In "Honeycomb," six desperate strangers sign up for a medical experiment. They're locked in a mansion and required to take a daily pill, which they're assured has no side effects—of course, that's a lie!

It's a unique premise for a thriller, and I enjoyed guessing what would happen next as the story unfolded. Unfortunately, there was a lot of violence and gore toward the end, and too many loose ends for my taste.

Overall, worth a read if you're a fan of horror and looking for something a bit different.

Thank you to NetGalley and Datura for sending me an advance copy for review consideration.

Honeycomb is like a pretty good, prime episode of black mirror. The ending left me a little wanting, but points for levels of disquiet and uniqueness.

Disturbing. Interesting. Violent.

These three words sum up the plot of Honeycomb. Strangers assembled and locked into a mansion... Okay. But, what unfolds is an odd look into the price of fame and adoration and what happens when things are taken too far.

Add in some rich weirdos relishing in the pain of others for fun and poof, you've got a wild and sometimes upsetting story.

My one gripe is that things aren't wrapped up. There's a thread which seems to be dropped entirely.

I’ve been on a bit of a fantasy kick lately, but when I saw the blurb for Honeycomb, I knew I had to read it ASAP. It was such a fun, fast-paced thriller, one one disturbing enough be horror too, or at least border on it.

I spent the first half of my time with it doing some detective work, trying to figure out if the six drug trial participants had been lied to by the doctor running experiment, if the drug was working as intended, wondering how far the doctor would truly let things go, hoping Amanda could find someone to trust, you know, normal stuff. But the second half of my time with the book was basically just me thinking “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!”

I appreciated that while the story centered on Amanda and her experience, we were also given glimpses into both the points of view and pasts of the other five participants of the drug trial. I liked that Claude, Arthur, Wish, Sherry, and Justin were all deeper than just nobody side-characters put there to give Amanda a hard time. I also found it really interesting how each of them responded to the drug trial in their own way. I thought their behavior would more or less be identical and I’m convinced the differences made the whole book even better.

It must be said, though I can’t explain: Honeycomb is the perfect name for the drug (and this book). Once you read it, you’ll know why!

Wow! Very intense! I was so intrigued with the story and characters. I read it in 2 days. This had me on the edge of my seat. My only issue is that I feel like the ending was very abrupt and did not have enough explanation or resolution. Had the ending given me more this could have potentially been a 5 star read. I would definitely still recommend though.

This is a great locked room thriller. I loved getting all the character POVs and the overall story was really interesting. It was twisty, fast paced and addictive, I read the entire book in one sitting. The author did a great job creating and atmosphere of unease through the story. I think the ending let the book down a bit as it felt very abrupt, I would have liked a little more at the end but I can see why it ended the way it did. I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend

Thanks to NetGalley, Datura Books and S.B Caves for this e-ARC

This was a well-crafted and tense ride. The pacing was really solid, and it really helped keep the tension/suspense high. I've seen some compare this to Squid Games, and I can definitely see that. I'm not a huge fan of gore, but I was surprised that I didn't mind it much in this story.

All throughout this book I must've said WTF at least 30 times. It's wild, it's weird, and messed up in all the ways I wanted it to be. 

Described as Big Brother meets Black Mirror, six strangers are given the opportunity to make some easy money. All they have to do is spend a week in a mansion, under constant watch, and take a pill every morning. One of the six is taking the real pill, which supposedly has no side effects, and the rest are taking a placebo. 

It doesn't take long for things to turn weird and aggressive. Who is Amanda, the MC, really locked in the house with? And despite the assurance only one person is taking the real pill, why is everyone acting different? 

Told from multi-POV, there's a great insight into each of the characters, giving a deeper look into them prior to entering the mansion. It also exposes their motives for taking part in this, and what the money could mean to each of them. As well as this, we see how each character is changed as the days in the experiment begin. 

There's a perfect, creepy vibe throughout, and the setting is a great choice, really adding to the confusion and overwhelming emotions the characters feel. As a reader you're pulled along by the hand, thrown into the mix, and left unsure of just what the people in the house are capable of.

There's enough thrills and twists to satisfy any horror/thriller lover, but don't be surprised if you have this finished quite quickly, the pages flew by for me after I was sucked into the storyline, and the pacing is right for the plot. 

I'll definitely be looking into the authors previous books, because if they're as weird as this, I'm in.



Did I like the book? Yes.

Did I love it? Yes.

Would I recommend it? 100%. It's a horror/thriller that will leave you wanting more.

I love a good thriller, and the locked room situation (in this case a mansion) is one of my favourites. So I was thrilled (excuse the pun) to read this and it did deliver!

The premise is really clever, a group of people locked up for a week for a medical trial to try a pill in exchange for a good lump of money. Now, I would never agree to that given I try to resist taking paracetamol even when I’ve got a splitting headache, but if you’re down on your luck and need to pay the mortgage I don’t think I would think twice. Especially when it says in the contract there’s no adverse effects, right? Right? Well, what happens is something very disturbing and claustrophobic in a way.

