Tell me your most recent five-star read? Mine was Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers!

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Thank you to @parkrowbooks and @netgalley for the gifted ARC of Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers, which came out this February. This book was so beautifully written and impossible not to fall in love with. Full of perfectly flawed characters filled with aching vulnerability. TW for mentions of self harm, mental health, depression, mentions of suicide attempts, minor drug use, racism, and homophobia.

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Synopsis from the publisher: With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, twenty-eight-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls’ trip to Vegas to celebrate. She’s a straight A, work-through-the-summer certified high achiever. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn’t know…until she does exactly that. This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father’s plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn’t feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under the weight of her parent’s expectations, a struggling job market and feelings of burnout, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows. In New York, she’s able to ignore all the constant questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she’s been running from all along—the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood.

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This book was perfection. I cried, I laughed, and I absolutely fell head over heels for Grace and Yuki. This story is a layered and complex emotional journey of what happens when expectations don’t mix with the crushing reality of life. How do we navigate towards accepting that the original plan isn’t the ultimately right plan? How do you find your way in this world as a lonely creature asking if anyone else out there is listening? Are you ready when another lonely creature calls out, “Are you there? I’m here. I’m listening.”

The marketing for Honey Girl led me to expect a romance, where the meet-cute is the morning after two women drunkenly met and married in Vegas. Instead the book is largely about Grace Porter's post-PhD malaise, and needing to step back to decide who she is and who she wants to be as an adult. I'm very familiar with the academic job market, though without the added lens of racism that Grace must navigate as she interviews, so the idea of needing to redefine an identity outside of the long education path she has already invested in resonated well. I wished that her Vegas-wife, Yuki, was a more fully drawn character. For me, she felt a bit too close to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, and we did not have a chance to experience her deeper thoughts/emotions and motivations. Still an interesting read, but the original hook overshadowed the story that Honey Girl ended up being about.

This is such an important, character-focused book. I am not Black, or a lesbian, I don't have a PhD and I'm still cocooned in the relative safety of being an undergrad. But Grace's struggles felt real and I think the book did such a good job at portraying her complicated feelings, stemming from years or even decades of expectations that she, her family and society put on her. While her story not being personally relatable to me I could still project some of my personal history onto her (not to say that this is something necessary in a book, but I like when that happens). The way she felt lost was palpable and I genuinely felt for her throughout the book.

Something else I think this book excelled at is the queer found family element. I wish we had seen more of the NYC queer guys before the book ended because I felt like that was something that was kind of abandoned at some point (and I do kind of get why), but I still loved them a lot. And the Portland side of the queer family was so good, I love how there were different dynamics among all the characters but what glued them all together was the love they feel for each other. The fact that it wasn't all nice and polished and these characters (especially the female characters) are raw and flawed made it so much better and it reminded me of some of the books that were important to me in the early days right before realizing I'm queer.

While there were many individual things and characters I liked about this book, I unfortunately didn't love it as much as I had hoped for. This is a very clear case of it's not you, it's me, because there just were so many little things that didn't make this a fully pleasant reading experience for me. There are only so many times I can read romantic notions about space before getting annoyed at the fact that everything needs to be an analogy with something, and to top it off I felt patronized every time and it all led me to realize this book has one of my biggest pet peeves: feeling like I'm being manipulated into specific emotions or vibes. I simply don't enjoy being spoon-fed by a book in the way that this one did, so it kind of soured my reading experience despite what I liked about it.

Lastly, I feel like a lot of people will go into this for the romance. I really liked the relationship here but if that's the only reason you're going into this book you should know the romance is not that prominent. I feel like I was able to let go of my expectations of this being a really romantic book pretty early into my reading but if I hadn't this would have been another disappointing point.

Ultimately I think I will look back to this book with very mixed feelings because of the reasons I stated above, but I still feel like recommending it because of how well-written and character-focused it is, and because a lot of people will see themselves into it, especially Black lesbians. The vibe of the book is something that will either make you fall in love with it or not, and that's not something you can predict from simply reading reviews, so I still suggest you give it a try.

TWs: self harm, major depressive disorder, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, racism, racism in academia, a brief scene of someone trying to force religion on someone, mentions of war and war injury, amputation

After reading the first couple chapters of this, I bought a copy of it for my girlfriend. I know that she'll feel just as seen and comforted by this book too. Honey Girl was addicting, lovely, and heartwarming. The characters are all lovable, and the plot is relatable for every lonely creature. I look forward to reading more stories by Morgan Rogers.

