have mentioned in this review. I can’t wait to see what the author publishes next.

The cover caught my interest but I stayed for the cozy fantasy vibes. It’s a slow and sweet read. Forbidden love and witchy women. What’s not to love?

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity

Very great story and story building

This is my type of fantasy book!!!!

This gave off all the cozy cottage-core vibes I wanted and was expecting going into it. Don't get me wrong though, there were high-stakes especially towards the later half. If that is something you need in your fantasy books, and not just slice of life, you'll get both here.

This book just had so much heart and I fell in absolute love with the sapphic ROMANCE we got. If you don't know (now you will), I do not usually vibe with sapphic romances in books. However, this book did it right. I fell in love with their love for one another and how it slowly builds and builds as the book progresses.

The only "problem" I had with this book was the pacing. The sweet spot (pun intended) of the book for me was definitely the middle. The beginning is quite slow-going and more character driven to then build the plot for the second half, which I prefer, but I can see some people not liking that. However, the part of the book I personally found an issue with was the ending. Everything felt quite rushed in order to wrap everything up, which could’ve been the fault of the first chunk being so slow. I guess what I am trying to say is I wish it were balanced better.

Other than that, I really enjoyed my reading experience and would definitely recommend this book to my friends!

I want to start by saying that I ordered a copy of The Honey Witch for my personal bookshelf before I even finished reading my advanced copy. I am not normally a fan of sweet, romantic, and whimsical novels (except for a few select authors) but the cover and title kept drawing me back in and I am glad I did. Marigold is my favorite type of heroine. Funny, smart, determined, and individual (without being "I'm not like other girls" trope). I admired her spunk and adored the cranky grandmother, Lottie Burke. They built a wonderful relationship as they both came to find and accept themselves. The best part of the story was that it didn't focus on finding love as the end all be all instead the story focused on acceptance for oneself to find happiness. The good vs evil battle, the charming cottage, and bees were a bonus.

I look forward to rereading this book and more by Sydney J. Shields.

I loved this book. It's a magical, beautiful story, with a slow burn that turns enemies to lovers with a one bed moment as well. I immediately knew I had to read it, cause come on, if it has Witches, you know I'm gonna read it. All the characters are well written and loveable. I really appreciate how queerness in this story is so normalized being set in the 1800's. There's magical spells, potions, honey and bees. It made me want to break out my spell book again.

This Sapphic, Witchy story is a beautiful debut novel from Sydney J. Shields and I can't wait to see more from them.

The Honey Witch was a spellbinding book filled with love and loss and finding oneself and I absolutely adored this story. It follows Marigold and her wild nature as she finally breaks free from society's expectations and follows her Grandmother to Inisfree to become the new Honey Witch. The imagery of the island and the concept of loving and taking care of nature was lovely. I also loved the magic system and her building relationship with her family and Lottie. The magic system was really cool and the imagery helped me to envision this story so well. Filled with mystery, magic, loss and love The Honey Witch is a magical witchy novel readers won't want to miss!

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=2.5ish | 😘=4.5 | 🤬=2 | ⚔️=3.5 | 17/18+

summary: “set” in England in the 1830s with a honey witch cursed to never fall in love and a girl who doesn’t believe in magic and it’s like a wlw romantasy thing but the romance part doesn’t start until a third of the way through?? but once you get to that point it’s literally only romantasy but before then it’s not at all???????

thoughts: so.

- genre!! what genre is this?? fantasy and romantasy are not the same thing. the first third of this is just a regular (kinda boring??) fantasy. and then suddenly the love interest is like an actual character and the main conflict is whether or not they will believe in the power of magic and fall in love and stuff. so.

- pacing!! consistent pacing is good!!!!! and in order to have solid pacing, you need to know what your genre is from page one. the first third or so of this was not romance-based or heavy at all, and then in the last bits of the book that was, like, the whole point. so it was confusing

- historical (or not)!! why does this story need to be set in the 1830s?? that should be something that is justified throughout your story. a vast majority of this takes place on a magical island exempt from Victorian era cultural elements and aesthetic anyway, so why was that necessary? the protagonist begins the novel complaining about how she doesn’t want to be a wife and mother and forced into a loveless marriage, but then there’s also some unchallenged queernormative aspects of the story later?? so like which oppressive standards are we cherry picking here?? also corsets aren’t evil or anything so respectfully calm down. also etiquette was not remotely followed at events!! you can’t just casually offer to dance every dance with the same man. that’s basically declaring your engagement?? like that’s seriously drama-causing!! one does not do that in 1831!!!!!!

