I thought this was well crafted, with unique characters and although it took me a little bit to get into it, it was a great read! One to add to your list.

The Honey Witch is an imperfect but very sweet sapphic Regency romantasy about a young witch falling for a terse young woman who doesn’t believe in magic, all while a decades long magical feud threatens them all. It’s really nice- despite some criticism, I’d still recommend it as a book to read in springtime while sipping lemonade out in a park somewhere.
I really appreciated the familial relationships, especially between women, in this book. Marigold begins the story quite convinced that she’s “not like other girls” and the way her grandmother helped her both love her own version of womanhood while also recognizing the legitimacy and value of women who chose to live more ‘traditional’ lives was very sweet and felt true to coming-of-age. Yes, Marigold is a bit insufferable in the first few chapters, but I think that’s the point; Marigold doesn’t fit into the traditional mode of womanhood and thus pushes back out of lack of self-confidence. Her grandmother helps her recognize her own power and as Marigold grows into herself, Shields does a great job of making me come to love her. Marigold’s relationship with her mother is more complex and I loved it- their dynamic reminded me a lot of mine with my own grandmother, and I love that Shields lets Marigold’s mother make mistakes and still be able to seek redemption and love her daughter. I love my grandmother and Shields’s love and grief at losing her own reads through the story in such a beautiful way.
I also loved the way magic was depicted in the story. The need for balance between honey and ash was thematically relevant and the use of bees was honestly adorable. I just love honey bees. I liked the mixture of recipes that felt akin to the type of herbal medicine women historically did provide in small communities like Innisfree (especially around reproduction) and the more clearly magical elements. It was nice, small scale, and felt grounded by the toll magic could take on Marigold.
I liked Lottie as well, but this is where some of my more mixed opinions come in. Firstly, there’s a ‘twist’ involving Lottie that I called almost as soon as she arrived. It was very frustrating watching Marigold- who has shown herself to not be an idiot- be so oblivious to not one, but two, aspects of Lottie’s character. Lottie has an excuse to not notice because she begins the story firmly not believing in magic, but Marigold has no excuse. I think moving the reveal a little earlier would make the story a little less frustrating and leave room for more Lottie angst based on the discovery.
Most of the love in the story felt a little fast, but I did enjoy a certain side romance that developed despite this. I felt Lottie’s character in romantic scenes shifted a bit from her character outside of them- and having the romantic lead “growl” is just a personal pet peeve- but aspects of her and Marigold’s dynamic transferred very well.
In the end, a book I still enjoyed but that could have been so much better if Marigold and Lottie weren’t made to act stupidly a couple times in order for the plot to happen. I think Shields could have done this and it actually would have improved the pacing as well, so it’s just a bit frustrating. Still, a soft recommend for the magic system, depiction of friendships/familial bonds between women, and Lottie and Marigold being cute idiots at least!

this was one of my most-anticipated books of the year, and i'm sad to say it just fell short of my expectations. it had so many elements i love (and that i rarely see in combination): witches, a sapphic romance, a historical setting, nature magic, family curses... but none of these elements were executed well enough to make me actually care about the main character, marigold. overall, the writing felt young, and the dialogue especially felt kind of lifeless and clunky and just not true-to-life. it made the reading experience feel stilted. the romance was also lacking for me-- loved the sapphic representation, but i just wish the love interest had been more fully realized. i did find this book to be a quick read, and i didn't want to put it down despite never being crazy about it, because i really did have hope that this book could recover from its slow beginning! however, though this book did gradually get better as it went along, it just never quite realized its full potential for me.

thank you to the publisher for sending an e-ARC my way via netgalley!

This was such a sweet, cozy read. Cottage core meets cozy fantasy! It’s a slow paced story, perfect for a rainy weekend.

Marigold discovers she is a witch, and is whisked away by her grandmother to the tiny island where their magic is strongest. The trade off, however, is that no one can fall in love with her if she assumes the role of Honey Witch. It’s essentially a curse. Her grandmother has held the role, but she is weakening.

I was beyond excited to get access to an early digital copy. And the cover art? Gorgeous!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

1.5!

It is 1831 and Marigold Claude is the eldest daughter of a well-to-do family, there is nothing in the world she wants less than to get married. Left heartbroken by a former suitor, she dreads the fact she’s expected to get married and be someone’s wife. She’s also a little… different from everyone else, because she really likes to run around outside under the moonlight. Except this is because she’s a Honey Witch, and she jumps at the opportunity to learn witchcraft from her grandmother, regardless of the fact that their line of Honey Witches are cursed to choose between their power or finding true love.

