I feel a bit bad rating this so low, because I think my lack of enjoyment has to do with assumptions I made based on the synopsis. But on the other hand, if I had been able to glean the actual story from the summary, I’m not sure I would have picked it to read, so maybe my rating is fair. The plot involves a woman drunkenly marrying a complete stranger in Vegas and then getting to know her new wife after the fact, so I was expecting a fun lesbian rom-com. It was not particularly fun or comedic, and technically there is a love story but it actually didn’t feel very heavily romantic to me, either. The wife isn’t even present for the first third of the book or so, and then when we do finally meet her, the relationship feels a tad insta-lovey and underdeveloped. It’s very serious and earnest, and mostly evoked a sad feeling in me. There’s a lot about mental health, race, and other serious issues, and those definitely outweigh any rom or com aspects. The writing style also was not to my taste, as it felt too heavy for a rom-com but a bit too superficial for not a rom-com. I think if readers come for the mental health focus and not the romance, and aren’t expecting a humorous read, it’s probably going to be resonate well with a lot of people, but in my case I was expecting something really different and couldn’t get into what it actually was.

Honey Girl is the story of Grace, a 29-year-old astronomer who is burned out from a lifetime of working for her career, only to find a world unforgiving to Black women.

After a drunken night in Vegas, she wakes up married to a woman named Yuki, who runs a radio show dedicated to the supernatural and “lonely creatures.”

What follows is a beautifully written story about finding your path in life. Grace has already graduated college and feels like her life should be on track, but she’s still without direction. Her father loves her but pressures her for success. She burns herself out and can’t find the time to be there for her friends.

This is a relatable situation for people of all ages. It was nice to see a story showing how even in adulthood people flounder and struggle to be fulfilled. I loved the message that creating a life that makes you happy is more important than having a prestigious career.

Grace’s friendships and romance were highly developed, even though this isn’t a very long book. By my standards she has quite a large friend group, but each one was distinct and memorable.

Her relationship with Yuki felt real. On the night in Vegas she thought of Yuki as a mysterious dream girl, but once they start an actual relationship she realizes she is a flawed human like all of us. They have to put effort into making their relationship work, and you can see how much they care about each other.

The story is important for featuring a Black sapphic main character, a sad rarity. It even has a interracial, all-female polyamorous relationship. It is at once a universal story and a story which shows the unique experiences or underrepresented groups.

It made me feel so many emotions, both joy and sadness. Be sure to buy this book when it comes out.

This book is a work of art. The depiction of mental health really resonated to me and was really relatable to my own experience. The complexities of each of the characters was so refreshing. Each character had flaws, which really relates to the motif of perfectionism in the book. I also loved that while the main character struggled due to their queer identity, the whole “coming-out” thing wasn’t the main conflict. I will recommend Honey Girl with my last dying breath. I’m completely, and utterly enamored with this book. I look forward to seeing what Morgan Rogers does next!

I haven't read anything quite like Honey Girl before. It definitely has a much more cerebral and ethereal quality to it than a lot of commercial fiction/romance crossovers, which was sometimes really exquisite when reading and sometimes a tad confusing. At this book's core is Grace's Millennial angst as she realizes that the professional path she thought she'd be on isn't working out the way she was told it would. In turn, she's neglected many other parts of her life—including her friends and mental health—in the process.

Honey Girl is a debut novel, so there are a few common execution issues (like too many side characters to keep up with and some transitions and pacing that needed to be smoothed out more), but I'm incredibly intrigued by Rogers' writing and can't wait to pick up whatever she publishes next. She's doing something different, and it's incredibly refreshing.

Also, while we're here, can we talk about how stunningly GORGEOUS this cover is????

Content warning: Mental illness, racism, homophobia, self-harm

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review. I follow the author on Twitter and have been seeing her talk about this book for months; I was very excited to be able to read it.

I love the Black LGBT+ representation in this book so much. Ah, the romance! The author’s writing style also allows you to forget that this is her debut book. I loved how the story went (no spoilers) and would like to see more from this author in the future.

