This book was okay. 3.5 stars in my opinion. The narrator but I just wasn’t crazy about the characters. It just felt like something was missing from them.

The audio narration of this book really helped me to connect with the characters. I enjoyed the different vocal tonalities that were used for each of the characters.

Honey by Isabel Banta 📚

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did 😬

I typically enjoy books with a storyline like this one (Daisy Jones & The Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, etc) — but this was just missing something? It felt lacking in some of the details and storyline.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and did really enjoy the narrator — so that was a plus. There is nothing worse than starting an audiobook and quickly realizing the narrator just isn’t it 😂

Overall it seems that I’m not alone with thinking this way and the book has quite mixed reviews.

Would I read this again? No. Would I recommend it to others? Maybe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC! 🫶🏻

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

As Amber embarks on her solo career and her fame intensifies, her rich interior life is frequently reduced. Surrounded by people who claim to love her but only wish to exploit her and driven by a desire for recognition and success, for love and sex, for agency and connection, Amber comes of age at a time when the kaleidoscope of public opinion can distort everything and one mistake can shatter a career.”

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Oooo 90s nostalgia in its finest! I blew through this one which normally isn’t something I do with a character study type novel such as this. The magazine clips throughout took me back - I LOVED reading Teen Bop and Tiger Beat and putting the posters on my walls. Amber was highly relatable and I thought the side characters were all fully formed. Banta does such a good job looking at the oversexualization of talent and how different we treat female celebries. I can’t wait to see what Banta writes next!

Told mainly from Amber’s first-person perspective, Honey chronicles her rise to fame, fortune, and glamour, while also revealing the darker side of the industry—exploitation, slut-shaming, and the rivalry among women behind the scenes. Released a year after Spears’s memoir, The Woman in Me, Banta’s debut is timely, delving into the hypersexualization of young women in entertainment, double standards, and power dynamics, while also celebrating the strength of female friendships and resilience. Banta’s writing shines as she captures how exposure and talent can profoundly impact an impressionable young person. Years before her career takes off, Amber, singing Taylor Dane’s “Tell It to My Heart” into a hairbrush, reflects, “when I let myself sing, I understand the purpose of gods…Something I can’t name moves inside me; something finally magnetizes.”

For fans of Daisy Jones & the Six and A Visit from the Goon Squad, Honey offers an engaging exploration of the dark side of fame, early aughts pop culture, and the transition from girlhood to womanhood.

I loved this book! 4.5 stars! Very Brittany, very nostalgic, I think I am absolutely the target audience for this one! My only complaint, and the only reason for not giving it five stars is I felt the end was too abrupt. I wanted more of a build up to that finale.

I had high hopes for this book but all the back and forth was confusing and disrupted the flow. I loved the premise of the 90’s but it fell flat for me unfortunately.

A decent read, if ultimately forgettable. The comparisons to TJR are apt - and I do enjoy this particular type of historical fiction - but nothing here felt fleshed out enough to have a real impact. For a book that is trying to highlight the horrors of the 90s Hollywood machine this comes across a bit muted and anti-climactic (though I'll admit this may be influenced by my listening to Britney Spears' autobiography immediately afterwards). I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, particularly the protagonist, and it felt like there was a lot more telling than showing when it came to the emotional beats. It's a bit of a missed opportunity because there is definitely a hell of a story here if Isabel Banta is willing to give us more Amber/Gwen. The latter half felt rushed and a bit too neat, and I truly do not understand the choices to deliver key information in the form of an article. I do think this was well-written, and as this was Banta's debut I am definitely interested in reading more from her in the future.

Honey is perfect for a person like me who is old enough to remember this era and enjoyed the media circus that surrounded the pop culture of that generation. While I did enjoy this, I would have liked the character to have deeper emotional development. I wanted a bit more feeling if that makes sense.

Britney Pressley's narration is perfect, as always. Her voice really lends to this era.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Best way I can describe this is if Christina Aguilera had secretly dated Justin Timberlake and later married Max Martin.

This book is pretty earnest, and while I think we all look at early 2000s pop stardom very differently than we did at the time, this is still a novel about the entertainment industry and it probably needed a slightly lighter touch.

That said, I really appreciated that Banta chose a Christina type rather than a Britney type as the protagonist, keeping the story more about the industry itself and the way it treats its talent, rather than about one individual’s tragic backstory.

A lot of the PR stuff in this rings pretty true, though I’ve no doubt the people invested in this woman financially would have been way meaner than they were in the book in many cases.

I wish this had been more about the music, and it sort of bummed me out that the most interesting relationship in the book (between pop star Amber and writer/producer Axel) was reduced to a romance. Their professional relationship was a lot more interesting, and it sort of flies in the face of everything the book is trying to say about the industry that in the end, Amber and Axel have to be in love to collaborate so well, because god forbid a man and a woman should have a fruitful relationship that is purely professional (rolls eyes).

I also would have loved more fashion and pop culture nostalgia from the era. There’s surprisingly little of it here, and it’s another part of why the book isn’t as fun as it should be. Still, there’s some interesting awareness demonstrated here that we don’t typically get in this sort of story, and Banta’s writing is good. Worth a read if you temper your expectations a bit.

