I didn’t enjoy this book at all. From the very beginning it is all over the place. The pacing makes no sense. It read more like a cumulation of diary entries than one persons story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for offering an e-ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Where do I even begin? At first, I was weary of this book, but I will not lie. At first, I thought the prose was a bit clunky, and at times, it felt like reading one long run-on sentence. But then, it all started to click.

We are in the mind of Amber Young, a child with aspirations to sing like Whitney Houston and to become somebody. As the reader, the clunky structure and run-on sentences start to make sense because we are in a child's mind. A child forced to grow up very quickly to live the dreams she always wanted.

Honey is very clearly inspired by the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and as someone who adores the 00s and its culture, I felt very giddy reading this. I loved the inclusion of multi-media to show the progression of Amber's career (as I, too, used to play those J-14 games to determine whether Beyonce would be my friend).

Overall, it was a gut-wrenching story that forces all of us to realize how we over-sexualized pop stars back in the day, how men are allowed to dictate how we feel about ourselves, and the complicated relationships we have with people who tear us down but say they love you.

I highly recommend this book!

I loved the beginning of this book - it gave me very Evelyn Hugo vibes from the beginning when I got to read about about a girl turned mega star. I went in also thinking about Britney Spears/Justin Timberlake as well. I had super high hopes and was excited to begin reading. I think it felt very nostalgic for me (as someone who was born in the early 90s and grew up through that era) and I do like that the novel was fast paced so I was able to get through it fairly quickly. The novel lightly touches upon some heavy topics (but never really goes into too much detail) and part of me wonders if it was because of the fast paced nature of the novel. Amber was a bit too narcissistic for me to really like as a main character, and the character development (along with the relationships) felt a bit too superficial but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

I started reading this book because I grew up during the time of the Pop Princesses and the Boy Bands. I was a little excited to read this one, because I imagined it wasn't that dissimilar from how it might have happened.

However, I STRUGGLED through this book. Literary fiction isn't a genre I typically read and this book solidifies why. Nothing really happens in this book. We learn how the main character, Amber, gets into the music business, how she's received by people and those in the industry, and we see her career "take off." There is really no climax or resolution to the story. It just was flat.

The main character was also irritating. She was very self-deprecating, so much so when someone complimented her, she thought they were lying. I did like how she was, "this is me, this is what you get," but in general, I didn't like her.

Overall, I give this book 2.5 stars (3 rounded up). If you grew up in the Pop era of the late 90s and early 2000s, you may enjoy this book, but don't expect much to happen other than reading how a pop star goes through a handful of years of her life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for a digital copy and Bookish First for a physical copy in exchange for my honest review. Honey is out June 25, 2024.

4.75 stars

This. Book. Is. So. Good.

This is my food blogger recipe intro, where I tell you something you don't care about when you just want to know how many eggs you need, but it felt necessary, so bear with me. When I was growing up I loved reading books about people getting famous, and one of my favorites was "Pop Princess" by Rachel Cohn. Every summer we'd visit my grandma and grandpa, and their local library was much larger than mine at home and had a more expansive YA section. Several years in a row I checked "Pop Princess" out to reread instead of a new book because I loved it so much. "Honey" felt like a much more grown-up version of this, and having it set in the late 90s-early 2000s made it even more nostalgic. I will definitely be adding it to my reread roster.

Growing up as a teen in New Jersey, Amber Young has always wanted to be liked, to be chosen. When she is told that she's meant for more than a normal life and picked to join a girl group, she's thrilled. And then immediately terrified: that she's not good enough, that she's the weak link of the group, that people won't like her, that she's not ambitious enough, that her new friends like each other better. 
Amber is forced to grow up and dumb down quickly, and learns that celebrity comes with its own set of problems; top of the list being that what the public thinks has happened can often be more important than what actually did. From the era's obsession with thinness, the sexualization of girlhood, darkness of parasocial relationships, and the exploitation of private lives, this story will make you feel a new kinship and sorrow with the idols of your youth. We follow Amber throughout several years as she transitions to a solo career and is marketed as a sex symbol despite being underage. We feel for her as she navigates the close friendships and innate competition of bonding with other celebrities, and the hope and devastation of first love and heartbreak. 

