4.5⭐
I loved this book - and I think I loved the audio version even more. The narrator was perfect for bringing the FMC, Amber, to life.
Think Daisy Jones, but late 90s/early 00s pop. As an elder millenial, I felt transported back to my teens of being obsessed with pop groups and artists just like described in this book.
Though I did feel that some of the relationships and character development weren't fully fleshed out, I did find myself rooting for the main characters. I wish it went more in depth on some of the heavy subjects that are touched on, almost just in passing (eating disorder, abortion), and how those truly affected the character.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this and would highly recommend the audio version of this book.

It’s 1997 and Amber Young has been asked to join the short lived girl group Cloud9, while it’s life changing she seems to always be a few steps behind her friends Gwen Morris and Wes Kingston who reach stardom first. The public also perceives her as a bad influence and promiscuous even though she’s really only 20 years old and hasn’t really lived much life. As her own star begins to rise the tabloids keep creating their own story of her life; luckily she has Gwen and some other friends on her side to keep her from completely losing herself.

I ended up liking this one more than I thought I would, the 90s retro was fun nostalgia for me as was the mini insight (although nothing new) into the fake lives of stars. The “public” persona vs the private lives and the exploitation of young stars is really the main theme of this novel though if you really want bang for your buck on that one I would read (actually listen to) Brittney’s memoir. It’s really a cute quick read but not quite as deep as a Daisy Jones or Songs by Ursa Major in my opinion; however those are more folk singers in a different era and Honey gives the Gen Xer/Millennials the right time period for real nostalgia. In the end, it’s a fun read for a Gen X reader like me. I think listening to this one was a good move.

3.75 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for the ARC

Honey is about a young teen girl rising to stardom in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This premise alone intrigued me, as I grew up at this time, obsessing over the pop idols of the day. This novel immediately brought me back to that time and I especially appreciated the snippets of song lyrics and magazine interviews and quizzes between chapters. The writing in this book is absolutely beautiful and much more thoughtful than I thought it was going to be, so I was pleasantly surprised in that regard. I found myself highlighting multiple passages because they resonated with me. I did find myself waiting for more to happen, though. Maybe more on Amber's thoughts of life as a star, or maybe a bigger kind of climax to the story. It does a great job of exploring Amber's emotional journey as she grows into her life as a star. I was satisfied with the ending, too. Overall, I enjoyed reading this, it engrossed me and I was able to read it quickly. If you like the nostalgia of 90s pop stars and if you like introspective fiction, I think you will enjoy this book! Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books!

📚 Honey
✍ Isabel Banta
📖 Contemporary Fiction
⭐3.5
🌶️ 🌶️

🙏 Thank you to @Celadon Books, @NetGalley and Isabel Banta for the advanced copy of Honey. All opinions are my own.
◾
🎯 What I loved: I was really intrigued by the structure of Honey. Each chapter was a location and specified the year it took place and there were songs, Wikipedia-ish articles and magazine features interspersed throughout the book as well. As someone who grew up rushing home from school to turn on TRL and distinctly remembers the media-created rivalry between Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore, Honey had me reminiscing big time and reevaluating my own perceptions of each woman. Honey has got me thinking a lot about the image the record label's push onto artists in an attempt to fill perceived gaps in their markets and the long-term effect that has on both the artist and consumers. This would be a great book club pick because it fosters LOTS of discussion topics.

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: I didn't want to put this down and really enjoyed the premise and structure of this book but felt like the timeline was odd. It only focused on about 6 years of Amber's life and I'm struggling to figure out why. The book seemed to end rather abruptly without a big climax with a Wikipedia-like epilogue that made it seem like the story could have kept going but overall, I really enjoyed Banta's writing style and will look forward to more from her!
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Read if you love:
*90s & early 2000s pop music
*celebrity friendships and rivalries
*coming of age in the public eye stories
◾
See also: The Daydreams, I'm Glad My Mom Died, Daisy Jones and the Six

I found this hard to,read at the start, The child stardom period was tough, with what she saw as a negligent mom. And the early years in the music business were rough as well. But I couldn’t look away. I really started enjoying it when she began working wish Axel. I would have enjoyed more of life with Axel at the end. I loved his character. I’m glad she was able to preserve her relationship with Gwen, as well. The music parts were fun, but it was the relationships that made it interesting. I ended up enjoying it, but at the beginning wondered what I gotten myself into. Glad I stuck with it!

