This book has my entire heart. It is so full of love and characters that love each other that I didn't want to put it down even when it was over. Most of my favorite books are my favorites because the friends and family within the pages are so in love with each other that they're like little pieces of each other. This book is no different and it's definitely a new favorite since it is full to bursting with a diverse cast of gorgeous monsters.

Even though Grace Porter is 28 with a PHD in the pages of Honey Girl, I would still call this a coming-of-age tale. Grace spends the book growing up, gaining agency, and learning who she is, what she wants, and what she ultimately needs to be happy. She deals with the anxieties of finding herself in a career that is only made even worse while trying to find that as a young Black woman in the science field. She believes she needs to be "the best" and anything less would be a failure for her and for her reserved military father.

The book is beautiful but it has a lot of trauma depicted within its pages. I would give TWs for self-harm and mental health issues.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC!

This book is for every twenty-something who feels lost in a sea of expectation, for every person dealing with the existential dread that comes with the end of formal education and the start of your life in the real world. This book is for every lonely creature shouting into the dark and hoping that someone is listening.

This book is brillant in so many ways but to step away from the overdramatic poetics let me tell you what this story is about. In Honey Girl we follow Grace Porter, a 28 year old astronomer who has just finished her doctorate and who is struggling to find a job due to a number of systemic barriers in place as her womanhood, her balckness, and her queerness alienate her from her peers in the field. On a trip to Las Vegas, Grace wakes up hungover, with a ring on her finger and champagne soaked memories of a girl that smelled of flowers and sea salt. From here we follow Grace on her delayed odysessy of self discovery as she attempts to naviagate her intense burnout and existential angst.

Grace was so relatable to me and I adored her in all her complexities. This book is full to the brim with love and tenderness, not just romantic love but familial and platonic love so profound that I wanted to cry literally on every page. Grace's found family, her new wife, her new friends and the love they shared together made me so overwhelmed with emotion and any lover of the found family trope will enjoy this immensely. My favorite aspect of this is the fact that Grace has so many people who love her and care about her but this can't prevent her from feeling her lonely, burnout, overwhelmed feelings. Loneliness is a feeling, not a state of being. That felt so real to me and I just loved being a witness Grace's internal battles, I loved seeing Grace be loved and loving her friends so much it hurt. I just...I'm truly undone by this book, I'm tearing up just typing this shitty little review. Please read this stunning debut. It made me swoon, it made me cry, the writing is so stunningly beautiful and I've absolutely found my new favorite book. Please read it. Just Read It.

Though I was hoping for more romance vibes, this book was fantastic. A belated coming-of-age sort of tale that takes you from a Vegas wedding to monster hunting in New York to getting lost in Floridian orange groves. And did I mention it’s sapphic? I’m a sucker for anything gay, but don’t go into this thinking its focus is on the romantic element of the storyline; it’s much more focused on the personal growth and journey of self discovery by main character Grace Porter. Couldn’t be happier to have been granted a galley of this novel by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I had such a good time reading Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers! It's a slow-paced, slow-burn romance novel centering on a f/f romance. Morgan Rogers has a beautiful writing style and I LOVED the sections where Yuki and Grace share their passions and interests with one another. This was so wholesome and lovely!

I think, in total, Honey Girl really captures the feelings of disorientation, confusion, mixed emotions etc that come along with trying to find your own place in the world following formal education. I personally related hard to a lot of that, as someone at a similar age to the protagonist who graduated 3 years ago.

I thought the mental illness and therapy representation was done so well! This was something that really impressed me and that I felt quite seen in, as well.

Saying that, there is much in this narrative that didn't speak to my own lived experiences, such as the racist and homophobic micro-agressions that Grace experiences while seeking employment in the field of astronomy.

I also found the relationship that Grace had with her parents was really interestingly captured, and those feelings of parental pressure were captured really well.

At the end of the book, I was left feeling that I would have loved to see more scenes from the friendships and so I was left hoping that this may be made into a series, or that the book may be build-out to a group of companion novels. Fingers crossed!

