This book has such a promising premise for all the 90s/00s pop-loving girlies. But 10 minutes in, nothing starts to happen and nothing continues to happen. It was just boring. Brittany Pressley is one of my favorite book narrators and even she couldn't save this snoozefest.

Thank you NetGalley and McMillan Audio for the advanced copy.

Set in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Honey reads like a novel following the likes of Brittney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera and *NSYNC.

The characters are young, naïve and immature at times, navigating a unknown world in the spotlight. Being told how to act, what to wear and exactly what to do to succeeded in the music industry all while growing up and trying to figure out life.

I have read several fiction novels about bands and solo artists as well as memoirs by musicians and Honey is a solid YA debut novel. I wish there was more depth to some of the characters but I really enjoyed this coming of age story.

Edited to add: GoodReads has Honey listed as YA but NetGalley has it as New Adult. I agree it’s definitely more New Adult due to the more mature nature of the sexual themes than you would expect to read in YA.

OMG, the nostalgia! Honey has a target audience: me. I wasn't super into pop music of the late 1990's/early 2000's, but I was definitely there for it and remember it well. Amber Young, the main character of Honey, is only a couple years older than I am. I loved the mentions of TRL, the VMAs, and early cell phone use.

Amber and the other artists, her friend Gwen, Savannah, and boy band ETA, are clearly inspired by Britney, Christina, Jessica Simpson, N*Sync, and Backstreet Boys. Honey explores the pop music industry machine and the pressures faced by young pop stars in the early days of the internet. While we don't see some of the more insidious parts of the music industry, we do get a forthright look at what Amber experiences and how she feels not just as a pop star, but as a person. She wants to be heard and seen, and it takes her a number of years to truly find her voice.

I had a great time with this novel. I liked the bits of multimedia and Brittany Pressley's narration was wonderful. This one's definitely for the millennials, and I ate it up.

Thanks NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for access to this audiobook! I loved the main character and following her story as a 90s pop singer! I grew up in the 90s so this felt nostalgic throughout the whole book. All the characters feel like real people and I was so invested in their stories.

1⭐️

ARC kindly provided by publisher via NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 7%, this book was not for me. i didn’t enjoy the writing style and was not a fan at all of our FMC. :(

I saw so many people raving about this book on Instagram so when I saw that there was an ALC available through NetGalley I just had to snag it.

I grew up in the 90s so I was so excited for the nostalgia of pop stars and boy bands and while those happy vibes were present this book also sheds some light on the darker side of fame. This really felt like it could have been a memoir for any of the big 2000s pop stars. I liked the little interviews and mentions of pop magazine quizzes. I wasn’t a huge fan of the song renditions though. They felt very…for lack of better word..cringy to me.

What brought down my rating was the fact that I found Amber to be such an unlikable character. She made a lot of questionable decisions (mainly regarding Wes, I think he was even more unlikeable than Amber), and I felt like her character relied on sex more than necessary.
I did like Gwen, but I didn’t understand why she and Amber were even friends. I also wish we would have gotten more of an epilogue at the end. More in-depth of a “where are they now”

I've recently read The Woman in Me, and there's no way to avoid comparisons. I enjoyed Honey, but kept asking myself why it exists. Not that you have to justify these things, mind you. So, my TL;DR would be: a fanfic rewrite of The Woman in Me where we give Britney Spears a better life and happier ending. Honey was a fun read. I liked most of the characters; I enjoyed Brittany Pressley's narration. The "multimedia" sections were fun; I always appreciate those when executed correctly. There was a bitter sweetness finishing Honey. Britney Spears, may life imitate art and may you find your happy ending. I would like to thank Macmillan Audio for allowing me to experience this NetGalley audiobook.

Honey
By Isabel Banta

Thank you so much Celadon, Macmillan Audio, & NetGalley for the free audiobook. #MacAudio2024

Blurb:
A coming-of-age story that follows the meteoric rise of singer Amber Young as she navigates fame in the late-90s and early-2000s era of pop music superstardom

✨My thoughts:
I kept seeing this book all over Instagram and I was getting a serious case of FOMO so when I saw that it was on NetGalley through Macmillan Audio, I knew I needed to request the audiobook! Unfortunately… it did not live up to the hype for me. Although I did find the beginning to be more interesting it was the rest of the story that lost my interest. I thought the narrator was fine but if I’m being honest… It’s not the most memorable audiobook I’ve ever listened to. This is probably just a me thing so I’d just take my opinion with a grain of salt. It simply wasn’t entertaining enough for me and I probably should have DNFd it… but I finished it so I give it a low 3 stars. I hope this one works better for you, should you decide to read/listen to it!

Happy reading 📖 🎧💿

There’s potential here, and the writing isn’t terrible, but this really took a nosedive for me at the end. I realized early on that I was being queerbaited, but I REALLY wasn’t expecting it to be Max Martin self-insert fanfiction. Amber ends up ultimately placing herself on the periphery of the story that matters here, in awe of Axel’s genius. I also think that all of the characters end up making themselves sound vapid and shallow whenever they’re interviewed, which is either fascinating cultural commentary or an absolute mistake. Because I didn’t end up feeling very much for any of these characters one way or another.

I think this book is overflowing with empathy, to its credit, and it’s a pretty capable “we have Taylor Jenkins Reid at home” stopgap. I don’t regret reading it (especially in one day!) but I can’t imagine I’ll ever think about it again.

𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚
𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★★★

This was a fun coming of age story of a singer, Amber Young, making her way through the music industry starting at a young age. I enjoyed the main characters Amber, Gwen and Wes and their continued connections throughout the story.

The story covers all the ups and downs they went through in the music industry, it also covered a lot of the drama and relationships that came and went over the years.

