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!

I have read all bar one of Dawn O'Porter's novels and the one I haven't read is sitting on my desk just waiting for me.

I had, however, forgotten how much I liked Flo and Renee, the two protagonists of Paper Aeroplanes and Goose, until they popped up in her latest, Honeybee.

Still two very real, very mixed up girls with very different personalities but plenty of personal challenges, I soon was deeply invested in their stories. Both have complex and sometimes tragic family histories with dead or disengaged parents. And the star of all of this series is the island of Guernsey where the two girls - like O'Porter herself - grew up and to which Flo has returned after university and working in London, and Renee after a few years in Spain.

Flo was always the quiet serious one. She's now working as an office manager - showing a cool, calm exterior whist her emotions and hormones rage under the surface. The last thing she needed was Renee getting a job as the company's new receptionist - especially when the two girls are now sharing a flat.

Renee still mourns her mother and jumps in and out of relationships without a lot of thinking. Flo can't stand her mother, and drowns her insecurities - both sexual and professional - in booze.

A book with a 22-year old alcoholic is quite a rare thing - and O'Porter handles the topic sensitively. We wouldn't have expected Flo to go down that route, but when we hear of the black-outs, the unkind words from casual one-night-stands, and learn of her deep insecurities, we can understand how it happened.

The one reflection I offer - and the reason this is a 3- rather than 4-star review from me, was that when I got to the end, I had the sense that in many ways, not a lot had actually happened.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

**Listened to the audio book as well as reading the electronic version**

I have really enjoyed Dawn O'Porters books in the past, and i'm a big fan of her in general.That is why it pains me to write a negative review.

But this book was just so slow!! Nothing happens!! I appreciate it was more of a character driven narrative rather than a plot driven one. I have read Goose and Airplanes - and it still didn't grip me. (Not realising before reading that it was linked to Porter's early books - which I loved by the way!)

It just felt really ploddy and I didn't enjoy my reading experience.

I preferred the audio book than the hard copy as the narrator really tried to bring it to life - which I didn't necessarily get from just reading.

I really hope Dawn O Porter's next book is back to her usual top form and I feel more engaged!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6819768319

I love Dawn O'Porter's books. Warm, honest, straight talking, always with female friendship at the centre - they make me want to be her friend! This one is more of the same, and I really enjoyed it.

A tiny negative might be that took me a while for the two main characters, friends Renee and Flo, to emerge as distinct entities - for a while it seemed that they might both basically be versions of Dawn O'Porter (and therefore larger personalities than your average person!). But their distinct personalities did emerge and as the book went on their relationship felt very real, and the end very touching.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Was eager to read Dawn O'Porters new book after listening to a Podcast episode of "I Weigh" in which she was a guest speaker. Unfortunately this was not my cup of tea at all. O'Porter clearly has a talent for writing, but she seems to still be finding her genre.

Dawn O'Porter's Honeybee tells the story of two friends, Renee and Flo, who reunite after years apart. Each character grapples with her own struggles and the complexities of navigating adult life, which brings both ups and downs.
This novel is perhaps an easy escape for some readers, but may not resonate with everyone due to its themes, which include mental health issues, alcohol abuse, and references to 9/11. The narrative is engaging and warm, making it an enjoyable read, but wasn’t mind-blowingly fantastic. Certain plot elements felt predictable, which diminished the overall impact of the story.
While Renee and Flo's journey of self-discovery and honesty is compelling, their character development sometimes feels inconsistent with their age and experiences. Their insecurities and revelations don’t always align with their actions or beliefs, leaving me wishing for a deeper exploration of their characters (but that might be because I haven’t read Paper Aeroplanes yet)—perhaps if they were portrayed as slightly older, their struggles might have felt more authentic.
I only discovered at the end of the book that Honeybee is the third instalment in the Paper Aeroplanes series. I appreciated it as a standalone story, but I hope it didn’t spoil any key elements from the earlier books, as I plan to read them next – I want to know more about Renee and Flo and how they got to this point.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with this book and the opportunity to review it.

I read all of Dawns books so was excited to start this one. When I read the names of the characters I was very pleasantly surprised as I didn’t realise it was the third one of the paper aeroplanes series. I love Flo and Renée, their characters are two years older than me so I feel like they remind me of my youth. This book has some serious topics that are dealt with in Dawn’s usual style of humour, it made me laugh and cry. It wasn’t quite a 5/5 but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would 100% recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced reading copy.

Witty, thoughtful and provocative, a story about two young adults navigating adulthood on the idyllic island of Guernsey. A lot of issues are covered and I didn’t always get everything, but there’s great style and characterisation and verve.

Renee and Flo, childhood friends from Guernsey, reconnect at a funeral and decide to live together, despite their differing personalities and lifestyles. Renee, a carefree 22-year-old aspiring writer, still lives on the island, while Flo, a more serious marketing professional, returns from London after a personal crisis. As they navigate their renewed friendship, they face their own struggles, secrets, and fears, all while adjusting to adulthood, grief, and new responsibilities. The story blends humor with emotion, capturing the complexities of friendship and the challenges of growing up.

Dawn O’Porter is the queen of in-your-face novels. Throughout her books she’s tackled many subjects few others would dare (remember the train scene in So Lucky?) and her latest novel is no exception.

Several years after the last instalment of Renée and Flo, they’re back in Guernsey after a few years of widening their horizons off-island. Neither of them are in a great place in their lives, and they haven’t talked for a long time - but circumstances are about to throw them back together and it’s going to get messy.

The book explores some really difficult subjects - alcoholism, grief, career difficulties, family breakdown - and yet it’s not as bleak as it sounds. It is uncomfortable though. Like, I full-body cringed reading some scenes, because O’Porter takes some of the worst turning-up-naked-to-take-an-exam-you-haven’t-studied-for nightmares and puts them down onto the page like she isn’t just destroying any peace you will ever have again.

It’s the humour and the humanity that makes the book though. The author adds just enough of each to stem the tide of awfulness and avoid overwhelm. Everything that happens to Renée or Flo feels like something that could happen to any of us - maybe just not all of it at once!

Mostly the girls’ stories are about that weird period in your early 20s when you’re grown up to have finished full-time education, to live on your own and support yourself, but when most of us are not quite old enough to have the first clue how to actually be an adult with any measure of success. Even if I suspect I’d have more in common with the boring homebody background characters than either Renée or Flo, I related to many of their worries.

O’Porter grew up on Guernsey and she talks of the island with such warmth and fondness that I’d really love to travel there. Her exploration of what - and who - constitutes home goes right to the heart of not just Renée and Flo’s stories, but the reader’s also. Overall a brilliant addition to the series, and a big leap in maturity too.