I wanted to like this book so bad, but I just couldn't get over the things that annoyed me about it. For one, the friendships were so faux-hipster it hurt. Each time I read "I love you so much it hurts" I told myself I would stop reading it, but I ended up sticking through the whole thing. Second, I was really looking for more between Grace and Yuki. It seems they barely had a chance to develop a relationship before things blow up, and then the resolution is so tightly wrapped up.

There were some things going for Honey Girl that I really was happy to see. The representation of BIPOC women in STEM struggling to break into their careers is real and something that deserved to be highlighted. I also appreciated the focus on academic burnout and how much that can impact a recent grad. The first six month after getting my Bachelors degree was a shitshow, so I couldn't imagine how it would feel going straight through from Bachelors to Grad School to PHD.

I wish I loved Honey Girl but I really didn't. There were topics covered in the book that I loved to see, but overall I couldn't get into the major hipster vibes and lack of relationship development between the two love interests.

“Lonely creatures, what makes us so different from the stories we tell in the dark?”

Grace is not having a good time. Despite having loving communities, she feels isolated. So much so, she freaks out and marries a stranger in Vegas.

Once I realized that this was more Women’s Lit and less Romance, I was able to enjoy this book so much more. Morgan Rogers tackles deep topics: expectations, maneuvering professional spaces as a Black woman, self-love, and making room in your life for others.
The different representations of a family are an integral part of this book. Grace has her biological family and all its drama as well as her found families. The depiction of queer community in this book feels so much like my own. Seeing these bonds and benevolent exchanges warmed my heart.

Honey Girl is the healing narrative I needed during a tumultuous period in my career. Even though I’m not a Black and white woman, I am a biracial Filipinx Mexican who struggles in a field where I have no family connections and I have to constantly fight for my space and respect from my peers.

This book is a refreshing and much-needed novel in the literary canon. Roger’s depiction of Black and Brown folks finding solidarity in predominately white spaces is so real. We need to have it out in the open because the truth is if we don’t talk about how difficult it is to maneuver professional spaces as a BIPOC and its toll on our mental health, we will never get rid of this toxic work culture.

Sometimes the writing felt a little unsure in Roger’s debut. The number of flashbacks that occurred within the first act (especially the first couple of chapters) was difficult to get through since I hadn’t established a strong enough rapport with Grace. While I love nonlinear storytelling, there was not enough distinction or transition between the flashbacks and the present, which led to a lot of rereading. Because of the placement, a lot of the flashbacks interrupted the plot’s flow instead of giving context.

I am excited to watch Roger’s growth as a writer and I can’t wait for the next book!

As someone who is queer, I was so excited to read this book as sapphic romances aren’t a popular genre. I liked Grace Porter and the depiction of found family, unfortunately this book wasn’t for me though. I wasn’t a fan of the relationship Porter had with her wife, and I felt like the NYC plot line was tossed out randomly, leaving some of the best characters behind in the process.

Honey Girl - Morgan Rogers

This book is out tomorrow! Thank you to netgalley for this arc. Honey Girl is an FF romance with more of a focus on self discovery and growth. We follow Grace Porter after she gets drunk and marries a women in Vegas. She has just graduated with her PhD in astronomy, and as a queer Black women she is struggling with what’s next. She goes to spend a summer with her wife, Yuki, in hopes of taking a break and figuring out her next steps.

This story was written so beautifully. It really delves into the feelings of perfectionism, and the feelings of “what now” post graduation. Grace feels the need to be the best and to be perfect. This book also deals with mental health, and therapy. It’s a character driven story and it’s done really well. It also just has a cute romance that will make you believe in love. I don’t know if I can say any more to convince you to pick it up but it’s definitely a must read!!

This was exactly the type of LGBTQ+ romance I was looking for! Very sweet, but also incredibly realized. I loved watching Grace come to terms with her goals and mental state. Very cute and thought-provoking.