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it!

CWs: mental illness, self harm, racism, homophobia, sexual content, small reference to child abuse.

4.5 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Honey Girl was a hyped book for the first part of the year that I was really excited for, and while it wasn’t entirely what I anticipated, being more coming-of-age contemporary with a strong romantic arc than straight-up romance with the other elements on the side, I still enjoyed it.

Grace is a protagonist that really spoke to me as a person on some level, being very goal oriented and in the same time of life, although her father’s expectations are much more rigorous for her. I loved seeing her navigating the fallout from an impulsive choice she made…with a queer twist on a somewhat concept of “getting married in Vegas.”

Her relationship with her wife, Yuki, is delightful and sweet. While it’s not the main focus and I wanted more of it, I liked what we got. And I liked that there was a nice supporting cast, with a lovely queer found family, providing a fabulous support system for Grace as she comes into her own.

This is an utterly delightful first novel, and I can’t wait to see what Morgan Rogers does next. If you’re looking for something light and unapologetically queer, I would enthusiastically recommend picking this up.

As a coming-of-age story, Honey Girl really fills an often overlooked gap - the people in their late twenties that still don't have things figured out. It was refreshing to read, since I was someone who took a while to "get her life together."

I also really loved the diversity of the characters in this book. Grace, the main character, is both Black and LGBTQ+, so reading about her struggles in the workforce was eye-opening for someone with more privilege like myself. I also loved the added stories from Japanese culture sprinkled in throughout the book, reflecting the character Yumi's upbringing.

The part of this book that was lacking for me was the romance. The first scene is the morning after a drunk Vegas wedding, so I was under the impression romance was going to be the biggest part of the plot, but it fell a little flat for me. The characters were lovable, I just didn't think there was enough build up in the early stages of them knowing each other. I personally rather would have seen some of the side characters given more of a story, and had less of the romance element.

honestly, i think i hyped this book up to much in my head. don't get me wrong, but it was a good book, and i can see why people might have loved this book, but it just wasn't for me. i found the characters to have zero personality besides their job, and everything else just fell to the side and wasn't good. like none of the characters had any personality besides what they want to do, or what they went to school for an currently do. and it got to be pretty annoying, not gonna lie. but, i also just feel disconnected from this story and all the characters. an there was barely any romance, which kind of sucked and i feel like they fought a a lot which was just a pain in the ass. but, i feel like this book had the whole debut syndrome, so hopefully if Rogers writes more books in the future, it will be way better.

During Black History month, it can be pretty common for readers to reach out to a glowing biography or turn to books highlighting the intergenerational trauma of the Black Community. These are valid. What's also valid is reading a novel that is fun, smart, and explores the life of a Black Queer person.  

Grace Porter has been working hard her entire life. With a Colonel for a father, she's known mostly to her family as Porter. She has sacrificed, fought, and done everything she can to be a high achiever. It has been exhausting, but responsibility has been one of her major defining features for decades. That's what makes it all the more surprising when she has too much to drink in Las Vegas and marries a woman she's just met. With only a business card and a wedding chapel photo to guide her, Porter initially keeps her head down and struggles to find a job with her PHD in astronomy, partially to please her demanding father.  After struggling under the weight of expectations for her life, Grace goes to New York to get to know the woman she accidentally married, and find out who Grace really is when not bowing to societal pressure.

I absolutely loved this book. The author, Morgan Rogers, is a Queer Black Millennial. She writes boldly, and intelligently, with sentences that often flow like poetry. It is extremely easy to picture every character in this book, and you can tell Rogers has lovingly explored all of them.  The book celebrates diversity, without being preachy or forcing it, as only a Queer Black Millennial can.  The book does not shy away from racism, mental health issues, or difficult conversations about overwhelming expectations. It is so easy to fall headlong into the story and stay there until the very last page. 

Honey Girl is available February 23, 2021.

The chapters were jarring at times. Chapters would start with it being unclear of setting and context. Did not look how it ended.