The plot here is great and very entertaining, but it really shines as a character-driven story. The writing is beautiful, but felt very authentic to Amber and her voice, to the point that the smallest descriptive observations in the narrative had me going "That sounds like Amber", the way you're reminded of a friend. I really loved witnessing her growth throughout the story, and the ending felt so satisfying it had me misty-eyed. I won't get specific, but there's a character who grows in importance toward the latter half of the book that I really loved, and their dynamic was so refreshing and comforting to read. Basically, I could gush about this book all day, and writing this review has just made me want to read it again. Thank you to Celadon and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review, I can't wait to see what Isabel Banta writes next!

There are definitely parts of this book I enjoyed. Like Daisy Jones, I liked the inclusion of song lyrics and magazine articles. I thought that added dimension and perspective to the book. Overall, I felt that the book was lacking. Amber was so lost throughout that I never felt like I got a good perspective about her. Her internal thoughts just seemed disjointed and mainly focused on sexuality. Even when she made it "big" I don't think the book tracked in growth in her internal dialogue. I just thought she was lost and super young throughout. If this book is even close to an accurate depiction of money and fame, I want no part of it. I didn't see any joy in it. She eventually had money but no time or way to spend it. Everyone just told her what to do and she did it with little thought or regard. I liked the friendship between Amber and Gwen and thought that part of the book was strong and positive in light of their competition against each other in the industry. Wasn't bad. Glad I read it, but I felt it could have flowed better and been less disjointed.

The only thing Amber Young thinks she’s any good at is singing. When she participates in a talent show, the last thing she expects is that a talent agent would be in the audience. What initially seems like a dream, becomes a harsh reality as she goes to audition after audition only to leave disappointed. Even her big chance on Star Search ends with her losing to a boy, Wes, who will go on to become part of a boy band ETA. Although Amber’s mother gives up, Amber never does and soon finds herself part of a girl band Cloud9. What she quickly learns is that these girls are replaceable. One wrong move, one diva move, and you’re on the bus home. Amber befriends one of the girls, Gwen Morris, who, not long after, leaves the group to take her shot at solo stardom, shortly thereafter so does Amber. But for Amber, the road is a little harder. She isn’t sweet like singing sensation Savannah nor is she multi-talented like Gwen. Amber just has her voice and a reliance on herself that will have to do in Isabel Banta’s page-turning, Honey.

Despite the fact that after the first couple of chapters, I wasn’t sure that I was going to like Honey, I ended up completely enjoying the novel and reading longer than I should have (why is that alarm going off so early? I was reading!) to find out what was going to happen to Amber Young. In the late ’90’s/early 2000’s I was not a fan of the pop princesses (although I believe that Christina Aguilera has a tremendous voice and range) or the boy bands (admittedly a few of their songs grew on me) but loved indie rock and Californication was my happy album (OMG, 25 years ago!!!). However, I did find myself drawn into the story of what happens to three young, talented women, Amber, Gwen, and Savannah. One of the blurbs suggested that this was an alternative version of the Brittany Spears/Justin Timberlake story but I think that does a disservice to the novel.

Initially Amber doesn’t seem to know what she wants. She’s willing to be directed by the professional men in her life and that seems true for all of the young women and men in the story. As Amber tells a reporter, “we’re so young.” She repeats those words just to drive home how true they are. How is any nineteen year old supposed to know how to navigate a system that is rife with cannibals? How is she supposed to know what she wants? What she can have? What is apparent is that these young women and men are just cogs in a machine. They are stars until the next young thing comes along.

On the flipside, we see that although Gwen knows what she wants, there’s only a limit to what she can actually have. She’s a product of the system and has to fulfill the obligation set forth by the system, if she wants to continue. She almost loses herself and what she loves to cater to the system.

