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A review by izzyvb023
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
“If the Honey doesn’t flow, the blood will.”
I never really realized that i liked horror books until this year, when I learned that ‘horror’ wasn’t just bloody monsters, spirit possession, and deranged killers. Recently, I’ve really gotten into unconventional horror stories that are often softer on the surface: they’re girly, flowery, and beautiful at a first glance. But a deeper look reveals unbelievable terror and savagery. I think that’s part of what makes stories like this so effective. It’s unexpected for horror and disgust to intertwine itself with our understanding of what girls “are” and “should” be. It’s strange and disturbing when beauty is corrupted by hidden hideousness.
This book was recommended to me by several people when I said I really enjoyed Mona Awad’s “Bunny” and Ling Ling Huang’s “Natural Beauty” for their ‘girly culty fever dream horror’ vibes. “The Honeys” certainly did not disappoint! It was culty, it was girly, it was queer, it was horrific, and I was captivated the entire time.
Reading this book felt like looking through a giant rainbow kaleidoscope. It was confusing and strange, yet beautiful and colorful. Every chapter altered my own perception of what was really happening.
Some favorite quotes were:
“I wanted— have always wanted— what the Honeys had. It was an instant, unconscious wish anytime I saw beautiful girls. I coveted not just their beauty, but their freedom to embody beauty.”
“The weave of the lace complicates inward, layering into a design so dense it becomes invisible. Unknowable. You must be small as a bee to trace it, yet as vast as the hive to comprehend it…Caroline used to tell me Earth to Mars. Well, the earth has finally come to me, and now I am vast enough to return its embrace.”
I would recommend if you are interested in any of the following:
- unconventional horror
- narration that feels like a fever dream
- gender and sexuality
- bees and honey
- spooky summer camps
- girl cults
I never really realized that i liked horror books until this year, when I learned that ‘horror’ wasn’t just bloody monsters, spirit possession, and deranged killers. Recently, I’ve really gotten into unconventional horror stories that are often softer on the surface: they’re girly, flowery, and beautiful at a first glance. But a deeper look reveals unbelievable terror and savagery. I think that’s part of what makes stories like this so effective. It’s unexpected for horror and disgust to intertwine itself with our understanding of what girls “are” and “should” be. It’s strange and disturbing when beauty is corrupted by hidden hideousness.
This book was recommended to me by several people when I said I really enjoyed Mona Awad’s “Bunny” and Ling Ling Huang’s “Natural Beauty” for their ‘girly culty fever dream horror’ vibes. “The Honeys” certainly did not disappoint! It was culty, it was girly, it was queer, it was horrific, and I was captivated the entire time.
Reading this book felt like looking through a giant rainbow kaleidoscope. It was confusing and strange, yet beautiful and colorful. Every chapter altered my own perception of what was really happening.
Some favorite quotes were:
“I wanted— have always wanted— what the Honeys had. It was an instant, unconscious wish anytime I saw beautiful girls. I coveted not just their beauty, but their freedom to embody beauty.”
“The weave of the lace complicates inward, layering into a design so dense it becomes invisible. Unknowable. You must be small as a bee to trace it, yet as vast as the hive to comprehend it…Caroline used to tell me Earth to Mars. Well, the earth has finally come to me, and now I am vast enough to return its embrace.”
I would recommend if you are interested in any of the following:
- unconventional horror
- narration that feels like a fever dream
- gender and sexuality
- bees and honey
- spooky summer camps
- girl cults