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A review by skillyillian
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
slow-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
4.0
first off, thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an eARC of this book!
I really enjoyed The Honey Witch. Marigold leaves her boring courtly life behind to go be a Honey Witch on her grandmother's isle, cursed to never find love as long as she has magic. She goes through the trials of her new occupation, including convincing a non-believer that magic exists and can even help people find their soulmates. It's a well-thought-out story, full of love and grief and dealing with the unavoidable consequences of your actions and the choices you make to get what you want. Marigold making tough choices was done well, you could see her train of thought and follow the logic pretty easily. She felt real and relatable - they all did, in their own ways.
All of Shields' characters felt fully fleshed out, with personalities and minds of their own. It was so fun to see Mari and Lottie open up to each other as they spent more time together. August was the perfect person to encourage it, and seeing him go through his own little subplot was fun too. He deserves all of the good things, I absolutely adored him. The worldbuilding was good, I loved exploring Innisfree with Marigold as she arrived and familiarized herself with all of it.
I do wish the pace had been a bit quicker at the start of the book. I understand it takes time for things to get settled in, and I appreciated the way it was done, but I wish it hadn't taken quite as long as it did. That being said, it wasn't badly written - far from it, really. Just took a bit too long for my tastes. The back half was good though, I felt like once things picked up finally it settled into a good pace. The story ended with a good mix of action, romance, suspense, and hope. Once the romance started to kick in, it got even more interesting. I loved seeing them get closer and let down their walls for each other. Once the lesbians started lesbianing, it was all fireworks from there. There's some spice (not a ton, but it's undeniably present) and it was 10/10, my goodness.
Overall, I really liked the characters and the worldbuilding. The magic was very unique, I've never seen one like this in a book before and I really enjoyed it. The pacing was a bit too slow for me for a lot of the book, but at the same time, this wasn't an action adventure, it's a cozy, queer romantasy. You get exactly what's described, much to the author's credit. This book is a win for the cottagecore lesbian community, so if that's your vibe, you'll probably love this.
I really enjoyed The Honey Witch. Marigold leaves her boring courtly life behind to go be a Honey Witch on her grandmother's isle, cursed to never find love as long as she has magic. She goes through the trials of her new occupation, including convincing a non-believer that magic exists and can even help people find their soulmates. It's a well-thought-out story, full of love and grief and dealing with the unavoidable consequences of your actions and the choices you make to get what you want. Marigold making tough choices was done well, you could see her train of thought and follow the logic pretty easily. She felt real and relatable - they all did, in their own ways.
All of Shields' characters felt fully fleshed out, with personalities and minds of their own. It was so fun to see Mari and Lottie open up to each other as they spent more time together. August was the perfect person to encourage it, and seeing him go through his own little subplot was fun too. He deserves all of the good things, I absolutely adored him. The worldbuilding was good, I loved exploring Innisfree with Marigold as she arrived and familiarized herself with all of it.
I do wish the pace had been a bit quicker at the start of the book. I understand it takes time for things to get settled in, and I appreciated the way it was done, but I wish it hadn't taken quite as long as it did. That being said, it wasn't badly written - far from it, really. Just took a bit too long for my tastes. The back half was good though, I felt like once things picked up finally it settled into a good pace. The story ended with a good mix of action, romance, suspense, and hope. Once the romance started to kick in, it got even more interesting. I loved seeing them get closer and let down their walls for each other. Once the lesbians started lesbianing, it was all fireworks from there. There's some spice (not a ton, but it's undeniably present) and it was 10/10, my goodness.
Overall, I really liked the characters and the worldbuilding. The magic was very unique, I've never seen one like this in a book before and I really enjoyed it. The pacing was a bit too slow for me for a lot of the book, but at the same time, this wasn't an action adventure, it's a cozy, queer romantasy. You get exactly what's described, much to the author's credit. This book is a win for the cottagecore lesbian community, so if that's your vibe, you'll probably love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Moderate: Violence