anasagebiel's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
heyericamay's review
3.0
The storyline was a bit too reminiscent of Lady and the Tramp, but easily played upon the teenage-girl fantasy of a badboy you can fix. Overall, it was a nice book, but not my favourite by the author.
lisamquinn's review
4.0
Does he have a motorcyle? If you're going to throw your life away he better have a motorcycle..." - Lorelai Gilmore.
Ruby did not have a watchful mom like Lorelai so she falls for a guy with a motor cycle. The process of getting over him involves Ruby's attending her mom's senior citizen's book club where she learns about life and the true meaning of love.
Book Quotes: "I sometimes feel less cut out for the world than the people around me, too sensitive, the kind of person whose heart goes out to inanimate objects..." pg 2.
"You could see the magic we all had that day. The magic that comes with the force of a mission, lit with a fine and rare energy. The magic of purpose and love in its purest form. Not television love, with its glare and hollow and sequined glint; nor sex and allure, all high shoes and high drama, everything both too small and in too much excess, but just love. Love like rain, likt the smell of a tangerine, like a surprise found in your pocket. We were all apart of that." pg 193.
"I will not just be someone's honey, baby, sweetheart..." pg. 236.
"Love can come when you're already who you are, when you are filled with you. Not when you look to someone else to fill the empty space. Not when it's your definition." pg. 237.
Tags: Wallowing, road trips, book clubs P/Q: 3(4Girls)/3, J/SH
Digital Booktalk: http://www.dm.ucf.edu/~dbooktalk/new_site/view/?id=42
Reviews: http://www.debcaletti.com/reviews.php#honey
Ruby did not have a watchful mom like Lorelai so she falls for a guy with a motor cycle. The process of getting over him involves Ruby's attending her mom's senior citizen's book club where she learns about life and the true meaning of love.
Book Quotes: "I sometimes feel less cut out for the world than the people around me, too sensitive, the kind of person whose heart goes out to inanimate objects..." pg 2.
"You could see the magic we all had that day. The magic that comes with the force of a mission, lit with a fine and rare energy. The magic of purpose and love in its purest form. Not television love, with its glare and hollow and sequined glint; nor sex and allure, all high shoes and high drama, everything both too small and in too much excess, but just love. Love like rain, likt the smell of a tangerine, like a surprise found in your pocket. We were all apart of that." pg 193.
"I will not just be someone's honey, baby, sweetheart..." pg. 236.
"Love can come when you're already who you are, when you are filled with you. Not when you look to someone else to fill the empty space. Not when it's your definition." pg. 237.
Tags: Wallowing, road trips, book clubs P/Q: 3(4Girls)/3, J/SH
Digital Booktalk: http://www.dm.ucf.edu/~dbooktalk/new_site/view/?id=42
Reviews: http://www.debcaletti.com/reviews.php#honey
paigemushaw's review
2.0
Let me start off by saying that I am a huge Deb Caletti fan. I love all of the things everyone else loves about her books.
That said, I find it shocking that this is the only one of her books that has gotten recognition from the National Book Award. Frankly, I found it way too easy to put this book down and go days without picking it up again; there were too many characters I didn't care about, and Ruby is no more insightful of a narrator than Cassie, Jade, Scarlett, Quinn, Clara or Cricket. Not to mention the plot itself just kind of fell flat for me-- I felt like I knew what was going to happen from the moment Ruby met Travis, and waiting for it was like staring at the sky, waiting for a shooting star. It took forever to happen, then it was just over and nothing really seemed all that different afterward.
All of Deb Caletti's books have the elements that led to this one being an NBA finalist, and every one of them is more interesting. I'm glad I didn't start with Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, because I'm not sure I would have bothered with any of the others.
That said, I find it shocking that this is the only one of her books that has gotten recognition from the National Book Award. Frankly, I found it way too easy to put this book down and go days without picking it up again; there were too many characters I didn't care about, and Ruby is no more insightful of a narrator than Cassie, Jade, Scarlett, Quinn, Clara or Cricket. Not to mention the plot itself just kind of fell flat for me-- I felt like I knew what was going to happen from the moment Ruby met Travis, and waiting for it was like staring at the sky, waiting for a shooting star. It took forever to happen, then it was just over and nothing really seemed all that different afterward.
All of Deb Caletti's books have the elements that led to this one being an NBA finalist, and every one of them is more interesting. I'm glad I didn't start with Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, because I'm not sure I would have bothered with any of the others.
ashurq's review
5.0
Ruby McQueen never thought that a guy like Travis Becker would notice her. He’s rich, timelessly beautiful, and he has a motorcycle. Travis brings out a side of her that Ruby doesn’t recognize and isn’t 100% sure that she likes. As Ruby gets in deeper with Travis, she starts to pull away from her family and others who love her. She knows Travis is bad for her, but she can’t seem to make herself stay away.
I felt like I could really relate to this book. In my case, it was just a friend in high school who wasn’t that great for me. In hindsight, I can definitely see that I should’ve broken the friendship off much sooner than I did, but at the time it was kind of exciting. In this book, we see Ruby make a series of bad decisions. We know they’re bad, she knows they’re bad, but we have to watch her make them anyway. It’s frustrating at times, but because of my past experiences, I feel like I understand why she makes the decisions she does. She knows that her family loves her, but all the same, I think she feels a little neglected by her mom. Ruby’s looking for someone to give her attention and make her feel special–even if that person isn’t doing it in the right away.
