This is the first book I've read in a long time that I literally devoured in a single day—I have no complaints whatsoever. This book was magical, fun, heartbreaking, and so many things to me. Its commentary on women and society’s distaste for them, whether they are “modest,” confident in their sexuality, or simply existing, was so REAL and almost relieving to see in a book, despite the unfortunate reality of these occurrences.

The story follows Amber, who becomes a pop star in the late 90s and early 2000s, and explores how she is treated throughout her career as the “overtly sexual” female pop star of her time. This book evoked a range of emotions in me—anger, sadness, and happiness—and the writing was exceptionally well done. If you enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I definitely recommend this book!

(And who doesn’t love a book with a bold pink cover?)

So grateful to have received this as an ARC! I could tell within the first few pages Britney and Jessica Simpson were part of the inspiration.

This books follows Amber Young’s journey from her talent being discovered as a young child to her career path as an adult.

I did not expect Axel to be the love interest! I smiled so hard at the last few pages.

Honey is Isabel Banta's debut novel. I experienced an array of emotions while reading this. For a debut, the writing, I feel, is excellent. As an English nerd, I look at things such as sentence structure, descriptiveness, usage of figures of speech, etc. I was impressed by those elements.

Honey is the story of Amber Young, a fictional, wanna be pop star of the mid 1990s. The book, in fact, follows Amber from 1990 (age 10) to 2004 (age 24).

During this book, the account of a teen trying to break into the music industry can be seen as sometimes stark, sometimes bleak, sometimes very poignant, and sometimes I am thinking, sadly realistic. Think Britney Spears. This novel is by no means based on her, though; I am simply referring to the industry and the time setting.

It is pretty graphic in areas. I think it will be more popular with the younger crowd. Personally, for me, I think it should have come with a warning saying...You are too old for this book...recommended for ages 50 and under. I am kidding, but I would also be lying if I said that thought didn't cross my mind a time or two while reading it.

It is receiving a 3.5 stars from me because I was impressed with the author's story and style, especially for a debut. Thank you, NetGalley and Celedon Books, for this realistically raw story.

Isabel Banta's debut novel, "Honey," is an ambitious reimagining of the rise and fall of pop icons in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The story follows Amber Young, a small-town girl who receives the chance of a lifetime to join the girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles. This opportunity thrusts her into the world of fame, where she quickly encounters the highs and lows of the music industry.

Banta excels in capturing the era's zeitgeist, vividly portraying the heady mix of ambition, desire, and vulnerability that defines Amber's experience. The novel shines in its exploration of the dichotomy between Amber's public persona and her rich interior life. That said, "Honey" sometimes falters in its execution. The narrative occasionally feels disjointed, with pacing issues that detract from the overall impact of Amber's story. Certain plot points and character developments could have been more fleshed out, leaving several threads feeling underdeveloped.

What a surprise this book was! I feel like this story was targeted directly to me as someone who grew up in the 90s/ early 00s. But when I went into it I was expecting a fluffy pop star story, but this turned into a insightful and deep character study about that era and the struggles faced in the music industry and as a famous person in general. I think many people forget that these people are human with their own insecurities and especially when you are younger and just want to do something you love, the result of fame can be ugly. The industry is full of people who want to exploit and sexualize the performers, and they want to create a persona that may not be the entirety of who that person is. I loved this book and how it was written. Even though I personally related to it because I grew up in that era, I think anyone would enjoy reading about the seedy underbelly of fame and success. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

Honey, by Isabel Banta, tells the story of Amber Young, an aspiring pop star in the late 1990s, and goes through her rise, her success, and her personal life. This novel has a very 90s feel, with both the intense sexualization of young women and the faux-concern over young girls’ purity. This was an amazing setting, it made me remember how awful radio DJs, talk show hosts and magazine interviewers could be to girl musicians in the 90s. So many very personal, very sexual questions on air and then the faux concern over skimpy clothes. I cringe at it now, but I really had no idea anything was weird at the time, teenage me read loads of magazine celeb features and didn’t think there was anything odd about how young women were often asked about their sexual status, partners, positions, etc., when that article was supposedly about a new album…

It also made me remember the excitement of buying or listening to a new CD and of discovering a new pop group at that time when music is really intense.

While the setting in Honey was vivid and compelling, I wasn’t really drawn in by the characters or main storyline. It’s a novel about Amber’s rise to fame, but there was an odd lack of tension in the book because I never wondered if she would succeed. Some of it is the flash-forwards, and some of it is just that there was nothing else in the book, so there was no feeling that Amber could find a different career or fail. This made the scenes of her career “struggles” less impactful.

For example, teenage Amber loses on Star Search, but I didn’t feel like it was a real setback, and then Amber is recruited for the girl group Cloud9, but she decides to strike out on her own — I didn’t feel like it was a real risk. It was clear that attempting a solo career was going to lead to the rest of the book.

Somehow, Amber’s character felt slightly static despite all the exciting events of the novel. The supporting characters, especially the other girl pop stars, were fun but slightly flat. Amber is marketed as the bad girl pop star, a contrast to the sweetly virginal Savannah and everyone’s-beloved-girlfriend Gwen, since as we all know there are only a few archetypes for pretty girl stars. Unfortunately, I found the creative collab section dull, too. I didn’t really buy that making music was essential to Amber, mostly because we never really saw her writing songs and feeling good until that point.

Still, these slightly flat characters worked well as methods to examine and discuss 90s pop culture. This made for a fun read, there’s a compelling mix of the critical and nostalgic takes. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes of musician life and pop culture, perhaps from reading all those magazine features in the 90s.

Honey
by Isabel Banta
Read if you liked The Woman in Me.

Thank you to Celadon Books for the gifted digital copy!