It has to mean something that I started off the year with what is bound to become a new favourite.

A few days ago, I was preordering some books and I was thinking about how badly I wanted to read Honey Girl and how much I wished I had it already. Shortly after that, I got approved for it on Netgalley, so naturally, I dove in right away.

This is exactly my kind of book. It's going to be your kind of book too if you crave new adult about millennials. The thing is, our reality is so different from previous generations, and it's strange that there's so little books reflecting that. But this one absolutely does.

I was pulled in because of the romance plotline: Grace gets married in Vegas to someone she doesn't know, and after that, they start talking on the phone, getting to know each other and actually falling in love. But the romance isn't the main plotline and I stayed for Grace trying to figure out her life. Because it was so fucking relatable, and I felt her struggle so deeply. Grace and I are the same age, and we're both in a similar phase in life: you're done with uni, or you're almost done, and suddenly The Rest Of Your Life is looming over you, and you have Big Decisions to make, and you feel like you have to have everything figured out. But you don't, and you feel like you're failing somehow, and it's the most stressful thing you've ever felt. Full disclosure: this put me into such a spiral that I had to drop out of my master's because of depression. It felt therapeutic to be able to read about this struggle after I've had some time to heal. In Grace's case, she's also Black and that adds extra difficulties for her, because academia is very white and she needs to work twice as hard as everyone else and even then her merit keeps being questioned.

To be clear, though, this was not a depressing book to me. I actually found it very uplifting and hopeful overall. The writing was both profound and romantic and really pulled me into the book from the start, and I loved the relationships in the book: the romance, the friends, the found families.

A beautiful and deeply moving debut novel. I found this highly relatable and I'm sure a lot of readers will, even if you didn't marry a stranger in Vegas. Grace Porter is a wonderfully complex and resonant protagonist. The romance, while not exactly the point of the story, is so sweet. Morgan Rogers is definitely one to watch.

I picked up this book mainly because it was described as a more diverse and lesbian version of Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Truthfully, I'm not sure what I was expecting, since this book has a different author and a separate premise from RW&RB. But overall, I disagree with the comparison. This book is very different from RW&RB, in tone and concept.

Honey Girl was a thoughtfully written, emotionally raw novel following a beautifully flawed and dynamic protagonist who is doing her best to keep herself together after years of pushing herself to the limit and facing debilitating racism when trying to pursue (what she thought was) her passion. Because I expected it to be a lighter read due to the implicarion that it is similar to RW&RB, this book took me off guard and took me longer to finish that I had initially thought (I wasn't in the right head space when I had started). The first half of the book was harder than the second part, as you watch the protagonist really struggle with her mental health, and a lot of it can be really relatable if you yourself have had these struggles. But watching the protagonist do right by herself, by seeking help, forgiving herself, and taking time to heal was really cathartic.

The romance wasn't light and sweet, which probably isn't surprising considering the tone of the book that I'm describing. But it felt honest and real, and makes your heart ache a little as it develops and our leading ladies stumble. Overall, a good read. I think I need to give it another go when I'm in a better head space to really process and feel through this one.

Morgan Rogers crafted beautiful characters who shined throughout the book. People who are character-readers are sure to love this book. Even the side characters, had personalities that were extremely unique and wonderful. Despite their being quite a few characters, they were all so different from each other, I didn't get confused or bogged down.

At its core, this book is a coming of age novel. I'm so glad we're seeing more books with older characters still coming of age.

Things I loved about this book:
How positively therapy was portrayed
The characters were all so excellently developed
The relationships between all of the characters was wonderful (especially the relationship between Grace and her parents)
The monster hunting part of the book was so fun

I was hooked on Honey Girl from the first chapter. If I'm being honest, probably before I even started. The premise spoke to something in my heart and I've been searching for more sapphic romances to read! Honey Girl surpassed all my expectations. I expected a swoony romance about falling in love with your wife. But what I got was an introspective journey of dealing with the pressures of being a woman of color, needing to rely on our friends, and self-discovery. What I expected was all the sighs at falling in love. But what I got was a flood of tears at how emotional the parental relationships were and how lyrical the whole book was.