I was so excited to read a novel about the golden age of bubblegum pop. It was a fascinating time. This novel follows Amber, a young pop singer in the early 00s dealing with fame and media at a time where anything went. This is a hard topic to write about. How can you even begin to describe the charisma and sheer it factor that Britney Spears possessed? How can you describe the addictive quality of this music? How can you describe the ways in which these young women were built up only to be torn apart? In my opinion, you can’t. You just had to be there.
In this book, the characters kind of blurred together for me. Clearly based around Britney, Christina, *NSYNC and others, these characters don’t measure up to their real life counterparts. There are no mental breakdowns or dangerous paparazzi encounters. The real story is just so much more fascinating than anything anyone could make up. There are flashes of beautiful writing, but for me, this book barely scratched the surface of what it was like to be a teen idol at that time.
(Also, song lyrics don’t work for me in novels, they just don’t.)
Overall, this is a fun, nostalgic read. But as someone who vividly remembers this era of pop music, the truth is way more interesting than the fiction.

Not a fan. I had a very hard time picking this up and wanting to finish it. I had a hard time trying to figure out the plot of this book, and just really wasn’t a fan of the main character.

This was a highly anticipated read for me and it did not disappoint. It brought back so much from my childhood and I felt so much nostalgia the entire time reading. The book follows the rise of a childhood pop star, Amber, in the late 90s and early 2000s. It’s a debut novel for Isabel Banta, and it’s absolutely amazing.



I loved each and every character. Watching them grow up given their circumstances really drew me in. The relationships Amber has with everyone are amazing. Her managers, best friend, family, and a popular boy band. I especially loved the friendship she has with her best friend Gwen, another pop star. Ambers race to fame from childhood made me feel so many emotions and I was constantly curious to know more.



My favorite part about this book was the focus on women and their sexuality. It really focuses on that, and shines a light on what women go through with their bodies from childhood and how the world views them. I think the author does a great job with this part.

Having lived and loved the pop music of the late 90s/early 2000s, this was my (literal) jam. This is the story of Amber, a pop princess during this time. She starts in a girl group, then moves into a solo career. It's very true to the experiences of the time, and I especially loved how TRL and other hallmarks of pop culture like teen magazine quizzes were infused in. This is about Amber's career, but more about her relationships and the various impacts of fame. Truthfully, as a byproduct of loving this era so much, I wanted more. I was invested in her story, and I wanted it to dig even deeper because I was so drawn into her story. But it was definitely a good return back the glory days of pop music. Thanks to NetGalley for the look at this June 2024 release.

I loved Honey! In Honey we meet up and coming pop star Amber. All she wants is to become famous and buy her mom a house. Little does she know this music industry isn't for the weak. I enjoyed the journey of learning about Amber through the first person narrative. It felt like we were sitting and talking to one another. I also enjoyed the snippets of song lyrics, interviews, and media posts.

Growing up in the '90s and '00s, this book brought back many nostalgic memories. I found myself wanting to pull out my old Usher cassette tapes and Spice Girls CDs! Don't get me started on BSB vs N'SYNC.

Honey brings on all the pop vibes from the '90s as well as the story of a young woman trying to find her footing in the world. Imagine the difficulties one must face as a child growing up in the spotlight. With fame comes a whole lot more.

If you enjoyed Daisy Jones, you may very well enjoy Honey. I'm also thinking this would be a GREAT audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Isabel Banta, and Celadon Books for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I was born in 1998, so although I was not a teen girl in the early 00s, my girlhood was still impacted by the young pop stars during this time. I had Hit Clips of Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, and Hilary Duff. I was the ultimate Diva Girl, loved pink and glitter, and took the opportunity to perform anytime I got. With all the expose of what life was truly like for these teenage girls during this time period coming out in recent years, it's been hard to stomach. I was intrigued by the premise of Honey and curious to see what Banta would do with her fictionalized account. I overall enjoyed this read, but I do wish that Banta would have gone into Amber's character a bit more. For some reason, I as the reader felt held at arm's length the entire book and didn't feel like I truly got know her as a character. I think maybe because the book spanned so much time, we weren't able to really delve in a lot? It felt like there were some big time jumps and aspects about being a pop star that I would have liked to know about but were glossed over. I do think this is a solid debut with some great writing, and I would pick up more of Banta's work in the future, but I wasn't as enamored with this read as I had hoped to be.

Honey is a debut novel that delivers on its promise of a coming-of-age story in the 90s and early aughts. The book follows the main character, Amber, who rises from a blue collar New Jersey family to become a teen pop sensation. The story also follows Amber's peers and rivals in the music industry, including a boy band and other young, female artists.

