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Hey fairy friends!
Welcome to our fifth and final day of The Honey Witch readalong! Grab a snack (or a few!) and let’s dive in and see what happens.
Today we’re reading from Chapter 31 to the end of the book.
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The Honey Witchy by Sydney J. Shields, from chapter 31 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished The Honey Witch!
-!SPOILERS!-
Gowns and suits at the ready. Flowers out – gloves on. It’s wedding time!
Before that, we learn that August isn’t planning on returning to Innisfree anytime soon. I’m sad, because Marigold only just got him back, but I’m happy because his soulmate spell worked and he’s so in love! Lottie must be feeling it. 😔
Things between Lottie and Mari are terse at best. They might be all the other has once they return to Innisfree so I’m crossing everything that they can get past this!
Marigold confides in her mother about the power surge she experienced. Judging on what it says in the grimoire, that means Ash magic is nearby. Does that mean Versa’s nearby or is there another Ash witch? I have bad feelings about this…
Time moves so quickly and before they know it, Marigold and Lottie are heading back to Innisfree, without August this time. They have to room together again and Lottie invites her to bed.
She tells Marigold of what she can remember of her family. An arrow that was dotted around her home, the same arrow she later had tattooed on her. Marigold realises it’s not an ordinary arrow… but a rune. I think I see where this is going and I’m scared!
Things go from bad to worse when Marigold tells Lottie she loves her… Lottie isn’t moving. It’s the curse.
Mari quickly calls for help, but she’s a Honey witch…
WHO YA GONNA CALL? BEES!
They’re not her bees, but they come anyway and with a mix of venom and magic they manage to shock Lottie awake. It’s given Mari a fright, naturally, and she decides once they’re back on the island she’ll do the right thing and send her away. Oh, Mari!
It’s just as we feared! They get back to the island and Benny has bad news, something’s really wrong. The hives are destroyed, all of the bees are gone. Even worse, Mari was too late returning to the island and left Innisfree unprotected.
She sends Lottie away, pushing her and making her leave, with Lottie vowing she’ll never forgive her. Who let Versa in though???
We get a little snippet that shows Lottie has power running through her veins and I KNEW IT! She could see the landvættir, hear Chesha, she smelt the smoke when August couldn’t. She has dark magic and fate called her to Innisfree.
Marigold spends time rebuilding. Mr Benny comes to help her and when she asks him why… everything comes out. He and Althea were soulmates. She tells him that he’s the closest thing to a grandfather she’s ever had and I’m crying a lil bit.
IT’S ALL HAPPENING!!! Lottie left her book of nursery rhymes, that’s not what it is at all though! They’re SPELLS. She’s an Ash witch. She’s not evil but it was her who let Versa into the island in her sleep. Oh my god!!!
Marigold is gearing up. She writes a goodbye letter to Lottie, she tells Benny to leave. Our gal is ready for battle!
Versa arrives… and she’s not alone. Lottie is her 🥁🥁🥁 granddaughter!
So much happens from there! Lottie can’t bear to see her lose Innisfree and that alone enrages Versa. Benny didn’t leave even though Mari told him to and suffers the worst fate imaginable (I’m sobbing, help me). Mari’s lost so much!
Versa gives Lottie an offer. If she accepts her magic, Innisfree is theirs and Marigold can live AS LONG AS she obeys and keeps the isle ship shape for them.
And… Lottie accepts. They go through the ritual and poor Mari, even now, tries to console Lottie and tells her it’ll all be ok.
Mari’s locked away, but that doesn’t stop Lottie from visiting. Lottie vows to end Versa. They bide their time and strengthen night by night. When she least expects it, they attack Versa and trap her in the cottage. Mari burns the cottage to the ground with Versa inside. I’m so sad she lost her cottage, but that’s such a small loss in the grand scheme of everything. Right now, I just need Mari to wake up!
She dreams of Althea. I’m totally fine right now. Just sobbing a little bit but whatever.
Marigold finds her way home by following the sound of Lottie’s voice. When she wakes, Versa’s no more and the curse is gone!
It’s a bittersweet ending, we see Benny in his final resting place, finally beside his soulmate. Frankie and August come to Innisfree to help them rebuild, and more importantly, Mari and Lottie love each other.
WHAT. A. LAST. SECTION!!!!
Did you anticipate Lottie was an Ash witch? I guessed that, but not that Versa is her grandmother!
What did you think of The Honey Witch?
Who was your favourite character? I’m going with the underdog and saying Mr Benny is mine. Major grandad vibes, so sweet, I’m sad.
Thank you so much for joining us for another FairyLoot readalong! I hope you loved The Honey Witch as much as I did, and we’ll catch you very soon for our next readalong. 🥰
Love,
Shannon
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1. Did you anticipate Lottie was an Ash witch? I guessed that, but not that Versa is her grandmother!
