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A review by onthesamepage
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I decided not to continue reading this book because I don't think it's for me. When it comes to romances, a huge part of my enjoyment lies in connecting to the main characters. However, in the case of Marigold, I knew that wasn't going to happen. I had 0 impression of her as a character, other than she's wild at heart and not like other girls. At the beginning of the book, she states that her only option in life is to get married and be someone's wife. Then, when her grandmother tells her she is a honey witch, she feels saved from a fate worse than death. I understand that this is regency-inspired, but it's also queernorm, so I don't get the logic of her only option in life being to become someone's wife in the first place. Marigold also constantly mocks women who do aspire to fall in love and get married. She gets called out on it once, but it doesn't really fully stop. There's also a scene where people come to her grandmother for contraceptives, and Marigold comments about how she is all for women not getting pregnant. I'm guessing the author was going for a pro-choice statement, but the way it was phrased read more like anti-motherhood to me.
By 33%, not much had happened at all, and ultimately, I didn't find her a compelling enough character to push through.
I decided not to continue reading this book because I don't think it's for me. When it comes to romances, a huge part of my enjoyment lies in connecting to the main characters. However, in the case of Marigold, I knew that wasn't going to happen. I had 0 impression of her as a character, other than she's wild at heart and not like other girls. At the beginning of the book, she states that her only option in life is to get married and be someone's wife. Then, when her grandmother tells her she is a honey witch, she feels saved from a fate worse than death. I understand that this is regency-inspired, but it's also queernorm, so I don't get the logic of her only option in life being to become someone's wife in the first place. Marigold also constantly mocks women who do aspire to fall in love and get married. She gets called out on it once, but it doesn't really fully stop. There's also a scene where people come to her grandmother for contraceptives, and Marigold comments about how she is all for women not getting pregnant. I'm guessing the author was going for a pro-choice statement, but the way it was phrased read more like anti-motherhood to me.
By 33%, not much had happened at all, and ultimately, I didn't find her a compelling enough character to push through.