While the description sounds like this was written just for me, this book was sadly NOT IT at all. Ugh.

This book was completely lacking in details to build out the world and make this seem like an even remotely "real" experience. It glossed over anything real and was so fluffy. Complete fluff doesn't work when most of your readers lived through this era! Literally not a single topic was actually fully fleshed out. There were mentions of a lot of serious topics but nothing was focused on. It was all so...trite. I didn't need this to be a depressing and gritty book, but it has to feel immersive and even remotely plausible. This did not. I realized about halfway that I wasn't enjoying this lack of detail and I wished it was different, and I really, really hated the rest of it out of anger. I turned my audiobook speed from 1.2 to 2x speed for the last 30 minutes because I just simply COULD NOT anymore. I feel a bit ragey about how much I disliked this. No, no, no.

What a fun, nostalgic read woven amongst the deeper underlying themes. As a tween in the 90's this book was spot on and really captures the time period. Many teens in that time who are now adults, mark that time period with this type of music. It was the fabric of our lives.

Honey follows 4 teen pop stars of the time. Their rise to fame, the trials and tribulations of growing up in the spotlight and their eventual outcomes are the main theme of the book. So many young girls aspired to pop stars in the 1990's, but as Honey explores- it wasn't all bubblegum and innocence. There's a darker side to Hollywood that this generation of stars found themselves smack dab in the middle of - despite being such a tender age.

Isabel Banta's writing stands alone in this story. Written by someone else. It would just a story. Isabel really makes this era come alive and plops the reader right into the 90s. Well done and absolutely worth a read!

When Amber Young joins the girl group Cloud9 in 1997, it sets her life on a path to pop stardom. It isn’t long before she finds herself in the orbits of fellow pop singer Gwen Morris and Wes Kingston, a member of the biggest boy band in the world. When Amber starts a solo career that launches her into the upper echelons of stardom, she realizes that she’s come of age in a time when public opinion can distort everything - and one tiny mistake can make or break a career.

This was not what I was expecting, at least in terms of how good the writing was and how much of an absolute bummer the story is from start to finish. It’s not that I didn’t think a fictionalized take on the pop girlies of the late nineties/early aughts wouldn’t have some dark aspects, but this is bleak from start to finish. I found it extremely compelling, though, and Amber’s quiet, contemplative storytelling of her own life works really well even when some of the other narrative choices don’t fully gel (I wish her friendship with Gwen had been a little bit more developed and thought that some of the romantic elements lacked heat). This debut comes at the perfect moment though, considering all the pop princess memoirs we’ve been treated to lately - and those that are yet to come.

3.5 ⭐️

.

Amber has always dreamed of being a singer. When she’s discovered at a school talent show, she becomes a member of a girl pop group. When the group fails to take off, she ventures out on her own. As she discovers herself and her music, she’ll make some mistakes along the way but come out stronger in the end.

.

💭 Thoughts 💭

I liked this book overall! Amber reminded me of Britney Spears. However, it did feel long and like some parts could have been condensed. I liked the song lyrics and articles that were mixed in throughout and actually would have enjoyed more of them.

.

⌛️ Favorite Moment ⌛️

I loved all the music video descriptions! I could picture them all and they were very nostalgic with the 00’s pop vibes and segments in MTV’s TRL.

I went into this with zero expectations because I heard conflicting things, so I managed them in a way that would allow me to enjoy this, and I actually ended up liking this a lot more because of that.

It also brought me back to the 90s and growing up watching Star Search, which I legitimately forgot about until this was in the book.

I really liked the writing in this, and I felt a deep kind of sadness for Amber. She felt hollow in a way to me, empty inside and always wanting more than she was handed.

That being said, I felt like it was wrapped up a little too quickly like it was trying to tie up some loose ends, and I didn't particularly like the format of the ending.

That said, I'm glad I read this, and it's something I would love to see adapted. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the e-ARC. I will definitely read more by this author.

In "Honey," Isabel Banta weaves a coming-of-age story, searing in its intensity, against the vibrant tapestry of late-90s and early-2000s popular culture. Beginning with Amber Young, the meteoric singer, this novel takes readers scrolling along the highs and lows of fame to explore an illusion-bound identity, high-reaching ambition, and elusive safety in the search for authenticity within this otherwise переплєтенный industry.

It's 1997, and Amber gets to start a new life in Los Angeles as part of the girl group Cloud9. She takes up this chance for a new life and leaves her small town in hopes of reaching stardom. She enters into this cutthroat music business and tries to survive it, putting her in the orbits of other rising stars chasing their own dreams and fighting their personal demons: Gwen Morris and Wes Kingston.

With real dexterity, Banta shapes a little of the turbulent landscape of fame and dives deep into Amber's rich inner life: her trying to balance the pressures of celebrity in pursuit of love, success, and fulfillment. Amber brings readers such a new, multi-faceted perspective on these pop icons of the '90s and 2000s and redefines the stories of these superstars with vulnerabilities behind public personas.

