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bobsandtheirbooks 's review for:
The Honey Witch
by Sydney J. Shields
emotional
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:
Yes
I liked this book. I liked the characters for the most part. I liked the magic and it's system involving different types of honey. The descriptions were very pretty. But... it felt like the plot wasn't there.
*slight spoilers of general plot devices and pacing from this point*
From the beginning it seems like the story is gonna be about Marigold learning to be her true Honey Witch self, and it is like that until a point. It then changes to her helping a friend and her love interest Lottie, believe in magic, while minor "mysterious" things are happening since they arrived. And then the rest of the plot is about their romance which is written well but it felt like all the "mysterious" occurrences were so far in the background they were forgettable.
The pacing was a little strange. Marigold spends over a year learning magic with her grandmother, and then about a third in the book she spends months on her own to live up to her legacy. Only for her friend and Lottie to arrive and spend a week with her. For them to then go back to where Marigold used to live and then back to the island again at the end, which is like a day per chapter during all of that. And then a chapter is like "days pass..." again.
I know there are cliche training arcs, but I would have preferred that instead of jumping from different parts in time with not much proof that she has learned anything apart from being told "she studied the grimoire every day". Show us! Not just tell us!
And everything is solved in the last 50 pages. 50!
Don't even get me started on trying to make giving someone a tattoo sensual?! I've heard a sternum tattoo hurts! I would not be going "don't do that to me witch" after hearing them whimper and moan in pain while being stabbed between the breasts.
This is still a sweet and cosy sapphic romance. I did think it was more of a YA book due to the ages of the characters, I think Marigold is 21 in the beginning, but apparently it's an adult book. I did like the romance of the characters, their love felt quite real and I appreciated that.
Everything else fell flat in comparison. I think the romance was written first, and then the plot was written around it.
*slight spoilers of general plot devices and pacing from this point*
From the beginning it seems like the story is gonna be about Marigold learning to be her true Honey Witch self, and it is like that until a point. It then changes to her helping a friend and her love interest Lottie, believe in magic, while minor "mysterious" things are happening since they arrived. And then the rest of the plot is about their romance which is written well but it felt like all the "mysterious" occurrences were so far in the background they were forgettable.
The pacing was a little strange. Marigold spends over a year learning magic with her grandmother, and then about a third in the book she spends months on her own to live up to her legacy. Only for her friend and Lottie to arrive and spend a week with her. For them to then go back to where Marigold used to live and then back to the island again at the end, which is like a day per chapter during all of that. And then a chapter is like "days pass..." again.
I know there are cliche training arcs, but I would have preferred that instead of jumping from different parts in time with not much proof that she has learned anything apart from being told "she studied the grimoire every day". Show us! Not just tell us!
And everything is solved in the last 50 pages. 50!
Don't even get me started on trying to make giving someone a tattoo sensual?! I've heard a sternum tattoo hurts! I would not be going "don't do that to me witch" after hearing them whimper and moan in pain while being stabbed between the breasts.
This is still a sweet and cosy sapphic romance. I did think it was more of a YA book due to the ages of the characters, I think Marigold is 21 in the beginning, but apparently it's an adult book. I did like the romance of the characters, their love felt quite real and I appreciated that.
Everything else fell flat in comparison. I think the romance was written first, and then the plot was written around it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage