Such a fascinating story, featuring Honey Fasinga, an eighty-two-year-old woman who returns back home to New Jersey after fleeing when she was a teen.

I listened to the audio format and enjoyed!

*many thanks to Harper and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

I liked it a lot but the focus is more in the straight older protagonist rather than it being focused on the transgender grand child who is absent for most of the book. This is fine but with it being pushed as a lgbtq book, the tag is not entirely true.

The narration though was superb. I loved the choice of affectation the narrator did. I could both see and hear the titular Honey so clearly as well as anyone she was interacting with. By far one if the best narrations I've heard.

Filled with humor and melancholy, Honey is a perfect book to recommend for people who like conversational literary fiction. It's accessible, but technically excellent as well. I personally wanted more of a side character, but that's not the author's fault. I'm excited to recommend this one.

The character of Honey is amazingl; I loved her honesty, strength and humor. I laughed out loud throughout the entire novel; however, don’t go into it thinking this is a “light” book. Honey’s voice and overall story is unforgettable.

This entertaining and moving novel features a cast of larger-than-life characters, with none looming larger than Honey, an octogenarian with class, style, and money who has returned to New Jersey to face her strained relationship with the remaining members of her mobster family. Humor blends with heartache in this masterful novel that vividly portrays characters from very different walks of life. The book speaks to many aspects of being human and you will simply fall in love with Honey. The most charming read I've had all year.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this audio e-arc.

While I enjoyed this story, I found it to be slow moving in the plotline. It reminded me a little bit of "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine."

Honey is a tough old bird and she's back in her familial town in NJ, which she left went she went off to college to escape her mobster-like family and the memories of the defining incident of her life. Why she returned and how she resists, atones for, and rebuilds her life at age 82 makes for interesting listening. Lodato does an excellent job of developing Honey's character; others are rather more underdeveloped and much harder to discern. The narrator nails Honey and, to a lesser extent, her next-door neighbor Joss. Others are as routine and stereotyped as their characters, perhaps more a reflection of Lodato's writing than her abilities. Despite these flaws, Honey is a riveting listen. Readers who enjoy character-based novels will devour it.

kind of want to be Honey when I get old. Sharp and incredibly witty, Honey is so sassy and one of my favorite characters. I would love to sit with her and share a bottle of wine while listening to her stories. She felt so real.

As a teenager, Honey escaped her father’s influence and working for a high-end auction house in Los Angeles, reinvented herself. Now, facing the end of her life, she returns home and finds an unexpected love. Though she tries to mind her own business, her great-nephew and a neighbor burst into her life and force her to build relationships.

I enjoyed this book, but it felt too long. That’s really my only complaint, though. I liked Honey, and her journey was memorable and meaningful. I loved the idea of her starting her life over again in a new way in her twilight years as well as the people she meets and builds friendships with along the way. It’s 100% character driven, and gives the reader lots to think about while connecting with Honey and her story.

not what I expected, but an exceptionally well written and developed story on aging, family, fate and friendship as a daughter of New Jersey returns to her home more than 60 years after renouncing her violent family. Wonderful narrator for the audiobook version.