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A review by fadingapple
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
3.5/5 stars
This was good, but not great. I loved the concept, I loved the magic, and I even really enjoyed the characters. However, there was just something that didn't quite click - I think part of it was how competent Mari was right after her grandmother died....if I read it correctly, she had just over a month of training after knowing nothing of magic her whole life and she suddenly knew how to do everything her grandmother did? It just felt like she needed more time or needed to struggle more...Not to mention the romance was great, but the way the curse worked was incredibly obvious to me so I found it frustrating when the characters took most of the book to figure it out.
Really I think some of my issues were just that the author had great writing and great ideas, but the pacing felt off. Not that it was too slow, but that things didn't always feel smooth. Characters understood things too quickly or easily or knew things too conveniently....obvious things were overlook in favor of plot progression....maybe I'm just being nit-picky!
I still really do recommend this book - it was cozy for the most part but definitely had some trauma and high stakes, so please check trigger warnings. The writing was good and the author shows a ton of promise - I would definitely read more from her.
3.5/5 stars
This was good, but not great. I loved the concept, I loved the magic, and I even really enjoyed the characters. However, there was just something that didn't quite click - I think part of it was how competent Mari was right after her grandmother died....if I read it correctly, she had just over a month of training after knowing nothing of magic her whole life and she suddenly knew how to do everything her grandmother did? It just felt like she needed more time or needed to struggle more...Not to mention the romance was great, but the way the curse worked was incredibly obvious to me so I found it frustrating when the characters took most of the book to figure it out.
Really I think some of my issues were just that the author had great writing and great ideas, but the pacing felt off. Not that it was too slow, but that things didn't always feel smooth. Characters understood things too quickly or easily or knew things too conveniently....obvious things were overlook in favor of plot progression....maybe I'm just being nit-picky!
I still really do recommend this book - it was cozy for the most part but definitely had some trauma and high stakes, so please check trigger warnings. The writing was good and the author shows a ton of promise - I would definitely read more from her.