A review by lila_still_reads
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 
The Honey Witch is an imperfect but very sweet sapphic Regency romantasy about a young witch falling for a terse young woman who doesn’t believe in magic, all while a decades long magical feud threatens them all. It’s really nice- despite some criticism, I’d still recommend it as a book to read in springtime while sipping lemonade out in a park somewhere. 

I really appreciated the familial relationships, especially between women, in this book. Marigold begins the story quite convinced that she’s “not like other girls” and the way her grandmother helped her both love her own version of womanhood while also recognizing the legitimacy and value of women who chose to live more ‘traditional’ lives was very sweet and felt true to coming-of-age. Yes, Marigold is a bit insufferable in the first few chapters, but I think that’s the point; Marigold doesn’t fit into the traditional mode of womanhood and thus pushes back out of lack of self-confidence. Her grandmother helps her recognize her own power and as Marigold grows into herself, Shields does a great job of making me come to love her. Marigold’s relationship with her mother is more complex and I loved it- their dynamic reminded me a lot of mine with my own grandmother, and I love that Shields lets Marigold’s mother make mistakes and still be able to seek redemption and love her daughter. I love my grandmother and Shields’s love and grief at losing her own reads through the story in such a beautiful way. 

I also loved the way magic was depicted in the story. The need for balance between honey and ash was thematically relevant and the use of bees was honestly adorable. I just love honey bees. I liked the mixture of recipes that felt akin to the type of herbal medicine women historically did provide in small communities like Innisfree (especially around reproduction) and the more clearly magical elements. It was nice, small scale, and felt grounded by the toll magic could take on Marigold. 

I liked Lottie as well, but this is where some of my more mixed opinions come in. Firstly, there’s a ‘twist’ involving Lottie that I called almost as soon as she arrived. It was very frustrating watching Marigold- who has shown herself to not be an idiot- be so oblivious to not one, but two, aspects of Lottie’s character. Lottie has an excuse to not notice because she begins the story firmly not believing in magic, but Marigold has no excuse. I think moving the reveal a little earlier would make the story a little less frustrating and leave room for more Lottie angst based on the discovery. 

Most of the love in the story felt a little fast, but I did enjoy a certain side romance that developed despite this. I felt Lottie’s character in romantic scenes shifted a bit from her character outside of them- and having the romantic lead “growl” is just a personal pet peeve- but aspects of her and Marigold’s dynamic transferred very well. 

In the end, a book I still enjoyed but that could have been so much better if Marigold and Lottie weren’t made to act stupidly a couple times in order for the plot to happen. I think Shields could have done this and it actually would have improved the pacing as well, so it’s just a bit frustrating. Still, a soft recommend for the magic system, depiction of friendships/familial bonds between women, and Lottie and Marigold being cute idiots at least! 
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