Amber wants to be famous - and she's willing to put in the work to get there. She gets the chance to join a 90s girl band group and ends up among the stars. As her career evolves and continues, her life changes and she learns what it means to be in the public eye.

This book is fictional Britney Spears and it stuck with me more than her memoir (sorry). It had a nostalgic feel, sine it was set in the 90s and this is exactly when I was growing up and listening to Britney and Christina and N*Sync and Backstreet Boys and so on. It was part celebrity drama part musical inspiration, which I'm sure is exactly the balance of a career musician. The fame and struggle themes reminded me of Evelyn Hugo in the idea that everyone was so interested in the private details of their lives. The first part was a little slower but then it picked up in the second half. This book was fun but touched on trickier topics like taking advantage of young girls and them not having a say in their image.

Honey follows rising pop star Amber Young as she tries to confirm to the standards of her time for young, female artists. Full of boys, music, drama and real life issues.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I feel very nostalgic reading this as I was a 90s baby and grew up during the rise of a lot of popular female pop-stars and boybands. Amber felt really relatable as a woman to her trying to fit in but also trying to be herself and dealing with the issue of being exploited just because of who she is.

I wish we got an “epilogue” chapter just to wrap things up better than the ending that we got. But otherwise, the book was easy to read, fun and touched on some issues that were important. Recommend reading, especially if you’re a 80s/90s baby.

Thank you NetGalley, Celadon Books and Isabel Banta for a chance to read and review this eARC.

This book was just so easy to get lost in. I completely got lost in the story and I just loved getting to see these new characters come together. I just absolutely love this story and I just didn’t want to put it down. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

As a person who grew up in the 90s and early 00s, I really enjoyed all the nostalgia for that time period.
I really liked how even though these were all fictional characters they felt real.
This was not only a glimpse into a young pop star but also just a young girl growing up in a sexualized and misogynistic world surrounded by people who may or may not have had her best interest at heart.

I really enjoyed it. I liked the added interviews and songs a lot too. They added to the story and also showed how they were all portrayed in the media.
I wouldn’t really say any of the characters were super likable but they were interesting. The whole dynamic between Amber and Gwen was great. I loved their journey throughout the years. Axel was my favorite character. He was basically the only person that was just himself and treated Amber like more than an object. I liked him from the very first time we met him. I liked Amber even with all her flaws too. All the emotions of being a young pop star and a young person in general felt real. Being pit against other girls and falling for stupid boys. Then, rising above and finding yourself along the way.

I would have liked this novel when I was younger. It was similar to reading a gossip magazine, which I no longer enjoy.

I started reading this, but I couldn't get into it. I think the market is oversaturated with novels inspired by late 1990s/early 2000s pop stardom right now. I totally understand why, but I've already read some novels in that vein and I enjoyed them and preferred them to this.

Amber has always wanted to sing. And she is good at it. She was on Star Search, losing to a guy named Wes that would keep showing up in her life for years to come. She ends up joining a girl group and her career begins to take off. During this time she starts to explore her sexuality and learn what it means to be in the spotlight all the time.

I really enjoyed this book…it took place during the late 90s and early 2000s and Amber was about the same age I was during that time. It was a nice walk back in time for me!

If you like the 90's, you will enjoy this book. There are many references to the time that makes you feel nostalgic. It is a story of growing up and making your own way. I look forward to reading more by Isabel Banta.

Although this book wasn’t for me, I believe older teen girls will like it. As an adult woman, the content was just not relatable.

I knew within the first few pages of this book that Honey would be a book that will keep me hooked and leave me thinking and wanting more.

Honey covers so many different topics... from tying in real life historical events, to discussing objectification in the media, how society views women (especially those who are famous), and the seedy men that run many recording companies.
I love pop culture and reading about the behind the scenes. It's hard to hear some of the stories about artists getting screwed over by those they thought were close to them. I think that is what really drew me in to wanting to read this novel. Getting to delve deeper into that world that many actually live in on a daily basis. I believe that is novel brings that industry to light even more and can get people thinking a bit more about how they act towards celebrities - they are human too.
I love books that have the sense that these could be real artists making music today. The first book I ever read that was like that was Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and I think Honey sits right up there with it as a book that provides such vivid characters. Hearing Amber and Gwen's struggles as they grew up in the limelight was so intriguing. I felt my heart breaking when theirs did, I felt angry when they were betrayed, and I felt happy when they finally were succeeding in their careers! Banta did such an incredible job opening up this world where a reader can just get so invested in a characters life.

I cannot recommend this book enough!!! Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to write this wonderful book a review!

Amber Young is an up and coming pop star. The story follows her as her career starts and as she starts to become more famous.
I was really excited to read this one since I grew up in the 90s. I was hoping for more nostalgic vibes and never felt them. I had a hard time getting through it and connecting with the characters. Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the E-ARC of Honey. This was a great book. Very nostalgic and immersive into the main character's experience.

This novel, set in the 1990s and early 2000s, is told from the perspective of Amber, who sets out as a teenager to become a pop star as we follow her highs and lows in the music industry, in her friendship with another female pop star Gwen, and in relationships. Interspersed throughout the conventional narrative are occasional faux news articles, song lyrics, etc.

Amber and Gwen are wholly fictional characters, as are their male counterparts in the book’s bot band ETA, but think of them as the fictional contemporaries of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, N Sync, Backstreet Boys, etc. In my opinion this fictional story is better than Britney’s memoir, but not as good as Jessica’s. It was an entertaining enough read, but not a stand-out.

3.5 stars

While I was really invested in the story from the description but what really let me down in this book was the writing style. I really liked the nostalgic elements of this story but i just found that it really didn’t work for me.

Thank you to Celadon & Netgalley for and advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.