The cover, premise, and overall vibes are what attracted me to this book. I'm glad that cozy fantasy is finally getting its moment, and it's great seeing new authors publishing new genres of books with interesting plot lines. However, I think this one was a little too slow for me. I felt the plot went almost nowhere within the first few chapters, and from there on out was rather slow going. I wasn't really interested in any of the characters enough for me to put up with the slow pace. I think the author had a great idea, and her writing was amazing!

Read the e-arc in exchange for an honest review

I was so excited for this book and I was so disappointed…it started off brilliantly! I loved the historical fiction element, the cosy fantasy, Marigold learning about her magic from her grandmother…but that’s where things slowed down for me.

I found Marigold’s relationship with her grandmother really lovely to read about and although *that* happens early on, I still got emotional about it!

After *that*, I found the book very slow until the last third. Whilst at the start I did like reading about Marigold and her friends, hoping it would be a found family situation, I just found there was no depth to care. I think this is largely down to a very two dimensional writing style; we are told what is happening and how everyone is feeling rather than there being development for me to feel these emotions and relationship changes. I wasn’t fully sold on the love relationship because why do they love each other? Especially when they hated each other just the last page?

There was a lot of pages but nothing happening, no plot progression but also it didn’t feel there was enough character development to compensate for that.

The last third I found a lot more gripping and exciting, but then ironically everything was just suddenly resolved, seemingly very - too - quickly, considering the rest of the book.

It definitely had the cosy fantasy elements and I liked the natural integration of lgbtq+ characters, proving historical fiction isn’t a barrier. I do think this is a very good introduction to people reading fantasy as the magic system is easy to digest and lose yourself in. I’m just disappointed because I had high hopes and even reading, I can see the potential this book had, and what it could have been.

The Honey Witch is a cozy easy going sapphic fantasy with a feeling beating heart at it's core and a lot of love poured into it from the author that bleeds onto every page.

This is one of the rare books with a central romance I found that chooses to build the main character right at the beginning and takes its time letting her come to life. Marigold transforms in front of your very eyes in the first part of this book and it felt so refreshing to read a story where I felt I truly knew the main character as a person before we watch her fall in love and grow even more into herself. Her deep connection to her family and love for her grandmother was such a beautiful part of the book and it made me wish other books had such a family centered aspect for their MCs.

The environment is as much of a character in this book as Marigold is and every description is so vivid and alive I felt that I truly knew the island of Innisfree when we were there. Also as a huge fan of bees myself it felt truly wonderful to see them treated as the important pollinators and gentle creatures they truly are.

Of course, the sapphic romance was very sweet and didn't shy away from the more heated desires between the two characters. Lottie is so fun to read as she clearly is the archetype of not wanting to admit she could ever have feelings ever. Her tragic backstory and attachment to August made so much sense once you see her full picture. I do wish we had spend a tiny bit more time at the house with the trio as I would have loved to see more of their small everyday adventures.

If I had one slightly negative thing to say it's that the ending did felt a tad rushed. While everything building to it was intriguing and exciting I felt like it moved at lightning speed once we got back to Innisfree. If the ending had played out a bit more slowly until the big finale I could have gotten more into it, but it seemed like once we were there it was just a race to the end.

Overall I thorougly enjoyed The Honey Witch as a warm sapphic fantasy romance and I'll for sure be making it a staple spring/summer read in the years to come.

The Honey Witch is fun, sexy, and cute, but not entirely deep enough for me. I would wholeheartedly recommend this as a cute summery romance novel, but I wished at times it went much deeper into the lore, world building, and the characters psychologoies. I will defintely be checking out whatever this author writes next though, as I love the vibe created between the pages!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book group for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The Honey Witch has been one of my most anticipated books of 2024, so I was so excited to be approved for this ARC! Safe to say I was not disappointed! The imagery was so beautiful and I absolutely adored the entire magic system. I found myself reminded of some of my favourite cosy games throughout the book (Wylde Flowers, and Stardew Valley especially!) which helped me get really absorbed into the world.

