4.5 stars, rounding up

I couldn’t put this book down.

Things I really liked:
-The author’s writing style
-The cover
-Watching Amber grow into herself
-All the imagery around honey and amber
-The nostalgia of the late 1990s/early 2000s (fashion, technology, and overall feeling)
-The genuine friendship between Gwen and Amber, and even the friendly relationship Savannah (it was refreshing to see women building each other up instead of tearing each other down)
-The inclusion of some mixed media (e.g., lyrics, articles, and the Wikipedia entry for Amber at the end)

I was initially excited to read this however I was disappointed. I was looking forward to the late 90s early 2000s nostalgia of my youth with mtv, pop stars , and life in general. You don’t get much of anything from this book. I wanted to know what her life was like being a pop singer and famous from such a young age but again you don’t really get anything of what her life was like. I wanted to see behind the scenes of her life, and trl, and the struggles. Amber was an uninteresting character with no depth. She had no ambitions other than to be famous, but couldn’t even tell you what she liked. It was mainly about sex, which yes teens think about sex a lot, but there is so much more to them then that.

If you grew up in the 90s and were obsessed with girl and boy bands then this a must read ! This book is so nostalgic for the 90s and early 2000s ! I really enjoyed Amber's growth during the novel and her friendship with Gwen and connection with Axel. It was hard to put down. There was so much drama in Amber's wild pop star world. This coming of age novel gives you a glimpse into the life of young singers thrust into the spotlight and having to grow up fast. I highly recommend picking this one up and giving it a read.

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon Books for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

I don't know if it's because I <i>was</i> the young girl listening to pop music in my room in the late 90's and early 2000s where this story is set, but I absolutely loved this book.

I found Amber's story to be relatable, heartbreaking, and empowering. I felt like we grew up with her as Isabel told her story, cleverly sandwiched between magazine and wikipedia articles. Amber's story felt so genuine and well characterized that it could have been a memoir about any of the popular stars from this era, yet it still felt unique. It definitely makes you think about stars, especially women, in the spotlight and how they are treated as commodities instead of human beings.

If you liked <I> The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo </i>, watching TRL, or had posters of pop stars and boy bands in your room then you should definitely pick this up.

Thanks to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Isabel Banta for providing me with an early copy for review, all thoughts are entirely my own.

Honey is a fantastic book. I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I was so excited to buddy read this book with a friend of mine. We were looking for a book that felt like daisy jones but without the men. and boy did we find it.
HONEY is a thrilling story about women in the pop music space and how they are belittled for being what they want to be. The narrative this book told is powerful, and this book will definitely be on my top books of 2024

Thank you NetGalley & Celadon Books for the ARC! 💖

From a girl in the early 2000s who had posters from J-14 & Tiger Beat magazine covering her wall, THANK YOU Isabel Banta. If there’s a book about stardom/the music industry/etc, I’m going to read it and have strong opinions on it, and Honey was hands down a hit. My only critique is that I wanted more. It felt authentic (granted, I was born in 1999, but authentic to what I know the late nineties/early 2000s music scene to have been), it was fun, and heartbreaking when it needed to be. I also think that Banta writes beautifully. Her explanations of Amber’s emotions and feelings towards her music, her relationships, etc were so beautifully written. For a debut novel, this exceeded my expectations and I really look forward to another novel from Isabel Banta (soon!!! i’m begging!!!).

This debut novel reads very much like a memoir which was an intelligent choice for portraying the coming of age time in the life of a young woman in the 1990's. Seeing the pop culture through Amber's senses, at times I felt grief, anger, anxiety, shame, and more as Amber allowed herself to be manipulated by others in the industry as well as other singers/performers seeking approval from the same audiences.

Most of the time reading this book, I felt bad for Amber and how she treated herself, how she allowed the opinions of others define her life, and how she made poor choices often and surrounded herself with toxic people. But, the final third of the novel, Amber meets someone who encourages her to look inside of herself and to be who she really wants to be and not what others expect/want her to be. This made the last part of the book fly by for me.

This book sounded promising based on the synopsis but just fell flat for me. The characters were not likable, and I found myself being annoyed with the main character. I did like the inserted "side notes" which provided interesting tidbits. While I did finish this book I was disappointed.

I will not share my opinion on social media.

I wasn’t sure about this book but I kept hearing good things about it so wanted to give it a chance and I am really glad I did! Thank you NetGalley and Celadon books for allowing me to read this. This book brought me back in time and really gave a great story related to the pop stars of the early 2000’s. What a great coming of age story about a rising popstar navigating through fame, love, and growing up. A great story about finding yourself amidst chaos and having great friends along the way. The only criticism I have is some of the book felt a l’utile disjointed and I didn’t feel like I got resolution until later. I would recommend this book as a good easy read with characters you want to root for!

This was supposed to be a “fresh, multifaceted story” about the rise of a 90’s/2000’s pop star, but it was so unrealistic and one dimensional that it only ended up frustrating me horribly.