Grace felt relatable to me from the first moment I met her. From the way she's super organized, but how she also just deeply wants to have a break. A break from the hustle, the ways she is undermined by her colleagues, the systematic racism. She is overwhelmed with what and who we should be. The fight for women of color is challenging and demanding perfection. It's for all the opportunities that are never handed to you. That demand your perfection otherwise they discount not only you, but everyone after you. How after hustling for years to make her dad proud, she just needs a moment. But, at the same time, how terrifying it is to break orbit.

The feels good novel of 2020. It puts a mirror up to your heart, soul and mind. What do you do when a curveball is thrown into your perfect plan? This book, Porter's story takes you through what that looks like. I would love to see this become a film. An amazing read. Push though anything that is uncomfortable, the sun shines on the other side.

This book confronts perfectionism, micro aggressions and putting self last.

It's strange how books find you at the most opportune moments. We pick up these little packets of paper without knowing that the words within them will shape us and change us and turn us into something new. That is what this book did for me.

I've been excited about this book ever since it was compared to Queenie and Red White and Royal Blue - because those are two of my favorite books, books that touched my soul and made me feel seen. So I naively thought this book would be a cute little romance that made me smile, and that would be it.

It wasn't.

Honey Girl is an exceptional debut that reads like it was written by a very experienced author. Not only was the prose immaculate and breath-taking, but the characters were rich and the jokes made me laugh out loud. (And scream at my cat. It's fine. He's fine.) I haven't felt this way about a book...probably since Red White and Royal Blue. And I know it's dangerous (and also a disservice) to compare books, but that's the only way to explain this feeling. It's like...champagne-bubbles.

But it's also salt water.

Since I'm not a lesbian and I'm a white girl, I didn't realize how much I would relate to this story. But I cried. Few books make me cry, but this one made me feel seen down to my core. Porter is so relatable on so many levels, and she is the spitting image of being in your late twenties. Even though this book doesn't solve anything or give you the answers you've been searching for, it does make you feel less alone. It makes you laugh and smile and swoon and sometimes that's what you've been looking for the whole time.

I loved getting to see into Honey Girl's world because not only did her story resonate with me personally, but it also showed me all the ways our stories are different. I'm always trying to learn more, and I think it's important to recognize that even though I'm 25 and I feel lost about where to go with my own future, I do not have half the struggles of a Black girl (or an Indian girl, or a Dominican girl, or an Asian girl). I can only imagine, based on Honey Girl's story, how tiring that can be. It gives me a new perspective and a renewed sense that I have the power to watch out for girls like this. For people in general. That we (white people) need to open up spaces and stand up for Black women especially because they give up so much of themselves to try and fit into our boxes. And I know I'm complicit in that.

This is a book of questions and ponderings and reflections. It is undiluted joy intermingled with bone-crushing heart-break. It is all about facing the darkest parts of yourself and taking the time to find your way back to the light. And that is my favorite kind of book.

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers was a whirlwind of bubbling champagne, late neon nights, and rose-tinted glasses. This book was mesmerizing from start to finish, and I would recommend it to anyone that can get their hands on it. The romance between Grace and Yuki was tragically beautiful and made me yearn for a love of my own. Their relationship was unlike any I had ever read before, and I was fascinated by the complexity of it. Honey Girl was completely original in every aspect, and I applaud the creativity of Morgan Rogers to write such a brilliant story. The book includes so much representation: the main character and her best friend are black women, her love interest, Yuki, is Japanese, Yuki's roommate is a transgender man, and there is also a plentiful amount of mental illness representation (bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety). And, of course, everyone is gay. Honey Girl is one of my new favorite sapphic books, and I can't wait to hype it up on its release day.

