The Honey Witch is a soft, gentle and cozy fantasy following Marigold, a young Honey Witch who, upon discovering her identity coming from a long line of Honey Witches, leaves her family and the expectations of a boring, lonely marriage of tradition, to live in Innisfree, somewhere her connection with nature, ability to understand spirits and bees allows her to be free, and her truest self. As she begins utilizing her magic and harvesting honey with the intent to help people who come to her for help, Mari begins to grow and adapt to her new life. However, loneliness ails her until an old friend and an alluring young woman begin to share her life.
 
This book feels very soft and gentle to me. Although there are some minor and oblique trigger warnings, this is a lighthearted story with a gentle (maybe a bit rough around the edges) main character whose mannerisms are warm. The book is also gentle, and a bit meandering as we follow Marigold as she learns from and takes over for her grandmother whose time is coming to an end. With a touch of family drama, this is mostly a feel-good book that explores themes of loneliness, friendship, the healing powers of nature, and a tentative but endearing sapphic romance.

This book is gentle and in touch with the most innocent parts of nature. It is a good book to read outside during springtime. It's definitely a story of personal growth and the writing allows you to feel and experience new things along with Marigold. It's oddly a bit of an emotional journey as you and Marigold learn how to control her magic and care for others as she learns to be a guardian of sorts. Marigold is confident in knowing what her goals are and what she wants to do. She's a cute character and I practically pictured her in chibi animation style.

I'm personally not particularly a fan of cozy fantasy, so this one wasn't really for me, but I did enjoy a number of parts of the book. Marigold learning about nature and taking on the responsibility of caring for others was so beautiful and relatable. Her character is generally a cute fluffball, and the writing is so beautiful and immersive. A charming springtime read!

Who knew beekeeping could be so magical!

Marigold Claude follows in her grandmother’s footsteps and becomes a magical beekeeping witch! The only drawback is that no one can fall in love with the Honey Witch. That is, until she meets Lottie Burke, a magic non-believer who sparks a little more than a challenge in Marigold’s heart.

I thought this book was so cute. It’s every cottagecore girl’s dream. The relationship between Marigold and her grandmother was especially heartwarming. I enjoyed the romance, despite how cheesy and insta-love-y as it was. It fits the cozy vibes the book establishes perfectly.

If you’re looking for a complex magic system and a deep winding story, this may not be the book for you. It’s a simple, feel good fantasy, filled with cheesy dialogue and a fairytale-like narrative. Perfect for a cozy night in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for this ARC.

First of all, can we have a moment of awe to appreciate the book cover? It’s so magical.

Marigold doesn’t feel like she belongs. Not in her home or town. She is twenty years old, without any prospects or talents. She should be married and expecting a child because that’s the only role for women in her town. But you know what else? She is a wild creature that feels connected to the grass, sky, and moon. She is the daughter of the earth. She is the honey witch.

Marigold leaves with her grandmother to follow her fate as a honey witch, where she’ll meet Lottie Burke, who doesn’t believe in magic, but Marigold is determined to prove her wrong.

This is a journey of self-discovery, bravery, and magic. The writing is so poetic and enchanting. I felt like there were fireworks in my brain while reading! It was that good.

I love Marigold, but I have mixed feelings about Lottie. To be completely honest, I’m more in love with the author's writing than the story itself. It was a magical story, but it wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for this ARC.

There seems to be a booming business for cozy fantasy at the moment, causing all kinds of titles with varying levels of quality coming onto the scene. Fortunately for us, The Honey Witch is one of the better ones. Wtih good pacing and an original plot, it avoids the pitfall of assuming that a book is cozy because it has a cozy setting without giving characters and the plot the attention they deserve. Sydney Shields has written a great little book.

Such a sweet sweet story. Although it was a decently slow story throughout, it was calming and did make me cry. Very thoughtful book.

Absolutely stunning.

⭐️: 4.75/5
🌶️: 1/5, Mild Salsa

I have a hard time believing this is a debut novel. I am impressed and so sad it’s over. Reading The Honey Witch took me into a book world the way books used to when I was younger. Innisfree feels real. Shields’ unique writing style and fresh POV made for an enchanting read about an enchanting world, and you can’t ask for more from a fantasy book about a golden witch.

