I wanted to love this book so much. It was actually one of the books I was most excited for coming out in the first part of the year. Unfortunately, while the vibes were definitely there, the story itself was a bit boring for me. I felt like nothing was really happening.

But again, I'd still read another work of the author because I loved the cozy cottage core/regency era vibes and it was an easy read and yeah, I liked the set up, just not the story so much.

The Honey Witch follows Marigold who has always known she was different and didn't fit in with the others around her. With the return of a family member from her past she discovers her trueself and where she belongs. Finally feeling like she is where she is meant to be, her life then gets flipped on its head by Lottie, a fiery redhead who is adament she doesn't believe in magic.

I have been in a reading slump for months and after trying many books The Honey Witch has finally pulled me out of it. I loved the concept of the magic in the story and how it was carried out and evolved through the book. However, my favourite part was the relationships that Marigold grew when she finally could be herself. I loved reading a book that made same sex relationships normative and instead was able to focus on building those relationships.

I overall have absolutely loved reading The Honey Witch by Sydeny J. Shields. Thank you so much for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book in exhange for an honest review.

3⭐️ This book was highly anticipated for me and has a lovely premise, involving a unique, honey centric magic system. A fantasy of manners set in a queer normative incarnation of regency society this was cosy with an ethereal and whimsical cottagecore vibe.

This had some wonderful writing including

‘…how romantic to die young, unstretched, unsullied, without ever outgrowing the part of the ingenue. But what happens when the girl keeps living, when she ages proudly and defiantly, without abandoning imagination, or stories, or that secret wish to find magic wherever it hides?
Well, then the poets would call her a witch.’

I felt like the book explored important themes, including grief, in a poignant and relatable relatable way and did have the cozy vibes it promised however, there was just something about the book that didn’t hit the mark for me and I felt like it didn’t quite reach its full potential with the pacing being off (very rushed at the end) Sadly, for me some of the plot threads felt like they were left dangling or were odd and unexplored fully while others were so obvious

Although this is an adult book with some adult scenes, Marigold felt immature at times so that it read more like a YA. She made some choices that were questionable and seemed against what her character would realistically do and it seemed that after how important for the locals the honey witch’s abilities were made, 90% of what Mari did was pretty frivolous stiff.

For many readers this could be a fantasy favourite that is an easy, comforting escape but for me it just didn’t hit the mark 😔

This was quite a mixed bag for me, so I'll start with the positives:
I am a huge fan of nature and the way authors incorporate it into their stories, so the idea of a honey witch, and their magic being tied to the land was immediately a win. The idea of escaping to a little Scottish (?) island to learn magic from my grandma and a big old grimoire sounds pretty perfect to me (besides the whole cursed to never be in love thing).

Plot wise I felt like maybe we tried to cram too much in to one story: we had two primary locations, in the city and Innisfree, and I felt like neither of them got explored enough to really feel at home in them. I'm also personally not so much of a fan of travelling plots, and because the two locations were so far apart, this was kind of unavoidable.

A sweet story (haha, get it?) that I think regency-era fantasy lovers should certainly give a go

3.5 rounded up
I kept seeing this book all over instagram so when I was granted a review copy I was pretty excited.

I kind of knew in advance that fantasy is often something I struggle to get on with, but I was really eager to give this a go and I’m glad I did!

Getting into the book initially was tough for me. The pacing didn’t click and I spent the first few chapters feeling pretty unsure. Things seemed to be happening with no real explanation and the characters weren’t really giving anything to connect to.
Once Marigold is on her own, though, things started to make a bit more sense and slow down a bit. Some of the scenes at the start feel like they could have been omitted.

Marigold is a good character but she definitely IS a character. Theres nothing that really ties her to the reader to make her feel real or relatable which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I just felt like more care could have been taken when building her character.

I wasn’t expecting things to take a turn towards high stakes but it did and it worked. Once things really got going, the angst and danger settle in and it picks up the pace in a way that works rather than speeding through just to get to the thick of it like the opening chapters.

