The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields | Book Review

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The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Published by Redhook on May 14, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, LGBT, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Content Warnings: Death, Burning, House Fire, Tattooing/Needles
Rating:

The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all. Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who’ve tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch. When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn’t believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home—at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.

I finished The Honey Witch about a week ago and it's taken me a while to write this review because I needed to seriously reflect on what I liked and didn't like and figure out how I wanted to rate it. I thought I was missing something while reading this book because many people rated it 4 and 5 stars. I pride myself on being honest and authentic, and a 4, let alone a 5, did not sit well with me. Let me explain.

The Honey Witch opens with our protagonist, Marigold "Mari" Claude struggling to fit into society. She has no artistic talent, no desire to marry, and prefers running off every full moon to converse with land spirits known as landvættir. It's not until her grandmother shows up unexpectedly and informs her that she is a Honey Witch that Marigold finally understands her place in the world. From there, Marigold is whisked off to follow in her grandmother's footsteps to become the next Honey Witch of Innisfree, helping the people in a nearby town while simultaneously struggling to come to terms with the fact that she can never fall in love due to a family curse. 

The majority of the story is about Marigold wrestling with her emotions and trying not to fall in love with a local girl, Lottie. However, there is a threat looming over her from another witch known as an Ash Witch. While this threat is resolved in the end, it takes up very little space in the narrative, ultimately turning this book into a relatively cozy fantasy. I could have done without the entire Ash Witch storyline if I am being honest. It felt forced and ended too quickly considering the time it took the action to actually build.

The pacing is entirely off and it seems like entire chapters may have been cut to reduce the page count, specifically in Part 4 which is the battle between Marigold and the evil Ash Witch. Many parts of the book drag, like cold honey from the bottle, while others are over in a matter of a few sentences. I'm not sure who edited this book, but they did a truly terrible job. I hate to say that, but this is one of the worst-paced books I have ever read.

On top of this, much of the dialogue is stilted and unnatural. The author repeatedly uses "says" for almost every single speaking line, which leaves the text choppy and uninteresting. In the first few chapters, there is a fight between Marigold and her mother that is supposed to be this huge passionate affair, but it falls completely flat. This made it difficult to connect with the characters and ultimately care about what happened to them.

However, there were other times when the language was beautiful and engaging. Shields has some amazing one-liners such as "What is so wrong about being a bitch? It is the closest a girl can be to a wolf." and "These are the wild women who run barefoot through the meadow. Who teach new songs to the birds, who howl at the moon together. Wild women are their own kind of magic." Other times the language is stupid...like when there is a discussion of opposites and her grandmother states the opposite of honey is ash. What? No...

There also were some cultural inconsistencies which rubbed me the wrong way. This is supposed to take place during the Regency era (think Bridgerton). No one bats an eye at homosexuality but tattoos are a prison-worthy offense. Make it make sense. The whole tattoo ordeal while dress shopping should have been cut from the book as it didn't help progress the plot in any way. 

The pacing and dialogue ruined this book for me, despite some of it being wonderful. The relationship between Marigold and Lottie blooms beautifully as the story progresses and their desire to break the curse should have been the only focus, not defeating an off-the-page villain, even if the villain is responsible for the curse. There are much better ways the curse (which says a Honey Witch can't fall in love without giving up their powers and that it was done to end the family line but babies can be created without love???) could have been broken that didn't involve the Ash Witch narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed watching their relationship grow and change over time, and the role magic played in its development. Despite the book's many flaws, the sapphic romance was perfect and I was rooting for the two to end up together.

I also enjoyed the magic system, which is rooted in folklore and modern-day correspondences. Shields did an excellent job making sure spell ingredients corresponded with the intention of the spells, such as the inclusion of honey to heal and sweeten, roses to attract love, lemon seeds for growth and happiness, and cinnamon, salt, chili powder, and cloves for protection. Furthermore, Shields refers to the land spirits as landvættir, which is the Nordic word for land spirits. Her depiction of these spirits matches those of folklore across multiple cultures telling me that she did her research. I really appreciate the thought and consideration that went into ensuring the magical system matched our modern understanding of magic and witchcraft.

While I enjoyed the story overall, the pacing and dialogue are the reason I rated this book a 2. When I take everything into account the book was just okay. I almost DNFed it before finishing Part 1, but I am ultimately glad I didn't. The book does get better after Part 1, so if you can push through, do so. Many have found this book to be far better than I did, so keep that in mind when deciding to pick up The Honey Witch. Just because it wasn't my favorite, doesn't mean it won't be yours.