A sweet and introspective book about friendship, finding your path in your late 20s, and--oh yeah--accidental marriage in Vegas. I really loved the depictions of the incredibly important friendships in Porter's life and her journey to quit trying to live her life by pleasing others. And of course the cute romance! But that's also the part that knocked my rating down. I didn't get enough depth & way more telling than showing in terms of the romance. Still, a fun read though.

I wanted to like this book more, but it just didn't strike up as much excitement as others have this year. I would recommend to others. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Compulsively readable-I devoured this in four days. I related to Grace and her journey so much. I liked the love story and adored the cast of characters. I'll be thinking about this story for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

To me, it’s more like a coming of age story, with Grace having to figure out who she is at 28. I loved this SO much, because I don’t know anyone who had all their shit together at that age either, especially if they were in academia. This story is about Grace dealing with the fallout of her perfect plan unravelling during its final act, and how it’s compounded by a massive case of burnout and a mental health crisis. As someone who’s lived through burnout (both in academia and during my professional career), it felt very real.

Honey Girl is a beautiful story about growth, self-discovery, and being okay with imperfections. I loved how honestly Morgan Rogers wrote about Grace's struggles with feeling as though she has to be the best and how she has to work constantly to prove herself. As someone who struggles with the same feelings, it was incredibly moving to read about how Grace learned that you do not have to "be the best" to be worthy.

This book was good! I really enjoyed the fact that the characters were LGTBQIA+ and you'll zip right through this book because the reader is invested in their happiness. This one focuses a lot on self love and improvement before committing to a relationship and I found that highly endearing.

Absolutely sweet and enticing. I love that the main characters both had some things to work through before getting together fully. *chef's kiss*

Enjoyable read, especially as someone who also struggles with "adulting" and how to move on from the educational life into the right position. How do we even know? Sometimes I felt like I should know more about the fringe characters as well, because they were pretty interesting. Rogers could write about each one of these characters and get me to read it so that's always a plus. I loved the heart of it all.

Enjoyed this debut novel by Morgan Rogers. The characters were well developed and the issues felt particularly real and raw.

I don't even know how to describe how wonderful this Honey Girl is. I cried so many times while reading it, but I felt so full when I was done. Every sapphic person under 30 needs to read this book (at a minimum - I would also highly recommend it to people not in that category).

<i>Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

<i>Honey Girl</i> was my most anticipated release for 2021. My favorite type of character is one who is awkward, overachieving, and trying to find their place in the world, and Grace Porter seemed to fit that description when I read the synopsis. Although I enjoyed the book, it was not exactly what I was expecting. There were definitely some clear strengths and weaknesses here.

The Good:
If you're looking for a book with great mental health representation, this one is for you. I thought the portrayal of anxiety, depression, and overworking oneself in order to uphold the expectations of others was very relatable. I appreciated the conversations Grace had with her friends and family about her mental health, and thought it was great that she openly discussed having a therapist. The family relationship dynamics were also well done. Grace and her family have very different expectations for her life, which causes Grace to really struggle with her sense of self. I liked that Grace was able to allow herself to get angry over time, because it is not always easy to go against your parents' wishes. Furthermore, if you love fun, quirky side characters, there are plenty in this book. I loved that the cast of characters were diverse and real. I kind of wish we got to see more of them because they were all so lovely.

The Not So Good:
With the way this book is marketed, I was expecting it to be a romance. I think the book itself was expecting it to be a romance too. But this is not a romance. Sure, there is a romantic relationship in it, but this book is about mental health and family--which is a good thing! But I do wish the romantic relationship was further explored. I don't mind books without romance, and actually tend to prefer books without romance, but I felt like the relationship kept getting referenced without it truly being explored. It was like it was supposed to be a big plot point...but wasn't. More glaringly though, this book struggled with writing style. I would point to this being the biggest flaw of the book, and the main reason why I didn't fall in love with it like I was expecting. The book was so boring and slow at the beginning, that it took me weeks to finish. After I got past the first half of the book, I finished it in a day, but the beginning part was almost enough to make me quit. Furthermore, the writing was incredibly repetitive. This was especially evident in the dialogue, which came off as unrealistic and forced. For example, the main character is almost exclusively referenced by her full name Grace Porter, or just by her last name. This came off as awkward and clunky, especially since the name was used so often. In real life, when two people are talking, they rarely use each other's names in conversation. It isn't necessary. The people know they are talking to each other. The repetitiveness of name usage might seem like a minor detail, but it was very distracting while actually reading the book. I was overly aware of it, and found myself focusing more on the writing style.

