first off, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an eARC of this book!

I really enjoyed The Honey Witch. Marigold leaves her boring courtly life behind to go be a Honey Witch on her grandmother's isle, cursed to never find love as long as she has magic. She goes through the trials of her new occupation, including convincing a non-believer that magic exists and can even help people find their soulmates. It's a well-thought-out story, full of love and grief and dealing with the unavoidable consequences of your actions and the choices you make to get what you want. Marigold making tough choices was done well, you could see her train of thought and follow the logic pretty easily. She felt real and relatable - they all did, in their own ways.

All of Shields' characters felt fully fleshed out, with personalities and minds of their own. It was so fun to see Mari and Lottie open up to each other as they spent more time together. August was the perfect person to encourage it, and seeing him go through his own little subplot was fun too. He deserves all of the good things, I absolutely adored him. The worldbuilding was good, I loved exploring Innisfree with Marigold as she arrived and familiarized herself with all of it.

I do wish the pace had been a bit quicker at the start of the book. I understand it takes time for things to get settled in, and I appreciated the way it was done, but I wish it hadn't taken quite as long as it did. That being said, it wasn't badly written - far from it, really. Just took a bit too long for my tastes. The back half was good though, I felt like once things picked up finally it settled into a good pace. The story ended with a good mix of action, romance, suspense, and hope. Once the romance started to kick in, it got even more interesting. I loved seeing them get closer and let down their walls for each other. Once the lesbians started lesbianing, it was all fireworks from there. There's some spice (not a ton, but it's undeniably present) and it was 10/10, my goodness.

Overall, I really liked the characters and the worldbuilding. The pacing was a bit too slow for me for a lot of the book, but at the same time, this wasn't an action adventure, it's a cozy, queer romantasy. You get exactly what's described, much to the author's credit. This book is a win for the cottagecore lesbian community, so if that's your vibe, you'll probably love this.

Here’s what I liked:
The story was worded beautifully. I feel like you could pick any quote from this book and it could be Pinterest worthy. One of my favorite quotes so far was one in the beginning, “These are the wild women who run barefoot through the meadow, who teach new songs to the birds, who howl at the moon together. Wild women are their own kind of magic.” (3% in) I would consider this a pleasant read!

Here’s what I didn’t like/was confusing:
I felt like every conflict/issue in the story (more specifically in the beginning half of the book) immediately had a solution. I think it would be more realistic and would flow easier if some solutions weren’t immediate and were resolved even a couple days later. I also felt like the story progressed rapidly after Marigold’s grandmother showed up at her house and it was a little hard to comprehend what was going on in between that and her grandmother’s death. When characters are conversing sometimes it switches to old timey politeness and sometimes it switches to modern casual (I’m not really sure how to word that). The relationship between Marigold and Lottie was also really fast paced. There was hardly any middle ground in their relationship becoming acquainted then becoming lovers.

Other than that, the story was super cute and I’m very excited to reread the finished version!!

An absolutely charming, frenemies to lovers romance featuring LGBTQ+ leads. Marigold, the MC, is absolutely loveable and her position is very similar to many historical romance tropes. She loves her family, but doesn't want to find love. She wants to find herself, her purpose, and what drives her to be a "wild woman." She learns that she's meant to be a Honey Witch, and in finding herself, she also finds old and new relationships that we grow to cherish like Marigold does.

This writer writes for those stuck in the same loop of historical romance, who thirst for a short and sweet story with sentimental plot twists. Each side character has their own stories, making them likeable in their own right.

August, Marigold's childhood friend in Innisfree, brings Lottie into Marigolds social circle in hopes to integrate Marigold into their complex friend circle. Lottie is our tattooed skeptic who refuses Marigold's magic solicitations, but begins to sway when it comes to the other kinds of solicitations.

What I enjoy the most is the way the author shows magic as a utility as well as having realistic limitations. I feel like there could have easily been another 100 pages, exploring more of the magic and love of the story, but I also feel like this leaves a fantastic opportunity for the author to continue this as a series. There were so many unanswered questions and so many parts of this world that I wanted to have explored, but that just shows how much this book sticks with you.

