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lucien_png's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The romance was pretty good but it felt like there were a bunch of different tropes that were just shoved together. True love, true love's curse, forbidden love, and one bed (for some reason).
I prefer a hard magic system and this felt more like a soft magic system.Like when we find out that she can influence the weather, it didn't feel like that would be something that would fit in her power set.
The death of Mr. Beny felt like the author just killed off a character for no good reasons. Im glad he got his happy ending. But other than his ending there didn't seem like he died for any good reason.
I prefer a hard magic system and this felt more like a soft magic system.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
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
kdonovan2005's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I really wanted to like this book. It has a decent storyline, queer romance, and cozy cottagecore vibes. Unfortunately, the writing is terrible. It's written in third-person present-tense, which kept taking me out of the story. It's a jarring style of writing. Making it past-tense would have improved the writing significantly.
The descriptions are too detailed in parts and not nearly detailed enough in other parts. It is also clear that the writer kept wanting to make deep, philosophical points, but it just ended up being a bit trite in a pseudo-intellectual way.
Finally, the pacing of the book is way off. The first half is almost boring, with very little actually happening. The entire climax of the book is in the last 10 or so pages and there is almost no conclusion.
The descriptions are too detailed in parts and not nearly detailed enough in other parts. It is also clear that the writer kept wanting to make deep, philosophical points, but it just ended up being a bit trite in a pseudo-intellectual way.
Finally, the pacing of the book is way off. The first half is almost boring, with very little actually happening. The entire climax of the book is in the last 10 or so pages and there is almost no conclusion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
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
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
lauren_reads_outside's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
Be warned: the pacing on this book is a little wonky so if you're here for the sapphic witches, be patient! They're coming! They're worth it! So worth it!
If you stick through the world building vibes of regency girl doesn't want to get married and would rather frolic in the woods, and grandma whisks away for a sort of training sequences, you will be rewarded with not quite enemies to lovers sapphic yearning and pay off and big fight scenes.
The vibes in this book are immaculate and oh to be a yearning gay witch away on her farm giving spells to the nearby town.
I hope for sequels of the side characters! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
If you stick through the world building vibes of regency girl doesn't want to get married and would rather frolic in the woods, and grandma whisks away for a sort of training sequences, you will be rewarded with not quite enemies to lovers sapphic yearning and pay off and big fight scenes.
The vibes in this book are immaculate and oh to be a yearning gay witch away on her farm giving spells to the nearby town.
I hope for sequels of the side characters! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Miscarriage, Alcohol, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infertility, Torture, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
m_a_j's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Blood
Moderate: Miscarriage and Sexual content
lastlostgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
"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?"
The Honey Witch was an endearing and whimsical debut novel. Marigold felt like Jo from Little Women if she were a witch instead of a writer, and I loved that. Althea was one of my favorite things about the book, I wish we could have spent more time with her and Marigold's days learning from her. I've never been one to have a preference on third-person vs. first-person writing, but the third-person writing in this book left me confused during a lot of the dialogue. However, this story felt warm and welcoming, and it was fun! It reminded me of girlhood and the love I have for the women in my life. I was also so happy with the queer rep throughout the story.
Sydney, if you see this: I'd sell my first born (I don't want kids) for a spin-off of August and Frankie's adventures out at sea!
The Honey Witch was an endearing and whimsical debut novel. Marigold felt like Jo from Little Women if she were a witch instead of a writer, and I loved that. Althea was one of my favorite things about the book, I wish we could have spent more time with her and Marigold's days learning from her. I've never been one to have a preference on third-person vs. first-person writing, but the third-person writing in this book left me confused during a lot of the dialogue. However, this story felt warm and welcoming, and it was fun! It reminded me of girlhood and the love I have for the women in my life. I was also so happy with the queer rep throughout the story.
Sydney, if you see this: I'd sell my first born (I don't want kids) for a spin-off of August and Frankie's adventures out at sea!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content