No spoilers, because this doesn’t come out until May 2024, but some of my favorites included:
✨ The present tense writing - We just don’t see books written in present tense often, so it brought things very into the moment. It helped foreshadowing stay a little hidden, and you discovered things along with the character.
✨ The detail in the witch’s world - Often, books either give little to know description of a magic system, or elaborate in near-painful detail that drags the book (and those info-dump scenes) too long. The Honey Witch does neither, giving the world’s magic a more natural slant.
✨ Diversity Doppler - It’s basically the Bechdel’s test but for diversity in books: does the book feature more than one marginalized community? YES!
✨ True twist and mystery until the end - You know those books where, about 87% in, everything’s all wrapped up with an HEA, and the last 10% is basically epilogue? Not here, friends. I loved that there were threads of mystery throughout.
✨ Comfort - The Honey Witch brought me back to those feelings you love to get while reading. This books feels cozy.

🌶️ Salsa Ingredients: This could very nearly be a closed-door romance but for one scene that is critical to the plot of the book. The one scene uses softer explicit language.

The pacing is quite fast. There will be scenes that come up quickly with shorter or more abrupt transitions, so be prepared for that! You also may be left with questions about the magic system or societal system that aren’t explicitly defined, but in my opinion, this fits the book well, especially one of the main character arcs.

Overall, this is one of my best reads of the year, and it isn’t even out yet. Shields is one to watch.

**ARC Review: I was given an advance copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest review.**

I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately it didn’t do it for me. I think it was the writing style- it seemed to suffer from a lot of telling rather than showing. It was also very predictable. I’m sure this will go over well with some people, it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! Even though we are still within the first week of 2024, I feel strongly that this novel will end up becoming one of my favorites of the year. Marigold, the protagonist, is delightful and grew so much over the course of this novel. She had to learn to not only trust herself, but her family and friends as well. This novel truly gave me witchy LGBTQIA+ Bridgerton vibes...I'm in love!! The power system in the book was complex yet easily understandable, the characters were all multidimensional, and the fact that there was no racism or homophobia present was just astounding. I love that the author chose not to include either of those things, given the time period and setting of the novel. There was some time period-typical misogyny and questionable feelings in regards to tattoos, but overall this novel was just incredible. Even the relationship between Mari and her mother, which started off rocky, got a sweet resolution by the end. Some of the plot points were easily guessable, but I think the mark of a good author is when they're able to set things up for their audience with subtle clues throughout the text.
I ADORE that Mari and Lottie got the ending that they truly deserved, Queer/Sapphic literature absolutely needs more happy endings like this. I hope to see more novels like this in the future, and sincerely wish the author nothing but the best! I will be running, not walking, to pick up my own copy of this as soon as the physical copies are released.

The Honey Witch tells the story of a world filled with magic, curses, soulmates, and women who defy societal expectations. When Marigold agrees to join her grandmother and accept her destiny as the next Honey Witch, things get complicated. I found the book a little slow to start, but it picked up and had nice character development. If you're a fan of magic and true love, this one is absolutely worth the read.

First of all, can we have a moment of awe to appreciate the book cover? It’s so magical.
 
Marigold doesn’t feel like she belongs. Not in her home or town. She is twenty years old, without any prospects or talents. She should be married and expecting a child because that’s the only role for women in her town. But you know what else? She is a wild creature that feels connected to the grass, sky, and moon. She is the daughter of the earth. She is the honey witch.
 
Marigold leaves with her grandmother to follow her fate as a honey witch, where she’ll meet Lottie Burke, who doesn’t believe in magic, but Marigold is determined to prove her wrong.
 
This is a journey of self-discovery, bravery, and magic. The writing is so poetic and enchanting. I felt like there were fireworks in my brain while reading! It was that good.
 
I love Marigold, but I have mixed feelings about Lottie. To be completely honest, I’m more in love with the author's writing than the story itself. It was a magical story, but it wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for this ARC.

Absolutely loveddd this book!! The romance was the perfect balance of yearning and seeing the characters get to explore their relationship. The romance was just filled with such strong tension I was having such a fun time just reading even small glances between the characters. I really liked the magical aspects and thought it was cool how some things I recognized in my own slight knowledge in herbalism. Absolutely lovely book!!