No, of course I didn't snivel my way through this book while on an airplane. How can just one book be such a cute, thoughtful, poetic, coming-of-age story? It seems impossible, but I think Morgan Rogers pulled it off with Honey Girl. It's a classic Las Vegas love story, but this time featuring a Black queer astronomer who comes from a dysfunctional family. Y'all, if you were looking for a book that features realistic themes, this is it. More coming-of-age than romance, Honey Girl follows Grace as she upends her life to move to New York City to get to know her now wife, Yuki, as well as finally face the pressures of life that led to where she is today.

Found family? Check. Therapy? Check. Needing a break after school? Check. Not knowing what to do next? Check. Diverse? Check. Dysfunctional family? Check. I mean, somehow Morgan Rogers took these TOTALLY NORMAL qualities of real life and made them feel normal in a book. Like, this just felt real to me and I am convinced during my four hours of reading Grace must have been right there besides me, because I was such a mess and the book isn't even really sad. It's just...real and beautiful.

I know, this is one of those reviews that rambles, it was a good book, okay? While I did want more romance and wish it hadn't been billed as such, we just don't get enough Yuki, the rest of this book is just so darn perfect. Grace is an incredible protagonist, I love that she is queer, successful, and still figuring things out. We spend a lot of time being spoon fed perfection and I think Grace not having it all together really is what should be considered perfect. She has a powerful voice, she and Yuki share some poetic, emotional dialogue, and Rogers gives Grace and Yuki an incredible set of diverse friends and family. Rogers spends a lot of time deep diving into the exhaustion and mental health that comes from striving for perfection, she shows Grace running from her problems, struggling to find the right therapist for her, learning how to open up, and recognizing that it isn't always all going to be together, but that doesn't make it any less right.

I have a hard time believing this is Morgan Rogers' debut novel, because Honey Girl was just such a bright spot in my reading list. It checked all the boxes for a contemporary coming-of-age fiction and I loved how authentic it was.

Wow Grace is really hitting the nerve of what I'm going through in my early twenties the dread of finishing school, the loneliness, and feeling a bit stunted despite having an idea of where you want your life to go towards. Sis is really hitting my heart with her new found family, her unexpected wifey, and finding new friends in adulthood. This did a theme that i don't gravitate towards well (getting married in Vegas). Now I personally wouldn't consider this a purely romance novel i just feel like this is a more women's lit novel but maybe that's just me. either way I love how this got me in my feels and this is a good start to Morgan Rogers career.

Honey Girl follows Grace Porter, who we meet in Vegas on a celebratory girl's trip after getting her Ph.D. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, *except* when Porter gets drunkenly married to a stranger and then moves across the country to spend the summer getting to know her wife. This out-of-character decision sends her on a bit of a spiral as she questions her place in her family, her career, and the world.⁠
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While the synopsis led me to believe this would be a fun, contemporary romance, what I found was a slower, thoughtful story of self-determination (with a hint of romance 😉).⁠

This book had been hyped up online for a bit so when I received a copy of it I was super excited, especially because it was perfect reading material for black history month. This book offers so much to those 20 somethings who are stuck in life by offering a late coming of age storyline, to those who have mental health issues by offering you a trio of best friends who all bring their own struggles to the forefront, and to those who love a good soft f/f romance (extra points for it an interracial relationship in which neither is white). I thought Grace Porter was so relatable in the way she had a concrete plan for herself that faded more and more into the distance with time. She was on a long winded journey to a big goal and somewhere along the way, she had forgotten what she had even been working towards this whole time. It leaves a person feeling like a failure before they've even been given an opportunity to fail. And this feeling is only amplified when it happens to a person of color, when career opportunities are not as plentiful. And Rogers does not shy away from digging this issue deep into Grace's character, tearing her apart emotionally and mentally. And we the reader have to see her flounder and start all over again, figuring out the healthiest way to do so. When beginning this "fluffy" romance novel, I truly wasn't expecting this kind of storyline to be given such a spotlight but I'm so glad it was there. It made Grace that much more complex and multi-dimensional. And Yuki...... can it get anymore adorable? I love how she balanced Grace and how her magnificent mind worked and learned through the stories of others, especially with her podcast. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the found families both girls had, how diverse and funny they were. I was never bored reading about them. In fact, it made me envious wishing I had that kind of community for myself. If you enjoy the humor and romance of Red White and Royal Blue but the emotional coming of age aspect of Radio Silence, I think you would love this read!

