I have never read anything quite like BITTER TEXAS HONEY, the impressive debut by Ashley Whitaker. It took me until about 20% into the book to realize it's a strange lit fic satire, with zany characters and a purposefully maddening main character. Whitaker is a genius for the sly unexpected humor that creates the bones of the novel. It's the early 2010s, and a hipster writer in Austin TX is dabbling in conservatism during the peak Obama years. She has a dysfunctional family, a pill addiction, and a fumbling career. My favorite character is her cousin, Wyatt, who is dealing with an undiagnosed mental illness which is keeping him from developing his musical genius.

It's not an easy book, especially since I kept waiting for the moment where Joan, our MC, realizes being a republican is a terrible idea but it never seems to happen. She still wants to be an artist, not realizing that the belief system she is trying to adapt (she used to be liberal!) goes against everything she wants. Her family is over the moon about her converting to their ideals, but when a tragedy that could have been easily prevented strikes, the family heartbreakingly becomes even more hard headed - though set in the past, it's all very relevant to today!

I loved going into a book not knowing what to expect, and I was so taken by Whitaker's writing style and these unique and baffling characters. She is incredible at world building, especially in a time and a place that exists! She takes big swings and they pay off, and I can't wait to see how this book is received next month.

I got this book for the cover and title thinking I would be entertained but I read to escape and with the constant political aspect of the narrative I just felt a dryness and irritation so I had to DNF. The MC is unlikable, so there wasn't really anything to save the storyline for me, personally.

Joan is self-sabataging and easily influenced as she navigates her twenties in convervative Texas during the Obama administration. She interning at the State House, campaigning for Ted Cruz and self-medicating herself to write to next great novel to upend the literary world. She also keeps meeting the wrong kind of man. Is she incredibly unlikable, ABSOLUTELY!

Reading your begin to question what Joan is going to do next to ruin her life. Her only redeeming quality is her unabashed love for her cousin Wyatt. Together, they keep it real and talk truths.

This story is messy, brutally honest and a good look at politics from a conservative state.

Strong debut!

Thank you, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton | Dutton

a book that aggravated me because the main character was so unlikeable but also made me like her somehow???
the writing is thick, but so good and the plot is nice and easy to follow. this was interesting considering i live in texas and have lived in austin. the author is definitely talented

Addicts tend to think they're unique and wildly interesting. In actuality, their tales of addiction tend to be boringly similar; it's the stories of their recovery that are unique and engaging. "Bitter Texas Honey" shows us the life of a 25-year-old wannabe writer who doesn't actually like to write, is in denial about her addictions, and thinks she's much more perceptive, talented, and fascinating that she is. Reading this book was like being trapped at a party with a friend of a friend who didn't let a lack of facts or common sense stop her from sharing her many opinions ad nauseam.

It's a shame that Joan, the protagonist, is so unlikeable, because author Ashley Whitaker writes deftly in a distinctive style. Maybe her next book will be about a character I actually want to spend time with.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This almost got a DNF from me. Almost! I finished it because I thought somewhere Joan would do something that would make me not hate her as much as I did. When a Main Character is so self-absorbed it is completely impossible to like the character. I mean really.

I have no doubt Ashley Whitaker can write a book. I just could not connect with the main character enough to even care.

What a dazzling debut!! I really didn’t like Joan but somehow that made the book more interesting to me. Intrigued to see more from Ashley Whitaker.

Unfortunately this was not for me, I had to DNF. Like some of the other reviews, I couldn’t really tell where this book stood. Because of that, I couldn’t commit to reading all 300 pages of a wildly unlikeable mc.

Hey lady, this book was not my cup of tea. Joan, the MC was unbearable. I found it impossible to root for her not only due to her beliefs but her horrible behavior as well. She was honestly just a brat with zero character development and really didn't enjoy any of the characters in the book. This one was a tough one to finish. As someone from Texas, I did think it was really fun to recognize all the street names and Texas towns name dropped throughout the book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher and an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

it amazes me that this is a debut novel. this author is so talented and really knows how to capture characters in all their complexities. so many moments I found myself loving being in the main characters world that is so different then that of my own but other times it just made me mad lol. I do understand that is the motive here… the main character is very unlikable so I think that was very much accomplished. i just felt like it was a bit repetitive for me… I wanted a bit more in regards to the going ons of the main characters life! But over all I had a fun time!