For me, the music lover, the strongest part of the novel was Amber finding herself musically with producer Axel Holm after pushing the higher ups to get her an audience with him. She was smart enough to know that if he took her on, she would have a decent shot at a good career. And, I had sincere hopes for her when she mentioned Mazzy Star and “Fade Into You,” which is definitely not Pop Princess material (and probably shouldn’t ever be mentioned in the same breath (sorry, not sorry). Because the interlude with Axel was my favorite, I wish that their collaboration had been given more page-time. It was definitely more interesting than the groping scenes with Wes or the questionable section with Nick the actor. For this reason, I wish the ending had not been a Wikipedia entry. I guess I really wanted to hear how Amber had become a singer-songwriter like her idol Joni but maybe that’s me wishing for a different novel.

If you’re like me and love to read novels about music period, then this one might be for you. If you’re a fan of the pop princesses, I frankly can’t tell you how you’ll respond. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Honey is Isabel Banta’s debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Many thanks to Celadon Books for sending me a copy.

Amber Young was discovered at her middle school talent show in the late 1990’s. She joined a girl band where she met her BFF, another singer launching to stardom, Gwen Morris. Honey, is a coming-of-age story about Amber, her dating interests, her friends and what is was like, growing up as a rock star, touring the world in the late 1990’s, early 2000’s.

Being a teenager myself in the 90’s, I did love a lot of the time period references in this book. In between chapters there were fun quizzes you would find in Teen Vouge, song lyrics, interviews, newspaper articles, etc. This was a creatively written book and it did keep me captivated.

It showed how much influence the media played, the “stories” that were conjured up for professional gain. And how relentless it was on these girls on EVERY aspect of their lives. There were times during the book I felt the raw emotion and conflict in these characters, and other times, I felt like I needed more. I think there could have been more depth, but overall, I did enjoy this read. I will definitely read more by this author!

Thank you Celadon and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. This book publishes next week. 6/25/2024.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 & 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐀 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭. 𝐖𝐨𝐰! 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ‘𝟗𝟎𝐬/𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎𝐬—𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐲. 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 (𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲) 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐟𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐨𝐟-𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐼𝓈𝒶𝒷𝑒𝓁 𝐵𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒶, 𝒞𝑒𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓃 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈, 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

I was born in 1986 and this book starts in 1997. What I remember most from the late 90's to early 00's is the music. Music was huge in middle school. I was making my friends CD mixes because I was the only one with fast internet, Napster/Limewire/Bitorrent (whatever the free (coughillegialcough) MP3 download site was at any given time, and a CD burner. Boy bands and solo female pop singers were EVERYWHERE. So I really got into this book and it was really nostalgic but also a close, eye-opening look into what went on backstage. Behind the scenes.

The girl band of the book broke up fairly quickly and most went on to solo careers. We follow Gwen and Amber for most of the book, Amber being the main character. That's how most of the book is geared towards. Female solo pop singers and the rude AF questions they were asked in the late 90's (are you a virgin? being the most-asked question. Could you imagine Olivia Rodrigo being asked that in an interview today?!) 90's/00's media was obsessed with women's virginity. Purity. 🤮 Never the men. Pop princesses were expected to wait for their husbands to have sex but their husbands were not expected to wait for their wives. How gross. And they were surely expected to lie to the public if they weren't virgins. Like wtf.

Also the fake dating in the public eye. I feel like we probably saw a lot of that in the real 90's/00's. "Suitable" matches for the public, not interested in each other in private. For the media. The tabloids. To sell CDs. To sell out concerts. Manipulating the fans. Amber had a relationship that had to stay secret because he was "with" someone else for show.

And the Amber vs Gwen showdowns (aka Britney vs Christina) when Amber and Gwen were close friends and stayed that way through it all. But media loves drama. Female pop singers were ALWAYS pitted against each other in real life. And boy bands.