I think Honey Girl is categorized as contemporary romance, but it is so much more than that. There’s Black and queer representation (along with a fully diverse cast of characters that represent what America really looks like), mental health, the power of beautiful, strong friendships, the complexities of family dynamics, and more. This is one I’ll be unpacking for a while.⁣

Thank you @netgalley and @parkrowbooks for the egalley of Honey Girl, which is scheduled for publication on Tuesday (2/23).

I finally found my first 5 star contemporary this year. I loved everything about this book.
We follow a girl name Grace who feels like she needs to be the best because that’s all that she’s been taught. To be better and never allowed to ever have a moment and having her dad there making her feel like what she’s accomplished isn’t good enough. As she is struggling to find herself, which we find out later that her dad had given her tickets to Las Vegas where she had too much to drink, and ended up marrying a woman name Yuki. This f/f romance was the sweetest thing I’ve ever read. Grace lets go of everything, her friends, family and her job to find love and the way Morgan put this together was beautifully done in a very poetic way. I also love the side characters as the play a major role in her life. We later find out that she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and anxiety and was very well done. I highly recommend this book and I want to say thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for this early copy for an honest review.

Sometimes coming up with weaknesses is the hardest part of writing my reviews. See, there's no reason I should have found a character written to be a bi-racial lesbian astonomer so relatable. I'm a priveleged old white woman. But her struggles felt universal.

Grace Porter is strong and determined. These qualities get her through life, all the way to achieving a doctorate degree in astonomy. She's determined to make her father proud of her by being successful in spite of his dream to have her go into medicine. But being a woman, especially a woman of color, in a field dominated and controlled by old white men is hard. After walking out of her graduation ceremony - she assumes from disappointment - her father sends her and two of her close friends to Vegas to celebrate. That's where the book really begins.

In Vegas, Grace meets a girl who she feels really 'sees' her. They get drunk, and married. While Grace feels like it makes her happy, she's pretty sure getting drunken married in Vegas doesn't fall under her father's list of what makes an admirable Porter family member. She keeps it all to herself while she tries to work out what to do in her head.

The story goes on with Grace deciding how she wants to be the best. Does it have to mean working with other respected astronomers? Can it include the adorable wife she's getting to know? Grace's struggles of living up to her parents' expectations, and trying to figure out her own expectations, are way too real.

I loved Grace, and her close friends who became her chosen family. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to women and young adults who like stories about emotional growth.

A refreshingly original take on coming to terms with one’s direction in life.

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. To celebrate, 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...

That is exactly what happens. 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. After all, she’s a woman, she’s Black, and she’s a lesbian.

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. As they get to know each other properly and fall in love, Grace is aware that her escape to NY is temporary, and that she needs to face the obstacles and unhappiness in her life if she ever wants to heal.

This is the #ownvoices debut novel from Morgan Rogers, and she does a phenomenal job of making Grace a fully fleshed out character. I felt as if I knew her and could feel the struggles she was going through. The book is at its best when painting a realistic portrait of what happens to a person when they do something unexpected that shakes them to their core. Grace feels her life went off the rails, which simultaneously reveals other struggles and hardships that she has gone through over the years...some of those with her own mother and father. She has a wonderful and eclectic group of friends around her who are always there for her.

I also appreciate the handling of heavy topics like depression and anxiety.

The aspect that I found less compelling was, oddly enough, the romance. I didn’t find Grace’s new wife, Yuki, to be likable. Yuki has an odd sense of humor and uses odd metaphors when speaking, some of them repeatedly. I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two women, and while I understand why it was essential to the story (as it’s the first time Grace has lost control and it sets things in motion), I much preferred when the story focused on Grace, her personal struggles, and her friends and family.