Premise of book is good, it seems to need some more editing.

[opinions are my own] Fun and rewarding read. Grace is relatable on many levels. Could not put this one down!

Honey Girl is already one of my favorites of 2021 and it’s only February. There’s just so much I loved. It follows 28 year old Grace Porter who after getting her PhD is having a bit of a life crisis as she figures out what to do next. And then she goes and drunkly marries a girl in Vegas named Yuki. Add that on top of a flawed relationship with her parents and the pressure to be perfect Grace is going through so much. The first thing I loved about this book is the representation of the experience of Black women in academia. Grace is fighting so hard just to be treated with equal respect as her white peers and as a fellow Black woman in academia I connected so deeply with her experiences. And I am sure I am not the only one who would if they read this book. The next thing I loved about this book is the representation of Black mental health. Mental health remains such a stigmatized topic within the Black community. We have our parents telling us that therapy is not something Black people “do” but rather we should suck it up and keep pushing forward. Let me tell you it is toxic and Grace’s journey to realize she needs the help of therapist and that is perfectly okay is absolutely beautiful. She does not need to be the “Strong Black Woman” all the time like society wants us to be. Once again that representation was everything to me. And of course I loved the adorable queer romance in this book. Yuki and Grace’s relationship journey was so unique and fun but also challenging at times. At the end of the book all I wanted was more of their relationship! I also loved the diverse cast of characters. This is how you write a diverse friend group and make it seem perfectly natural. And speaking of friend groups the found families in this book goes to show you that you can pick who you want to be your family. Finally, I wanted to say that the book itself is just so well written. I found myself literally screaming at the beauty of the prose. This book is 100% a must read. Go get it now!

The premise of this book sounded so interesting, but I don't think the book was meant for me. A lot of it felt forced to me. Honestly should not have been marketed as a romance book in my opinion. The growth of the main character was well done though. Just not what I expected.

When I tell you I was crying finishing this last night....

I think if you take anything away from this review, it should not only be that I recommend this book so highly, but that it really wasn't marketed well. While there is romance, I don't think I'd call this a romance book. I'd just shove it under the adult contemporary category and call it good. Why? Because this book focused on Grace's growth as a person, her mental health issues, her education/job search more than it did the romance. I think that could be really disappointing to people who went into this expecting the same fill-in-the-blank plot most traditionally published rom-coms have. I'm not really a romance reader, even if I do dabble in the genre from time to time, so this...worked for me in ways romance books usually don't.

I really, really appreciated Grace as a character. I wasn't always happy with her, she often did things that I never would do in a million years (like take a plane all the way to NYC, get married while drunk in Vegas, etc.), but she also did a lot of things I would do (bottle stuff up, try to be the best at everything even if it breaks me, etc.) I am so grateful to have seen such a flawed depiction of a person on page. Grace was there...bared with all of her flaws and I still wanted her to be okay because...I feel a little like Grace does right now in my life. I don't know what I want to do anymore. When I feel out of control, I'm anxious, which is like 24/7 at this point. And when something scares me or it gets to hard, my first instinct is always to run.

(Don't mind me getting personal here.)

It was refreshing to see characters mess up like that on page. And it was refreshing to see that Grace didn't use Yoko to fix it. She didn't want to be taken care of and fix. She wanted to fix herself, take back control of her own life, and I just loved that storyline.

Also...Morgan Rogers can WRITE. I haven't read a romance book this well written since Red, White, and Royal Blue if that tells you anything about how wonderfully it was written.

I'd also like to note that this book really reminded me of Radio Silence. There's a podcast about scary stories. There's queer characters galore. There's the stress of being good enough to not only please your family but yourself. There's so much friendship, possibly more than there is romance. And sure, this might not become the next Radio Silence to me because it takes a lot to top that book, but it's so wonderful as it is.