I did like that this was a queer normative world and I thought the relationship between Marigold and her grandmother was lovely. The imagery was very pretty and the atmosphere was cozy. The magic, while a bit handwavy, was fun and fit the overall vibe of the story very well. I think it managed to maintain a level of whimsy without being overwhelmingly so. Shields explores themes surrounding love, grief, found family, patriarchy, and loneliness and I do think that these are compelling reasons to pick it up, even if I didn’t like how some of them were handled.

Unfortunately, this book and I did not get along. The premise of this was interesting and it seemed like it would have fun vibes (especially because I love bees!!!), but the execution didn’t work for me. This is in part because I didn’t realize the vibes here would be Regency (which is an era I don’t particularly get on with) and because I didn’t realize that this world would concern itself with soulmates (which is a trope I have not yet been able to gel with in original, published fiction). I don’t particularly mind Shields’ take that everyone has a soulmate, but it was deeply grating to read the way it was approached here. The idea that everyone has a romantic soulmate, and that being in love/with your romantic soulmate is the only way to feel whole and complete or just not lonely is pretty much the direct opposite approach to life that I have. I’m unsure why no one in this world is capable of finding emotional fulfillment with friendship or why marriage and love were so aspired towards, but it just irritated me to no end. Further, I don’t really understand how the curse works—it’s clearly designed to end the line of Honey Witches, but you don’t need to be in love or be married to have children. I don’t agree with the idea that romantic love is the solution to loneliness and so some of the things in this book were doomed to bug me.

I also struggled with the prose—it’s not particularly difficult to read, but I found that the writing style and present tense made the story read young to me, and there were times where I struggled to remember Marigold was not a teenager. Some lines were lovely but others felt very overdramatic, especially the lines at the end of a chapter. The dialogue felt stitled and the pacing was wild. I struggled with Marigold as a character and found her a little childish and righteously judgemental (and, more personally, someone I wouldn’t get along with) and the overall tone was much too twee for me. I thought the climax of the novel came a little too late and was resolved too quickly, but I do feel like Shields knew what the overall arc of the story was going to be, even if it was paced very strangely. Marigold and Lottie’s relationship didn’t really do much for me and the stakes were sort of… whatever, and as a result while this was a very easy read I wasn’t ever fully gripped. The writing wasn’t particularly subtle and while sometimes I’m okay with that, it didn’t work here.

This book and I got on like oil and water, but I think it’ll have its audience that loves it. This would be especially true if you love Regency vibes and soulmates and cozy in vibes and atmosphere with slightly higher stakes than what you’d imagine from cozy fantasy.

dnf @ 36%
 
i tried, really tried, to enjoy this book. this was genuinely my most anticipated read of 2024, so i am so disappointed it fell short for me.
 
i feel as though it was written inconsistently, like the author just wrote things down as they went.
i honestly believe it would’ve been a better book if it was written in first-person pov, or even if it was classified under YA rather than adult.

thank you to netgalley for providing with me with this arc in exchange for my honest review ♡

This was one of my most anticipated reads. I was very happy to receive the ARC and even more excited when Fairyloot announced they'd have this as their May pick. I am sure it is going to look amazing. That said, I am sadly going to skip that month. I felt the same as many other reviewers on Goodreads. I wanted to DNF around 30% in. I pushed through hoping it would get better but it just did not. I do not want to list all the issues I had for fear it would be too nitpicky and mean. I feel like the author had some nice imagery. I absolutely loved the idea of the story and I think it had so much potential. Unfortunately, I was not happy with it. I'm very disappointed to say this is the first time I truly anticipated something and felt this let down. I wish the author every success. Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for an early eARC of this book!

4/5

Description: Marigold Claude is given the chance of her lifetime: to be freed of the societal pressures of her home and live with her grandmother to become the next Honey Witch. However, there's a curse Marigold has to take on, which is no one can fall in love with her once she becomes the Honey Witch. But Marigold can't really focus on love as she's learning all her new witchy skills and learning to protect the isle of Innisfree and take care of the surrounding residents. Marigold must protect the land from the Ash Witch, who is the mortal enemy of the Honey Witch. But, love tries to find its' way to Marigold in the form of Lottie Burke, the resident grump of the town. Once Lottie claims magic isn't real, Marigold tries to win over her opinion...and Lottie in general. Will Marigold be able to protect her island and her heart?