The story has worldbuilding, fantastic side characters, an few emotional moments, and exploring all kinds of facets of love. Read this book if you love a good love story, with a little bit of spice and a side of tears.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and feedback through NetGalley and the respective publisher.

Sapphic love with cottage core vibes? This book was cute, cozy, and witchy. I didn’t expect for this book to be so light and dare I say fluffy? But I enjoyed it nonetheless. Plus the magic system literally revolves around bees and honey, how freaking cute. 🥰 god I loved this

Cozy, sapphic, witchy, cottagecore. Enter the world of the Honey Witch and how true love defies all odds. Mixed with melancholic grief and the healing passage of time, this book is an incredible read

The Honey Witch is a delightful cozy fantasy. I found the writing to be beautiful but at times rambling. Marigold was a wonderful protagonist, and I related to her need to commune with nature. Her relationship with her grandmother was lovely. I couldn’t get into the romance for some reason, but it could just be my personal preference. This is a book that I believe I’ll find myself revisiting again in the future.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was incredible. My first 5 star book of 2024. The way that this book completely transported me, took over my thoughts, and infiltrated my brain with every page in the VERY BEST WAY! I cannot rave about this book enough. Sydney Shields has just become an auto-buy author for me.

the fact that this novel is written in present tense shouldn't be jarring, but it is. For some reason, the faux-historical fantasy writing style doesn't. work here. The characters are hard to connect with, their chemistry feels forced, and the writing style is overly simplistic for my taste.

Wow, that's all I can say. Starting this book I was just expecting a cozy love story but I got SO much more. I saw another review that said it was like Bridgerton meets Practical Magic and that is so spot on. I fully went into this expecting a cute lesbian love story and I got so much more, the love and the heartache and everything in between. The way Sydney writes through the feelings of love and the feelings of death was hauntingly beautiful. She really has a way to take those things we can not put into words and transform them into something incredible. My goal this year is to read more LGBT books and this was the perfect one to start with. I cant wait to see what else comes from Sydney Shields!


Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book early!

cute, sweet, sapphic bee book that's so well written and fun oml it's so utterly cozy! thanks fo rthe arc, and cheers!

Huge thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for this Advanced Reader Copy! This review is my honest opinion and offered voluntarily!

Marigold has always felt different from everyone else in her artist’s town of Bardshire. After a particularly disastrous event at a ball, she discovers she is a Honey Witch and decides to answer her destiny to take over stewardship of a small magical island called Innisfree. While there she grows into her own witchcraft and fosters relationships, with one girl in particular who doesn’t believe in Marigold’s magic.

This was a huge disappointment. I was so excited for a sapphic cozy fantasy and I love all things witchcraft, but this wasn’t written particularly well and there are a few too many shallow tropes. I absolutely thought by the quality of the writing and the constant giggling, bouncing, and squealing of the characters that this was a older middle grade/younger YA novel until I came to the first spicy scene, because nothing else indicates this is a novel for adults. I think the dialogue is the aspect that bothered me most. The author uses a peculiar mix of regency-era inspired dialect with some modern influences but so much of the conversations end up feeling clumsy, juvenile, and stilted. The pacing seems a little odd too and I wish there was a little more exposition before Marigold has her magic revealed to her. A lot more “showing not telling” would have improved this book immensely.

That said, I did like the witchcraft lore, magical ecosystem, and the lush description of Innisfree, and the themes of female empowerment and autonomy are so important. I did enjoy the relationships between the characters as well, especially between Marigold and the female members of her family. The actual romance is fine once you get past the clumsy backstory, slight instalove, and obvious plot twists. All in all, this is a decent story with strong themes that is best enjoyed by someone looking for a fluffy, don’t-think-too-much sapphic romance. It could have been a new favorite of mine, but it’s not as well-crafted as I expected.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Homey Witch is a great cozy romance. It started really strong and pulled me right in! To be honest I didn’t love Marigold, but she’s unapologetic and I do like the added depth that comes with that.

This is a fun, easy read about witches and romance and I can’t recommend it enough!

Thank you to Redhook and NetGalley to providing me an eARC for one of my most anticipated reads for 2024!

