This book was incredible. Thank you so much for allowing me to read it. I will be recommending it to anyone who will listen to me. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6155425464

This one just wasn’t for me. The premise was really cool, but something about the writing/dialogue just didn’t vibe with me. I was also surprised to see on goodreads it was classified as an adult novel as it read very young adult. Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for the ARC!

I was so very excited to start this book. Rachel Gillig (a new favorite writer of mine - author of The Shepard King duology!!!) shared this on her Instagram story earlier this week and I knew I had to add it to my TBR. Thanks to the publisher - Redhook Books, I was able to get an ARC myself. I absolutely could not wait for the publication date of May 14, 2024! I was instantly drawn to the title, this beautiful cover, and the summary. ✨

This is a heartwarming, cozy, magical story that tackles love, curses, and loss.

This book did not disappoint; I devoured it. The story was so good, enticing and beautifully written. The words, language, and imagery used by the author was perfect. I was instantly engulfed into this magical world. As a reader, I couldn't help but feel connected to the story.

The setting, the atmosphere, the magic system, and the concept of the rival witches - Perfection! Simple, yet so very unique and intriguing. This was an easy 4+ star read for me.

Lastly, I love the meaning behind why the author wrote this story - 'we can't outrun death, but we can rewrite it'. I'll be rounding up for this one and I cannot wait to buy a copy once the book is released to the public. Definitely add this to your TBR list. Wonderful!

This is the kind of light hearted book I needed to cleanse my pallet of all the drama / suspense books Ive been reading. This book was brilliant and nice.

A whimsical, witchy cottagecore story filled with heart (and honey). This book felt like a warm blanket and a fresh cup of tea. With its lighthearted and cozy atmosphere and lush magic system, The Honey Witch beautifully tackles the unrelenting waves of grief, weaving a story of love and loss that will leave you teary-eyed and maybe, just maybe, believing in magic.

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook publishing.

A young woman who knows she doesn’t want what life has set out for her…but what else could there be? Enter…the honey witch, her grandmother, the wonderful grandmother she hasn’t seen in years but who she has a heart full of love and memories shows up on one of her full moon adventure, because Marigold is the only one to take her place.

There was so much to love about this book. The nature, the message, the magic, all things I loved. To be honest, I would love to see some more editing, specifically in terms of the dialogue and character relationships. There is so, so much promise there, which is plain to see in the premise of this novel and in the basic structure of this book, however, a little of it gets lost in the writing. I have no doubts this book with a few edits could be wonderful.

I loved the witchy aspects of this book. It was so cozy and fun.

I did not love the romances. No one had time to fall in love, everyone fell in love fast and hard and perfectly.

I enjoyed the sense of place but I did not enjoy being hit over the head about a person’s right to chose their life over and over again. This book lacked finesse and did not leave anything up to the reader.

This book is like a warm cup of tea. So descriptive. So beautifully written. Every word bringing warmth and life to the page.

I greatly enjoyed this book. I felt the division between parts was well organized, I felt that each character contributed well to the story. I LOVED knowing more about the honey witches and the magic within each type of honey. Reading the spells come to life was so fun!

I thought the first three parts of the book were well paced, had life and character and I enjoyed it greatly.
Part four I felt had so much more potential. A LOT happened in this section and a lot of it felt rushed! Our final scenes where we finally face our antagonist - there was a lot that had built to this moment and it felt rushed. The book resolved well and I was thankful for this, but after such a fantastic first 85% of the book - the last part felt like a let down in comparison. I believe even another 20 pages of content would have greatly added to this conclusion and not made it feel so rushed.

Overall this was a beautiful book and I feel so honored to have gotten to read this ARC!
Thank you Sydney Shields for your marvelous book, I can’t wait to see what else you come up with!

Overall, I did enjoy this book. It was a really sweet (no pun intended hehe) cozy fantasy with a really cute sapphic romance. It did take me a while to get through this cause it was pretty slow. But I enjoyed the characters, the unique magic system and the setting (I really liked the Jane Austen vibes). I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a sapphic romance and or a low stakes/cozy fantasy!

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.