When Amanda Pearson won UK’s reality talent show Searching for a Star six years ago, she thought she’d made it. She secured a record deal and released a smash hit. But the stardom quickly leaked into her personal life. Unfortunately, drug use, parties, and public incoherent ramblings overshadowed her talent. Now, at age 25, she is labeled as a one-hit-wonder. She’s in loads of debt and on the brink of homelessness. When her former publicist presents an opportunity for a chance to win it all back, Amanda is understandably skeptical. All she has to do is participate in a closely monitored drug experiment. She and five other strangers will take a pill – only one of them will take the actual drug, while the other five are taking placebos. And they will be staying in a mansion together for one week. If she fulfills the contractual obligations, she’ll be rewarded handsomely with the opportunity to be back on top. When she settles into the house and meets the other participants, it doesn’t take long for things to turn from strange to frightening. The other participants become obsessed with Amanda, to the point of becoming dangerous towards her and each other. Soon, all the money in the world couldn’t convince Amanda to stay in the house any longer. Honeycomb by S. B. Caves is a psychological horror novel which explores how far one will go to regain fame and popularity, and the dangerous consequences once achieved.

S. B. Caves hits it out of horrifying-yet-captivating park with Honeycomb. This book fucked me up, for a lack of better words. I couldn’t put it down. The characters are unlikeable yet tragic. Readers slowly realize that the company recruited participants who were absolutely desperate for the rewards that the experiment promised. But these problematic characters only made the story that much better – especially since their strange personalities make it harder to determine who is taking the actual drug. Thanks to the prologue, it’s not difficult for readers to make that determination on their own.

Even so, the slow downward spiral that housemates endure, plus surprise twists thrown in, kept me glued until the end. My jaw dropped multiple times during the third act. I won’t spoil the ending for curious readers out there; but I will say that even though it was unsettling, I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Just be prepared for some gruesome and disturbing scenes, but which aren’t completely unexpected.

I found this a bit confusing and I simply couldn’t relate to the characters. The concept was interesting but it wasn’t as gripping as it could have been.

Super intriguing, quick thriller!! I didn’t particularly relate the characters, but it was still a fun read, especially for the colder, cosy months 🥰

This book was okay but I wouldn’t rush to read another one by this author. I just couldn’t get into it as much as I thought I would from the synopsis

Amanda Pearson's life is a wreck. At one time, she was the hottest rising star. Now washed up with no income, she comes running when her old manager gives her an option. For a week, she and five strangers will live in an isolated mansion. They will each be given an experimental drug. They don't get to know what's in the drug, what it does, or if the promises of no adverse side effects are real. However, if they spend the entire week under observation, they will be given money, and lots of it. Amanda Pearson sees no other option and signs up. She quickly learns that everyone here has their own demons, and that the experiment may be a lot more dangerous than expected.

It can be very easy to want to be loved and cherished publicly, and Amanda Person's wreck of a life seems to follow the after-existence of many a popstar. Writer SB Caves captures the lengths that one will go to in order to survive, but also explores the downsides of obsession and parasocial relationships. While many of us reading Honeycomb would say there's no way they'd ever undergo an experiment like this, let's be real about how many of us would be on a reality television show.  Honeycomb is a quick read, and once it gets its claws into you, you'll find yourself turning pages as quickly as your eyes can follow the page.

Honeycomb is now available.

This book was ok, I liked it but I couldnt say I loved it. I found it hard to connect to the characters and the storyline.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this one, but some parts of it unfortunately did not work for me. It was a little boring and lost my interest. I just wanted more from this book and I think it truly had the potential to be so much more.

This book was very easy to read, and very hard to put down once I’d started.

The premise behind it is completely wild, it has me still thinking about it days later.

Six strangers are invited to stay in a mansion for a week as part of a trial for a new drug. 5 will take a placebo, 1 will take the drug and none of them will know what it does.

Things escalate extremely quickly and things start to get a bit mad. I loved the setting of the book and the way the characters back stories were told as flashbacks. The writing style was great, it was engaging and made it almost impossible to put down.

I wasn’t too keen on the ending, I felt like there could have been more to it. I would love to see more of what happened in the aftermath!

This book has left me feeling so conflicted, I have bounced around on a rating and I am still trying to process what happened in the last 25% of the book.
This was not at all what I expected but I am not mad it. This story follows Amanda, a singer who had a very large fall from fame. She is given the opportunity to claw back that fame, alongside a very healthy pay check. All she has to do is agree to be locked in a house for a week, with strangers, take a pill with no adverse side effect every day, and be watched by cameras 24/7. Feeling like she has so much more to gain than lose she cannot find a reason not to go agree to it. Next thing she knows Amanda is locked in a house with people shes never met at everyone starts to descend into madness, all centred around her.
I loved the concept of this story, the first half of the book was a lot of getting to know people and understand the characters and the setting, then it all starts to really unravel. I did see the twists in this coming but it didn’t at all take away from enjoying the book, I feel like the end will sit with me for a while.
I am hoping there might be a sequel coming so I can see what happens following the end.

Got to 25% and was bored out of my mind. If a book doesn’t grab my attention by then I don’t keep reading.

