Oof. This one was a good one, albeit a bit intense at times. Now, don’t let that discourage you!! I’m just saying, if you’ve got some mommy issues.. they may or may not pop up! Haha
Despite that being true, I absolutely adored this book. The ambiance is amazing and I really loved the way the author touched on some subjects while also creating a cosy atmosphere? So again, no need to worry thaat much on content because it all works out in the end.

in no sense a cozy story but still a really effective fantasy with some great aspects and some strong drama. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Marketed as a cozy comfort read, it’s definitely a darker fantasy. This story ended up being more intense and high stakes than I anticipated. I wanted to love this magical sapphic story but unfortunately I don’t think I was in the right mindset for it.

This story was so engaging and the atmosphere was incredibly immersive! I really appreciated the way that the author gently handled difficult topics while not minimizing the impact of trauma.

As busy as I have been this week with work, I was constantly finding moments to steal myself away to continue reading. This book brought me so much joy and warmth.... like if Gilmore Girls and Charmed were a fantasy novel. The through line was very well constructed, the characters fleshed out, enough mystery to keep you guessing. I would give this book a 4.75 out of 5 stars. My one qualm was the scene with Evie and Angela at Angela's apartment. Without giving spoilers, I will be a little cryptic. Scenes like those ride a fine line... too literal and paint by numbers or metaphorical and letting the reader use their imagination. I found the scene to be a little too literal which took my out of the story and took away some of the magic. We as the reader don't need a play by play. Using less detail, less desciption lets us fill in the blanks and imagine it how we would. Other than that, I very much enjoyed this book and already know several friends and family members to who I will be recommending this book.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7766761681

3.5⭐️
I really enjoyed this book. Perfect amount of witchy vibes . Telling the story of the witches who have lived at Honeysuckle House. Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for ARC..

hank you Netgalley and the Publisher, for this ARC!

God, I love stories about generations of witches living in a animated house, but you know what I love more? Bees, honey, candles, witches doing spell work with candles, curses and sad stories.

"Witches of Honeysuckle House" is a story about generations of women connected through trauma, and magic, and familial love. This story is so heart-wrenching if you take the time to analyze it properly, and yet it's so beautiful. I'm starting to read more and more about sisters united through generations and the more I read the more I fall in love with this trope.

This book also details heavy topics, like Child abuse and PTSD related to the CA, but I think the aftermath and the consequences is very well handled. The author managed to create realistic responses to said topics and they portrayed the characters suffering from it in a very human, very realistic way.

When a curse has plagued a family for almost a century, two sisters are set to try everything they can to break the curse. Though neither one agrees with the way the other one is doing things. They must band together to beat the clock. With found family, new love interest and the unearthing an unexpected family history along the way. The magic system was new and intriguing, who wouldn’t love a magic house and book shop that caters to their needs, even when they don’t realize their own needs the house and the shop do! Truly unique and heartwarming with a dark twisted past and emotional and physical trauma this book clicks all the boxes!

Konnte ich leider nicht lesen, da unser system die LCP dateien nicht verarbeitet, was schade ist, leider aber bei etwa 20% der titel der fall ist

3.5/5

I loved the practical magic vibes and that a seemingly living house was a primary character. I have been reading a lot of fantasy so it was fun to see magic in a way that felt realistic with Tarot & Candles with intention. Overall, it was a good story but the pace was a bit slow for me.

Synopsis:
Florence and Evie Caldwell have always known two things: Honeysuckle House is undeniably magical, and their family is undeniably cursed. Every thirteen years, on October 13th, someone in the family (or someone close to it) dies. With the cursed date looming once again, the sisters find themselves at odds. Evie is determined to break the curse once and for all, while Florence refuses to even set foot in the house or tap into her magic.

My Thoughts:
If Liz Parker writes it, I’m reading it. 😏 And this one? Absolutely haunting in the best way.

This story masterfully explores generational trauma through a rich, witchy lens. (Don’t skip the author’s note at the end. It’s raw, beautiful, and grounding.)

It had everything I love in a fall, witchy read read: family magic, conjured kitten, a magical curse and a deeply compelling mystery that kept me flipping pages, trying to piece things together alongside the sisters.

One of my favorite elements was how each chapter opened with a tarot card and its meaning. It was a touch that made the book feel both mystical and intentional. Liz’s tarot knowledge added so much depth and atmosphere to the structure.

The house-as-a-character trope absolutely shined here. It was eerie, enchanting, and unforgettable. The mystery of the curse had me flipping pages as I was trying to piece it together along with the sisters.

Trigger warnings: While this book reads magical, it doesn’t shy away from darkness. It deals with tough topics like physical and emotional abuse and animal endangerment (the cat is okay, but it’s tense!). These elements added real emotional weight and made the ending that much more powerful.