This was the first book I read in 2021 and I was not disappointed. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers was everything I didn't know I needed in a romance. I laughed, I cried, and I applauded. The character of Grace Porter, a PhD student in astronomy, is trying to find her way and not dissapoint her strict military father. Yer she wakes up, on a whim, married to a woman she has no idea or anything about.

Positives: The diversity of characters. That Grace's queerness wasn't something to be damned or saddened by (which we get so much of sometimes) was refreshing. Her friends often called her on her shit. She had a chosen family that was amazing. And that Morgan Rogers can turn a phrase! She is so beautiful and poetic. She makes me want to be a better writer.

And so many people can relate to Grace- under pressure to be an overachiever

My only negative is that some narrative was a bit choppy. And I got lost time wise in a few spots but that was it.

I loved it. I will def read whatever Morgan has for us next!

One month of 2021 down and I already have a book that will definitely be making it to my favorites of the year. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers is everything that I needed and wanted. It healed me in so many ways with it’s ethereal, romantic writing and rich, complex characters. The story follows Grace Porter, who has just completed her PhD in astronomy and is grappling with life after graduation, a complicated relationship with her parents, and a drunken night that resulted in her marriage to a mysterious woman.
“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 fingers like a brand.”

I really do not want to give much away with this book since I went into it only knowing basic details and I suggest other readers do the same. I will suggest adjusting your expectations if you are going into the book expecting a romance. Honey Girl has pretty much been marketed and categorized as romance, but it is so much more than that (which is not to knock romance at all by the way). This is much more of a contemporary coming-of-age novel about love, friendship, and family. We don’t really get into the romance of the story until a quarter of the way into the book, but it is completely worth the wait.

“All four of them squish together in the bed. They hold Grace together, hold her bursting seams closed.”
The love that Grace shares with her found family was one of my favorite aspects of this novel. Her friends are her family and they are all woven into the story in a way that makes each one distinct and complex. By the end of the book, I knew exactly who each character was. Morgan Rogers so tenderly writes each character, making me fall in love with every single one. I felt homesick for this book and it’s characters the moment I finished it.

Grace’s relationships with her parents is where she struggles the most. As a mixed-race child, Grace has to deal with a father who is a strict military man and a mother who is a free-spirit. I appreciated the way her issues with her parents were handled and the reasonable resolutions we arrive to by the end of the book.

“Us lonely creatures have to stick together.”
A central theme of this story is Grace’s struggle as a black lesbian woman in STEM. I can’t speak on the representation, but Rogers does a great job of depicting a woman who is sick and tired of her accomplishments being minimized based on the color of her skin, on top of the typical pressures and stresses of academia. These struggles have a very real effect on her mental health, which I appreciated reading about immensely. Honey Girl focuses a lot on mental health and loneliness in general in a way that was so healing. I have not read a book that has dealt with mental health in such a way in a long time and I absolutely loved it. I cried multiple times…and I rarely ever cry while reading.

Which brings me to the romance of it all. I don’t want to spoil anything about the romance since I enjoyed slowly uncovering the mystery of who Grace married as I read. What I’ll say for now is that I loved the the longing and yearning that is infused into Morgan Rogers’ writing. There was a specific kind of magical, ethereal quality to her words that I was enchanted by. It was so romantic. Although Grace’s relationship with her wife is not the main focus of the book, I felt like it was just enough to satisfy me as a reader initially expecting a romance.

Honey Girl wrapped me up in its warm, cozy embrace and healed me a little bit. I would highly recommend reading this beautiful piece of contemporary fiction when it releases on February 23rd!

**E-ARC provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.**

First of all, I went into this book not knowing exactly what it was about. I knew it had to do with a black woman as the main character, that it was adult, and it was queer. That was literally it. Imagine my surprise when it was exactly what I needed. I'm not black, I'm not queer, and I'm not getting my Ph.D. in astronomy like Grace Porter. But I have anxiety, this overwhelming sense to do my best, and the impending graduation coming up. Reading this story about a girl who is trying to figure out how she can fit into this career that she is finally being thrust into punched at my heart. The therapy aspects made me so happy to see as someone who has gone to therapy in the past. I was literally trying not to cry while I read the last 20% at work. This book is beautiful and is going to help SO MANY people, especially Black and Queer women. I'm going to be screaming about this book for weeks, months. I am so excited to buy my own copy on release day. This debut is wonderful.
I will add there are trigger warnings for self-harm, depression, and substance abuse along with things. Morgan Rogers' website has the full list of trigger warnings.

