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A review by littlefreeinterrobang
Honey: A Novel by Isabel Banta
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
If you’re expecting a fun and upbeat revisit of the frenzied, late nineties / early aughts pop scene, you might be disappointed by this book’s generally more serious tone. Honey explores the darker side of all that spectacle, layering coming-of-age uncertainty, insecurity, and anxiety over the toxicity of the entertainment industry’s celebrity-making machine.
It felt like (or perhaps I was hoping) the story was slowly building up to some sort of big moment or turning point, but it never really comes to pass, and the ending was rather modest and subdued. Ultimately, not all that much happens, and it makes for a more ruminative reading experience than a plot-driven page turner.
There’s some unexpectedly lovely writing to be found in this book, although the first person perspective requires a little suspension of disbelief to allow such poetic self-reflections to come from a teenager.
It felt like (or perhaps I was hoping) the story was slowly building up to some sort of big moment or turning point, but it never really comes to pass, and the ending was rather modest and subdued. Ultimately, not all that much happens, and it makes for a more ruminative reading experience than a plot-driven page turner.
There’s some unexpectedly lovely writing to be found in this book, although the first person perspective requires a little suspension of disbelief to allow such poetic self-reflections to come from a teenager.