Warning my review is slightly spoilerish as I talk about an event that happens around chapter 3 or 4.

The writing starts off really strong, but sadly it slowly starts to fall off. Hopefully a round of editing will significantly improve it.

I love the cozy world that Sydney created, and all the beautiful prose. It feels like I, myself, am on Innisfree and enjoying the beauty of it all. However, I wished the witch aspect was more flushed out as it felt like random things were thrown out and never properly explained. Like Marigold (the name suits her perfectly) drinking the vial of honey. Did it unlock or strengthen her powers? What was so special about that particular honey?

A bit more on the writing aspect, every conversation felt awkward and overly formal when it’s just Marigold talking to her family. Also the third person pov constantly changed from a narrator telling the story to seeing the world through Marigold’s eyes. The voice isn’t consistent.

To sum it up, the writing starts off strong with beautiful prose. But then it falls off, and the writing becomes flat and awkward. Moreover, the magic and spells need to be flushed out instead of it being whatever is convenient. I hope there’ll be significant improvements in the writing before the book is published.

A cozy story about magic and witches, sign me up! I thought this was such a nice story and I really loved the world building the author did.

This story has all the tropes you could want: enemies to lovers, forbidden love and soulmates. If you love getting lost in magical world, you’ll love this book!

Also thank you to Redhook books, NetGalley and Orbit books for letting me read the arc of this book!

A fantasy with magic and queer romance. The concept of honey and ash magic was interesting and unique. The characters were kind and lovable. I always appreciate a world where characters can be gay and it’s totally normal. No extra commentary or explanation required.

Themes of grief and loneliness explored.

Overall, I’d say my biggest critique was the pacing. While I think the writing was strong, I struggled through the first 25%. I wish this would have been condensed and trimmed down. Then the ending was almost rapid fire events. I think we could have cut out some of the fluff to give space for some of the more pivotal plot moments to have more time.

The Honey Witch was warm, cozy, and captivating. The characters are written beautifully and deeply. I felt a very real connection and especially loved the strong relationship with Marigold’s grandmother. The relationships played out in a way that was genuine and authentic and the complexities and hardships made them rise off the page becoming more relatable. I loved the relationship between Marigold & Lottie. It wasn’t insta-love and it unfolded in a unique way. I also appreciated the LGBTQ+ rep. It was natural and it was nice to read a book where it wasn’t a big deal and it was just a normal and accepted part of their world.

I loved the all the witchy vibes and magic. I also loved the focus on and power of the bees - it was such a unique part of the storyline. The author has a lovely writing style - it’s very whimsical and poetic. Overall, absolutely adored this book and cannot wait for future books from the author.

This review will be posted on social media closer to the publish date. Thank you to NetGalley & Orbit Books for the eARC!

I had a hard time getting into this book. I didn't think Marigold or Lottie were likable or compelling characters, which made it hard for me to feel invested in the story. For example, Marigold makes fun of another woman for pining after a man ("'Ooh, notice me, love me, I'm just a silly girl and I want a silly husband,' she mocks"). Her grandmother criticizes her for this and it's made clear that Marigold is being unfair, but I wasn't invested enough to see whether she became any more likable by the end.

Some of the other reviews have called this a "cozy fantasy" which I think is apt. The plot and pacing was pretty laid back, which just isn't my cup of tea. I like a plot that's more high stakes. But if you're looking for a chill fantasy then I'd still suggest giving this book a try for yourself.

First of all, the cover is absolutely beautiful and eye catching.
I will say the beginning is a little slow but it was a cute cozy little fantasy and it did make me tear up. A wholesome book with a magic ride.

The Honey Witch was an absolute delight! I was entranced from the very beginning and it never let me out of its clutches. Marigold was a delightful protagonist, both boldly unapologetic and deeply conflicted. As for the romance, it took my breath away. Brew yourself a pot of tea (with lavender and honey of course) and cozy up with this enchanting, romantic, cozy fantasy debut!

This was a cute and cozy fantasy with a side of romance. Ultimately the writing and the story didn't quite hold my interest as I hoped, but I think that those who are looking for a cozy witch story will really enjoy this book!