Truly a magical must read for your fall reading!

What You’ll Find:
🧬 Generational trauma
🏚️ Sentient house
📚 Magical bookstore
👯‍♀️ Sisters
🧙‍♀️Queer witches
⏳ Multiple POV and timelines
🪄 Family magic
🐱 Conjured kitten

Florence Caldwell just wants to live a quiet life running her Bookshop. Her sister, Evie, just wants her to quit denying the witch that she is. What could be seen as a cozy story about small town witches that make magic candles and play with tarot, trying to put on the annual fall festival and navigate a family curse, has some substantial layers about family dynamics, PTSD, emotional abuse and manipulation. I thought I had mommy issues, but these girls take the cake. Kinda pissed I don’t have a sentient house, now, tbh.

This is a beautiful story filled with family, love and hope. Liz Parker proves a house is not just a home.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC through NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Ms Parker for this opportunity. These are my true and honest thoughts.

Trigger Warnings: Dark themes, animal endangerment (the animal does not die and is fine), emotional and physical abuse from a parent to a child, trauma, murder, curses

Summary: Haunted by a curse that kills someone close to their family every 13 years, two sisters must come together to break the spell and save that which they hold most dear.

Florence and Evie Caldwell have long disagreed on how to break their family’s curse, and tension has been high since their mother’s death thirteen years ago. Honeysuckle House, the family estate where every Caldwell has lived, now only houses one of the sisters. Evie has crafted it into an enchanted bed and breakfast, while Florence runs a magical bookstore in town, refusing to even set foot inside Honeysuckle House.

But when the house starts behaving dangerously and catches fire, Florence and Evie must set aside their differences and dig into past generations of their family and the town’s history before the curse claims someone they love.

Personal Thoughts: So, this book was marketed on NetGalley as cozy fantasy which is why I signed up for it in the first place. I had requested several gothic fantasy/romance novels and needed a few cozier/kinder/non-gothic novels to offset the trauma. This was not that. This was decidedly not that.

I think I started and stopped this novel at least four times before I finally got past a certain scene and the only reason I managed it was because I checked other reviews on Goodreads to see if there was mention of it – there was, many times – because if it ended poorly, I did not want to know, read it or see it myself. I am very sensitive to animal endangerment, and animal – especially pet – death. The magical bookstore that Florence runs has a bookshop void cat named Ink and this is the animal in question. If Ink died, I would not have finished the book.

That being said, there were a good many parts of this book that stood out to me. The chapters written from the point of view of Honeysuckle House itself? Very cool. That’s not a tactic often taken, and I really enjoyed the change of scenery and emotion. Those chapters were my favorite, and honestly the house (magical on its own, a little like Casita from Encanto) was probably my favorite character other than Ink the void cat.

Unfortunately that’s not [just] because of how well written those chapters were but because the human characters, especially the ones we spend the most time with (Florence and Evie) were… kind of boring. Maybe boring is the wrong word. More like, they didn’t feel fleshed out. I had trouble telling them apart if I had to stop reading mid-chapter, because there didn’t seem to be much of a discernable difference between Evie chapters and Florence chapters other than the setting and if Clara was around.

I also say that this book shouldn’t be marketed as cozy fantasy due to a detailed and graphic abusive attack between the grandmother of Florence and Evie, where she pulls their mother’s hair. It isn’t glossed over, it is detailed and in your face. To me it feels like at that point, someone should take your cozy fantasy card away.

I’d classify this as breaking generational trauma and ending a decades long curse really seems like it’d fall under that, plus the banter between Florence and Evie gets less and less pointed and more and more like two sisters squabbling as the book goes on, so the healing aspect seems more apt.

All in all, I found the book interesting but ultimately unremarkable and I had a lot higher hopes for it. 2.5/5, rounded up to 3/5.

AL

A huge thank you to Net Galley for this ARC. I’ve been in a major reading slump lately and this yanked me out of it immediately. This book has all the witchy, magical elements as well as romance, family trauma, found family, and a whole lot of cozy vibes. This is going to be a perfect read for fall. 4.5 stars, 10/10 would recommend, definitely read this!