The book will particularly appeal to millennials like myself who grew up with pop greats such as Brittney, X-Tina, Mariah, etc. The story goes behind the scenes to highlight the dark side of the entertainment industry and in particular, the misogynistic exploitation of these teens and young women.

This was a compulsively-readable story that I could not put down. My one criticism is that it read as though the author did not actually experience the 90s/00s herself as an adult, and that she was relying on second-hand information, which sometimes seemed a bit cliché.

I alternated between the e-book and audiobook. I preferred the audiobook, however, as I enjoyed the added sound effects and other details that elevated above your typical listen. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Celadon Books for the chance to read and review this!

Ok, look… this was exactly the 90’s vibe I remember! Star Search, boy bands, pop stars, TRL, low-rise flare jeans, teen magazine quizzes… it is all here! So much nostalgia!

I found myself trying to compare the three main pop stars (and their guy counterparts) the entire time. Is she Britney? Christina Aguilera? Jessica Simpson? Is he Justin Timberlake? Nick Lachey? It all gets intertwined with these characters - I even saw more current divas in these characters - maybe some Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, or Billie Eilish type characteristics.

It was fun to read about Amber’s road to fame and the troubles she had making it there. I saw her through the eyes of a girl who just wanted to be famous because she wanted to be loved, to feel accepted. It was both sweet and heartbreaking.

And the writing? Absolute poetry!! Banta really has a way with metaphors and imagery. Her writing style is so beautiful. It’s strange to correlate the poetic writing with a story about a pop star - it’s almost as if she is writing a ballad, an ode, for/to her characters.

My only issue is that is just didn’t seem “real” enough. Like it was a watered down version of what I imagine someone in her shoes would be in. Constant paparazzi, drama, stalkers, photo shoots and interviews, and hello!? Shopping! There was a bit of these things, but not nearly as much as I would expect. This story really just revolves around Amber’s sexuality and love life, which kind of made it a little boring near the end.

Honey is at the top of my reading chart this year. On its face, with a simple one word title and girly hot pink cover, you will almost be deceived into thinking this is, like so many fictionalized tell all pop star biographies, a run of the mill story. But this book is so much more than the simple storyline on the back cover! Yes, on its surface this is the story of Amber, a typical New Jersey teen with Rock and Roll Dreams who rises through the charts with her teen sexuality and daring. But, it is more importantly the coming of age story of a young woman in the face of managers and record labels, photo shoots and paparazzi, romantic scandals and frustrated loves. This is the story of a young girl fighting to establish who she is and what it means to be a woman, it is the story of a sensitive artist fighting to be seen and finding her own authentic voice, but most of all it is about Amber's journey to stand in the face of the pushes and pulls of life, love, and success to discover who she really is. Simply put, this is an amazing modern bildungsroman that truly speaks to Life in the late 20th Century.

Beautifully written and nuanced, Banta has written what felt like an allegorical and mythological tale that completely enthralled me. Watching Amber's and Gwen's stories left me reflecting on the ways that teens mature and the constant struggle between who they truly wish to be and that of society forcing them into socially created gender constructs. Fighting to balance the need to be loved and adored with the craving for success and adventure, all the while exploring what life has to offer them. What are they willing to do to get there? How do compliments and advice guide and manipulate them? Where do they draw the line between what they could do, would do, and are not willing to do? These questions, all subtly built into the narrative through all the characters, both male and female, present the full scope and genius of Banta's book.

This story took me back to late Friday nights watching MTV after bedtime holding a hairbrush mic as I danced and sang in the mirror pretending it was me on TV. And that is what sets Banta apart as a debut author to watch out for, because in Honey you will find yourself returning to those moments when anything was possible and there was no price to pay - yet. And through both Amber and Gwen you will discover the sadness of paying that price, but also rejoice in the rediscovery of that authentic self.

After reading an excerpt, I was hopeful that I would enjoy the novel. It was fun in the beginning, but after a while, it became monotonous like a broken record on repeat. It was the same scenarios of rehearsals, sex, drugs, and partying at different tour locations. And I could not understand the point of having song lyrics and Q&A interviews interspersed throughout the novel.

The characters were pretty shallow, and I didn't care for any of them. Perhaps I got a snobby or holier than thou vibe that didn't sit well with me. And their personalities were similar whether it be male or female. Is that how the record recording artists are? Banal?