I really thought I was going to love this one, but I struggled to connect with the endless bad decisions and unlikeable characters. I think it was entertaining, and I appreciate the author’s craft.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Bitter Texas Honey had me at its description of "Royal Tenenbaums". Descriptions like this can really lift a book up or end up being entirely unsuited. Unfortunately for me, I was left disappointed by this read and the trick of synopsis. I spent a lot of time within the pages of this book, trying my hardest to feel any sort of connection, or even sympathy, towards our main character but I always came up short. She is remarkably unlikable—something that is usually not a problem for me—and I drove myself crazy trying to follow along her journey. While I appreciated the writing and would be willing to read more from Whitaker in the future, this was not an enjoyable read for me.

2 stars

I appreciate this writer's skill, but I absolutely loathed this book. Transparently, I dislike the protagonist and her belief system (and truly EVERYTHING about her so much) that I think this overshadowed my ability to be objective about the read overall.

Joan, the m.c., is...horrible. I found it impossible to root for her at any point because of her revolting political beliefs and bizarre behavior. She's weirdly privileged but somehow also deeply uncultured and full of only bad decision-making skills and outcomes. When an actually terrible thing does happen to her, it's easy to feel bad for a person in her situation but still challenging to apply that to her, specifically.

And her "creative" spirit? Ugh.

I pushed myself to read this because I thought I'd enjoy it and that it might help me build some understanding of a belief system that is basically the opposite of mine, but it turns out I am just not that enlightened (and am not particularly sorry about it either). I'd like to read more from this author but through a totally different set of characters and motifs.

I was excited for this debut, anything that is compared to Fleabag has my immediate attention, and although I can see why the comparison was made I couldn’t connect with Joan like Fleabag.

The book overall reminded me of Joan’s addiction to sugar free Red Bull… bursts of chaotic energy but left a bitter aftertaste where it lacked the authenticity of sugar.

The thing I’m most excited for is the emerging talent of Ashley Whitaker. I will definitely be watching for her next book but sadly this one fell somewhere in the no man’s land of three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for my review.

Unfortunately this book didn't work well for me. I liked what it was trying to do, but I couldn't connect with the narrator at all. I loved fleabag and can see the comparisons, but I struggled with this.

While I can’t say I would recommend this book, no doubt this is a talented author who will have success. This one was just too chaotic in all of the wrong ways. The complications of the plot and other characters really don’t add anything but frustration to an already unlikeable protagonist. There has to be a redeemable quality at some point to keep you engaged but every attempt falls flat in that it’s not believable or too meta to its own devices.

There is so much in this one that exudes talent and the need for a plot that fits the authors tone and style. I will want to see what she can do in the future!

Bitter Texas Honey is a dark, satirical yet emotive novel focused on our narrator Joan who is a once leftist- bisexual turned republican, trying to make it big as an author despite the fact she spends more time imagining herself writing than actually writing.

Joan is so cutting and astute with her observations of others yet completely clueless and delusional when it comes to seeing her own imperfections. She is a walking contradiction and it is wonderful to read. She is insane and unlikeable but throughout the book I found myself thinking of her tenderly and genuinely laughing out loud at some points (I have so many parts highlighted.) I related heavily to her addiction to sugar free red bull and also her general ambivalence towards what on earth she was doing with her life.

Joan’s family and their dysfunctional dynamic felt so real and raw, with all the characters feeling well developed, especially her relationship with her cousin Wyatt. I found myself so invested in all of the little side plots her family entered into and genuinely rooting for them.

The writing as a whole is so snappy and cutting and bold and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Joan’s life goal is to be a writer but it’s difficult when she can’t take her adderral anymore and needs a muse. She used to be like her peers; liberal and bisexual, but now lives on conservative talk radio and Red Bulls.

This was a great debut and I can’t wait to read what this author writes next. As much as I hated Joan’s beliefs, I still enjoyed her voice and character. Her life and family were so dysfunctional and she exhibited so much controversy that it was hard to hate her simply for her beliefs (which trust me, is usually quite easy for me). The heart of this story was the family dynamics, and everyone was well developed and unique.

“This was a sin from the universe. It was time to wake up. The reason her writing all sucked was that she’d been focused on the wrong subject - herself - all along.”

Bitter Texas Honey comes out 4/15.

Funny, but dark. Or maybe dark, but funny.

Unlikable narrator with an unexpected redemption arc.

Always fun to read a book set in Austin! Interesting exploration of political differences in this weird state.