The storyline at times was a little predictable, but I found it so sweet and really enjoyed the relationships between different characters. I'm used to reading fantasy books that are a lot more political with high stakes so this stand-alone novel was a great palette cleanser that left me feeling all warm inside. The themes of love and loss were really well explored.

I won't spoil the ending here but I did find it a bit anticlimactic. It felt a little rushed and could've done with more action but as the book is a cosy romance I guess that's too be expected, and it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the story as a whole.

I'd absolutely reccommend this book for fans of Howl's Moving Castle, Bridgerton, Emily Wilde, etc. as it's a really lovely regency romance with a fantasy twist.

Marigold is a honey witch that is cursed to never have her true love. Marigold thinks this is an easy sacrifice to make until she meets Lottie and her world falls apart.

I found this one difficult to get into but I'm glad I stuck with it this was a lovely but heartbreaking magical story. A sapphic romance with love loss and friendships a beautiful story.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little Brown Book Group and Sydney J Shields for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

🌟✨/5

Several weird and questionable decisions kept The Honey Witch from being the perfect cozy cottagecore fantasy I wanted it to be. This was a huge disappointment. I cannot talk about why I disliked it without spoiling major plot points, so be warned.


To begin with, the magic system is a huge mess. Honey witches are portrayed as being extremely powerful with the ability to control the wind and water and even BRING SOMEONE BACK TO LIFE without major repercussions. Magic of this scale should have grave consequences, but it doesn't. The whole 'honey is the opposite of ash' thing didn't really make sense either. The author did not think this through. I loved the concept of honey witches helping people by using spells and those were some moments where I got glimpses of what this book could've been. The bees were the only characters that I loved LOL. 

The romance has its sweet moments and not bad, exactly, but not really well developed. I enjoyed Marigold, Lottie and August's group dynamic initially but that too went downhill soon enough. I wasn't a huge fan of the soulmate spell either. August finding out who his soulmate is right after locking eyes with him and then them falling in love instantly didn't make sense. Like I said, honey witches are portrayed as way too powerful. That one smutty moment came out of nowhere and really threw me off. It didn't match with the vibe of the rest of the book and was poorly written. 



Since Marigold is cursed, Lottie dies when they get too romantically involved but Marigold brings her back to life 2 seconds later... nothing about this makes sense. However, the climax (if you can even call it that) was downright ridiculous. Neither did it work with the languorous pacing the first 30% had ( which was the only part it kinda enjoyed) nor did it...you guessed it- make sense. The final 'battle' was just annoying af. 


Overall, I found this book to be full of 'could've beens'. From terrible pacing to a nonsensical magic system, the honey witch was a huge disappointment.

This was both a beautiful cosy read full of cottage-core vibes and good feels and a book that tore my heart still beating from my chest and stomped on it until it was a complete wreck. It’s been a long while since a book has destroyed me so much. It was wonderful though I think I still have whiplash from the change in tone.

I loved the idea of a Honey Witch. I loved the harmony with nature and the keeping of bees and just the whole cottage-core nature of the book. I would maybe have liked to see more about Ash Witches and what they’re like when they live in harmony with the Honey Witches rather than being at odds. Maybe there’ll be a sequel.

I also would have liked just at the end for there have been a nice epilogue when we returned to the nice cosy cottage-core vibes from the start. Though I like a book that makes me feel things, I found that it left me with those emotions rather than the nice warm happy ones from the start and just having a happy little epilogue would have been nice.

This book was such a joy to read though. At the start of it when it was warm and cosy, I found myself not wanting to put it down because I was just enjoying reading it so much. It wasn’t even a case of wanting to know what happened next, it was a case of the book was so cosy, I didn’t want to leave it.

This is definitely a book in two halves. If you’re looking for cosy vibes, they’re definitely in this book, just be prepared for a really intense and definitely not cosy ending.