By the time I read through to 51%, I was pretty much done. An unfortunate DNF, one star.

I received a physical copy of the novel from Celadon Books through the BookishFirst Raffle. I was also invited to read a DRC from Celadon Books through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

Honey is set in the 1990s and early 2000s. It follows Amber Young’s journey to becoming a pop star. The story shows the pressure young stars receive to fit the mold everyone else builds for them. I love seeing how Amber finds herself despite everyone else pushing her to be someone she isn’t. This would’ve been a 5 star read for me however, the ending came up short, it just felt rushed.

This was a very interesting story about the making of a pop star. I was sucked into the plot and found myself adoring the characters. This was such a strong debut novel, I’d love to see what this author does in the future! I’m willing to bet that she will be very Amber Young in her success. This was a great story about a girl who was unabashed about her sexuality and how our culture devours celebrities. It was a great critique of stardom and all of the pitfalls that come with it. Definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

SYNOPSIS: A coming-of-age story that follows the meteoric rise of singer Amber Young as she navigates fame in the late-1990s and early-2000s era of pop music superstardom.

It is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It is a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join girl group Cloud9. She quickly finds herself in the orbits of fellow rising stars Gwen Morris, a driven singer-dancer, and West Kingston, a member of the biggest boy band in the world, ETA.

Surrounded by people who claim to love her, but only wish to exploit her, Amber’s rich interior life is frequently reduced. Amber comes of age at a time when the kaleidoscope of public opinion can distort everything and one mistake can shatter a career.

MY REVIEW: HONEY, HONEY!!! From start to finish the nostalgia I felt while reading this book was UNREAL! Isabel Banta delivered a delicious debut that will leave you with a lot to think about. Banta explores sex, self-discovery, power dynamics, and so much more; she tastefully touched on the issue of how women are portrayed in the media with subtle hints, but did not make it the storyline.

Amber Young, the FMC, is easy to fall in love with because she is SO relatable. The reader has a front row seat of Amber’s evolution from child to young adult while navigating her budding career in the thrall of the “fame machine.” Amber’s discovery of who she is, her self-worth, and why she truly loves to be a singer made me feel like I was on the journey right alongside her. I absolutely adored Gwen Morris, too. She goes on her own journey that is similar, but at the same time, completely different from Amber’s own unique experiences. Their friendship was extremely well written; the authenticity of it all was spot-on for the times and ages.

Throughout the book I LOVED the mixed media pieces. From magazine interviews and quizzes, tabloid appearances (“Stars, They’re Just Like Us”), song lyrics, and excerpts from CD cover inserts, I was able to transport myself back in time when I would do those quizzes in J-14 magazine and live for “Who Wore It Best” sections. Another element I absolutely was here for was the scripts presenters receive for award shows; again, I was able to transport myself back to the VMAs when Britney and Christina presented together. The parallels I was able to draw from events I can remember (as the biggest Britney Spears fan ever) to those in the book were just chefs kiss!

5/5!!!!! I will recommend this book to everyone I know who loves a great read!!!!

Read this book if you enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six and The Woman in Me.

“Let’s begin with my body.”

This debut from author, Isabel Banta stuck with me in the very best way. Part coming-of-age story, part fictionalized celebrity memoir, Amber Young’s tale highlights the tragic consumption of young girls in the world of pop music and fame.

“I think we all first picked up on these words from our mothers: slut and bitch and whore, even prude. They taste bitter on the tongue, but sweet on release, as long as we aren’t the ones they describe.”

Told through first person POV, interviews, song lyrics, and liner notes, we follow Amber as she navigates a world where the sexuality of girls is weaponized and used against them by those who they should trust the most. Banta explores the ferocity of the male gaze and the way in which young girls and women internalize that gaze to their own detriment.

“His words are palm-shaped and red, and I stumble back.”

As Amber grows and begins to recognize her worth, she finally learns the value of friendship with others and the value of love within herself.

“Her friendship was my skeleton—it held me up. It moved my limbs and gave me strength.”

💿Honey by Isabel Banta💿

Honey is the perfect coming of age, hot read of the summer. Amber Young is an up and coming pop star navigating her rise to fame in the late 90s/early 2000s and quickly realizes what you wish for isn’t always sunshine and roses. The author weaves in the good, the bad and the ugly but also incorporates true friendships that make you love the book just a little bit more. Overall, I really enjoyed reading about our FMC (matching zodiacs ♋️) and the nostalgia of the timeline had me in my feels I could cry! And the playlist…🔥