“Sometimes we are so convinced someone is throwing us a life preserver that we don’t notice that what they are actually doing is drowning us.”
I thought this book was great. It was messy and the characters are far from perfect. Like I said earlier, I feel like Ruby is very relatable and all of the secondary characters are on point. Chip Jr is definitely my favorite. He’s so smart and I love that he and Ruby are on the same team! He actually reminds me a lot of my little brother so I particularly enjoyed his character. I also love the Casserole Queens. What a riot! I was literally laughing out loud the entire time during the “old folks home breakout” scene. Another character that I want to give a shout out to is the dog, Poe. Poe is seriously indescribable.
This book made me think about things from Travis’ perspective as well as Ruby’s. What did Travis want with Ruby? What drew him to her? Is everything just a game to him or does he really care for her? They’re so different and we’re given a closeup look to what Ruby sees in Travis, but I really wonder about the other way around.
Overall, I really liked this book. Fun characters, real story, awesome community/family moments. It left me so satisfied–a great summer read.
Overall Rating: 5
Violence: Mild
Language: Moderate
Sexual Content: Mild
Smoking/Drinking: Mild
I felt like I could really relate to this book. In my case, it was just a friend in high school who wasn’t that great for me. In hindsight, I can definitely see that I should’ve broken the friendship off much sooner than I did, but at the time it was kind of exciting. In this book, we see Ruby make a series of bad decisions. We know they’re bad, she knows they’re bad, but we have to watch her make them anyway. It’s frustrating at times, but because of my past experiences, I feel like I understand why she makes the decisions she does. She knows that her family loves her, but all the same, I think she feels a little neglected by her mom. Ruby’s looking for someone to give her attention and make her feel special–even if that person isn’t doing it in the right away.
“Sometimes we are so convinced someone is throwing us a life preserver that we don’t notice that what they are actually doing is drowning us.”
I thought this book was great. It was messy and the characters are far from perfect. Like I said earlier, I feel like Ruby is very relatable and all of the secondary characters are on point. Chip Jr is definitely my favorite. He’s so smart and I love that he and Ruby are on the same team! He actually reminds me a lot of my little brother so I particularly enjoyed his character. I also love the Casserole Queens. What a riot! I was literally laughing out loud the entire time during the “old folks home breakout” scene. Another character that I want to give a shout out to is the dog, Poe. Poe is seriously indescribable.
This book made me think about things from Travis’ perspective as well as Ruby’s. What did Travis want with Ruby? What drew him to her? Is everything just a game to him or does he really care for her? They’re so different and we’re given a closeup look to what Ruby sees in Travis, but I really wonder about the other way around.
Overall, I really liked this book. Fun characters, real story, awesome community/family moments. It left me so satisfied–a great summer read.
Overall Rating: 5
Violence: Mild
Language: Moderate
Sexual Content: Mild
Smoking/Drinking: Mild
taylorredheadreadss's review
1.0
didn't enjoy the story it was way too slow and then nothing really happened
aimee70807's review
4.0
This is really two books. The first half is like watching a trainwreck as our heroine falls in love with a bad boy --- painful. Then, in the second half, she falls in with a crowd of old lady readers, goes on a zany car trip, and finds her inner strength. Honestly, I think the second half would have been just as powerful without the first half.
evila_elf's review
4.0
This is the same author who wrote The Nature of Jade. I read the first few pages in the library and decidede to pick it up.
At first, I wanted to stop reading it after 50 pages...the main girl, Ruby, was being an idiot and hanging around with this boy who was bad news (ie breaking into homes, speeding on his motorcycle, getting Ruby to tell him the location of keys where she worked...etc). Her mom made her attend her book group, called the Casserole Queens.
This is when things started to pick up. One of the members, who had had a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair unable to speek, appariently had had a relationship with this famous author back in the day. So the book group (filled with hilarious older people) decided to kidnap her from her rest home and take her on a 4 day road trip across several states to reunite her with the man she had loved.
Hilarious, sappy, and sad. It redeemed itself from 2 to 4 stars.
Author has a great way with characters...even the family dog, Poe, who is a homewrecker--literally.
Also, their is a local church sign that someone keeps switching GOD to DOG (Dog is always with you) and it is hilarious!
308 pages
At first, I wanted to stop reading it after 50 pages...the main girl, Ruby, was being an idiot and hanging around with this boy who was bad news (ie breaking into homes, speeding on his motorcycle, getting Ruby to tell him the location of keys where she worked...etc). Her mom made her attend her book group, called the Casserole Queens.
This is when things started to pick up. One of the members, who had had a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair unable to speek, appariently had had a relationship with this famous author back in the day. So the book group (filled with hilarious older people) decided to kidnap her from her rest home and take her on a 4 day road trip across several states to reunite her with the man she had loved.
Hilarious, sappy, and sad. It redeemed itself from 2 to 4 stars.
Author has a great way with characters...even the family dog, Poe, who is a homewrecker--literally.
Also, their is a local church sign that someone keeps switching GOD to DOG (Dog is always with you) and it is hilarious!
308 pages