I unfortunately DNF at 56% of this book. I wanted to love it and I tried to give it a chance but it was so slow. I understand trying to set the scenery but I started to get bored.

The Honey Witch is a dreamy, ethereal escape that is an amazing read start to finish. This story is much like how one feels when one goes to the book's main setting of the isle of Innisfree, everything you could want and more with its magical and heartwarming story. It has the perfect blend of cozy and captivating ingredients to make a perfect spell of a book. The feeling this book gives you is that of your favorite comfort movie or TV show. Marigold, the main character, is as fierce as she is extremely kind. Going on her journey to become the Honey Witch has its ups and downs, but all the while she is a determined woman. This book leans into the themes of acceptance, love, hope, friendship, and many, many more wonderful ones as well. Having a book set in a time and place where LGBTQ+ members of society are not treated as any different and with no hate, shame, or prejudice around is such a refreshing thing to read. It makes the central plot of the story the true main focus, without having to have the characters worry about if who they are or who they love will get in the way of what is happening around them. Some might believe that the beginning of the book is too "drawn out", but I believe that the introduction of Marigold and the people who are important to her help to portray that they become her main source of strength as a new Honey Witch. The plot itself is very well written and the concepts of the magic in this universe are easy and fun to understand. The sensual parts of this book were not only captivating but captured the burning desire and tension perfectly that you see between the main characters of this book. Overall, Sydney Shields did a fantastic job of weaving a detailed and beautiful tale that has become one of my favorite reads ever. I did not want to leave Innisfree and Marigold when I finished this book and I hope that one day I will get to read another amazing and delightful story that takes place back in this world.

My first book of the year was a huge win and led me to finding an instabuy author.⁣
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Marigold has always known that she was different but didn’t know exactly how, until her grandmother shows up at her doorstep and tells her that she is the next Honey Witch. She is cursed to never find true love, which has never been a problem before until she moves to Innisfree and meets someone who changes everything for her.⁣
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You might love this if you enjoy:⁣
🐝 cozy fantasy like The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches⁣
🐝 Studio Ghibli films⁣
🐝 Anne of Green Gables⁣
🐝 Sapphic Regency romance⁣
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I couldn’t get enough of this book’s earthy magic system, immersing myself into potion crafting or adventures with the landvættir. The romance scenes with Marigold and her true love (who I will keep a surprise) echoed in my mind to the song “Linger” by The Cranberries. And both the song and The Honey Witch have stayed with me this first week of the year. ⁣
⁣
Some of my favorite moments included Marigold and her grandmother, Althea. One that stood out to me is when Marigold was being particularly judgmental of another young woman excited at the possibility of getting married. Althea reminds her that it’s not her life and every person has a right to choose what they want out of their life. Being a strong woman was never about choosing magic and rejecting the traditional life of a woman at that time. It is about choosing and respecting a person’s right to choose. This is seen through other characters and moments as well. ⁣
This was truly a lovely book to begin the year with. Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review

In my honest opinion, sapphics are severely lacking in comforting romantasies, and I would have to say that this fits the bill for one pretty well. The characters were fun to read about, and and the magic system is cool, and I enjoyed the book overall. I’m not the biggest fan of worlds that expect everyone to have a soulmate, and even though the world is technically queernormative, the expectation that everyone will have exactly one person that they are meant to be with annoyed me a bit, especially because of the queernormativity otherwise in the book. Completely unrelatedly, it is very weird to read about straight women characters with my name as someone who is neither of those things.

Thank you to the NetGalley for allowing me to read this early!
This book felt like I was sitting in a field with the sun warming my skin. I loved the romance and the magic. The setting and atmosphere won my heart over. I’m so grateful that I got to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook books for the eARC in exchange for a review!

Marigold Clause doesn’t want to get married and settle down, but that future was becoming her only prospect as Marigold got older. When Marigold is presented with her true family history, one that shows her that the magic she has always believed in is real, she has hope for the first time since getting her heart broken four years earlier. She is set to inherit the title of Honey Witch from her grandmother, a role Marigold’s own mother turned down because of the curse that comes along with it - no one can fall in love with the Honey Witch. This doesn’t deter Marigold, though, and she takes up the mantle of protecting her grandmother’s homeland with her head high.