DNF at 15%

I don't know if I'm simply not in the mood for this particular book or if it's just really that bad. It just simply didn't grab me, didn't hold my interest.. The world building is unclear. I love me some witches, but none of it makes sense so far. The writing was okay, but not something I'm particularly into. Caught myself skimming the pages instead of reading them so it was time to DNF and move on to another book. I

The Honey Witch

A cozy cottage core fantasy romance with bees! 🐝

What to expect:
Themes of grief
Magic and spells
Witches
Regency period
LGBT Representation

This was such a cute easy read. I really liked the description of nature and how the magic system worked. I also really liked Marigolds desicion not to conform to society and be a mother and wife, instead she wanted to embrace her independence and be the Honey Witch. Her relationship with her Grandmother was beautiful.
I wish there was more of her learning to be a Honey Witch with her grandmother, as this was my favourite bit of the book.
I love bees and this book was so wholesome.
However I did think that the dialogue was a bit clunky for me and I guessed the twist quite early on so I felt eager for the book to finish.
Overall a cute, cozy read with a little bit of action. Perfect for Summer!

3.5 stars

I was expecting a cosy fantasy read when I started The Honey Witch but it wasn’t quite what I expected.

The story starts with Marigold being the burden in her family, a free spirit who can’t settle for the constraints of marriage, rather longing to the meadow instead and feel magic. Then her grandmother arrives, who has been shunned her mother following a witchy attack years before, and Marigold is offered the chance of freedom, becoming a witch and protecting Innisfree from ash witches. There is just one problem – to become a Honey Witch, Marigold must succumb to the curse – no one call fall in love with her. Marigold accepts, she wants freedom not love, but then Lottie Burke comes into her life.

There are definitely some cute moments or concepts involved, and it’s not particularly taxing so in that sense it is comforting, but the book does also feel a little disjointed. The heart of this book is the sapphic romance, the magic feels a little more like a sub-plot to cause tension in the romance and subsequently leaves you with quite a few questions about the magic system which aren’t really delved into. For example, ash witches create magic out of destruction, using the ashes to fuel their magic – how is this feasible? You can only burn something once and then what? I get the principle in theory, honey witches use life (flowers and bees), ash witches from death, it just doesn’t sound realistic, ash witches could never settle anywhere because the land would be barren. Likewise, this gives off a regency vibe, with balls and dance cards and chaperones etc, but open homosexuality is fine but tattoos are illegal and people will literally be mutilated if found with them.

The romance itself, between Marigold and Lottie, is sweet in ways although the writing is a little cringe at times, oh there’s only one bed in the inn, one tattoos the other meaning they have to undress in front of the other, there’s hand holding and “good girl, you’re doing so well”s and part of me fell for it, the other part of me knew I was being fickle. Lottie is essentially a very vulnerable young woman, she inherited a family when her friend August took her in but she feels on the outside and like she doesn’t belong. Lottie longs for a home of her own, a love of her own that she feels is hers, she is fragile buy disguised in a hard shell for quite a while of the book. Marigold is surrounded by a loving family but chose magic, she is lonely but she has her family just a letter away, she is nurturing and kind but has nowhere she can give her love out of resignation she will never receive love in return.

Lottie was, for me, a more interesting and likeable character, but the problem is, her character didn’t develop, she just sort of instantly changes on the page from standoffish to vulnerable and endearing, yes it’s magic but it’s also whiplash. Marigold, on paper, is empowering, she literally runs from a man potentially offering marriage to instead make a life for herself but her journey in becoming a witch is a little rushed. Meanwhile August, the 3rd friend in this story, disappears which feels a little strange when he played a part during the initial confrontation with the ash witch.