I loved Liz's first book, In the Shadow Garden, and was pumped when she announced this one months ago via her newsletter! Witches of Honeysuckle House is a magical realism family drama. A curse is attached to the Caldwell family and house and every 13 years someone they love dies there. Sisters Evie and Florence are at odds with how to handle this. One sister has embraced her magic and thinks that's the way to end the curse, while the other has stopped using hers all together. It's a race against time as the next anniversary of 13 years is right around the corner and the house, which is magical also, hasn't been acting normal. This novel starts out light as we get to know our main characters and the house, but soon we discover the trauma and sadness that is embedded in the Caldwell family. It's a story that really shines a light on generational trauma, ptsd, and the love that can either connect us or separate us. I loved Evie and Florence and their complicated relationship, both trying to help and protect the other in different ways. Like In the Shadow Garden there's a mystery to be solved to help heal the family and I loved trying to piece it together. If you like family dramas with dual timelines, witchy magic, great LGBT representation and adorable furry sidekicks, this one will be up your alley! Thank you Alcove Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review! Witches of Honeysuckle House is available October 21st.

4,5 ⭐
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
I really liked Witches of Honeysuckle House. It was a bit darker than I expected but it was really good. It deals with some heavy topics like abuse, trauma, PTSD... The sentient house and the bookstore bring in some light and cozy vibes. I loved that the house had a POV. I liked the past and the present POV's and how the mystery of the curse was discovered. I will definitely be interested in the other works by this author.

Due to a curse that kills someone in or close to her family every 13 years, Florence has moved out of her childhood home and is no longer using her inherited magic. She's closed her heart off to everyone, even though she is finding herself falling for a new man in town, Owen. Evie, her younger sister, has taken a different attitude towards breaking the curse, believing that if she and her daughter Clara use their magic to help the town she can break the curse. Told in alternating points of view throughout the years of the curse and between Florence, Evie, Clara, the house and the two original Caldwell sisters, Regina and Violet, Witches of Honeysuckle House gently guides the readers through a story of discovering harsh family truths and healing from them.

I usually don't read books with this many different character POVs, but Witches of Honeysuckle House did the multiple POVs very well. It was so interesting to read from the POV of the house as well as the characters, since there aren't a lot of books with sentient houses as POV characters. The novel is a surprising mix of soft and vaguely horrific themes, which I enjoyed quite a bit as someone who still enjoys Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest books. The character of the summoned cat, Ink, added some coziness to the story, although if you are sensitive to pets being placed in danger I would advise against reading this novel due to the nature of the plot.

This novel did a really good job of tackling intergenerational trauma as well, as the two sisters who were the first Caldwell sisters inherited trauma from their parents dying when they were young and passed it down due to their inability to properly cope with the situation. Florence was a thoughtful portrayal of complex PTSD, and it was cool that we got representation of a bisexual male character in the form of Owen, her love interest. The book isn't majorly a romance, although it does have several romantic arcs (one of them tragic).

I agree with some other readers that Clara seemed on the younger side, but honestly if we're presuming that she spent several of her formative years isolated due to the COVID pandemic (since she was born in 2018), that makes sense. She would unfortunately resemble a lot of seven-year-olds these days in terms of her reading ability and emotional maturity. She might even be more mature than some of them.

Overall, a wonderful novel (loved the detail in the witchcraft elements, you can tell the author did her research) and I look forward to reading more from Liz Parker.

A magical house, a deadly curse, and two estranged sisters who might just save each other. ✨🏠

Witches of Honeysuckle House is a spellbinding blend of cosy witchiness and quiet emotional weight. Liz Parker has crafted a deeply atmospheric tale of grief, legacy, and reconciliation—where even the house itself is infused with magic, memory, and meaning.

Florence and Evie Caldwell haven’t spoken in years, divided by grief, guilt, and two very different ideas of how to break their family’s generational curse—one that claims a life every thirteen years. Now the clock is ticking, the house is behaving dangerously, and the sisters must reunite to uncover long-buried secrets before someone else they love is lost.

One of the book’s most enchanting touches is Honeysuckle House itself—a living, breathing, emotionally reactive home that quite literally burns with grief. There are even occasional chapters told from the house’s perspective, which adds a poetic, bittersweet layer to the story. It’s rare to see a setting so richly characterized—and rarer still to be given its inner voice.

While the tone leans cosy and family-oriented, readers should be aware of a few darker threads woven through the story: on-page depictions of physical abuse (e.g., hair-pulling between mother and daughter), emotional manipulation, murder, and animal endangerment (the cat survives!). These themes aren’t graphic or dominant, but they lend gravity and contrast to an otherwise hopeful narrative.

Ultimately, this is a book about the magic of healing—between sisters, across generations, and within the walls of a house that remembers everything.

I loved every single second of this book. It was cozy but so impactful. I related to the family trauma so much and felt a little healing through reading this. Loved that the house was its own character. Loved the magical elements, they felt accessible. I liked that the romance elements of the story weren’t the main focus but just enough. I think I related to Florence the most, and I want a magical book store now too! Going to be recommending this to everyone I know!