All the good:
- The magic system is well thought out and I love learning more about the world. I'd definitely delve back in if Sydney writes a series.
- I like Marigold's motivations, they were consistent throughout the book and she is someone I would trust with my life.
- The relationship between Marigold and her grandmother is precious, I was almost moved to tears.
- The side characters in Mr. Benny and August were refreshing additions to the story, adding humor and love throughout.

The loss of a star:
I have 2 main issues here:
1) The pacing was just all over the place. The beginning felt so slow and it ended WAY too fast. It feels like the build up to a series but it's a standalone so my brain was confused and it took me out of the reading a bit. You also do this random side quest it feels like about 70% of the way through the book and I was just thrown off.
2) I feel like the description was a bit misleading. Lottie's name is in the description but you don't really meet her until like a third of the way through the book (or more?). It is still a romance, but I really thought we'd see even more of Lottie than we did.

Overall, if you're into slower burn stories and are looking for your next sapphic romance read, I'd definitely recommend The Honey Witch.

Wow!! This was one of my most anticipated books of 2024, and it certainly did not disappoint and absolutely lived up to all of the social media hype. What an absolutely stunning debut novel for Sydney shields.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit books for this ARC!

I am always a sucker for a regency cottage core novel with queer characters, and this one absolutely delivered. At first, it reminded me a lot of a spring version of Halloweentown… Those who get it will get it. The relationship between Marigold and her grandmother was so special and dear to my heart. There are such raw and beautiful takes on what grief and love truly mean— Threaded throughout an expertly constructed fantasy book.

I feel like this is one. I will reach for time after time just so that I can come back to these characters and this beautiful world and all of the sweet nuggets planted within.

ALSO, as a Swifty, I see you and raise you a glass of champagne for all of those sneaky. Taylor Swift references throughout this book. I caught myself squealing every time!

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook Press for the advanced readers copy of this novel.

I enjoyed this sapphic romance. It definitely gives off cozy cottage core vibes. It was an interesting read that had me invested in the development of our main character, Marigold as she navigated her inherited role of The Honey Witch from her Grandmother as well as the curse that came with the role.

I think the love scene wasn't too graphic so this novel would be suitable for young adult readers too.

I enjoyed this fine, but it was quite predictable. Still, that didn't bother me as much as the whole tattoos are illegal for women thing which had absolutely no explanation. Considering how this was kind of plot relevant, this was really irksome. I know it's a debut but I just wish that and some other things were explored and thought about more,

This book sounded like a cute read but I knew right away the writing style was not for me. I found it very off putting, like it was trying too hard to be lyrical and poetic.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the eARC for The Honey Witch. I was really looking forward to this book based on the marketing via socials about it. Unfortunately, I dnf'd around 20% in because I just kept setting it down a lot and not reading anything. Looking over reviews on goodreads, this point is where others have dnf'd too and I think it's because there's no oomph in the beginning to sweep a reader up. Beautiful cover though.

The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields is a debut novel that follows Marigold, a young woman who becomes a Honey Witch. While this is an amazing gift, it also comes with a curse- the Honey Witch can never find true love. Marigold is fine with this because she is enjoying her freedom and her powers but when a skeptic called Lottie shows up at her house, things begin to change.

This is the cozy sapphic cottagecore novel of my dreams. I remember seeing the author pitching this on TikTok back in September and I immediately put it on my radar. To say I had high hopes for this book would be an understatement. This was exactly what I wanted it to be and more.

This book is a slowburn and I loved it for that. The first 30 percent is just Marigold learning how to be a Honey Witch, which could be boring to some people but I really enjoyed reading about it. I could have read a hundred more pages of just that. Marigold also has a close relationship with her grandmother and I felt very attached to that relationship.

I loved how queer normative the world was. I knew this book would have a central sapphic relationship but I wasn’t sure what that would mean to other characters in this book and I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone view queer relationships as completely normal.

I could see this not working for some people. If you go into this expecting a huge romance element, you will be disappointed. It’s also a fantasy book but with lower stakes for the most part so there isn’t a ton of epic fantasy elements.

I would recommend this to people who like books with subtle witchy vibes and people who like historical romances but want a fantasy book. This definitely had a historical romance feel to it.

I loved this book. I’m so excited to buy a physical copy when it comes out!

The Honey Witches promises to be the perfect companion to Bridgerton season 3 with an Edwardian setting, a May release date, and a generous helping of the best elements from a cozy, small town, witchy, queer romance. The novel starts strong with visceral setting descriptions and a delightful "wild woman" for the main character. Regrettably, the book overall needed a bit more polish to truly shine. Despite a powerful concept, much of The Honey Witch is bogged down with clunky or exposition-heavy dialogue, which makes it difficult to appreciate what could have been a true diamond.