I feel like overall it was a good story but I did not feel like there was much of an ending or wrap up to the story. I feel like it just ended and it really didn’t seem like there was a conclusion to anything that was taking place.

I listened to the audiobook and read the physical copy in tandem and overall I enjoyed the narrator but I honesty couldn’t listen to the parts when they tried to make it sound like an actual song was being sung. It sounded horrible with the added music in the background. I wish they would have just read it out like it was in the book. I think these reasons just gave me a disconnect to the story and that’s why I didn’t care for it so much.

Oh my goodness I loved the audio of this title. The story in and of itself was a fun, nostalgic read for someone like me- but the audio was far better. Kudos to Brittany Presley for reading the characters like they were written. She really made them come alive!

The best part of the audio were the included music effects! This story was truly an experience with all the interactive features! There is a Spotify playlist and you can actually visit Amber's website and read all about her and the book!

Isabel Banda really captured the essence of the time and brings to light the darker side of 90s pop. Following 4 pop stars and their rise to fame during a time when they were paving the way for modern music. 🎶

This was a great read. It had me captivated, it was fun and I really enjoyed it!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

This one was not for me. I just couldn’t get in to the book and stopped about 3 chapters in.

I had seen so many great reviews of Honey that when Book of the Month had it as a June pick, I grabbed it immediately. Then I got the advanced copy of the audiobook, and ended up listening to it instead. I was so excited for a trip back to the 90s, with pagers and CD sales, ridiculous outfits, and maybe a few bad talk show experiences. Instead, I got a weird mishmash of bland “life on the road” moments, a boy band clearly inspired by One Direction, and pages of dialogue that would never come out of a 19-year-old’s mouth while at an afterparty for an awards show.
I did enjoy the parts of the book that actually followed Amber and her rise to fame. We’ve all seen versions of this play out in real life, and it’s a fun dream to live in. The book follows her from a failed girl group to going solo, starting as an opener for a boy band and growing to sell out stadiums on her own. There’s the well-known pitfalls of falling in love with a boy band member, navigating PR relationships, and the reality of forced body dysmorphia.
And while all of those parts should easily create a book about a popstar, there was something missing. The book’s synopsis claims Amber had a rich inner life that slowly died to give way to her stardom. But there was no inner life the readers got to experience. And honestly, there was no peek at her stardom or shattered career either. There’s entire pages about how Amber was labeled as a more promiscuous figure than her pop-culture counterparts, and even that was boring.
Instead of being a redefining moment for pop culture history, this felt more like a YA coming of age novel. It painted a realistic picture of what working to become a star looked like before the internet, and how isolating and lonely that experience could be. Amber’s narration feels accurate to her age from 17 to early 20s, even when the supporting characters around her feel a little off.
If any of this book's weirdly specific traits caught your eye, you should definitely give it a shot! I’d also recommend it if you absolutely love all things 90s and all things pop. However, if you’ve recently read Britney’s memoir or spent any amount of time in the 90s popstar universe recently, this might fall flat.
Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Honey chronicles the highs and lows of the career of fictional pop star Amber Young and her peers in the late 1990s and early 2000s. There's so many facets to this book that reflect real-life artists from around that time. I especially saw some of the history of Britney Spears called upon for this story.

Isabel Banta's writing is very poetic and moving. The storyline was a bit chaotic at times but I think that's intended to be reflective of Amber's life and career. Amber and her colleagues and friends are strong characters who are interesting and complex.

This book worked really well as an audiobook. Sprinkled throughout the novel are interviews, lyrics, and article excerpts.

Honey is an impressive debut that's inventive while also serving as a commentary on the way the entertainment industry has historically objectified young women.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 5/5⭐️
Recommended: Yes!

I’m so happy I got an audiobook of this one because it was so fun to listen to. There is so much nostalgia of the early 2000s packed into this book! I love the references to pop culture of the time as well as the insight to the music industry. I highly recommend this one!

Isabel Banta’s, Honey, is a beautifully written debut novel that follows Amber Young, a rising pop-star in the 90’s, and the fluctuations of being a woman in the spotlight, especially during this period of time. I knew within the first few pages of this novel that Honey would be a book that enthrals me, and it would have me either devouring the pages or taking my time to appreciate the beauty and the magic behind every sentence. It surprisingly turned out to be the second option. I wanted to savour every last moment of the novel.

I'm giving up on this book around the 50% mark. Though it had all the makings for a perfect story in my opinion, the execution fell flat and I could no longer wait around for things to get interesting. It felt like life was happening around our main character. Everyone was two dimensional, everything was on the surface, even though we were supposed to be feeling these things with her half the time I couldn't even figure out how she felt about the things in her life.

Honey was an incredible book! I am obsessed with this cover and narrator. An interesting story that has you hooked from start to finish.

3.5 Stars

This book is about a girl named Amber who becomes a pop star in the 90's. I felt so sorry for her throughout the book. She is looking for love in all the wrong places. I just wanted to reach out hug her and be the mom to her that her mom wasn't. It totally gave Brittany, Justin and Christina vibes without the Micky Mouse club. I really did not enjoy this book and it honestly made me sad. However that does not make it a bad book. I had a hard time rating it because I think I might just not be in the right age group for this one. I wasn't for me but might be great for you. The narrator did a great job however I think it would of been great to have someone sing the song parts. It was kind of weird because there was music and they were just talking the lyrics.

Thank You to NetGalley and Macmillian audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

Exploring the life of a young pop star in the 1990s and early 2000s was fascinating, imbued with a compelling nostalgia that anchored the narrative. The story delves into Amber Young's often poor decisions as she chases her dreams, adding depth to the plot. While the pacing sometimes felt slow and the direction aimless, the narrative eventually found its rhythm, making for an enjoyable read overall.