I really thought I was going to love this book. It honestly seemed like something that would be right up my alley. The opening pages of this book are spectacular. If I would have guessed my enjoyment of this book based off of those first few pages, it would have been near perfect.

As the story continued though, I just found it kind of dry, I guess. There isn’t any particular thing that made me not want to reach for it, but maybe just everything all together. I ended up setting this book down about halfway though, and honestly, I never felt the drive to pick it back up.

Now I own the Fairyloot special edition (which is stunning, I’m not going to lie) and I still haven’t continued with the story. I think eventually, I will give this book another try, but for some reason I just did not connect with the plot and characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. While immensely appreciated, my review has not been edited or influenced.

There is one rule for honey witches: they cannot fall in love. Marigold Claud, the most recent honey with, has trouble accepting this aspect of her fate. With dark magic threatening her home, there is more than her love and freedom at stake.

I know The Honey Witch was the book of spring this year but I think it has the potential to be The Book of the Spring ™️, if you know what I mean. It has a sort of timeless quality that I believe will give it a staying power in the bookish community.

The first half of the book was incredibly slow paced. And while I think this was intentional, it didn’t work for me personally. I almost DNF’s the book because of it. However, the last half of the book? Completely made up for the first half. There was love and action abound.

Although this is heavily based on the real historical past, the world is almost queer normative? Or at least queerness isn’t demonized in the book the way it would be in real life. Our FMCs are not the only queer characters and everyone is met with love and acceptance.

I’m always going to be a sucker for a story about witches and romance. However, I specifically want to shout out the emphasis this book has family. Marigold’s relationship with her grandmother meant the world to me and was one of my favorite aspects of this book.

This book has also made me realize a favorite trope: love interests tattooing each other. Just trust me. Marigold and Lottie are an incredible duo. They’re one of those well balanced duos you just love to see. And their banter was top notch.

I love that this book delivered on all fronts- the vibes it marketed itself with, character development, romance, and happily ever afters. The pacing is my only complaint but it does, as I said, eventually, get better!

I enjoyed this cozy fantasy debut from Sydney J. Shields and I'm definitely looking forward to reading her future writing!

The Honey Witch does read like a debut to me, although I don't mean that in a bad way: there's some pacing issues and places where the writing feels a bit immature, which I find is a common struggle for me with debut releases. We get told a lot about the plot and characters very quickly without spending enough time in those early relationship scenes to actually *see* it. There's also some questions I have about the world-building and magic system that I feel like the plot just...hand-waves away. I also guessed the final reveal quite early, which left me feeling like I was waiting around for Marigold to also figure it out. Another reviewer mentioned that there was a lot of good here that they loved but that they never felt truly connected to the characters and I think that's where I'm panning out as well.

However, despite all that, I enjoyed it (it just took me longer to finish it than it might have otherwise). I loved that this was a homophobia-free world and that same-sex relationships were acceptable. Since there was no tension about being two women in the sapphic relationship at the core of the book, all the tension was derived from their interpersonal interactions and, eventually, the outside magical threat. While the pacing didn't take advantage of that as much as it could've, I think that was a smart choice to make in order to leave more room for character and relationship development. I love the concept of honey magic and, in general, am a sucker for "green magic"-type powers, so I was immediately drawn to Marigold and her magic.

I went back and forth between a 3.5 and 4 on this one. I think there's potential here and I'm really excited to see what Shields writes in the future, but I also think there's some weaknesses in the writing that hold this story back. The first section of the book, where Marigold is in her hometown, ended up feeling very tonally different from the rest of the book; in my crit group, we talk a lot about how the first few chapters are making a promise to the reader about what they should expect, and I feel like I enjoyed the back half of the book much more and if I hadn't pushed through, the front half might have caused me to DNF without giving that second half a chance. Starting us off with Marigold on the isle and spending more time on her training and time with her grandmother would've been a better set-up and helped us feel more invested in their relationship (better emphasizing the loss and grief themes we explore in the rest of the book).

I would definitely recommend picking this up if the storyline interests you but maybe temper your expectations a bit - the extreme hype this book got at release oversold it a bit for me. Thank you to Redhook Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A beautifully written, atmospheric cozy queer romance perfect for autumn! I found myself rooting for the relationship to beat the odds stacked against them.