- prose!! the prose and style was super boring to me. idk. it was trying to be formal (but not too formal), and just ended up sounding very dry?? a whole lot of simple sentences all in a row.

- dialogue!! speaking of historical inaccuracies 😭 so much of what these characters said took me out of the whimsical 1830s cottage world building—including, but not at all limited to “That’s the worst,” “Hey,” “Stop messing with me,” and “You’re a peach.” these are not things that people in a historical fantasy novel say! this is not 19th century-coded!! why does this have to be 1831!! be so serious.

- themes!! thematically, this was fine? I guess? I’m becoming more critical of books that rely super heavily on romantic soulmates as a necessity for obtaining ultimate happiness and fulfillment because it excludes much of the aro/ace spectrum and also in general tends to rob characters of their agency as far as actually falling for someone. but it’s fine. whatever.

idk. this was a big disappointment for me! I've been looking forward to this one for, like, a while. so that sucks lol

Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book, due to the direction the story was going. I absolutely adored the poetic and atmospheric writing, especially as a debut. It was a wonderful first book! But I found myself bored about half way through.

I will definitely keep an eye out for anymore upcoming books by this author in the future!

I was so excited to read this book and I'm so glad I did. I now want to be a Honey Witch and will look at bees differently now. This cozy fantasy hit all the right spots and made you feel like you were there. The character development was fantastic and you form such a bond with them. I will so recommend this book to anyone especially with it being Pride month. If you love cozy fantasy with an imaginative world this is definitely for you.

I love this book!
Sapphic witches sign me up immediately!

Sweet, romantic, and oh so cozy!
I think that if you're looking for a feel good book, this is definitely one to pick up!

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise is so interesting and I got a laugh out of the land of Innisfree (because it's a skincare brand that does have a honey line - I even had a flatlay in mind containing the products!). But there were parts where it absolutely dragged and I spent weeks not wanting to pick it up. While it does get better, it's rare that I actually enjoy a book very much after that.

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC.

The Honey Witch is a beautifully written book. It felt like a warm cup of tea and a hug. I love the cozy queer normative world that Sydney Shields created. This is easily one of my favorite books of all time. 5/5

I really wanted to love this one, but it wasn’t for me. I have high expectations, but I had to DNF at 40%. The writing was beautiful, but the pacing and plot was just not doing it for me. I think this one had a lot of potential, but overall fell short.

I had incredibly high expectations going into this book. An flf cozy magical romance focused around bees and gardens? Sign me up.

Unfortunately, Honey Witch suffers from pacing issues, over writing, and a lack of true chemistry between the characters. I think if the pacing issues were resolved others would be too. But the plot takes too long to start and the villain takes too long to make a real appearance. Added to that, the nature of the curse means that the main characters struggle to connect romantically.

I maintain that it has a great premise and I’m sorry it didn’t work better for me.

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately, it didn't quite meet my expectations. However, I believe many others would enjoy it. Although I appreciated the writing style, the enchanted world, and the characters, I felt that the romantic element was lacking. I was expecting a compelling sapphic romance, but the romance didn't really begin until about 40% into the book when the love interest finally visited the main character's house. The pacing felt slow, but overall, the book was still interesting. I had hoped for this book to be amazing, considering all the promising aspects, so I'm not entirely sure what didn't work for me.

The Honey Witch is a quick, enjoyable, sapphic read where a honey witch tries to be the best honey witch she can after discovering her power later in life, making a different choice for herself than society wants for her all while trying to break her family's curse.
The plot was very fast-paced and once it got going it did not stop. There is a diverse cast of characters that are well-developed and engaging.
I would definitely recommend checking out The Honey Witch!

I unfortunately did not finish this book. I found myself bored and not wanting to pick it up. I didn't connect with any of the characters. The story felt a bit rushed from the beginning, especially when the grandmother showed up. Marigold’s character had so much potential for me. The writing was cozy and lovely, there were some quotes I highlighted but so much started happening that it felt discombobulated. The dialogue was also a bit cringy to me. The vibes sounded so great, and the cover is stunning! I wish to read more of Sydney Shields, this was just not it for me.