Honey

I’d like to thank both NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, from whom I received an ALC of Honey (from Celadon Books) for review. These opinions are my own.

You can’t read the synopsis of Honey without thinking of Britney Spears. I was a young teenager when she became a household name. I wasn’t even a fan (I wasn’t allowed to listen to her music 😂), but I remember the constant rumors about her and the grown men on news channels arguing over whether or not she’d had a boob job and speculating on the status of her virginity. I remember how weird it made me feel about my own body, my own sexuality, and my own right to privacy when it came to those things.

Honey touches on those topics and more through the eyes of Amber Young, a teen pop star, as she rises from mediocrity to the kind of fame she’s always dreamed of. Although most of us have never been pop stars, many of us have been over-sexualized, treated like we are just our bodies, and it’s easy to relate to the way Amber feels when she’s treated that way by men. Part of me wishes Isabel Banta had gone a little deeper when it comes to the concepts of misogyny and exploitation in the music industry. There were instances of these things throughout the book, but it felt like they were just stated as facts rather than truly explored. But either way, I’m glad that the 90’s pop star experience wasn’t completely glossed over and glamorized.

While Amber deals with the disgusting problematic behavior of the men around her (and society in general), she also deals with a lot of internal struggle, including her desperate need to feel loved, and I imagine readers will relate to that very strongly. I enjoyed Amber’s journey and I like that the book covered the entirety of it. The inclusion of Amber’s friend and fellow pop star Gwen’s journey as well, though we didn’t get to see as much of it, was an excellent choice.

Of course, I want to talk about the audiobook, which was fantastic. Honey is written in first-person from Amber’s POV and the narrator, Brittany Pressley, either has the perfect voice or used the perfect voice for Amber. The lyrics to a few of Amber’s singles are in the book, and one of my favorite things about the audiobook is that when Pressley read the lyrics, there was pop music playing in the background. The music was different for each song and was really cool! It added so much to the listening experience, and to the book as a whole. I was fully immersed, even bobbing my head to the music a little. Because of this, I’m fully convinced the audio version is the best way to read Honey.