There are some very obvious twists coming, the introduction of a character and I instantly knew who they were, and the conclusion feels a little rushed and jarring compared to the rest of the story, but take the book as a love story and it’s still pretty cute and enjoyable and I did love Lottie and would probably have fallen in love with her too.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had seen this on instagram & tiktok at least once a day for months, so to say this was highly anticipated would be an understatement. Those high expectations however lead to disappointment for me unfortunately. I didn’t hate the book, I didn’t love it, it was just mid. I finished it today & honestly couldn’t really tell you any details about it. I was just expecting a lot more from what I’d seen around, but I can imagine that a lot of people will really enjoy this book, it’s a light easy read with nice characters & an easy to follow (although predictable) plot.

Thank you Orbit & NetGalley for the ARC

This book was provided by Little, Brown Book Group UK through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have been subscribed to the author on Instagram for a while now. She made me want to read The Honey Witch so much, that when I saw this book on NetGalley, I immediately requested it and crossed my fingers! I loved the idea of a witch cursed to never be loved, and a girl who doesn’t believe in curses falling in love with her anyway.

The beginning felt very Bridgerton to me, which I wasn’t expecting, but it was very funny, so I kept on reading (Many moments in the books made me laugh, it was a fun read !) Then the actual magic happened, and it was all I hoped for ! There were bees, magic, honey, supernatural creatures, and wonderful friendship !

There was a few big « revelations » at the end of the book that were very predictable, but I don’t think it’s a real problem. The book was very fun and enjoyable to read, very cozy. The characters were all sweet and great and I loved them all, I can’t wait for book 2 !

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year, and it's describe as a sapphic cottagecore cozy fantasy with witches - and that sounds right up my alley. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations... It was very predictable, I felt bored, but what bothered me the most was that it's poorly with awkward dialog. The world was interesting, the plot was cute - but it did not live up to my expectations...

I really enjoyed this one!

The honey witch is a cozy romance about a young girl living her witchy fantasy romance life.
I love this as a tale of self discovery and really understanding who she is as a person. Marigold was so enjoyable to read.
I actually really liked the fact that it wasn’t particularly intense, it was just the right amount of cottagecore for what I wanted at the time and will definitely be digging into other works by this author!

The Honey Witch is nice enough for a chilled out and cozy witchy romance. However, there was something a missing - it felt like nothing was happening, and the characters weren't interesting enough for that to be ok. Unfortunately, that meant it ended up being boring at parts, and it was difficult to motivate myself to pick it back up and keep reading. A real shame!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

2.75 stars
Maybe my expectations were too high, maybe I just misunderstood what the book was going for, but this was just a bit of a disappointment. Generally, The Honey Witch is fine. Cosy fantasy/romantasy doesn’t need that much of a plot, but the characters weren’t interesting or distinct enough to carry the narrative. I’m also confused about the pacing. Marigold goes from knowing essentially nothing about magic, to having characters tell her ‘oh, by the way, this has been happening the entire time’, to several month-long time skips of her learning magic off-page. For a witch book, there’s just not enough witchcraft. The vast majority of the book is dialogue, which is noticeably weaker than the prose, and generally tends towards YA. I didn’t know this was an adult book until suddenly there was a sex scene, a sort of death scene, then 20 pages of action out of nowhere to end the book. I unfortunately found The Honey Witch boring and a little bit surface-level. The descriptive sections are lovely and it really sticks to its honey/bees theming, I just wish that the emphasis was more on the magic.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. A cottage core fantasy with magic. It has all the right feels for a good read. But it was a little disappointing. But still a nice read. 2.5 stars

This is a charming tale of magic and love. All kinds of love, family, friend, romantic, of nature, and of learning new things about life.
There is calm beauty and breathless excitement, all wound together. Beautifully written and totally engaging, I devoured this book and was sad to say good bye when it ended.

A sweet cottage-core, queer romantasy novel set in a world of magic.

I was a little disappointed with the writing - I was expecting something similar to Travis Baldree or Rebecca Thorne and while the story delivered, the writing was stilted and as other reviewers have said, there was more telling than showing.

I’d give the author a second change though, I really hope she keeps writing!

Thanks as always to NetGalley and the publisher.