A Little Note:
One thing that I wish was discussed more was Grace's self harm. This was briefly mentioned in the book, but I think it was a more serious issue than it was made out to be.

Overall, <i>Honey Girl</i> is a great book if you're looking for an adult contemporary about mental health and family. You won't find too much romance here, but it is openly discussed that Grace is sapphic. Although I really struggled with the writing style, this is Morgan Rogers's debut, so I'm excited to see more in the future.

Honey Girl is a lyrical, dreamy haze of love of all kinds: queer platonic, romantic, and self love. A realistic portrayal of new adult life and struggles, I really admired the way this book interrogated identity and emotional. My only hope is that it was a little longer. I think there were a few plot lines that I wish were a little more fleshed out and given more room to breathe and carry weight. However, overall I was really touched by this book and I think it deserves to be widely loved!

First, this cover is stunning. It captures the essence of the book and character nicely. I enjoyed this read.

Grace Porter has always been in control. At 28 years old, she has a PhD in astronomy, and she’s worked damn hard for it. Grace and her two best friends decide to let loose and have some fun in Las Vegas. The last thing Grace expects to do on their last night there is meet a woman, drink too much, and marry her...
Grace can’t remember all of the details the next morning, and the woman is gone, but there is proof the wedding occurred. As Grace tries to wrap her head around that, she also reflects on how hard she’s worked over the years, and how hard it is for her to get a job she loves. She’s highly qualified, but companies aren’t welcoming her with open arms. She reaches a point where she’s all of a sudden not sure what she wants out of life. After tracking down her wife, Grace decides to spend the summer in New York with her and her roommates.
Grace Porter is not as strong as she thought she was, and instead is the lonely, terrified creature she has yet to embrace.
I love the way the author handles sensitive subjects such as depression, family expectations, lesbianism.

Great characters, and story. The main character’s storyline was a little bit too buttoned up for how young she was, and I felt like she still had some living to do.

Review // Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

❓ Coming-of-age Story, Romance, Black Lit, LGBTQ+ Lit

💗 Character-Driven, Emotional, Lyrical, #ownvoices

📖 Careful, cautious and tightly-wound Grace Porter just got married. In Vegas. To a total stranger. As she deals with the fallout from her out-of-character adventure, she also has to figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. Needless to say, things are complicated... and totally unexpected.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

"What happened in Vegas is tucked away in her suitcase. It is under her shirt in the shape of a key. It is hidden in her hair with the last little bits of dried petals. It hides in the gold ring wrapped around her finger like a brand."

Things to Know:
✨ I loved this book! From the universal themes to the poetic and truly beautiful writing, it was one of the best debuts I've read in a long time.

✨ Honey Girl is a story of identity. Grace is a Ph.D. candidate in astronomy, and the book dives deep into what it's like to be a Black, Queer woman in both STEM and higher education - the unfair roadblocks, the fight for equality, and the scrutiny from both faculty and family. If you're a woman in a field that's highly dominated by men, this one's for you.

✨ Honey Girl is also a love story. Rogers very much focused on Queer joy - Grace being gay was just a fact; it wasn't a point of contention in her life. She was loved and supported for who she was, and found solace in her new, unexpected relationship. The romance made me SWOON.

✨ I absolutely loved the focus on strong female friendships, found family, and the normalizing of mental health.

✨ Grace did read very young at times, and I had to remind myself that she wasn't a teenager but a married PhD candidate. The book teeters between YA and adult contemporary.

✨ Don't even get me started on the Hedwig and the Angry Inch references! 😍

"If you're out there, Honey Girl, I am singing you a song. It's a good song; it won't lure you to the depth of the ocean. It's a song that leads you just to me, I think, if you're listening."

Read If You Like:
📚 Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
🎶 Married in Vegas by The Vamps
📺 Jane the Virgin