Honey

LoveReading Says

Astute, addictive, lemon-sharp and steamy, Isabel Banta’s Honey debut explores a young woman’s navigation of celebrity, sex, relationships and identity through the late 90s and early 2000s. Part coming-of-age novel, part exposé of sexism and double-standards in the music industry and media, it’s devilishly compulsive, and clever with it.

“I feel like a fruit swinging from a tree. Plump and flush with color. Waiting to be picked”. So remarks Amber early on in the novel (and her career) in a line that encapsulates the quality of Banta’s writing — Amber’s voice is utterly compelling, and spiked with rapier-sharp observations of her world, and herself.

In 1997 Amber gets the call she’s been waiting for — the chance to join new girl band Cloud9. In time, Amber embarks on a solo career, like her former bandmate, Gwen, whose “friendship was my skeleton — it held me up”.

But fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be — Amber’s left feeling as if she’s been “abridged to just my body”, not least in the aftermath of a liaison with a guy from a famous boy band. While he comes through the gossip unscathed, she’s seen as a slut and seductress: “I’m a late-night punchline and will be for years. I’m a tabloid tossed over chicken cutlets and eggs in a shopping basket”. 

In time though, Amber starts to find her true voice and a sense of agency, though the novel is never sentimental. Rather, Honey feels 100% authentic from start to finish. There’s sex (lots of it), and an exhilarating sense of a young woman learning to navigate her life and career on her own terms. 

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About Honey

*Named a best book of the summer by PEOPLE, ELLE, PureWow and Our Culture, Electric Lit, and a Goodreads Editor's Choice and IndieNext Pick* A coming-of-age story that follows the meteoric rise of singer Amber Young as she navigates fame in the late-90s and early-2000s era of pop music superstardom It is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It's a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles and escape her small town. She quickly finds herself in the orbits of fellow rising stars Gwen Morris, a driven singer-dancer, and Wes Kingston, a member of the biggest boy band in the world, ETA. As Amber embarks on her solo career and her fame intensifies, her rich interior life is frequently reduced. Surrounded by people who claim to love her but only wish to exploit her and driven by a desire for recognition and success, for love and sex, for agency and connection, Amber comes of age at a time when the kaleidoscope of public opinion can distort everything and one mistake can shatter a career. With the captivating style of Stephanie Danler's Sweetbitter and the raw honesty of Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died, Isabel Banta's debut novel, Honey, redefines the narratives of some of the most famous pop icons of the '90s and 2000s. It reimagines the superstars we idolized and hated, oversexualized and underestimated, and gives them the fresh, multifaceted story they deserve.

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