I did indeed guess that Lottie was an Ash witch and while I hadn’t guessed that Versa was her grandmother, it was obvious in hindsight.
2. What did you think of The Honey Witch?
I had expected more of it to be honest. I found first half too slow and dragged a bit, the second half was better but predictable at the same time. I didn’t really connect with the characters as well.
3. Who was your favourite character? I’m going with the underdog and saying Mr Benny is mine. Major grandad vibes, so sweet, I’m sad.
I did like Mr Benny a lot! I also really liked Frankie!
Frankie’s a good one too! 😍
I really really liked this book. It felt so wholesome at times (now I want to live on an island with bees and nature and ofcourse my soulmate). I loved the interaction with Chesha in the end, the way to communicate and forgive without words.
I love wholesome books! 🥰🥰
Wow the final part got very dark! I didn’t expect that… Poor Lottie, so much suffering.
Yes I had guessed that Lottie was an ash witch and Versa’s granddaughter and she didn’t know it.
I found some parts quite predictable but that tends to happen as I read a lot and I’m quite perceptive.
Overall I enjoyed the book. I thought the happy parts were too short, I wanted more happy times at the end.
Also, I wish we knew more about Versa and her motivations, was she just evil? Why?
My favourite characters were August and Frankie I think.
I was so shocked that we didn’t see anything about Hazelwood. I really thought that Mari would end up having to go there after all the talk of it is dangerous. I had a feeling that Lottie was a witch but no I did not expect that Versa was her grandmother. I do want to point out that I was right on Mr. Benny and Althea being soulmates! I was just wrong about why he didn’t remember. Overall, I think the Honey Witch was pretty good. I think my favorite character was Althea. I was so sad for her to die so soon in the book, but Mari having that moment with her in the end was just perfect! This was my first readalong and I cannot wait for the next one! This was so cool!
I guessed she was an ash witch and related to versa but did not think Versa would treat her own granddaughter like that! It was good. The writing could’ve been a little better, some of the paragraphs were a little corny but overall cosy book. Did it blow my mind and have me sobbing, no but despite its themes found enjoyable and cosy. Wish we got to know Althea a bit more before her death and enjoyed that the final showdown was set over a good few pages rather than dealt with in a few paragraphs. Frankie was my favourite and I loved that he got his happy ending
1. I did anticipate Lottie was an Ash Witch! I think the clues were obvious with her senses, ability to see the landvaeter, and her burns. 2. O did enjoy the story! It was a cozy, quick getaway with sweet and simple characters, which is what I needed this week. It reminded me of the more simple stories I read as a child.
I do feel bad that Althea and Mr. Benny didn’t get their life together, and I feel horrible that Lottie’s grandmother treated her so terribly. Amd I feel really bad about the all the bees that died! They were such good bees. But I like how everything was wrapped up nicely at the end.
I really enjoyed this book! I loved how whimsical the beginning was, I wanted to live in Innisfree! I didn’t expect how dark it would get at the end, but I enjoyed that too! I did see the plot twists coming, but that didn’t take anything away from me. I do wish we’d gotten to see a bit more of them being happy afterwards. But this island has now joined the list of bookish places I want to visit!
I did anticipate Lottie was some kind of witch, but I didn’t anticipate her being so close to Versa. It makes sense of course.
I hoped to like it a bit more than I ended up liking the book.
I wanted more purple prose, conveying the thickness and sweetness of the honey.
I need to understand Versa’s motivations and whys. And for that, I needed more nuanced characters for this to be adult. At times it felt a bit YA.
And also, why didn’t they take the books out before burning the cottage? I was so… but the books? why!? They are unique!
Anyway, thank you for hosting, and it was a pleasure to read along!
Did you anticipate Lottie was an Ash witch?
I did anticipate this! Part of me even thought that Versa and Lottie were related. But, there was no other explanation of how she could smell magic, or see the spirits.
What did you think of The Honey Witch?
I really enjoyed this book! I think it was cozy and magical and sweet! For the most part, I enjoyed the author’s writing, but there was a couple parts in the novel that were slower than others.
Who was your favourite character?
I’m probably going to go with Mr. Benny as well! He cared about Mari a lot. He also cared for Althea even when he forgot everything.
Did you anticipate Lottie was an Ash witch?
I guessed early on that she was a witch! I think I might have said she was related somehow. It would make sense that Versa was her grandmother then.
What did you think of The Honey Witch?
I thought it was a good story and I enjoyed it overall but I think this type of cozy fantasy is not for me. I wanted to know more about each of the characters and I feel like we only touched the surface of what the world building could have been.
Who was your favourite character?
My favorite character was August, he was ready to find his soulmate and when he found him he went all in.