Amber Young’s a talented teen, selected for a girl pool group who lackadaisically goes solo at age 19 before the girl band even does one single thing. She is following two other female solo singers, so she’s constantly compared to them and she gets way over sexualized. Despite those set-back themes to her career (which aren’t even that bad) she has an incredibly successful decades long run in the music industry.. She never finishes high school, but still is extremely intelligent and emotionally sound, despite a detached upbringing. She has very few problems emotionally and gets to live happily ever after….

So. Unrealistic.

It was hard to swallow this story, knowing the actual damage teen pop stars truly suffered. Amber gets an abortion at one point and the author writes about it as if Amber were simply popping a pimple. She performs later that night and literally NEVER struggles with it. NO.

So that’s my beef with this book in a nutshell. It lacked depth and was too unrealistic to be enjoyable in any way.

I do want to thank NetGalley and Celadon for the e-ARC of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

It was mid :/

This is a confusing review to write because I don't know exactly how to explain it, but what keeps coming back to me is that the tone was off. Amber's point of view is very matter of fact and kind of flat but then in exchanges with other characters she was emotional and funny.

I think the intent was to highlight all of the ways a pop-star in the early aughts was treated by both the public and the music industry, but this "peek behind the curtain" lacked depth. Isabel Banta would offer quips and metaphors to articulate Amber's emotions and reactions instead of letting her live them.

The most genuine scene for me was when <spoiler> Amber and Gwen have the fight about her lying about Wes and then the subsequent call amber makes to Gwen asking for her forgiveness because she values they're friendship. That vulnerability and realness is what I wished for her whole narration. </spoiler>

It was difficult for me to get through the first half, the second half was more engaging <spoiler> Axel, I love you and your whole character deserved more time as did the romance. WHY wasn't the best part of this book fleshed out?! Amber and Axel was the tiny bit of gold that just needed more space. </spoiler>, the ending was abrupt and felt unfinished.

3 stars for me because, while this review is mostly critique, there is something about this debut that still sparkled. I am looking forward to Banta's sophmore or junior novel because I think she is going to get better and better.

This book follows Amber Young’s life as she tries to become an actor and later a pop star during the late 90s. It felt very nostalgic to me as I was a teen during the late 90s and early 2000s myself. I loved the boy bands and female singers of the time, and this book took me back! I enjoyed seeing a kinda inside glimpse of that world and what Amber went through and how it affected her. The cattiness of other girls around her, the ruthlessness of music execs, and how people just wanted to use her. She had to find out who she could trust and it wasn’t always easy.

Overall I enjoyed this one and felt it have a deeper understanding of the time period it was written about.

Thanks to @isabelbanta and @celadon for the eARC through @netgalley.

I loved this book! As a super fan of 90s/00s pop, this was right up my alley. The main character is complicated, relatable, and so lovable. It also feels so relevant as we see today's pop girlies fight back against the narratives that pit them against each other. If you have ever seriously discussed your thoughts on Britney vs. Xtina vs. Jessica, you'll enjoy this read.

"I'm starting to think that no unscathed kid has ever entered this industry. You have to have some emptiness, some cavity that needs filling."
-Amber Young

Honey by Isabel Banta is a fantastic throwback to the 90's pop music era. Following Amber Young as she sets off to gain stardom after being discovered at a school talent show, This novel immerses the reader into the underworld of the music industry and all the highs and lows that come with trying to rise to the top. Intially I thought this book was going to be a little "bubblegum-ish" but it quickly dives deep into the struggles Amber faces internally, the difficulty of developing and sustaining relationships of any kind, and unpacking the baggage of your past in order to look to your future. This was an unexpectedly intriguining novel! Great summer read!

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc!

ouuu this was good! i am such a sucker for books about fake famous people! and this one felt really real and believable and had really lovely prose :)

I enjoyed this book and think it was a good debut novel! I loved the concept of it but I did feel like it maybe tried to jam too many issues into the storyline and I wish we had gotten to know the characters a bit better!

Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the eARC of this book.

Honey is a book about a young girl who wants to be a singer. She has a but of a dysfunctional home life and isn't good at school but she knows she can sing. She sings at her school talent show and gets spotted by a talent agent who is there to see her nephew.

I liked that the book takes you on this journey from a young girl through the years who is trying to make it in the industry. You get to see the friendships she builds, the boyfriends, as well as the music she makes. Lyrics are provided, articles, liner notes, reviews, etc. I liked how these are interwoven with the story. Really well done.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the characters, I thought the story was well told, and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction.

A nostalgic look back at the 90s as the story follows Amber Young, a young pop star trying to navigate her way through love and fame.

I would have loved to have had a more in-depth understanding of each character and their role in the novel. While some roles were obvious, there was some disconnect with others, like the members of ETA.

Otherwise, this was an overall enjoyable read. I loved all the throwbacks to the TRL days and 90s nostalgia. This novel got it right, as it wasn’t overtly shoved in my face to remind me that everything took place decades ago.

This is a very enjoyable summertime read. Grab that frosty beverage, slap on some sunscreen, and lounge in the sun with this unique and memorable novel.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this in one sitting. I honestly expected so much more from it. I got Britney vibes from it which was great, but I felt it dragged mid story and it got boring. I feel like it could’ve been executed better and there were many things that could’ve been explored more.