I really liked the behind the scenes of the actual music videos and in the studio making music and how artists can and do collaborate with producers. I really liked Axel. Banta could have gone on another long tangent on the abuses musical artists receive at the hands of producers and recording studios and ownership (ie. Ke$ha).

It took me a minute to get into Honey but I was immediately pulled in by the prose Banta can write a sentence y'all. My ARC is full of tabs (see slide 2, look at my matchy tabbies) and I hope every single line made it into the final version because these lines were breathtaking! For those sentences alone I will read Banta's next novel!

This book was so good for a debut novel. The early 2000s and 90s pop culture was brilliant. I think a lot of millennials are gonna love this book.

I loved this!!! It was basically the love child of DAISY JONES AND THE SIX and HAPPY HOUR. I believe this will be the official hot girl summer book for 2024. It was so addicting I finished it all in one sitting! One of my favourite reads of the year so far. Five stars

DNF.

I like the structure of the story as it’s told in parts but they label them as parts of a song such as verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and sprinkled throughout are quick snippets of interviews, articles, and songs for Amber and her other singer friend Gwen. In some ways this makes the storytelling a little choppy as it’s almost just the highlights of Amber’s rise to fame, and doesn’t really sit in any one time frame or moment for us to dig more into her. And like many of the real-life female artists that came to the spotlight in the 90s and 00s, Amber’s music and image focuses on her sexuality, partly due to those dictating her career but her private thoughts reveal she thinks of these things quite often. Between the pace and what we are privy to, Amber comes across as a shallow, large-chested woman who’s trying to fill the empty void within her with attention.

Content and trigger warnings include references to a young female’s developing body, a side character uses fruit to describe different acts, LOTS of sexual scenes that are quite descriptive, mentions of underage use of substances, some profanity, parental abandonment.

It was too sexually-focused for me and I didn’t really connect with Amber as we just didn’t get in deeper to who she is. So I decided to DNF at 47%.

This book gave me teen Brittany Spears, Justin Timberlake vibes. I love this coming of age story of Amber Young. Amber is someone who is unsure of her talents but decides to take a bold leap into the music industry without any support other than from her manager and her new sound friend was an amazing story in the making.
It’s a great story about finding people who have your back and stay with you regardless of your ugly human moments. That’s what forges a true friendship. Can we just applaud how unapologetically she declares her being a sexual person? Not promiscuous just someone who acknowledges what she wants. That’s bold. And finally finding love where you never expected. I love this book, it’s great from a debut author.

Thank you to Celadon Books for the ARC!
3.75 rounded up to 4 stars for Goodreads purposes

I really enjoyed Honey, I thought it was well paced and I liked the late 90s early 2000s vibes it had going. For a debut novel, Banta has strong characterizations and relationships.
Where it lost me were the many minor characters that had an effect on the plot but little to no dialogue time.
RIYL: 90210, reality television, feminism, queer love and #FreeBritney

Such a cute book! Super easy read also, it was giving me early 2000s vibes trying to make it in the game world. Could finish this book in a day.

Amber wasn't really an interesting character to me, i also felt there wasnt alot od depth to this book

thank you publisher and netgalley. all thoughts are my own

Unlike anything I have read before!! I truly did not want this story to end. The inclusion of fictional songs, articles, etc reminded me of a Taylor Jenkins Reid book but with its own unique take on complex relationships in your early 20s.

I would have rated this book 5/5 stars if it wasn’t for how the eating disorder of the main character was handled. Her eating disorder was something she struggled with for a significant part of the story, but it often went unaddressed and in the end unresolved. I was left with questions about if she was able to get help and treatment.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. I found the characters to lack depth which I need an emotional connection to characters to really get into the book. It felt very jumpy. I love the cover and I think the premise was great but ultimately it fell flat for me. Maybe it is geared toward a younger audience! (2⭐️)

This was such a refreshing read from my past reads. I did feel like something was missing and the story didn’t really pack a punch in terms of sticking with me for years to come. But, it’s great for those who are looking for a quick read and for something refreshing.