I was hoping for a type of Daisy Jones and the Six story but this didn't work for me, sorry. I found the characters flat, the action dull and could not empathise with the protagonist. It's a shame because the premise was good. I got a quarter of the way through but did not finish it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

Found this quite hard work. The characters were pretty flat, and it felt repetitive - it didn't live up to the promise for me.

Honey reads like an autobiography including lyrics, Wikipedia entries and newspaper articles, which gave me Daisy Jones and The Six vibes. It was also a great way of building momentum quickly.

The book is more character driven than plot driven, and the reader is taken through different stages of Amber’s life. I like the unique usage of a Wikipedia page in place of an epilogue as a sort of “years later” device.

Some key parts of the story seemed to end abruptly, which I would have liked to have been picked up on later.

Amber has been chasing fame from a young age. All her dreams come true when she joins girl band Cloud 9. After a taste of fame Amber finds the courage to launch a solo career. However, growing up in the spotlight brings as many challenges as it does rewards. Grappling with sexist headlines and being taken serious in the industry, and a secret romance, Amber is pulled in different directions.

Overall, a unique and well-written book, that is just missing a little more action.

Another review I saw for this said they didn't really get what the point of this book was and I have to say I agree. I wish I could see what all the hype is surrounding this book but this definitely wasn't for me.
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It had begun with a fair amount of potential which is what made me want to keep going but by the time I finished I wished I'd just DNF'd. The writing felt juvenile and the whole thing was like a YA fanfic with more smut scenes than anything of substance. This is meant to be a coming of age story following Amber Young as she progresses into stardom as a teen popstar in the 90s and early 2000s but I didn't really get that side of the plot. Everything felt messy and I was expecting more than just reading about a young girl obsessed with sex and lust.
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I did enjoy the female friendship element and how strong that can be, especially as teenagers but even that by the end seemed to fizzle out and it all became flat. None of the characters were particularly memorable or likeable and I found it difficult envisioning them most of the time with the lack of descriptions and bland writing style. The song lyrics got tiring to read, it just made the general layout of the book messier to me and didn't really add much to the general plot.
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Overall, this definitely should have been marketed as something different as I wouldn't say it's really a "coming of age" story nor does it "redefine the narratives" of famous popstars we know from the 90s. It's a shame as I had really high hopes for this because the concept is great, it just wasn't executed very well for me.

I wanted to love this but I was expecting a more bittersweet ‘memoir’ of success and failure. The style was amazing but the story just didn’t come together for me. I am very interested to read what this author writes next, however, as I suspect this was a wrong book wrong time scenario.

I couldn’t do it, I am sorry. I really appreciate the arc and the request to review but it just wasn’t for me. The characters fell flat and the story felt like it has been told a thousand times before. I just struggled to get through it and not sure to what avail

Honey is a swarming, sweating, poetic novel, which reads like a memoir. Compared to Daisy Jones and the Six, Banta twists the narrative of fame and success to depict the more harrowing and aimless feelings of failure, unhappiness and unfairness.

I loved the style of Honey, it was the perfect blend of the poetic and the blunt, which is how I would describe our main character. This novel thrives in the quiet moments between Amber and Axel, and I wish this was expanded on more. Some parts were tricky to follow, but I think that is part of the messy stylistic choice of the book.

I really enjoyed this novel which transported me back to a formative time in my own life.

Thanks to Isabel Banta’s excellent characterisations, I was totally invested in the main character’s life - and found it so refreshing to see complex, nuanced female relationships portrayed.

Despite ‘Honey’ being eminently readable, it’s also a searing critique of celebrity culture and the misogyny of the pop music world. It’s no mean feat to achieve this!

Perfect for fans of 00s pop icons like Britney and Christina Aguilera.

This was more of a YA novel than I had anticipated, but definately full of adult themes.
It took a little bit of time for me to get into this, the writing was quite stylised and characters felt a little harsh and unsympathetic (as well as being very young). Plus, the lifestyle of the characters is very far removed from any that most of us would experience - that of wildly famous young American popstars!