* Thank you NetGalley & Redhook for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. "

The Honey Witch is a cozy fantasy about Marigold, a newbie witch that must protect Innisfree, a magical island, and is cursed to never fall in love, which seems easier said than done when Lottie arrives on Innisfree.

The Honey Witch is also, unfortunately, kind of boring. 16% in and the most interesting thing that happened was that they picked some flowers. There's nothing particularly wrong with the book - the characters are all fine (other than lacking a little depth), the plot is fine, the writing is fine, and I think ultimately that's the bigger issue. The book is just fine. It's not extremely enchanting, and that's a little disappointing since I was looking forward to an epic, sweeping love story involving magic, witches, and honey.

This is a debut, and it isn't terrible - I'll give Sydney J. Shields another chance for sure, and I do recommend this book for anyone who's into cozy, low stakes fantasies.

"But what happens when the girl keeps living, when she ages proudly and defiantly, without abandoning imagination, or stories, or that secret wish to find magic wherever it hides?"

The Honey Witch was an endearing and whimsical debut novel. Marigold felt like Jo from Little Women if she were a witch instead of a writer, and I loved that. Althea was one of my favorite things about the book, I wish we could have spent more time with her and Marigold's days learning from her. I've never been one to have a preference on third-person vs. first-person writing, but the third-person writing in this book left me confused during a lot of the dialogue. However, this story felt warm and welcoming, and it was fun! It reminded me of girlhood and the love I have for the women in my life. I was also so happy with the queer rep throughout the story.

Sydney, if you see this: I'd sell my first born (I don't want kids) for a spin-off of August and Frankie's adventures out at sea!

First off, I love a gay witch story, give me more. The characters in this book were so lovable in that frustrating "just kiss" kind of way. When we first meet Marigold, she is convinced she'll be a spinster and she's fine with that. She wants to dance in the fields and scream at the moon, things a proper wife wouldn't do. When her estranged grandmother shows up and tells Marigold she's a honey witch, Marigold finally feels like she fits.

Of course, there is a curse, a curse that an ash witch placed on her family. No one can ever love a honey witch. At first, Marigold doesn't really care. She never thought she'd marry anyway, but when her grandmother passes and she must take care of their magical island herself, she realizes how lonely she is. When her childhood friend August comes to visit and brings the sullen Lottie, Marigold realizes how lonely she's been. When Lottie states she doesn't believe in magic, Marigold jumps at the chance to prove herself by helping August find true love. The process of making the spell reveals more to Marigold about what it means to love and the price magic can take.

The whole book takes place in an alternative England, where queer love in the 19th century is more accepted. August, Lottie, and Marigold are all queer characters, and even though this is more accepted, there is still a lot of societal pressure on women. Women are supposed to engage in womanly pursuits and marry. This part of the world building kind of stuck out to me. I get that the author was using this as an allegory to explore how repressed women are in society, but it just felt heavy-handed to me. It was the only part that really took me out of the story. Why would gay partnerships be okay, but women were still second-class citizens? I just felt like there could have been some loosening of society's corset when it came to the mobility of women.

Honestly, that was the only part of this book I didn't love. I thought it was fun; I loved the idea of honey and ash being opposing forces. The love story was angsty and sweet. I do wish the last chapter was a little longer; the ending felt rushed. I would definitely recommend this book; it's a fun Sapphic read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook for the e-arc, all opinions are my own.

I received an e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is supposed to be a cute and cozy romantasy with bees and lesbians. However, from the beginning the main character Marigold did not appeal to me. She is wishy-washy, naive, yet somehow expected to become this great and powerful Honey Witch.

The biggest problem I had was that any worldbuilding and character development was glossed over. The main romance occurs over the span of a month maybe(?) but we only have four or five major scenes of romance by the end. Both Marigold and Lottie, the love interest, are flat and rather dislikable. The worldbuilding and magic system made no sense and only were only seen to further the plot (that also really made no sense). It's a shame because the bee magic really could have been more interesting than it was.

I feel like this story has a lot of potential, but there were so many important details that were missed for the sake of "coziness".

I haven't come across a book in years that's made me feel a plethora of emotions like The Honey Witch has. It was such a cozy read, with beautiful writing, and a breathtaking story that was easy for me to become immersed in from the start. It somewhat reminded me of the game Wylde Flowers mixed with Practical Magic and bits of Pride and Prejudice, but it truly sets itself apart.