A lovely book about female friendship between two friends that meet as children. They meet up later in life and this is the story of how they help each other through difficult times in their lives.
Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy

This is a very sweet book that nonetheless deals with some serious issues.
It's not really for my age group I guess, but I don't know any 22-year-olds who are quite as clueless (or irresponsible) as these two. But I liked them and enjoyed following the twists and turns of trying to figure out family, independence, jobs, relationships.
What you think you want and dream of sometimes turns out to be completely wrong for you. What endures are people and friendships.

This was a complex read - sad, funny, frustrating, hopeful in equal measure. It tells the story of Renee and Flo, old friends who couldn't be more different but end up both living and working together. Flo is seemingly put together and career driven but quietly paddling furiously under the surface. Renee is a free spirit type who doesn't get office life, wants to be a London writer and can't understand why everything is so serious. Nevermind the intense crush she's developed on big boss Ben.

Reading about these two make me want to tear my hair out and give them a massive hug. Dawn is great at writing messy characters. She doesn't shy away again here, getting right into the complications of being young and figuring out your path. I loved every minute of it.

I love, love, LOVE Dawn's books and was thrilled to be sent an early copy of her newest title. And I hate to say it but it wasn't my favourite. But, the positive things first.

The main story starts in 2001 and whilst Renee is 22 years old and I am almost a decade older, I truly resonated and related to her from the off. I didn't like Flo as much but can't really say why. She just fell in the background.

It is very real, this idea of having your life mapped out and then realising none of it is happening. This idea that women should have a house, a job, a husband, and children by the time they reach their 30s, we see it time and time again, both in fiction and in real life. She has infused a sense of nostalgia in the book, directly for the characters, but also for the reader, looking back at school times, Uni times, travelling, friendships, relationships etc.

Dawn reminds me, in a way, of how Julie Owen Moylan writes women. Whereas Julie's are generally historical, Dawn's are modern, but they're both imperfect, rough, and often running from something or running towards something.

You can tell Dawn has a connection to Guernsey - an island that I so long to visit - because the way she's written about it in this book, you can feel her love for it constantly.

This isn't as fun as her other books. I don't necessarily mean it in a bad way. Whilst there were serious elements in her previous books, this felt more serious, more grown up. It dealt with very difficult topics. It's a different tone to what I am used to from her books.

However.

I didn't particularly gel with the characters. I initially liked Renee, but if I'm honest, I didn't particularly care for either of them. I didn't like them but I didn't dislike them. They had their plus points and their flaws. I just felt a bit...vanilla about them, unbothered. They didn't excite me, but nor did they enrage me. I'd have preferred one or the other, some sort of feeling towards them.

I also found the plot, whilst it did have good points, nostalgia and whatnot, I just found it a bit boring. I felt nothing really happened and I found my mind drifting off and not really focussing on the story.

Overall it's a decent book with some good points, but I just felt it wasn't as polished as her other books. I'm glad I've read her others because I know just how great her writing can be. But if this was my first of hers, I'd have been disappointed. And that pains me so much to say because I adore her so much.

Flo and Renee are old school friends brought up on Guernsey and are determined to move to the big city of London, but things don`t turn out as planned. Flo comes back after a few months and has a serious alcohol problem and Renee wants to write but doesn`t know where to start or to find her own personality, they both start working together with Flo being the boss of Renee and the main boss is everyone has the hots for and things started to get complicated.
Loved the friendship between them both but Flo was very irritating with her attitude.
thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

I didn’t originally realise that this was the third part in a trilogy, however when I did I immediately bought the first two - testament to my confidence in this author.

Honeybee did not disappoint. Amusing, heartfelt and well observed it was an absolute joy to read. I loved the characters and the dialogue. I’m not sure whether it would be as strong as an independent novel though.

I have read all of Dawn's previous novels, so I was thrilled to be granted with an e-ARC of Honeybee in exchange for an honest review. I was looking forward to reading about Renee and Flo again.

The book covered many, many topics, unfortunately some topics were skimmed over and could have been discussed in more depth. Flo's journey in particular - it would have been nice to have some more dialogue where she realises what her issues are and accepting them.

I really enjoyed reading more about Guernsey as a place, and the settings were really well done.

I hadn’t, until I started the book, realised it’s a sequel to Dawn’s Young Adult book ‘Paper Aeroplanes’ which I’ve never read – so I might be coming at it differently to someone reading a follow up to a much loved previous novel.