The author built up towards that plot twists and nothing was really a surprise, which maybe was the intention but it felt slightly more than just dropping hints. But the ending was beautiful and satisfying nonetheless!

One thing I struggle with more than fantasy is romance AND fantasy, but in The Honey Witch it works! It’s well done and I love how difficult the romance was to achieve, especially since In this world it’s something Marigold isn’t supposed to have. Both girls therefore really have fight for it and to make it work, it’s not cut and dry at all.

I do recommend giving the book a try and letting it grow on you! It’s definitely got something special within it!

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the ARC

“We’re Honey Witches darling. We find beauty where others may not. Spirits guide us to it. We bring marvellous things to life.”

The story is set in a regency-esque era and the main character Marigold is certain that the traditional way of being a wife is not for her. She is drawn to the wilder world and longs to be outside under the blue moon instead of attending endless galas and balls.

When her grandmother Althea visits and she finally learns her true calling, that she is a Honey Witch, she leaves her hometown to learn more about her powers and help Althea to keep her home, Innisfree safe from the Ash witch (who tried to unalive Marigold when she was just a child).

Reuniting with her childhood friend August and his new best friend in tow, Lottie she embarks upon a journey that will change everyone’s lives.

The connection between the Honey and Ash witches being the opposite of each other and the contrast between Marigold and Lottie worked really well. I had suspicions about her from the moment she was introduced but I don’t think the intention was to hide her background. As it was subtly hinted at throughout. It led to an enemies to lovers romance that was to ‘die’ for 🥵.

Although it took them a lifetime, I was happy to see Mr Benny and Althea got their happy ending together 💕

This was a wholesome read which had a few unexpected turns and blossomed into a warming love story towards the end.

Cozy fantasy and I are in a rocky relationship. In a way I like watching people being happy and figuring out who they are and who they wanna be in the future. In a way I always find so many elements in the story I'd love to hear more about. So, I was not entirely sure if I was gonna like this book or not. However, you only know for sure if you give the book a try. Luckily Orbit granted me a review copy of this book through Netgalley.

I didn't click with this book right away. The pacing at the start of this book feels a little off. Things go a little too fast, we don't get much time to understand what is going on and we don't get the time to really get used to the characters and build a connection with them. However, once our heroine is all alone the story slows down a little bit. As if every before that is only an introduction and this is where the true story starts.

After finishing the book I wouldn't label this a true cozy fantasy anymore. The stakes are incredibly high during the finale, there is quite a lot of angst in this book and there's also quite a lot of danger. Of course, I already saw one of the plot twists coming. That's mostly because the author clearly built up towards that reveal. All the hints were there. It's a beautiful reveal though and it made the ending of the story only more satisfying.

I also like the romance in this book. In this world soul mates exist and there's even a spell to find them and yet the romance we're focussing on in this story is everything but easy. Due to a curse Marigold can't be loved. Both girls therefore really have to keep on fighting and trying to make this work. Which is partly because they each have their own traumas from childhood they need to deal with.

However, it's totally worth it to give this book some time to grow on you. Once the main plot starts it becomes better and better with each chapter.

I was immediately charmed and pleasantly surprised by some of the unexpected twists in the book, which chooses to tackle serious themes without ever becoming overly heavy or excessively violent. The author skillfully balances a sweet and gentle atmosphere with moments of tension. It’s both a cocoon of tenderness and sweetness, and a window into a world where a woman can make her own life and romantic choices, showing strength and vulnerability in turn. An enchanting read.

The Honey Witch is about not allowing herself to be tamed. To know exactly who Marigold is and what she wants. This historical fantasy builds on the foundations of the expectations and confines of what society see of us, wants from us. It's a book that explores power versus love versus being who we are. In many ways, The Honey Witch is a story about friendship and community, about finding people in our lives. But the middle part loses the action, the impetus, of the plot and when it gets picked up again, it just feels a bit too sudden.