By turns compared to Stephanie Danler's "Sweetbitter" and Jennette McCurdy's "I'm Glad My Mom Died", "Honey" promises to delight readers with its engaging narrative and naked candor. Reimagining stories of some of the most famous pop icons of that time, Banta does so in a more refreshing, multi-dimensional view than one would have otherwise thought out—the kind that challenges readers' preconceived notions and has them rethink celebrity and fame.

Honey 
4-4.25 ⭐ 

I wasn't sure this book was going to be for me, but I loved it. If you like Taylor Jenkins Reid I think you will like this book, it gives daisy Jones/ seven husbands vibes. In the sense that we watch our mc amber. Go from auditions and trying to make a name for herself, to making music and touring. You get her from being a little kid with a dream to early adulthood. 
Its 90s-2000s, which being a 90s baby I loved the setting. 
The book also had song lyrics and what would have been articles from magazines and interviews which just adds to the book feeling like it's about a real artist. 

I do kinda wish the book was a little longer mostly because I just wasn't ready for it to be over. 

This is Isabels debut novel and I'm excited to see what she writes next! 

Thank you to @isabel.banta ,  @celadonbooks and @netgalley for sending me this arc 💖💖💖

The writing is fantastic but the plot isn’t worth the journey. As a girl who grew up loving Britney and NSYNC, I am the prime audience for this. I basically scanned until the end.

I enjoyed this book but it felt lacking. The plot was one that’s commonly repeated and I kept waiting for something more to happen. I liked the ending. I liked the timeline and the inclusion of real life events (like 9/11) but there was nothing memorable about the characters to make me seek this author out again unfortunately.

Unfortunately this book didn't live up to the hype it had. I really struggled to finish this book and ended up listening to it as an audio book once I was done. I did find the audio book did a much better job at capturing the character's personality. I was hoping this would be similar to Daisy Jones but it seemed like a more water downed version of it. The characters and plot just fell short and I didn't feel connected to them. However, I did appreciate the ending and the update on Amber's life. Maybe it's just me but I felt like this were never fully explained and I had wished the characters would have been described in more depth as some of them felt so surface level :( This book wasn't bad but I won't be one I think back to (Whereas Daisy Jones lives in my head rent free). Thank you to NetGalley & Isabel Banta for the complimentary ARC of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book.

I had high hopes for this book after all of the hype but i did not finish it at the 10% mark. I found the book depressing and too juvenile for my liking.

Fantastic author! Great pacing and great development for the characters. I was heavily invested in the plot and descriptive settings.

This one had so much potential but I honestly struggled so hard to get through it. I finished it but I’m not sure k would recommend it

I'm a pop culture junkie, especially for anything 90s-2000s. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I'm just not sure what the point was? I was ready for a coming of age story about a 90s pop star. The FMC was so unbelievably boring. I didn't believe her to be a pop star at all. There was no depth to her, and nothing really happens in the story. Quite the slog.

Honey brings nostalgic vibes to its reader. I grew up on the 90’s and was roughly Amber Young’s age during that time. You get an inside look at what it takes to be a star. This novel is full of spin the bottle, boy bands, pop princesses and star search!
Honey covers an extensive range of topics such as the objectification and the unfair treatment of women by the media, how society often sows dissension between women, the contradictory standards for both men and women, misogyny, the power of dynamics, and so much more. It is not completely superficial. It also raises awareness to other subjects such as the exploding teen stars and women. The complex topics that arise are relevant and even universal. Thank you NetGalley, Isabel Banta and Bonnier Books for allowing me a chance to read this early in an exchange for an honest review.

I was hesitant to read this novel because I felt like it would play into all the late 90s/ early 00's teen stars cliches, but instead, it gave an honest look at how the industry molded and often forced these young impressionable girls into "stereotypes" that often didn't align with who they are as a person. The prose was extremely accessible, and with a topic that all millennials love, this will be an easy book to press into a variety of readers hands!

This one dragged and was quite boring; it didn't give a nostalgic feel to me. Instead, it felt like a fictionalized version of a recent early 2000s pop star's memoir. It felt like things I had already read and I wasn't a big fan. The writing itself was good, but the storyline and character were overdone.

I loved the writing style and the interesting plot of the main character navigating her life! I love when women are portrayed in the spotlight during a not so women centric time period.

Honey felt so nostalgic for me, like i was finally getting the inside scoop on my favorite early 2000’s pop stars. The story was beautiful heartbreaking and fun. I kept having to remind myself this was the authors debut novel because it was that good!

I was in my late teens/early 20s in the late 90s/early 2000s when boy bands and pop princesses reigned so I thought this would be right up my alley. It was not.

The characters are unlikeable (except for Axel) and it just felt like a mash up of Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, etc. (which I do like them so I should’ve liked the MCs). I love a steamy romcom but the sexualization of this story didn’t work for me.

I kept reading hoping for more but it didn’t deliver.

2.75