I liked the building of the tension and the characters’ background interspersed with the plot, but I think the book could have been shorter and some bits taken out. Also, I would have loved more story on the company behind the experiment, but I believe it would have been even longer. Lastly, some of the descriptions of the lab rats really bothered me (as a lover of rats) but luckily they were short and not many. Overall I really enjoyed it and the suspense build up was well done!

Most people want to be loved and adored, but how far would they go for that? In this thriller we discover that sometimes what we think we want is different from the reality of it. But can Amanda and the other people locked with her find out soon enough? Can they make it out of the house within the week without falling apart inside and outside?

Well, I have your first pill here ready, get in the mansion and take your first dose, see you in a week?

Thanks to the author, Datura Books and NetGalley for a copy and this is my honest opinion.

This was such a tense read all the way through, the pace and suspense were very high throughout. Exhilarating read overall.

This book was so tense! It’s actually really quite scary. This book follows a pop-star who has fallen out of favour, has been out of the limelight for some time and is having financial issues. She’s offered a lot of money and a fresh start to go and stay in a secluded house with five other people for a week. Each day they’ll take a pill, but five of them will be placebos. They’re promised there will be no adverse side effects, but things are not what they seem and the residents start to behave more and more strangely.

I really felt for Amanda the main character. It was pretty scary seeing the characters gradually losing their grip on reality, becoming more unhinged and eroding any semblance of boundaries. Some of the scenes were quite sickening and unnerving. There is a fair amount of violence in this novel, including self harm just to advise on trigger warnings. I’d also warn some characters do use homophobic and xenophobic language.

This was a clever, thought-provoking and incredibly tense novel. I really enjoyed this and would recommend to people who are ok with graphic violence and horror where people are trapped in spaces with aggressors.

If you like squid games, you’ll like this! Read this one in just over 24 hours. I just could not put it down! There were twists and lots of unknowns. The ending left me unsettled, which I actually like LOL

I love the way this one starts out. So creepy, and so culty, but with some rats. Love it.
Then I got bored until the halfway mark. It was either too much information or not enough. It picks back up after that and gets really gorey.

A strange experiment, a house full of people.
What could possibly go wrong?
This story had me asking a lot of questions even when it was said and done.
There was a lot of character building, and a lot of creepiness.
Just be prepared for a lot of violence and bloodshed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Datura Books for my arc copy of Honeycomb by S.B Cave
In this book, we follow Amanda, a former pop idol, as she enters a house with four other people as part of an experiment similar to a mix of "Big Brother" and "Black Mirror" with a hint of "Saw." I enjoyed getting to know these characters as we followed the experiment involving taking a particular drug. However, it becomes evident that this experiment is also life-threatening as the others become obsessed with Amanda. There were a few unexpected twists and turns. I rated this book four stars because some parts of the story were left unresolved, and I found myself questioning the purpose of the experiment and the background of the characters without any significant resolution. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable read.

#Netgalley #DaturaBooks #BookReview #PsychologicalThriller #UnexpectedTwists #CharacterDevelopment #MysteryNovel #BookLovers #ReadingCommunity #PageTurner

This was a super eerie and thought provoking story with well developed characters and a chilling setting. I enjoyed following the characters and it kept me engaged until the end as I was invested in how their story would end. The pacing was a little off in parts but it was still a really worthwhile read.

Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. Some people will do anything to get it.

It's obsession, it's paranoia, it's Black Mirror and Big Brother under one roof.

It's very violent.

It's.....not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Datura Books for this eCopy to review

Honeycomb was an interesting novel, it follows failed singer Amanda as she is given the offer of a lifetime, a second chance at her music career. All she needs to do is go and live in a house for a week and take some pills (which is ironic as it was drugs which ended her career) which have no side effects and all but 1 are placebos. Sounds too good to be true, yes it is and what follows is a nightmare where all the other contestants become infatuated with Amanda to the point that they start killing each other. The characters unfortunately were not very nice and it was difficult to emphasise with them

I felt it lost the plot at this point and was very violent towards the end. The ending itself was quite confusing, I'm still not sure what really happened.

Thank you to NetGalley, S.B. Caves, and Datura Books for the ARC in exchange for my review.

I’ll start off by saying this book started off well, it was an interesting idea and think it COULD have been much better. There was way too many plot holes for my liking. Firstly, why was Amanda chosen? Why were any of them chosen? Why didn’t we get any real reason for why these characters were selected? We hardly got any insight in the background of these characters. What was the point of this mystery drug? What was the intended outcome? I have a lot more questions than I do answers regarding this book. The ending was such a let down. It had my interest until the last 40 pages. There was too many scenes in this book that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The premise of this book is what drew me into reading it, but the execution was poor. Slightly disappointed because I felt like this one had great potential.

This was a really interesting, fast, and cool book to read. Amanda Pearson is a fading rock star struggling to pay her bills. She's sought out specifically by a company wanting to test a new product, and though she doesn't want to say yes, she needs the money. Once Amanda is brought to a secluded house with several others, they all start taking a mysterious drug once a day. It's not too long before Amanda realizes she's the only one who hasn't been affected, since everyone else seems to be obsessive and dangerous. When they turn their obsessions to her, things get deadly. There were many good twists, but there were also several loose ends that didn't get tied up. I wanted more in different places of the book, so I did leave a bit disappointed.