I really enjoyed this book, I think it was a really interesting mediation on friendship, loss, grief and finding yourself. would definitely recommend

After enjoying Cat Lady, my expectations for this were high, but I ended up feeling a bit let down.

When the story opened in 2001 with two 22-year-old girls, I thought we’d follow their lives up to the present day, when that didn’t happen I was a but put off. I can see how many people might find these characters relatable, but as someone in their 30s, I lost interest by the end.

I would have loved to see how their lives turned out later on. Not knowing the characters from Paper Airplanes or Goose, where they were in their teens, probably didn’t help my investment, either.

I’m also unsure who this book is aimed at. I don’t think 22 year olds would fully appreciate the message here, and older readers might just find themselves frustrated by these characters and their decisions after 300+ pages.

Overall, it was a steady read but didn’t quite hold my attention.

I loved Cat Lady. so much. of course i was excited to read another Dawn O'Porter book. but sorry this wasn't it for me...

basically this book is about figuring out and navigating adulthood, making mistakes, being lost in the process. but the cheating part annoyed me so much. like girl wtf were you thinking??? the resolution of it all also felt underwhelming. like by over 90% mark everything was still messy, and suddenly it's over.

i also hate the fact that the cheater man could get away with it?? poor his wife. it was mostly fucked up, even for the sake of learning from mistakes. so sorry i didn't enjoy this book as much as i hoped.

Thank you for approving me to read Honeybee! I've read and loved all of the author's previous novels but this one just didn't quite work for me. Although it follows two women - Renee and Flo - who are in their 20s it felt like it was written for a younger audience in many ways. It felt like the two women were still teenage girls and I couldn't relate to that. It felt like there wasn't a lot of nuance and although they were dealing with some difficult things it felt like it was handled on quite a surface level. I'm sad that this didn't work for me but I will definitely read more by the author in the future.

Had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed this brilliant novel
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

In much the same way as with all of Dawn's books, I was a bit repulsed by Flo and Renee and very early on I was reminded that Dawn (or her editors) don't label female genitalia correctly but as with Cat Lady and So Lucky, I moved past that very quickly and soon fell for them both. I haven't read Paper Aeroplanes (I gather these characters appear in that) and was a bit confused with the timelines, Renee and Flo are at the very edge of Gen X in the early 2000s, and I am probably a little older than the story's target audience.

Alcohol dependency, bereavement, grief, relationships and feeling out of place in society are key themes, and they were introduced in a slightly offhand, superficial way until suddenly they each hit you round the head with a mallet - nicely done.

All in all, a little love story to Guernsey, to enduring friendship, the combatting of challenges and a really touching way to deal with the end of relationships. It's great - but I will harp on about calling a vulva a vulva until that one lands!

It's a 4 1/2 out of 5 for me.

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
This was an interesting read. I'd say, especially for people who are trying to find their way in life. How to navigate and to realise you're not a complete screw up, even if it looks that way. It's a raw and real story of how we as women face challenges along the way. We might think we are alone in it, as people don't like to talk about or show the non-instagrammable stuff in life. But really, we're all going through the same things, maybe in slightly different ways. It's the perfect book to read if you're unsure about your life and also a good read when you do think you have your life together. Also, after reading this I'm longing for a visit to Guernsey!
⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Multiple POVs/Timelines
Island life
Troubles in life

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘯é𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘭𝘰, 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥.

𝘙𝘦𝘯é𝘦’𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘍𝘭𝘰’𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱?

𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳… 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘙𝘦𝘯é𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘭𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 – 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Dawn O'Porter is now my go to read. I love reading about female friendships and I think she explores this perfectly in this third installment. I laughed a lot and love love love her witty writing style. Can't wait to read more from this author.

I have loved all of Dawn O’Porter’s books over the years and was thrilled to receive a copy of her latest ‘Honeybee’. Having read ‘Goose’ and ‘Paper Aeroplanes’ I was familiar with the characters of Renée and Flo from the island of Guernsey.

The novel opens with the girls (now women) attending the funeral of a girl from their year group at school. Renée and Flo drifted apart years earlier after a falling out so this funeral brings them together once again. It is a tale of female friendship and how ultimately, we are all winging it.

I love the frankness of O’Porter’s writing. She tackles topics we need to read about and become more able to talk about- addiction and menopause to name but two.

It was nice to engage with these two women once again - from sending paper aeroplane notes in class, navigating the choppy waters of adolescence to becoming their respective wing women. The extended metaphor of the honeybee is writ large - returning to your very own hive, where you are loved and appreciated.

School friends Renee and Flo drifted apart after they left home after a falling out. However when they return seperately to their native Guernsey they bump into each other at a school mate's funeral.

As they reconnect the two young women rekindle their friendship and start to open up to each other about their problems. However have they actually grown up yet or are they both still hampered down by the past?

A humourous coming of age story that will strike a cord with many. It's probably aimed more at readers in their late 20s or 30s. However, it is good to see references to the menopause via Renee's aunt. Another great read from Dawn.

I feel like Dawn O'Porter is a fearless writer.
To her there's no topic worthy of the old "hush hush" or "sweep it under the carpet" tactic. She tackles societal prejudices, misconceptions and taboos head on...and really bloody well at that.