Sad to say DNF

I'm struggling for words after finishing this book, very clever qriting at 1st its hard too relate too amanda but once the experiment starts yoy start too put yourself on that position and feel/relate too her.
the other characters are really interesting even once the power of the deug starts too take effect their personalities are still there. I like that you get a bit of their stories so you can understand where they are coming from.
Once you start reading you will want too finish its one of them that just grips you there are a few things that arent fully explained so it leaves you asking questions and there is a few chapters at the end where your like wtf is happening which u will find yourself saying alot throughout the book whether in your head or outloud.

I audibly gasped so much during this book and am so stunned after finishing that I don't even know how to start this review or what to say?

First off, major trigger warnings for violence/cutting.

This book is WILD. Starts off okay, then gets weird, and then just gets crazy. Like, CRAZY. I literally had zero guesses on what was coming next.

A good book evokes feelings, and that is why I've given this 4 stars. I would've liked to read more POV from the other characters as the story progressed, and I'm not crazy about the epilogue, but I'd be shocked if I didn't randomly think about the insanity that is Honeycomb.

Thank you to Datura and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I feel like the description of this is very on point it’s big brother and black mirror had a baby and this is it. I feel like the book name caught me as odd but keep reading because then you’ll understand the name better and it really comes together. Then your left wondering what was real and not so I’m still trying to figure out what to believe.

Where do I even start? I’m in love with this book, infatuated. You might even say obsessed! I.Ate.This.Up. I could have finished it in a day but you know: work, dinner, kids lol. I just can’t even describe how amazing this novel was. From the beginning, I couldn’t put it down. There wasn’t a moment of boredom, it was perfect in length, AMAZING plot and concept. This is a five star read!

Setting ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters ⭐⭐⭐
Suspense ⭐⭐⭐
Whodunit/Motive ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ending ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Multi-3rd person POV

Main Elements
Trapped. Experiment. Obsession. Losing their minds. Violence. Grossness

~

£250,000? Amanda got riiiipped offffff.

I've seen this concept and form of "drug/effects" used in a sci-fi before and absolutely loved it. I liked how this one was done a bit differently.

Setting

Trapped in a cold, creepy mansion with a bunch of strangers slowly losing their minds and a psychotic overlord excitedly watching on.

The setting and the experiment are easily the winners in this book. Throw in a solid female MC and some other passable characters, and voila.

Characters

Amanda was likeable and easy to root for, while the other characters were made easy to hate.. exactly as intended.

Favourite Character: Overlord

Least Favourite Character: Justin

Favourite Scene: Absolutely looooved the scene with the other queen and hive members. So, so good 💛

The only reason this isn't a 5⭐ is because of the sexualised grossness, just not my thing. But loved everything else.

3.75 stars

This is a ton of fun. Down on her luck, washed up, one hit wonder Amanda Pearson is grasping for one last brush with fame. When her former agent reaches out with an outlandish proposal - locked in a house with five strangers, all taking one mystery pill a day for a week - Amanda shoots her down. It sounds like the set up for a cruel reality TV show, aimed at destroying her fledgling sobriety. But the people behind the medical research have a long reach. They can offer Amanda more than just the quarter million pounds the contract promises. They can relaunch her music career.

Honeycomb gets tense and bloody and chaotic in ridiculously entertaining ways. Although this is neither a slasher nor an over the top horror movie parody, I think this would appeal to fans of both. A great palate cleanser kind of read.

Isolated setting? Check.
Strangers being pooled together? Yep.
An eerie mansion? Yes, indeed.
Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a sucker for these kinds of stories, and Honeycomb had me hooked from page one. I loved the concept of Big Brother meeting Black Mirror, that was the perfect blend and I definitely was at the edge of my seat as the story unravelled. Along with Amanda....

Thank you Datura and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very anticipated read for me and sadly it did not hit like I wanted it to. With the Big Brother comparison, I thought there would be a reality show element, but it was quickly explicitly stated by the characters that that wouldn't be the case, so that was a little bit of a bummer. I felt like the story was missing something to give it more dimension. Maybe more chapters following the people conducting the experiment, or hey maybe a reality show/audience experience (lol not bitter at all). But really, my biggest gripe with this book was it felt like it should've ended no less than 4 different times. I think the last 5 chapters were all alternate endings that were all just kept in the book.
Despite those two complaints, it really wasn't a horrible book and my mouth did drop at one scene nearing (one of) the end(s) (lol). It was somewhat entertaining with an interesting idea, but probably won't stand out in my mind long term.

When I say I deVOURED this book?? I mean it.

The premise is simple: washed up pop star Amanda Pearson receives an offer she can’t refuse. Instagram exchange for money and the chance to revive her music career, she agrees to participate in an experiment. Six strangers are to be locked in a mansion for a week to trial a drug. Five of them get placebos, one gets the real drug, and nobody knows what the drug does.

The execution is, in my opinion, flawless. The cast of characters is extremely interesting. As a kid who grew up watching the media terrorize pop stars/celebrities like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and seeing the toll it took on their mental health, I really felt for Amanda.

Caves did character development for the other 5 participants in what I can only describe as an efficient way. We get a chapter or two on each person’s backstory.

The best part about reading this book though was the atmosphere. The first two days of the experiment are SO tense, my heart was racing! And the ending did not disappoint. Highly recommend this one!

Thank you NetGalley for an Advance Review Copy of this book.

was this a futuristic story, a little bit mad and a little bit sad, be careful what you wish for! very well written and evoked all emotions, from fear to deepest sadness, lets just hope this never really happens!