Oh I hate that I am writing this review. I have sat down so many times to read this book. I start it again and again and I just cant get into it. I think for me it just has to much historical feel for me. I loose interest and get a ants in my pants kind of feel and put the book down with no intention of returning. I do feel if you love books with the renaissance regency feel this would be right up your ally. But for this hardcore fantasy lover for me I just couldnt get past the feel to appreciate it and enjoy it.

AHHH OMG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALLOWING ME THE CHANCE TO READ THIS THE CHARACTERS ARE EVERYTHING

A new favourite, I can see myself singing this books praises till my dying days. A deliciously sweet sapphic romance featuring magic and disbelievers filled with gorgeous imagery and sweet serenity. I couldn't recommend this enough

I really loved the cozy fantasy vibes that this book gave off. I can imagine if I had read it when I first got the ARC it most definitely would have been a 5 star book for me, but I’m more doom and gloom horror at the moment 😂

This book was definitely a vibe! I loved it so much I had to get a special edition of it, which you can see on the link posted below!

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette [Redhook] for an eARC of "The Honey Witch" by Sydney J. Shields in exchange for an honest review. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a cozy fantasy world. It was cute, witchy, mysterious, and had all the right amounts of magic. It was quite a slow burn which I am not personally a fan of and takes a while to get into dialogue. The premise and plot are very good and I was entranced from the beginning. It talks about forbidden romance, self-discovery, and has themes of generational trauma.

This book was such a struggle to get through, which was really sad because I loved the cover and the synopsis. But boy, was it a let down.

Marigold was such an annoying main character, which really hurt my soul because she held such promise. But everything she did just made me mad, because it felt like she chose every path that was the most difficult and then she would spend the whole time complaining about it. Her friends weren't much better.

I was so excited for a little witchy, sapphic romance, but the love interest was even worse than Marigold. One - you expect me to believe her body was COVERED in tattoos back in that time period when she's a woman in society. Like... does she never get new dresses EVER? Someone would have had to seen them before. Two - why was she so mean ALL THE TIME? Yes, your parents died. That doesn't give you the right to be a prick to someone who is trying really hard to be nice to you and appease you.

The big baddie was also kind of horrible as well. It felt like a lot of nothing happened over the course of the book up until the last 50 pages. Then everything happened quickly and voila! We saved the day!! With no repercussions!!

Skip this one if you're on the fence about it.

This was so beautifully-written, and it made me feel all the feels!

And even though I guessed the twist pretty much right away, the journey it took to get there was still really compelling. I was riveted!

I loved the themes of the strength of love, making your own destiny, and found family. I wouldn't say this is cozy fantasy (as I'd assumed) since it includes some dark themes and intense moments of peril, but it does still have a cozy feel to it, in my opinion. Just be prepared to feel grief and loneliness alongside the wonder and joy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Redhook Books, and Orbit for the ARC.

Felt like practical magic meets bridgerton BUT LIKE soooo much more than that 😭 it was heartfelt, tender, and sweet. The found family is everything.

Was excited for this but it fell flat. The magic system wasn’t fully fleshed out nor was the world building. Even from the first page I was slightly confused. Great premise though

I was drawn in by the cover and name - I'm not a huge cozy fantasy lover, but this on definitely held my attention. The Honey Witch is the epitome of cottagecore mixed with beautiful writing. Marigold is brought to live with her grandmother to take up the family legacy of being the Honey Witch and helping master honey magic. Once the magic fully passes to Marigold, through her grief she ends up figuring out what she wants to do in her life while trying to prove to someone that magic is more real than they think.

I loved the idea of this, a beekeeping witch who helps the townsfolk? So cute! But then the plot learns farther into the fantasy and away from cozy which I really enjoyed. I wish the plot had a better build up than the subtle hints throughout, but it is definitely enjoyable. The romance was sweet.

THE TATTOO SCENE. 👏👏👏

💝 Sapphic Romance & other queer rep
💝 Cozy Fantasy
💝 Magic & curses
💝 Rivaling Magic
💝 Found Family
💝 Good Debut

cw: death of a family member, abandonment, grief, blood, tattooing/needles, discussions of infertility & miscarriage.