The book starts with Renée and Flo being reunited, after 3 years, at a funeral on the island of Guernsey where they (and in fact Dawn O’Porter herself) grew up. They are in their early 20s (so a similar age to my eldest daughter) and their lives aren’t panning out as they’d expected.

Having read 2 wonderful, literary books most recently, I was little concerned about my next read being a disappointment – but I need not have been concerned, this was wonderful. Just so different to either of them – but early in the book Renée’s first day at work had my literally laughing out loud!

Whilst it is part ‘coming of age’ it also deals with infidelity, mental health, grief, menopause, strained parental relationships – but not in a deep, depressing way – just in the way that most people’s lives are complicated with lots of different strands.

The setting of Guernsey is really well described as well – I’d definitely like to go and visit having never ‘done’ a Channel Island.

I hadn’t fully appreciated the time period of the book until a huge international event takes place – one of those times when you will always remember where you were – and I thought Dawn captured both the unfolding of the event – but also how everyone felt in the aftermath – really well.

The book is told alternately from Renée and Flo’s points of view – but the supporting cast of characters – family members, neighbours, colleagues, even bees – all provide a rich tapestry for the storyline. I romped through it – keen to see how everything turned out for our leading ladies. There would definitely be room for another instalment in their lives in the future too.

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable, escapist read – it would appear I prefer bees to cats!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC. Honeybee is out in September 2024 and can be pre ordered now.

Honeybee by Dawn O’Porter is a bittersweet story of female friendship, love, home, growing up and belonging. Following on from Paper Aeroplanes and Goose, best friends Renée and Flo are now in their early 20s and find themselves back on the island of Guernsey. Having been estranged for a number of years they rekindle their friendship in an all or nothing fashion. Not only living together but working together too.

Told from the perspectives of both Renée and Flo, Honeybee is beautifully written and captures the intensity of those early adult years, with hope and gentleness at its heart.

Having read Paper Aeroplanes and Goose, I was delighted to receive this ARC. Dawn O’Porter’s writing is honest, warm and very witty and Honeybee is no exception. I loved this book and read it in a couple of days because I couldn’t put it down. Although this book and the previous books in this series are about characters much younger than me, the fact that Honeybee was set in the early noughties, brought a welcome dose of nostalgia to my reading experience.

Thank-you NetGalley and Harper Collins for this ARC.

I've read and enjoyed most of Dawn's other books. This one left me wanting. The characters were mildly annoying, they were not very likeable. It didn't really seem to flow. It was a bit disjointed and I felt that the story was missing parts and just gave me highlights. Overall a bit disappointing. More development work needed imho.

Estranged best friends Renee and Flo are accidentally reunited when they both end up back in Guernsey where they grew up. Easygoing Renee is keen to let bygones be bygones and recapture the fun times they had, but Flo is reticent. Both women are holding onto secrets and fears that threaten to damage their fragile, rekindled friendship if exposed. The book attempts to deal with some dark themes but there is plenty of humour. The pacing is good and there’s enough tension to maintain interest, although not enough to make you want to devour it way past your bedtime. The novel is structured as a two-hander, alternating between the two character’s viewpoints. This is what ultimately lets the book down, the voices are so similar, that the focalisation is not always clear. Another drawback is that the big, dark themes are not given quite enough attention to tackle them thoroughly.

This is a follow on in the relationship of Renee and Flo into their early 20s, I don’t think reading the previous books are strictly necessary. I love reading Dawn O’Porter’s books like Cat Lady and Cows but I feel that Goose (previous Renee and Flo book) was more for teenagers. Unfortunately I felt the same whilst reading this book. It was a good enough read but I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend.

I went into this book expecting a typical Dawn O’Porter heartwarming, funny, relatable easy read. To some extent I got that but ultimately felt a bit underwhelmed.

The book follows Renee and Flo, two friends in their early twenties who find themselves back on their home island of guernsey and move in together. The marketing doesn’t make it clear that this is actually a follow-up to two of Dawn’s previous YA books, which I haven’t read, so I found myself a bit confused. Which bits of plot were from before? Was I missing something?

Some plot points also felt a bit underdeveloped. Flo struggles with her mental health and describes feeling ‘the rat’ inside her…but we never get the context for the metaphor and I found myself getting annoyed with it. It also felt that perhaps too many plot points were being shoehorned in. We got 9/11, infidelity, addiction, grief, menopause, fraught family dynamics and loneliness. I think I would’ve preferred to have less but better developed.

It was overall a decent quick read, and I think fans of Paper Aeroplanes will love getting to meet Renee and Flo again, but as an outsider, I didn’t feel it was Dawn’s best.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this in advance.