HONEY GIRL was sweet, swoony, and a balm for the soul. The first chapter grabs you immediately, as we learn that our main character Grace Porter, a recent PhD grad who by all accounts has followed the rules for most of her life, has gotten married to a one-night-stand in Vegas (and now, has no idea who her wife is). It's a perfect way to introduce the character of Grace, a Black 29 year old lesbian who is adrift in her career after she is unable to find a job. The book is a bit unclassifiable. It has a lot of elements of romance, a little bit of YA (though all of the characters are older), and a pinch of coming of age. It was hard to put down, and I felt like the characters jumped right off the page. I knew them, and I wanted to hang out with them.

I wished a lot for Grace -- I wanted her to find peace and to know that she was not alone (it is always hard to see main characters say they are lonely when they seemingly have an incredible group of friends, both parents alive, and a fantastically promising love life). But I understand feeling adrift in one's professional life, and how anxiety and depression can lead to feeling completely lost at times. #ownvoices author, Morgan Rogers, deftly gives language to what it is like being a Black lesbian who strives for perfection from her overbearing father and the pressure she puts on herself, and therefore feeling like there is no place for her after a decade of academia. I was proud of Grace's by the end of the book, and her happy for her love story, and I can see this being a blockbuster of a book when it comes out early next year.

cw: depression, anxiety, mentions of a character's previous self-harm

This a gorgeous book. The prose made me want to lick something. I usual don't pay much attention to prose but the prose stole my breath. The characters all felt very organic with their own troubles and desire to find their own place in the world. The book gets five stars alone for having positive mental health conversations. The main character goes to a therapist to work out her issues for perfection. That unattainable thing that she has been told by her father is attainable. The book goes into how this lie hurts the way she sees her future so beautifully that you should just read the book because I won't be able to accurately explain how honest this book is.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

This novel is a groundbreaking debut for Morgan Rogers. Not exactly the book I expected, HONEY GIRL is a fantastic coming of age story that follows a queer Black woman who just finished her PhD. I love that our main character, Grace, is in her late twenties. Honey Girl explores great themes like loneliness, belonging, identity, queer found family, and finding a home - all things that are more commonly explored through younger characters.

Rogers tackles sexism and racism in academia, which I think makes this book a must-read. I have never read a book that more accurately depicts the feeling of burnout.

In addition to a tale of self-discovery, readers get a side of romance! In the first chapter, Grace marries the monster-loving, fable spinning, radio host, Yuki, during a drunken night in Vegas. Sapphic and hopelessly romantic, this love story is incredibly sweet. However, the true love story in Honey Girl is Grace finding herself.

Though Grace’s character arc is executed poignantly, I selfishly wanted more from our rag-tag group of queer side characters. I loved the found family aspect of this book AND the romance, and of course never wanted them to take away from Grace’s emotional journey. I think this book could have been a bit stronger if it were 50-100 pages longer. Again, it’s also very likely that I’m selfish and wanted more because i loved Grace, Yuki, and these misfits so much.

Rogers’s debut tackles an important topics with grace (pun intended), and highlights their talent for stunning prose and storytelling. I loved Honey Girl dearly, and I cannot wait to read more from her!

This women's fiction novel was captivating and compelling for a one-sitting read. Here, Grace has just completed her doctorate in astronomy and heads to Vegas to celebrate with her friends. She's the typical high achieving, good girl who always follows the rules. Yet, one night in Vegas and she drunkenly marries a woman whose name she doesn't even know and who leaves bright and early the next morning. That all happens in the first chapter, so most of the book she's dealing with grad school burnout, a rough job market, and parental expectations. To avoid all that, she flees her home in Portland to live in New York City for the summer with her stranger wife, Yuki, a late-night DJ, who discusses all things mythological and supernatural on air. Of course, this period brings them closer, enough to fall in love, but summer can't last forever and so she'll flee again in order to discover her own inner truths and desires. This book is full of authentic language that leaves me so curious to find out what happens next. However, this book is quite slow to start with a lot of exposition up top, but once you get like five chapters in, you finally want to start rooting for these complex characters, who are trying to figure out their own journeys.