Honey is really an "Ode" to 90s pop stars and the whole atmosphere that was around in the late 90s and early 2000s. Being someone who distinctly remembers, and came of age in that era myself, this book had all the makings of a cult classic. I loved the writing style, part first person account and part of the story was told through interviews and song lyrics, this book mixed it up enough to keep you interested. I had a hard time liking our main protagonist, who always was thinking that she wasn't enough, even as she was making it big. But that may be all of our downfalls. Amber just never thought that she was good enough for the lifestyle that she led, and that made a lot of her experience difficult for her, and it was hard to read. The way that Amber did not respect herself really came out in a lot of the actions she did and the behaviors that she engaged in. Overall, although this appears on the surface to be a young adult book, many of the themes were aimed more at the adult audience. Overall, this book was entertaining, but not life shattering. I am glad that I read it, but will probably never read it again.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I got to 50% and had to DNF this book. Not only it is badly written - the main character's whole personality is her sexuality and how much she wants this one boy. The background characters are also bland. There is no action, nothing that moves the plot forward, and I kept feeling that there was no idea who the audience of this text should be. As much as I enjoyed the narration, the moments with lyrics of songs, and some interviews were super shallow and like a reminiscence of the memory instead historical fiction.

I really enjoyed this coming of age novel based on a fictional teen pop star and her journey through the industry as she grows up. The friends, romances and publicity themes were well portrayed, and kept the listeners interest. I think lovers of Daisy Jones, will find this to be an enjoyable book as well.

The audio quality was good, and the novel was enjoyable to listen to.

The coolest thing about this book for me is that she was born in Montclair NJ, where I work!!

Ok now to the plot. Honey is about Amber Young's coming of age journey as a pop star. It narrates her life from 12 to 20ish. We see her being discovered, than being passed on by my many record labels, her first love, friendships, etc. For most of it, it's a very sweet book.

In my opinion - maybe I am becoming a prude - there's a lot of descriptions of sex that are not necessary. They don't advance the plot, and it's not like a romance where there's a built up to it. All the characters are unlikeable. Even Amber is annoying, she doesn't take ownership of the influence she has in other people's lives, not even at the end of her "growing up" journey. I do like the friendship between Amber and Gwen as for most of it they support each other.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books for providing me with a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 🌟
Thank you to NetGalley, Isabel Banta, Celadon Books, and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ARC/ALC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a pop culture explosion, particularly in the music industry. While Honey is a fictional story, it is loosely based on the experiences of that TRL generation of teen pop stars and boy bands. Fame can come at a huge cost as the main character, Amber, a young female singer hoping to make it big, will find out!
Overall it was a good read would recommend to anyone who likes a quick fiction with some heart.

*Honey* was an engaging read, but it didn’t evoke much emotion for me. The relationships felt somewhat underdeveloped, and I found it hard to connect deeply with any of the characters. While the story had its moments, I was hoping for a bit more attachment to the people in it. Still, it's an enjoyable book and I’d suggest it to anyone looking for a light, heartfelt fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley for the audio ARC which I received in exhange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and how it incorporated the music and other articles into the story. I think the audiobook of this story helped elevate the reading experience for me since it made it real and engaging.

I really enjoyed this story about a rising pop star, Amber Young, who learns who she is under the microscope of fame. It was well read.

Isabel Banta’s "Honey" is an extraordinary novel that captivates from start to finish, earning a full five-star rating. With its rich storytelling and emotionally resonant themes, Banta crafts a deeply moving narrative that lingers long after the final page.

The novel follows a compelling protagonist whose journey through personal and professional struggles is portrayed with remarkable authenticity. Banta’s prose is both lyrical and sharp, capturing the subtleties of human experience with finesse. The character development is exceptional, offering readers a profound connection to the protagonist’s triumphs and tribulations.

The plot is a masterful blend of heartache, hope, and resilience, skillfully balancing moments of intense drama with introspective, quiet scenes. Banta’s ability to intertwine these elements creates a narrative that is both engaging and thought-provoking.

"Honey" excels not only in its storytelling but also in its vivid depiction of settings and relationships. Each scene is crafted with care, adding depth to the overall experience. The novel’s themes of personal growth, love, and self-discovery are handled with nuance and empathy, making it a deeply rewarding read.

In sum, "Honey" is a stunning achievement in contemporary fiction. Isabel Banta has delivered a novel that is both beautifully written and emotionally impactful, cementing her place as a standout author in the genre. This is a book that will resonate with readers long after they’ve turned the last page.

This book is a coming-of-age story set in the 90s and early 2000s, we follow Amber who is set on being a superstar by way of her singing talent. She comes from a broken home and has an alcoholic mother who encourages her dreams by taking her to auditions. Her rise to stardom is pretty fast and she first joins a girl group before going solo into her singing career. I didn't care so much for her main love interest Wes, he was a huge narcissistic ass. I didn't know what I was expecting from this book, but I didn't expect a fictional take on Britney Spears' career. Amber longs for acceptance and love that being said the sections that focused on sex and desire were very overdone in my opinion, but I guess the author was going for a dark and sad side of stardom. Overall the story was okay, if they could've stopped talking about how big her boobs were I probably would've enjoyed it more. The ending was a bit rushed in my opinion, but I did like that got a happy ending with the love interest they introduced midway.


Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan audio, and Celadon Books for this ARC!