Maybe my ears were messing with me, but I kept hearing this book promoted as a rom-com, or at least elements of one, and then when I read it, I was very confused because it kept not being that. But it is a wonderful story about what you do when some many of the things you've thrown yourself into don't love you back, or don't love you back the way you need to be, about burnout and loneliness and found family and love and finding a new way forward. I think Grace will do very well. <3.

Oh, what to say about Honey Girl. First off, I would like to thank the publisher for giving me the opportunity to join the blog tour for this book. It was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, so I was so excited when they reached out. My feelings on this book are so jumbled and all over the place. I am going to try my hardest to articulate how I felt about this book.
I will start with the positives first. I really loved our main character Grace. I feel like in books we don’t get enough showcasing that time out of college and in your late 20’s where you feel so lost and are fighting to find your place in this world. I think as a theme that was explored perfectly. I also loved the aspect of found family. Grace has surrounded herself with such an incredible group of supportive people and chose to make them her family.
Now, for the negatives. Most of my issues with this book really came from the pacing of the story. It just felt very all over the place. There were things happening that I was really interested in, especially her time with Yuki, however it all felt very glossed over and there was long time jumps that didn’t really fit. That being said, there was times where we spent a ton of time on things that I didn’t feel really invested in or what was important to the story. Ultimately the timeline jumping all over the place really pulled me out of the story and left me not really wanting to pick it up.
This book was INCREDIBLY diverse, however as someone who does not identify with so many of the diverse aspects I will not say if the representation was done well.
Overall this ended up being a 3 star read. I am happy that I read it, however it just fell a bit flat for me.

First of all, I wouldn’t approach this as a romance even though it’s being marketed that way. Personally, I’d consider this a Contemporary New Adult.

I knew I was holding a 5-star read before I finished the first chapter. It started as a fun, light hearted tropey that quickly became a portrait of the millennial experience as a driven, queer, person of color.

Overall, Honey Girl is a story about how our missteps can become opportunities for new beginnings. This story felt like one I’ve heard in the voices of people around me but haven’t seen on the page yet. While this story does get heavy at times, it’s easy to fall in and devour this story.

More often than not this book felt like looking in the mirror, with the mixture of relatable experiences and humor. This book will be on my mind for a while and well worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing a free copy of the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Grace has always strived for perfection. After 11 years of running herself into the ground, she now had her doctorate in astrology. She is certainly not the type of girl who would get drunk and married on her trip to Vegas. However, that is exactly what she does. With her job prospects dwindling, Grace decides to take a chance on her wife and visit New York for the summer. But the expectations that her father and herself have put on her have her buckling under the pressure.

So first of all, I think so many people face this issue when they graduate. I don’t have a doctorate, but I definitely struggled when I finished my undergrad. I love that this book explored how it can feel trying to find yourself in a tough job market in a very small field. That said, I can only imagine how much harder it was for Grace, because of the assumptions companies made about the color of her skin. While I hated that she faced that, I kind of loved how she handled her one interview. Now, the marriage. What a beautiful story. Two lost lonely souls trying to figure everything out. It was just delightful. Yuki was such a quirky character, I loved everything about her and their growing relationship. I also loved all the side characters in this one. No book is complete without some amazing friends, and this one had them in droves! One of the things I loved most about this book was that mental health played a large part, and that Rogers didn’t back down from really diving into that. Grace’s mom pushed her toward therapy as a tool, and seeing Grace struggle but also learn how to succeed for herself through her sessions was so wonderful. I can’t wait to see what Morgan Rogers comes out with next!