I’ve been so excited for Honey Girl since it was announced, especially because it was comped to Red, White & Royal Blue with a lesbian Black protagonist! I am a firm believer of the new adult category, so I was very interested to read this book. Honey Girl is a story of healing and contemplation after a life of nonstop work.

Grace Porter has always grown up with a life plan set out by her ex-military father, one that she’s stuck to adamantly with few exceptions. That is, until she wakes up in Las Vegas married to Yuki, a woman she met the night before. They part ways, and Grace returns home only to feel more and more stifled by her life, especially with few career prospects. She calls Yuki and, after a fight with her father, impulsively decides to move to New York City where Yuki lives. There, she begins to contemplate her life more, deciding whether or not she’s truly happy and how she can begin to be.

Before I begin my thoughts, let me start by saying that this is not a romance genre book; instead, it’s a coming-of-age novel with a romance. Honey Girl depicts the comedown of millennial burnout, so to speak. Grace has lived a non-stop life because she’s never allowed herself to take a break. Eventually though, her exhaustion catches up to her.

Meeting Yuki was a catalyst to this, yes, but I’m not saying it was any one event that brought her down. Rather, it was a series of events over years that piled up until one day she had enough. It was really interesting to see Grace realizes that she needs to stop because she doesn’t know how to be happy anymore; I’m not sure another book has quite captured this experience, especially as a Black lesbian woman in a male- and white-dominated field.

She has a great support system throughout the book too; I really liked the cast of characters, who were all also LGBTQ+ and/or a person of color. Her friends are ones she considers family, and then she goes to New York and becomes close to Yuki and her friends. The bonds Grace has with her friends are so tightly knit, and I really loved seeing their dynamic.

Again, this isn’t a romance genre book so it’s not super heavy on the romance after a certain part. That being said, I did love Yuki and how she helps Grace grow. They have such a soft love and I couldn’t help but smile at their scenes.

Honey Girl is a story of burnout: when you realize that you’re not happy and that you haven’t been happy in a long time and the journey to healing and finding happiness again. Grace’s character arc is so well-written, and I really liked the characters. If you want a f/f new-adult read with a found family of LGBTQ+ people of color, I can’t recommend Honey Girl enough.

Absolutely beautiful prose, queer found family, and a heartbreakingly relatable story of feeling completely lost and existentially lonely in your late 20s.

I already know Honey Girl is one of those books that is going to stay with me. Even if I forget what happened in the book, I won’t forget how it made me feel. I went into this thinking it was a romance, and there is of course some romance considering the book centres on two strangers getting drunk married in Las Vegas, but I was very pleasantly surprised with the course of the book. It actually touches on some really deep themes of loneliness, family and Grace’s experience as a Black queer woman in academia.

When I was in high school, I actually did a monologue for my Grade 12 Drama Class called “This is My Loneliness” from the movie “Love of Siam”. It was about how the main character of the movie felt so lonely even though they were surrounded by people who cared about them. Similarly, in this book, you might wonder how two people could get drunk married to a stranger, but then also decide to stay married, and the answer is loneliness. I loved how this book handled it and there were legitimately scenes in this book that made me cry because of how real and palpable the loneliness felt.

This book also talks about family and the expectations they place on you. As a person of color, I totally get it. My parents wanted me to go to medical school as well and it really took them some time to accept that it wasn’t going to happen and that I was happy in my chosen career path. I’m really glad that the author handled this with nuance though. Family is complicated and no one is ever just good or bad, but a bit of both. It was really hard at times to read Grace and her dad’s interactions, but that’s what made it real. I’m also really happy that this tackled racism in academia. For BIPOC folks like Grace, they need to be twice as good to get to the same spot as white peers. I’m also in a really white-dominated field and while it’s certainly not as bad as astronomy, I can understand the struggle.

Overall, this was just a joy to read! I wouldn’t go into it thinking it’s exclusively a love story, but the romance is really cute. I loved all the themes it tackled and am definitely going to keep an eye out for other books from Morgan Rogers.