Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I loved The Honey Witch. It was the perfect mix of wholesome and cozy, but also got serious when it needed to. I thought the overall pacing felt right. I do wish we had had more time with Althea and more about the history of witches and how the magic works.

The strength of this book was the imagery - it was whimsical and rich. I also appreciated the small life lessons Marigold learns along the way. Strong read, feels perfect for spring as the world blossoms back to life!

Where to begin with how good this book is? I was so invested in this book I ate it up. I feel like it took me a long time to read but no time at all. I say this because with the writing I felt that I was there inside the book experiencing each day (sense the long to read), but I devoured this book in such a short period of time it was that good. It had me kicking my feet of joy and sobbing from the sad parts. I wish I could re-read it again for the first time. Marigold had always been the odd one out in her family until her grandmother came to her asking for help because she was in fact a witch. She then goes with her grandmother to become a honey witch. The only downside to being a honey witch is you can never find true love, but she isn’t interested in love so she thinks that’s an okay curse to bear. She then rekindles a friendship with a boy from her childhood who comes with a friend of his named Lottie. She is a skeptic about witches but willing to see because of how earnest Marigold is to become friends but also prove magic is real. There is a dark magic trying to attack the isle and it is Marigold’s job to protect it, but will she really be able to stay a witch and not fall in love. I enjoyed how this was a story about loss, love and finding yourself. It wasn’t overly only a love story which I also enjoyed. You got to see Marigold’s relationships blossom that weren’t only love related. Based on just this book alone I would read anything Sydney J. Shields writes. This was an amazing story.