In honeybee I loved yet another release of the reality of life- and being a woman. Breaking archaic gender stereotypes, affairs, alcoholism, menopause, menstruatation, absent matriarchs, not knowing your place in the world... she exposes it so we can all learn to confront it. To be open. To try to heal. And for society to just.do.better.

I love this book. I love her.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy! This book is the sequel to Paper Aeroplanes. It continues the story of Flo and Reneé, two old school friends that rekindle their relationship.. Throughout their adventures, it covers a couple of topics…the menopause, and alcoholism, so even though it is generally a cheeky/funny book, it cleverly has a serious side too. I gave it 4 stars as I did enjoy it, although not as much as some of the authors earlier titles.

Thanks HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for the invite to read this ARC. Apologies for the delay in the review.

Best friends xRenée and Flo have just moved back to their hometown - the English Channel island of Guernsey. Adulthood isn’t really agreeing with them as they are both struggling to cope with its demands, chasing their dreams and careers. Will they ever finally grow up?

Honeybee is one of those books that takes a while to settle in, but once you warm up to the characters and their stories, it all just clicks. We have the POVs switching between childhood besties Renée and Flo - it took me a bit of patience to register the two characters.

But as we get to know these two young women, the reasons they are back to the island, their pasts and the circumstances which drove them to, I gradually warmed up and started relating to them.

The setting is the best part of the book - the gorgeous island of Guernsey in England. The author does a fantastic job of taking us on a virtual tour of this idyllic place via the characters' and story.

While Renée and Flo sort out the bumps in their friendship, they also have to deal with the challenges of the grown up life. The book explores several aspects of adulthood - how one can only wing it at times and how it feels impossible to cope with. It draws parallels between how Renée with all her cool demeanour, easy going attitude, sass and cheek experiences it, and how the serious Flo handles it with her well thought out life plan, steady job whilst hiding her flaws and insecurities.

As the two friends overcome several mishaps, commit mistakes, learn to navigate the ups and downs of life, we are drawn to a honey bee’s characteristics - hard work, minding one’s own business, finding our role and purpose in life as well as sticking together through the tough times, which for Renée and Flo, it means being each other’s wing woman. I especially loved the aspect of laughing it off in the face of embarrassment!

An entertaining read overall with some wild slapstick, cringy situations, witty dialogues and wry humour!

After reading Cat Lady my expectations for this were so high but I was seriously disappointed.

When the book opened in 2001 and we were following two girls who were 22 I immediately thought we would be following them throughout their lives until present day, but nope. We spent the entire book in a 22 year old brain. What was the point of starting in 2001?

There’s no doubt everyone would be able to relate to these girls but as someone in their 30’s i just wasn’t interested by the end of the book. I would have loved to seen how their lives ended up.

I’m not sure who this book is aimed at as I don’t think 22 year olds could understand the message this book is trying to convey and anybody older would just get annoyed by the girls and their silly decisions after 300+ pages!!

Honey Bees by Dawn O’Porter is the coming of age story of two best friends who are trying to find their way in the adult world. It’s an interesting and potentially relatable story about menopause, body dysmorphia and alcoholism, amongst other serious topics.

I rated it 4 stars as I really enjoyed the story and the supportive female relationships being built.

I started reading this and remembered I’d met these characters before in a previous book, Paper Aeroplanes. I don’t think it’s necessary to have read the earlier book to enjoy this one.
Flo and Renée are now in their early 20s and life is not going to plan. Renée wants to be a writer but is back living on Guernsey with her lovely (perimenopausal) aunt, and Flo has returned to the island after something unspecified has led her to return to work in the Guernsey office of her London marketing company.
I think this book is a 3.5 for me. The exploration of what it’s like to be in your early 20s, grappling with becoming an adult is a theme which has been explored by other writers to greater effect. This feels like it’s a bit fluffier than its themes of alcoholism, grief, and the consequences of falling for your married boss might lead you to expect. In some ways that’s a shame, because it’s also very funny in places and Flo and Renée are loveable, if flawed.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

She's done it again - Dawn O'Porter is back with another instant classic. I've been a big fan of hers since the very beginning and this book has only strengthened that!

This is the first book I’ve read by Dawn and whilst it was an easy read, I’m not entirely sure I was the right target audience for this one. The two main characters featured in a previous YA novel and are now just in their twenties and both back home on the island of Guernsey. There were some very funny moments and some quite poignant moments too, but overall I found myself relating more to Auntie Jo and her menopause symptoms rather than Renee and Flo. I’m going to recommend this to my daughter as I think she’ll love it! And I’ll definitely try another one of Dawn’s books in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Harper Collins for a copy in exchange for a review.

I’ve read a few of this authors other books and really enjoyed them so am a big fan of her work. Unfortunately I struggled with this one. I couldn’t relate to either of the main characters, kept mixing them up and found them both annoying, I also didn’t realise it was a follow up to two previous books which I hadn’t read as it made no mention of this. Sorry it just wasn’t for me.

I love Dawns writing. This story of Flo and Renee took me right back to my 20s as this book is based in the 2001 so the time was relatedable. We all knew a Renee, wild, unruly but has your back and I could actually relate to Flo quite a bit. Nice easy read that covers some of womens issues from a small island prespective and covers the need for a friendship whilst you navigate becoming an adult.
Thanks to netglley for allowing me to review this book.