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chanlo1994's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A very cozy read. i appreciated the opposite forces being honey and ash, which is an incredibly refreshing pairing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage
Additional content warnings: tattooing/needles, bee stingscozywithraven's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book was a lot more than I was expecting. I was a little hesitant at the first chapter, but after I got deeper into it, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to stay in the book as long as possible, I wish I could just go into the world and stay there š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, Miscarriage, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
a_murphy's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
It started off slow but picked up where it needed to. The characters especially the Lottie were great and loveable. This book made me feel nice and warm I would recommend it to anyone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Miscarriage
caseythereader's review
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Thanks to Orbit Books for the free copy of this book.
- I both loved and was frustrated with THE HONEY WITCH. I adored the isle of Innisfree, with its beautiful cottage and friendly spirits and bees. Truly, the beauty of nature is on display in this book.
- I also loved the romance element of the story. The concept of bringing a skeptic around to believing in magic and falling in love along the way was so sweet.
- However, the world building of this book left a lot to be desired for me. Unrelated magical powers popped up when they needed to, the rules of society were never quite clear, and the plot reveal at the end was so obvious so early on that it actually became frustrating waiting for the characters to figure it out.
- This book also kind of confused romantic love and physical intimacy in a way I didnāt like. I donāt want to go into it here due to spoilers, but Iād love to talk about it if youāve read this book.
- I both loved and was frustrated with THE HONEY WITCH. I adored the isle of Innisfree, with its beautiful cottage and friendly spirits and bees. Truly, the beauty of nature is on display in this book.
- I also loved the romance element of the story. The concept of bringing a skeptic around to believing in magic and falling in love along the way was so sweet.
- However, the world building of this book left a lot to be desired for me. Unrelated magical powers popped up when they needed to, the rules of society were never quite clear, and the plot reveal at the end was so obvious so early on that it actually became frustrating waiting for the characters to figure it out.
- This book also kind of confused romantic love and physical intimacy in a way I didnāt like. I donāt want to go into it here due to spoilers, but Iād love to talk about it if youāve read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death, and Miscarriage
kylosten's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really wanted to love this book because the premise of cozy sapphic witches was such a cool idea to me but the execution of this just fell flat in a lot of ways.
It's clear this was a debut novel.
A majority of the first half was written in vignettes where it peeked in on Marigold's life around the full moon but about a third of those didn't really add anything to the story they just felt like flavor text to add vibes and give details that didn't really matter/were slice of life type scenes. It just made everything feel drawn out and added to the slow pacing. I'm surprised a lot of those didn't get edited out to make this more or a novella length book.
The romance aspect of this didn't really start until almost halfway through and it didn't really feel natural at all.
None of the characters had any real dimension and there wasn't any real motivations to any of what they were doing.
The worldbuilding was pretty non existent and the magic system wasn't really fleshed out. Mari was a honey witch but also randomly had other powers that didn't seem connected to the honey magic and she seemed to somehow just innately know what to do sometimes and other times have to research it.
There's an aspect about tattoos on women being an offense that could lead to a fine but never really explained why. Given that the L.I. is a heavily tattooed woman and there is a scene where that matters, I think it should have been explained.
The conclusion of the story was very heavily foreshadowed pretty early on once the interactions with the L.I. started happening so I think that added to this feeling like it was way too long.
This basically felt like the author had a handful of scenes and dialogue and they wanted to put into a book and then added the rest around it but didn't execute it well. The pacing was weird and a lot of details given didn't really add anything.
If I hadn't been listening to the audiobook I may have just DNF'd it. The narrator was great!
I will say that since queerness seems accepted in this world it seemed like magic was used as kind of a euphemism for how queerness is viewed in the real world. Some people didn't accept it as real/an innate part of people, it caused Mari to feel unaccepted and "othered" at times, and some characters needed time to come around to the idea that it was part of her and who she was. I do think that aspect was done well.
It's clear this was a debut novel.