This book was so cute and dreamy
It had all the cottage core, Spring witch vibes and was the perfect read for this time of year. I really enjoyed the emphasis on nature and our connection to it and I learned a shit ton about honey!

I thought the relationship was magical and rooted in healing and respect and above all, friendship. I enjoyed watching these two opposites slowly become besotted with each other and who doesn't love a 'good girl' line?

The spirits, botanical themes and potion making made me yearn to be a witch in a cottage - like that's my main goal in life!
I will say that the beginning was a little slow and it took me a little while to fully get into it. This book is plot-light but for me that's absolutely fine for a cosy fantasy.

The Honey Witch delivers on vibes and characters & I'll definitely read more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful cover that matches the sweetest (pun intended with the honey) story of magic and love. I loved the unique magic system and the characters. This story of generational curses and forbidden love was such a delight.
I look forward to reading more books but this author!

The Honey Witch by @sydneyjshields is an absolute must for your Spring/Summer tbr pile! It's a beautifully written story about standing out, being weird and following your heart. Shields has nailed the Grumpy/Sunny trope here and could feel every ounce of distain thrown off the page by Lottie, and Marigolds determination and ambition to be more than a 'wife', I absolutely Ioved this angle, the fact that she didn't care about being cursed to never find love was a fresh take on the usual 'true loves kiss, sleeping beauty, Princess to be rescued etc etc type of curse. If you're a fan of the cozy farm games and have played Wylde Flowers can guarantee you will love this book. Happy belated publication day to Sydney and thank you to @netgalley & @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for this e-ARC. look forward to seeing what's next for Sydney. A beautiful talent.

When the cover is this pretty, you don't need much influence to want to read it, now add in that it's a cozy little witchy book and you have a book I've been dying to read.

In The Honey Witch we meet the sweetest story of love and magic between two witches that I have read in a long time, if ever I have read one.

Here we meet Marigold, a girl whose family is held in high esteem among her elite community, but she has never felt part of this group, and only tries to pass the bitter pill of participating in all the seasonal festivities for the sake of her family; but what she really longs for is to return to the little cottage where she spent her vacations in the company of her grandmother.

So one day Marigold's grandmother suddenly appears and reveals that she is a witch, since in her family every first born is born with this gift, the gift of being the honey witch; for this very reason she must travel with her to be trained, she also reveals that just as there is a honey witch there is also an ash witch, that in the past they worked together for the good of the magical balance, but the latter has been corrupted by her own selfish desires and therefore a curse of love has fallen on the witches of her family. In other words, every honey witch is destined to live a lonely life far from romantic love.
It wouldn't be so bad, if when they arrive in town Mari didn't run into Lottie, and a series of events lead to a very slow paced and beautifully sapphic romance, which leads to her wanting to do whatever it takes to break the curse.

The simplicity in the magic that all cozy fantasy has makes this story so endearing to read and leaves you feeling as warm and sweet as honey itself, you fall in love with all the characters that are presented as the cast of this beautiful work and the moments that make up all the world building.

Highly recommend!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the incredible ARC in exchange for my honest opinions, all opinions are my own. Review published on May 14.

Unfortunately this book didn't work for me and I have decided to dnf it pretty early on. I wasn't really enjoying the writing style, and reading many other reviews have definitely swayed me not to continue forward. It does feel like this book as pretty lush descriptions, especially of honey and flowers, but there was something about the writing, at a sentence level, that I found hard to connect to.

Rating 2 stars for the part of the book that I have read; I didn't have strong feelings positively or negatively towards it; it's just not for me.


Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc.

Such a great read with a very unique magic system.

If you are looking for a cozy read this is the one for you.
It’s just one of those books that you want to hug no questions asked

Marigold feels trapped in her life of balls and courting, much preferring the magic of a meadow on a full moon. When her grandmother returns after 15 years to lead Marigold into her fate as a Honey Witch, she leaves everything she's every known behind for a new life.