It is not easy being the Honey Witch, and the book doesn’t shy away from its depictions of loneliness, and all the ways it affects people at different points in their lives. More than once I had to pause in my reading because I resonated so much with everything that Marigold was feeling. Considering that I am not a newly minted witch self-isolating on a magical island, it’s the best testament to the author’s writing that I can offer.

I loved all of the characters we got to meet in this story, but especially Lottie, whose refusal to believe in magic for deeply personal and heartbreaking reasons made Marigold’s determination to prove her wrong all the stronger. No character felt one dimensional, even if they had very little on-page action, and I was deeply invested in the resolution of the main conflict - I finished the last 60% of the novel in about 4 hours, just sitting on my couch consuming it.

My one real qualm with the story hardly counts even to me; the epilogue was too perfect. I am not usually one to enjoy an ambiguous ending, but I also don’t need everything to be tied off with a pretty bow. I would have preferred something a little less flowery, but I was still enormously touched by the way Marigold’s story wrapped up, so I can’t be too mad.

I loved this book so much I plan to purchase a copy to loan out to friends. If you’re looking for a captivating, sapphic fantasy to read, this is it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I will say this book was not what I was expecting. Based on the synopsis I had assumed that Marigold, our titular “Honey Witch,” had already left her debutante life behind and was well established in her witch life, and we were going to pick up her story from there— with her already being a witch and this lovely nonbeliever coming into her life. But, you know what they say about assuming.

I think I would have preferred my version. The beginning was… rough. A lot of establishing family relationships and how Marigold never felt like she truly belonged with them, etc. etc. It was quite a ways in before Marigold’s grandmother even showed up to tell her about magic and whisk her away. The whisking her away part was a fight with Marigold’s mother of course for ~plot reasons~ but it ended up being a nothing argument because like two pages later Marigold is a witch anyway. I mean, she has to be, that’s the point of the book.

The pacing is just weird, as well. Things drag that feel like they shouldn’t, and things are shortened that feel like they should drag. I don’t know, it was just strange and I was kind of on the back foot throughout the whole thing.

Lastly, okay, this is a minor thing, I will recognize this now and be upfront, but one of the characters is a tattoo artist. The year is 1831 and she is self taught, because women are forbidden from having tattoos in “polite society,” it’s against the law. My partner is a tattoo artist, so I’ve learned quite a bit about tattoos through osmosis over the years. The character’s very first tattoo that she ever did on herself was on her STERNUM and a PERFECTLY STRAIGHT ARROW. Please try looking down at your sternum right now for an extended period of time. It hurts your neck, right? Yeah, picture doing that for upwards of an hour, or more, while also using both your arms. Also, no one, and I mean NO ONE’S first tattoo is ever perfect, much less perfectly straight. This probably shouldn’t bother me as much as it does, but I’ve been taught “write what you know” for years now— and this is just so clearly not that.

So, in conclusion, the book is… fine. I don’t feel like I totally wasted my time but I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone I know. If you’re looking for a cozy lesbian romance, there are better choices.

Not a day has gone by since I finished this book that I haven’t thought about it. In The Honey Witch author Sydney J. Shields pulls you into a magical world that feels like you can step right into with her delicious writing. At no point was I disappointed in the plot, I found myself hopeful for the trio at the heart of this romance and enjoying the foreshadowing as peril loomed. As a reader who’s comfort book in girlhood was Alcott’s Little Women who’s turned into a member of the LGBT+ community, this a was 5/5 Witchy romance read.

Thank you Redhook Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Honey Witch has a beautiful cover and a really fascinating magic system, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. It took me a month to get through the first 60%, which largely serves to build the world and set up the story, while the last 40% where the story finally picked up moved too fast through too many plotlines. It was hard to appreciate the romance and the friendships that developed when they happened so quickly and were moved on from just as quickly. The dialogue oftentimes felt stilted and awkward, and I wasn't a fan of the third person present tense.

I'd love to see more of this world and the characters (show me more of August, Frankie, and Aster!), and I think that Shields is likely going to go on to write some books I'll really enjoy, but I just didn't enjoy this the way I'd hoped to.