I love everything that Dawn O'Porter writes. She has a marvellous way of creating characters that although not perfect draw you in. Whenever I put this book down (not often) I had the feeling that I'd just finished talking with really good friends. The book is also set beautifully on the island is Guernsey, you can see the author's connection with the island shining out from the page.
Please write more, if you write it I will read it!

This is raw and honest and feels intimate, this is a deep look into the warts and all of Flo and Renee. The book is a few photos of their time together as flat and work mates and how they deal with life. Both women are scared and working out what life actually is and how to live it whilst being true to themselves. They make idiots of themselves and hurt each other however somehow, with much laughter and care, seem to grow and keep taking steps forward, Flo and Renee are stripped bare and give their all in this book and it makes it quite beautiful somehow

I love the way Dawn O'Porter writes about women, and in this book she has 2 wonderful female characters to explore -Renee and Flo. We see their friendship from the beginning at school and we meet up again with them when they're in their 20's and life isn't turning out as they'd expected or hoped for! There's so much to empathise with and their experiences and encounters really strike a chord!

When they both end up back in Guernsey, they find themselves facing very different challenges but seem to seek comfort from the safety of the past and the place they know so well. they meet up again at the funeral of a schoolfriend and seem to fall straight into the orbit of one another again, despite being very different characters and having had lost contact for a few years.

There's a line in the book 'grown ups, we ruin everything don't we? and it really hit home!! Losing track of the simple pleasures in life and letting overthinking and conforming take over and you see it with these 2 women as they face up to where they are in life and trying to decide what they really want from life!

You get to see the friendship tested when they're in such close contact and that's something that many of us can connect with! Scraping beneath the surface of the confidence, there's some trauma there that maybe hasn't been faced and I really enjoyed the changing POV's so you'd see life from 2 very different angles.

Relationships of both the romantic and friendship kind are explored, as well as female issues and there's many moments that had me laughing out loud, and I also enjoyed the roles that fringe female characters played - mainly Lillian and Aunty Jo - as they added different dimensions to the storyline. Another great story from the author!

A beautifully crafted, feel-good story that takes readers on an emotional journey back to the picturesque island of Guernsey. We follow two childhood friends, Renee and Flo, who find themselves returning to their hometown in their early twenties, disillusioned by the paths their lives have taken. Neither living the glamorous life they once envisioned—Renee is far from the high-flying socialite and award-winning author and Flo is struggling with the harsh reality that her dream career is far from realised.

As they navigate the challenges of returning home, old wounds resurface, and are forced to confront the disappointments and unresolved issues they've long buried. Despite their friendship not being as strong as it once was, the deep, unspoken bond between them still holds firm. Through laughter and tears, they discover that true friendship means being there for each other, even when life doesn't turn out as planned.

I found myself laughing out loud at Renee's romantic misadventures and deeply moved by Flo's ongoing grief over the loss of her father and her strained relationship with her mother.

Honeybee is a lovely read that beautifully illustrates the enduring power of friendship and how it can help us through the toughest times. Highly recommended for anyone in need of a heartwarming and uplifting story.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I hadn't actually realised that Honeybee was somewhat part of a series but the author did a good job of catching you up if it was your first time meeting the characters. Unfortunately the book did feel quite YA to me which I hadn't anticipated and I struggled to not get frustrated with the characters (especially Renee) and their struggles. Both of the main characters felt a lot younger than their 22 years and I found myself eye-rolling a lot at their immaturity.

The book does cover some big topics which is commendable but I didn't feel they were covered as in depth or as strongly as they could have been, especially when laced with humour which all just felt a bit odd. I also found the Renee/Ben storyline really bizarre and unbelievable. It just seems to come from nowhere and had no real substance.

I've read Dawn's books previously and loved a couple of them but sadly this just wasn't the same experience.

This is a hilarious romp from childhood to adult for Renee and Flo as they attempt to transition from quiet island life to the buzz of London. In between overindulgence and one night standards the more serious issues of bereavement, menopause and alcoholism are woven into the story. Some brilliant characterisation and fast pace make this an interesting read.

I have read some of Dawn O' Porter's previous work and enjoyed it so I was pleased to be accepted for this ARC on netgalley.

This book resists Flo and Renee from Paper Airplanes as they embark on adulthood in the early 00s. They reunite after a rift at the funeral of their arch nemesis from school.

Both characters are lost and experiencing their own demons. The book touches on delicate themes such as death of a parent, grief, fractious relationships, infertility and alcoholism and these are addressed well. There are some comical moments but I would say it isn't for the faint of heart.