I absolutely loved this book! The slower day to day pace gave me more time to get to know the characters given them a great depth.

Covering a wide age group was very endearing. Unfortunately being a woman doesn't stop being difficult. You just get a new set of problems! I love that there were the usual dating/life problems for Flo and Renee but also talk of menopause and what happens when you're older.

This book definitely gives a relatable, humourous sense of belonging.

Firstly thank you to the publishers for my early access in exchange for a review.
I’ve read and enjoyed all of dawns book including the Books where these characters are first introduced .
It was great to reconnect with them at a later age .
The themes in this book resonated so personally for me being sober and going through peri menopause so a lot of respect to dawn for raising awareness for subjects that can indeed be judged and treated like a stigma .
This book is hilarious sone bits really made me laugh

I raced through this as couldn’t get enough of the characters .
They each have their struggles and demons and through the chapters they achieve self awareness and self love to be kinder to themselves while evaluating their life paths .
I really enjoyed this and no doubt it will be flying off the shelves !

First of all, many thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book! I'm a huge fan of Dawn O'Porter so was excited to get into this one.

O'Porter’s narrative is engaging, and, as always, characterised by her signature wit and empathy. Her writing style is brisk and accessible, making for a quick yet satisfying read. The novel’s mix of comedic moments and emotional depth ensures it resonates on multiple levels, providing both entertainment and insight.

Overall, Honeybee is a delightful read that showcases Dawn O'Porter’s talent for blending humor with heartfelt storytelling, offering readers a compelling narrative about resilience and self-discovery. If you have enjoyed any of Dawn's other offerings, you won't be disappointed with this one!

I really enjoyed this book. I hadn’t read Paper Aeroplanes but I don’t think that this mattered - I was still able to enjoy the story.

The liked the characters and the humour in the book.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

Requested the ebook after the audiobook failed to render the last three chapters. I couldn’t stand having no closure and couldn’t stop thinking about Reneé and Flo for the 2 weeks between listening to the first 89% and finishing the book.

Honestly, a visceral, intense and beautiful picture of friendship, love and vulnerability. Thank you for this story.

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

I hadn't read the YA books but I don't think that mattered. I really enjoyed this story of growing up, how life changes in ages and phases and how adulting is definitely not all it's cracked up to be! Told with warmth and wit, I recommend you read it.

Renee and Flo (apparently characters from earlier books) at 22 discover being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Each with their own struggles and dysfunctional families they return to their motherland - Guernsey, in an attempt to stabilise and move on. Childhood friends, they quickly rekindle their relationship and move in together. We navigate early womanhood through their eyes at the turn of the century and it’s pretty funny, very relatable and tinged with sadness. The characters are all well developed and particularly likeable are ‘Mrs Mangle’ aka Lillian and (Renee’s) Aunty Jo…who happens to keep bees. There are several analogies scattered throughout the book - hence the title and it is very much a story about finding the right ‘hive’ as well as the ‘wingwoman’ mentioned on the front cover. Both women help to guide and steer the younger versions of themselves. In fact the book is very much a celebration of womanhood, including the ugly bits! Huge topics such as the menopause, alcoholism and 911 are touched upon and real place names are used (there definitely was a ferry from Weymouth to the Channel Islands in 2001 - I went on it more than once!) which makes it feel very real, almost like reading a diary. Now I have discovered Renee and Flo, I look forward to reading the next chapter of their lives soon.

It’s good to meet up with Renee and Flo again and watch how they navigate the tricky world of adulthood.
They are both relatable characters, but my favourite is Auntie Jo. I like that she is trying to talk about her experience with the menopause, but her husband doesn’t want to hear about it.
Such a quick and easy book to read that I devoured it in one day! It’s everything that you expect from Dawn O’Porter.

An enjoyable return to Guernsey and the characters of Renee and Flo from ‘Paper Aeroplanes’ and ‘Goose’. In the latest instalment, our main protagonists are in their early twenties and discovering the monotony of adulthood. Renee has returned from Spain and Flo from London in an attempt to start afresh. They make up, share a flat and then end up working at the same marketing agency. However, things do not stay calm (and boring for long).

This is a funny, wise and poignant narrative. Dawn O’Porter’s characterisation is always filled with keenly observed emotional complexity as Flo and Renee deal with office romance, complex family relationships and how we try to make adults of ourselves without a roadmap and with nothing but chaos in our heads. I found myself laughing and nodding sagely throughout.

I always love books by this author, but Honeybee was especially captivating. The two lead characters were so honest, so complex, so current and a delight to follow. The settings of London and Guernesey were perfect for the plot and I could happily have continued following their lives in book after book. Can’t wait for Dawn’s next book. Thanks netgalley.

This is a book about female friendship. Renée and Flo are friends who live in Guernsey. Both are venturing into adulthood and come across as quite immature for their ages (22). They move into an apartment together and then end up working at the same office, although not intentionally.
The book covers a few topics, difficult family relationships, grief, falling in love, alcoholism. Some of the terminology used made me cringe a bit, but I think it’s because I’m old and a bit of a prude and my brain doesn’t think like a 22 year old.
This was an easy read, I followed the characters easily. 3.5 / 5, rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley UK and HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

Honeybee
Dawn O’Porter

Synopsis
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.