However, the themes and experiences of the lead, Amber, are universal, and the author does a fantastic job of narrating the everyday sexism, exploitation, micro-aggressions and fetishisation of young women in the workplace. Amber has to navigate quite a hostile landscape whilst living with her own internal dilemmas. Her interior dialogue is quite mature for such a young person but it did help to outline how women have to question themsleves constantly and whether they have control over their lives, bodies, sexual pleasure, careers etc.

I definitely got and enjoyed the references to the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera etc and it did make me think that while everyone assumes they live such a wonderful, charmed life, behind the scenes the reality is very different and usually quite awful. Plus, there were some great references to how men and the media love pitting women against each other, when they really can be friends!

By the end I was really rooting for Amber and Gwen and even the boys, who - whilst were given much more freedom to make mistakes - were still being manipulated by a much larger money making machine.
Not a read I would normally select but I am glad that I did.

I loved this book, though the style of writing made me feel slightly detached from the characters. But it was a sweeping look at the music industry in the 90s, when I was a teenager, and it rang so very true.

It is an enjoyable read but the main character is not very engaging. This makes it hard to pull for her.

I found this book a really interesting take on fame in the 90's / 00's. I was gripped reading about life as a teenage girl and to see Amber finally discover who she is and what she wants from life. Such a good easy read for the summer.

In Honey we follow Amber on her journey to become one of the world's most famous artists and what it takes to become one. It made me think of all the pop artists I know from the 90s with which I kind of grew up with and trying to guess which artist may represent the characters from the story. Loved the plot and the characters even the flawed ones because of their role in the story.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. For me, the writing style was hard to read and I just didn’t connect with any of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

This is a light read and I enjoyed it very much. I suppose there is nothing much to it, a bit like a milder version version of Daisy Jones but it is a page turner and I raced through it.

Amber and Gwen and Axel are great characters, so likeable and I really sympathised with Amber and her struggles with the media. It gives you a bit of insight into how "the talent" are manipulated by the record companies and the sleazy executives and journalists who like to label women according to their appearance, not their talent.

A 4 for sheer readability.

Honey reads like the autobiography I wish britney had written.

It jumps from moment to moment, is raw and honest in the singular perspective and feels like it its more fact than fiction.

The characters contoured thoughts of Britney, Xtina and Mandy Moore for me.
I enjoyed the songs and really hope this release is accompanied by some sort of promotional song!

⭐️⭐️ 2 disappointing stars.

How is this getting so many 5 stars?? None of the characters have any redeeming features,

Amber is written as a narcissistic sex crazed mean girl and the relationship between her and Gwen made no sense.

The song lyric parts were unnecessary and I’m not sure what the point of this books is.

This book follows upcoming pop star Amber Young as she rises to fame in the late 90s/early 2000s. Great for fans of Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and the writing of Taylor Jenkins Reid. Such a nostalgic read!

A well written story reminiscent of Daisy Jones & The Six and Songs in Ursa Major - I was thoroughly hooked! Amber's search for stardom masks the deeper search for self, in words that are both lyrical and ugly, just like life, and music, and love. An emotional, funny, moving novel that resonates after you finish it, vibrating softly like guitar strings on a dying chord.
Definitely recommend!

A glittering whirlwind of nostalgia and familiarity with an intense 90's spotlight. Honey is not to be missed, and how could you?

Detailing the story of Amber, a teenager who gets catapulted to fame when she joins a girlgroup in the height of pop stardom - the early 2000's. Diving deep into the realities of what life in the spotlight was like before everyone had a camera phone may sound more ideal than the 24/7 surveillance of modern day, but the 90's had their own pressures on young women, and getting to experience this journey with Amber, as she also reflects back on her childhood in the 1990's, we see the truth of sexism and mistreatment of women in the music industry ( and well also the general 2000's).

Banta creates a world with flaws that still leaves you wanting to dive headfirst into, the glitz and glamour and sparkle and sequins blind you to the realities of mistreatment of those most idolised.

I couldn't put this down and immediately found myself googling characters as if they were real....maybe I just wish they were!

Glorious, Fun, Coming-of-age, filled to the brim with nostalgia and celebrity you won't want to put it down.