A majority of the first half was written in vignettes where it peeked in on Marigold's life around the full moon but about a third of those didn't really add anything to the story they just felt like flavor text to add vibes and give details that didn't really matter/were slice of life type scenes. It just made everything feel drawn out and added to the slow pacing. I'm surprised a lot of those didn't get edited out to make this more or a novella length book.
The romance aspect of this didn't really start until almost halfway through and it didn't really feel natural at all.
None of the characters had any real dimension and there wasn't any real motivations to any of what they were doing.
The worldbuilding was pretty non existent and the magic system wasn't really fleshed out. Mari was a honey witch but also randomly had other powers that didn't seem connected to the honey magic and she seemed to somehow just innately know what to do sometimes and other times have to research it.
There's an aspect about tattoos on women being an offense that could lead to a fine but never really explained why. Given that the L.I. is a heavily tattooed woman and there is a scene where that matters, I think it should have been explained.
The conclusion of the story was very heavily foreshadowed pretty early on once the interactions with the L.I. started happening so I think that added to this feeling like it was way too long.
This basically felt like the author had a handful of scenes and dialogue and they wanted to put into a book and then added the rest around it but didn't execute it well. The pacing was weird and a lot of details given didn't really add anything.
If I hadn't been listening to the audiobook I may have just DNF'd it. The narrator was great!
I will say that since queerness seems accepted in this world it seemed like magic was used as kind of a euphemism for how queerness is viewed in the real world. Some people didn't accept it as real/an innate part of people, it caused Mari to feel unaccepted and "othered" at times, and some characters needed time to come around to the idea that it was part of her and who she was. I do think that aspect was done well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Miscarriage
ana_the_frog's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Moderate: Blood, Miscarriage, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
mamaewalk's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Such a good read. Starts off cozy and sweet but definitely has high stakes in second half. What I love is the queer joy. Queer relationships are a normal thing that no one bats an eye at in this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Infertility, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Emotional abuse, and Violence
metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Animal death, and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage and Confinement
jadubug's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Iām getting back into reading fiction and really enjoyed this book as my re-entry! While the pace was pretty fast at first, it evened out and I had time to fall in love with the characters. I post it noted my favorite passages and everything, I donāt remember the last time I read a book so fast! The direction of the story isnāt as challenging to predict, but I think a read like that was suited to my needs. I really loved the characters, both main and background. Little moments made me so happy, and I love to see friendships and relationships form. I also love nature and connections to nature that are either spiritual or bigger than we are, so I was bound to enjoy this book.
As for the āitās complicatedā aspects of my ratings, I feel like it was a little hard to track character development because a lot of development happened off screen. I feel like itās a little understandable since thereās a lot to cover in the timeline, but Marigold got the hang of things pretty quickly, considering the speed of her circumstances changing. I also chose that ranking for the diversity category since most of the main characters are queer, but most of the characters are also white. I guess itās part of the setting (1800s Western Europe esque setting), but it would be nice to see more important characters of color like August.
Overall, I just had the best time reading this book!! Iām so glad I got a physical copy so it will always be on my shelf. I really want to draw the characters, now.
As for the āitās complicatedā aspects of my ratings, I feel like it was a little hard to track character development because a lot of development happened off screen. I feel like itās a little understandable since thereās a lot to cover in the timeline, but Marigold got the hang of things pretty quickly, considering the speed of her circumstances changing. I also chose that ranking for the diversity category since most of the main characters are queer, but most of the characters are also white. I guess itās part of the setting (1800s Western Europe esque setting), but it would be nice to see more important characters of color like August.
Overall, I just had the best time reading this book!! Iām so glad I got a physical copy so it will always be on my shelf. I really want to draw the characters, now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
cloverbeee's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Boring fanfic unsuccessfully turned into a full novel. About 75% of the way through, I was very tempted to start redacting lines and editing as I read.
Look elsewhere for cozy moments of character development and unrequited longing, here you get exposition dumps, zero worldbuilding, flat unlikeable characters and you'll like it.
Look elsewhere for cozy moments of character development and unrequited longing, here you get exposition dumps, zero worldbuilding, flat unlikeable characters and you'll like it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Miscarriage