She meets her old friend August and his sour friend Lottie. They can't stand each other, but is there more to it? The Honey Witch is cursed not to love, so it can't be that, surely?

Set in 1831 and 1832, the story has an old-fashioned feel (chaperones, balls, courting, long travel and slow post) but definitely updated with LGBT relationships and magic!

The Honey Witch elements were well-thought out, although I'm still not entirely clear on how ash is the opposite of honey. There were hints of the true nature of Lottie throughout the book, which all came together in the final part. The battle of Ash and Honey was quite quick, there was a lot of story leading up to it.

After such a quick resolution I think the final part could have been a bit longer to find out about their life after rebuilding the island and how ash and honey work together after all the fighting - it's probably not enough for a second book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story had all the components of a book I should really love; it’s queer, witchy, regency era with cosy vibes! However, I feel like the pacing of the story wasn’t quite right and felt like the author could have gone further with the magical aspect. I really loved the characterisations later in the book - Marigold was quite immature at the beginning but I liked seeing her grow as the story progressed. I adored Lottie and Marigold together and the tension between the two was practically jumping off the pages! Overall, this was an quick and easy read and I am interested in reading more from this author in the future,

First up, this should have trigger warnings for miscarriage, various deaths and blood. I mention this first because I think they could be a surprise, given that this comes across as fairly cosy.

I think it starts of quite well, a historical fantasy setting with the main character Marigold feeling like she doesn't fit in and dreaming of escape, being whisked away by her grandmother after learning she's a honey witch. A little rushed, but fine.

So what didn't I enjoy? There's a lot of telling rather than showing - time skips that cut out the learning parts and the relationship developments. It made many of the interactions feel shallow (although I did like the relationship between Marigold and her grandmother and Mr Benny).

I assume that the treatment of a woman experiencing a miscarriage was there to illustrate that the honey witches were there to help the locals, but that line wasn't really developed - again we're told but not shown much in that regard - making it feel oddly jarring.

Now, the magic. Bees, honey magic and ash magic. I thought it was an interesting idea, but the curse didn't make a huge amount of sense to me. I thoroughly disliked the soulmate spell and everything related to it, and the romance made me cringe.

In the end, everything felt quite frenetic and choppy and I didn't feel any attachment to the characters to make up for that. I was drawn in by the cover and the cottagecore vibes. And there are some of those vibes to start with, but there's too much drama and peril if you're looking for something cosy.

A magnificently written book set in a beautifully described whimsical setting. Such a lovely sapphic romance with wonderful character and creatures. Innisfree sounded like such a perfect place that I wish I could visit. A magical witchy read which I absolutely loved.

It is safe to say that I really enjoyed this book! From the characters, plot, magic system, and world building, it all came across very well fleshed out and well written.

I particularly loved the characters and the variety of relationships that were on display, such as, romantic (sapphic/gay/straight), platonic, and familial, which included reunited friendships, new friendships, and familial type friendships.

What I found most enjoyable in particular was probably the magic. I adore when a mundane, everyday object, is turned magical, such as the titular honey that is used in The Honey Witch. It was so interesting and fun to read about its ins and outs along with some spell recipes that really added to the magic system and the reading experience.

The story and plot was very well balanced and thought through. This is through having the humour, themes of loneliness, loss, and uncertainty, along with discovery and discovery of one self be used interchangeably throughout. With Marigold also being in her early twenties, I feel as though this really adds to the believability of it all too, and it also shows her character development, especially with her magic, by the end of the book.

The only thing that I would have changed would have been to make it longer, but that is probably me just enjoying the world so much that I didn't want it to end.

I definitely think that it is perfect for beginners in the cosy fantasy genre, as well as long time lovers of it due to its unique magic system, but also for fans of studio ghibli, and regency era literature.