Reviews with content warning for Deadnaming - The Honeys

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

This was wild. Absolutely WILD. The last 20% is where all the meat of the story really is unpacked, but the first 80% had me guessing and wondering who to trust. This book felt like it could've existed in the world of Riverdale x Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, like a nefarious camp horror!! This elite summer camp setting in the Catskills Mountains was eerie and screamed "bad things will happen!" I loved the representation of Mars as genderfluid, but I was confused as to why no one else ever used pronouns besides he/him, when she made it clear that they use he/they/she? Maybe that was intentional to show that everyone around Mars was an "ally" but still fumbling and getting it wrong? They also constantly deadname him, which frustrated me. However, again, I'm guessing it was a deliberate choice to possibly evoke unease and tension from the readers? I'm totally projecting here lol!

Anyway, I appreciated the fact that I had no idea who to trust in this novel. Maybe that's obvious in a horror/thriller, that you shouldn't count anyone out. However, I could not for the life of me (!!!) tell if the Honeys were supposed to be the villains or in solidarity with Mars! It was exhausting to be me, and I think that just shows how talented Ryan La Sala is in their fleshing out of these characters, and how every single moment the Honeys shared with Mars left me guessing how I felt about the interaction. Was that meant to be helpful? Was that threatening? Do they know something? Are they just as scared? This was masterfully done!!!

I'm excited to read more from Ryan La Sala, and this was the perfect book for me to let go of summer (like truly, fuck summer after reading this book. I want no part of it hahaha), and to welcome autumn and Halloween season!

Content Warnings

itsapollo's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have a lot of mixed feeling about the ending of this book. Specifically from about chapter 24 to the end the book takes this turn that really doesn't line up with how the first 23 chapters seemed to be laying everything out. I also as a genderfluid person HAVE to point out my disappointment at NO ONE using any other pronouns but he/him for Mars. Not even the characters I felt were accepting them in. Even to the point where on page 301 a characters Mars has been around consistently for the whole summer asks her what pronouns they use..........It felt like a gut punch. I didn't think the SA was necessary for the plot at all.

And everything we were being set up for between Mars and Wyatt completely fell apart within a few pages which was getting and I felt could have been easily handled differently.

I want to say that I truly love Mars and I love cabin H and the bond that was shown there. There were beautiful melodic and visually stunning passages in this book!! The final act just felt so rushed to me. I have more thoughts but I'll leave it at that.

Content Warnings