Thank you to NetGalley & Orbit for an eARC of <u>The Honey Witch</u> by Sydney J. Shields

Beautiful world building! It felt like I stepped into a fairytale. The pacing was a bit rushed in some places and then slow in others, never quite felt like the right amount of time spent on certain aspects of the story. The highlight are the characters though. They are so easy to fall in love with and there is LGBTQIA representation!

One of my anticipated books for the year. This was very well marketed to the bookish community and I was super excited to receive an advanced readers copy. That being said, this book was good. The main premise revolved around choosing the path you are meant for, whether it fits society's standards or not. It fits the "cottage-core" theme that is rampant on social media right now. An enjoyable story if you are in the right headspace for it.

3.5 / 4.0

This saffic romance was so cozy and sweet, I just wish the main character didn't sacrifice her love interest's health for her own fulfilment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

I absolutely adored The Honey Witch. It has the green witch vibes that I was looking for. Not quite cozy as the stakes are high at times, but definitely had it's cozy moments. I loved the characters, loved the magic system.

DNFed on 08/15/2024 at 14% || The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields || #TheHoneyWitch #NetGalley #HistoricalRomance #Romance #Sapphic #Fantasy #SciFi

Thank you NetGalley, Sydney J. Shields, Redhook Books | Redhook for making this e-ARC available!
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author and myself.
All of my thoughts are my own~

DNF - 1 Star

For full transparency: college has been consuming me a lot but I did try my hardest to both eARC read this, and listen to the audiobook

This book just did not work for me no matter how hard I tried, different formats I tried, and how much effort I put into it. I wanted to love this book so much!
Sapphic, fantasy, historical romance that is cottage core with comparisons to Bridgeton and Howl's Moving Castle, featuring a Grumpy x Sunshine pairing??? Literally everything I love and more. So when I say this book disappointed me and I tried all I could to like it, I mean it.

This review is extremely blunt and transparent. Truly it feels like this book did not get peer reviewed properly before coming to NetGalley nor did it get any altercations when published as I attempted to read my ARC and listen to the audiobook to get further into this book and nothing seemed polished or made better. For that, I am unsure what the process was for this book, but it did not help it.

What worked for me:
The premise and what I could gather of the meadow at the start. I also loved Marigold's grandma and her siblings and the idea of magic.

What did not work for me:
The writing- the writing was so clunky and all over the place. The author's voice was never really established as one tone or another and was literally going off in different directions constantly. I first assumed it was to show Marigold being multi-layered but no, its just a stylistic choice or poor skill sets (at least from what I could tell with my own experience with how far I could make it). Marigold would have these long, intense thoughts or get narrations from the writing where she would say deep, poetic lines- one being my favorite thus far, "-what is so wrong with being a bitch? It is the closest a girl can be to a wolf." And then she goes on to talk about how she's So Different and Not Like Other Girls which is fine, but the tone felt forced and very pick me, and everyone else is not like Marigold nor worth her time. Mr. Notley actually seemed like a really nice guy, and regardless of her sexuality, she did not have to be so mean and catty towards him. And then how she reacted to the guy who dumped her and immediately was ready to risk it all for him, and then did not bother to warn his new fiancé he is abusive (I believe him being abusive was implied????). Like girl is a mean girl and not a girls, girl. Very icky.

Also the "penchant for dead girls" without really expressing more and following this tone going forward was jarring because it seems as if Shield's would pick and choose when Marigold would think or would narrate the story with such deeper insight and esoteric vibes and then,,,,,switch so violently to just normal thoughts and narration.

Telling not showing and then telling and telling and telling.....- There were so many great moments where things could have had lush and vibrant details explained. How tall is the meadow grasses? What does the meadow smell like? What colors make up the wings of the creature Lunasia? Besides its light blue aura glow, we literally are given nothing do describe it besides big butterfly. When she is heading home, that is not described neither. Is her family home 2 story? 3 story? Brick? Wooden? What kind of garden flowers are we talking about?

Also when she is eating the honey cakes with Mr. Notley at the ball, we are not really given any details of how the honey cakes tastes or anything, its just a simple cake and eaten and used as a clear plot device to move forward.

There just seemed to be a whole lot of explaining stuff with very little to no details and somehow we are expected to connect to Marigold or her life from here?


Long story short, I had to DNF because I just became too bored and too annoyed and frustrated with this book. I wanted to know so much more and yet what I was told felt like nonsense info dumping.