Review
Overall I enjoyed this book, it was funny and I enjoyed it was set in Guernsey as I used to go on holiday to Herm Island when I was a child.
However I struggled to relate to Flo and Renee, I think their characters are for a younger reader. I did however love Lilian and it would have been better if she had been in the book more.
Overall the book covered a wide range of topics but it wasnt quite as good as ‘Cat Lady’ or ‘So Lucky’.

Rated 4/5

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Having read one of the authors other books, which I loved I was excited to read this one, and I was not disappointed. Beautifully flawed characters. Easy to read, the pace is on point. Just an all round brilliant book. Thanks to the author, NetGalley and publishers for the arc.

3.5

Honeybee is my first Dawn O'Porter. I wasn't sure what to expect but what started out very promising quickly became a book that I kept losing patience with. I'm pretty sure that you'd need to be of a certain age to identify with either Flo or Renee.

Both girls were brought up on the idyllic island of Guernsey where the slow pace of life stifles Renee. All she wants is to get away and start her life as a writer in London. All Flo wants to do is be very good at her job in the Guernsey office of Magic Marketing - a company that has another office in London where Flo has transferred from.

Both girls have difficult family circumstances. Renee has lost both parents; Flo's father died and her relationship with her mother is permanently strained to breaking point.

As they settle back into island life Renee gets a job at Magic Marketing, much to Flo's chagrin. But the uptight, super-efficient Flo is hiding her own secrets and as Renee gets more and more involved with married CEO Ben, Flo's life begins to spin out of control.

I think my difficulties with the book stemmed from the fact that I've been there and done that but many years ago. I found it impossible to identify with the self-centred and careless Renee who only thinks about her own pleasure. It coloured the whole book for me because I was so irritated by her selfishness. She also came across as immature. Flo was marginally better but I suppose a lot of women in their early twenties struggle with their own place in the world at that age.

My favourite character was Lilian, the sassy and stylish old lady who lives in the flat below Flo and Renee. I identified more with Aunty Jo who is going through the menopause but not all women feel like they're going mad.

This book certainly covered the whole range of women's issues - pregnancy, substance abuse, menopause, adultery, ageing, sex and relationships. Perhaps there was an attempt to cover too much. I certainly think younger women will "get" this book better than I did.

Thankyou to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the advance review copy.

This was an OK read but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. I wasn’t sure what to expect as this was my first Dawn Porter book, but I wanted to read it as I’d heard such good things about her writing. I couldn’t warm to either Flo or Renee I’m afraid, and at times they both irritated me. The writing was good, but to be honest I found the story to be a bit boring and I lost interest about halfway through. I did enjoy the humour though. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and the author for an early copy of this book in exchange for a genuine review. I loved Cat Lady, so I was buzzing (eheh pun intended) to be accepted to review this title.

The book centers around two 22-year-olds, Renée and Flo, who were born and raised in tiny Guernsey, where everyone knows everyone, and escaping your past is nearly impossible (honestly, relatable, I literally live thousands of miles away from my hometown 😅). They’ve been best friends for a long time and have never been apart until something happened a few years back. When Renée visited Flo in Nottingham, where she was studying at university, they had a heated argument and haven’t spoken since.

The story begins with their reunion back home at an old acquaintance’s funeral. Flo has moved back to the island from London, where things didn’t go as planned, and something dark has occurred. Renée has returned from Spain. They’ve both changed a lot since their earlier days and reconnect in unexpected ways, eventually working at the same place and sharing a flat. Flo is hiding something; she’s not the quiet, shy, and contained person Renée once knew. There’s a darkness to her and many things left unsaid.

The book is told from a dual POV, so we see the story from both perspectives. I genuinely loved it and couldn’t put it down. I absolutely adore books about girlhood in its entirety, and this book really captures that—from 22-year-old girls navigating the world to Auntie Jo experiencing menopause to the old lady downstairs gifting her clothes and showing kindness and support. Female friendships and complicated dynamics are right up my street, and this book covers all that. It was very relatable; I could vividly picture the tiny town—the pub, the church—feeling like the little village where I spent most of my teenage years with my best friend. I could really see us through the pages.

I need to get myself the special edition with the bees that the author posted on Instagram because it looks absolutely incredible!

Having read other Dawn O’Porter books, but not the YA one, I thought I may have struggled with this. I was wrong! It’s wonderful. Both characters are flawed but ultimately fabulous. Funny, and confused in equal measure.
The girls come back together after several years of not speaking and you can see how adulting, or attempting to ‘adult’, has affected them. Flo is struggling with fitting in and the demon drink, Renee is wanting the big dreams.
It’s brilliantly written, consuming and a damn good read.
I would highly recommend this book.

I was asked to review this book by NetGalley and suprised I have not read any of this authors books before.

Two friends whose friendship has drifted away, but meet up again due to a funeral. Both have dreams and battles. but against all odd they both end up working for a marketing company and moving in together - this puts a strain on their friwndship but there is renewed oppertunity.

Sad and humerous at the same time - a recommended summer read.

I will be seeking this author out to see what else she has written.

I loved being reunited with Flo and Renée after enjoying the first two books. Such a wonderful book, some brilliant laugh out loud moments but packed with emotion and tackles some truly complex subjects sensitively. Relatable, informative, thought provoking and just brilliant!