All in all, an enjoyable debut that many in the book world will undoubtedly love. I’m looking forward to reading more from the author.

Thank you to Park Row Books for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for this book, and providing a widget through NetGalley. The novel will be published on 2/23/21.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

An outstanding unconventional romance ultimately about learning to love yourself. The author perfectly hooks the reader in from the beginning with a shocking, The Hangover-esque opening scene when our protagonist/title character awakes to the choppy memory of the night before— her spontaneous wedding to a stranger. What unravels is a coming-of-age-at-29 comedy/drama of the tightly wound Grace Porter. Her drunken impromptu wedding has thrown off her perfectly crafted life plan, forcing her to question her relationships with her military father, her free spirited, physically absent mother, and herself. She’s anchored by her supportive, ragtag group of BIPOC besties. And she’s absolutely taken by her new wife, Yuki. A lovely story about personal growth that unabashedly features the power of therapy and actively working on oneself.

I really wanted to love this one, but it just wasn't my favorite. It absolutely could've been my frame of mind at the time - too much going on elsewhere to concentrate.

Honey Girl is a millennial coming-of-age book for adults with a romantic underbelly. It features a black lesbian main character who just finished her PhD in astronomy and is trying to figure life out; part of this figuring out also includes figuring out where the girl she drunkenly met in Vegas fits into her life plan. This was such a wonderfully emotional read with a cast of characters that felt so real, flawed, and loveable. The queer found families are so beautiful and the familial relationships are so honest and raw. The writing is poetic and stunning. I would recommend this book to every person that feels lost in the never ending expanse of the universe.

Honey Girl is absolutely going to be one of my favorite books of the year. I fell in so much love with the characters, setting, and the message of this book. I went in for sapphic romance and came out like someone took all of the anxieties inside my chest, put them on paper, and did their best to soothe them.

This is a coming of age book for people who are adults but not adults. For people who are in college entering the workforce. For people who are in their mid-twenties and still feel like their life hasn't started. As a current college student, everything Grace Porter worries about is something I've worried about. The talks about her anxieties for the future and burn out were so relatable. It feels like burn out is becoming a problem for younger and younger folks, and it shouldn't be. Her thoughts about loneliness hit so close to home and I feel like will keep doing that with so many readers across the board.

This book is so full of love as well, but not just romantic. It's tender and comforting and beautiful. The familial love, the platonic love, the romantic love, all of it is so well fleshed out and so apparent in the way Grace treats those around her.

This book has so many layers, so much complexity, and so much love. It made me cry, it made me laugh, and it made me think about so many things.

Honey Girl, I love you!

I received an advanced copy of Honey Girl through NetGalley so I could share my review with you!

Grace Porter is sensible, sometimes to the point of destruction. She’s worked hard her whole life, pushing to prove that she is someone worth being proud of, someone worth caring about. After earning her Ph.D. in astronomy, Grace is thrust into an extremely white and straight working world. No matter where she turns, every road she takes seems to lead to a dead-end. To celebrate her new achievement (while escaping from her new career obstacles) Grace embarks on a girls’ trip to Las Vegas. After a night of partying and joy, Grace wakes up with a ring on her finger and a wedding photo on her nightstand, but with only fleeting memories of the woman standing next to her in the picture. Getting drunk-married to a stranger was absolutely not in Grace’s life plan. But why does it seem like the only person that makes sense in her life is someone she only known for a single night?

You can get your copy of Honey Girl on February 23rd from Park Row Books!

This book’s beautifully illustrated cover was what initially drew me towards reading Honey Girl, but what kept me invested was how intensely the story explored young adulthood and discovering one’s sense of self. Each of the characters felt like a complete and vital individual, thrumming with life and dreams. I recognized myself scattered among the different characters, in all of their quirks and ambitions. What made this book most memorable for me, though, was the way it confronted the difficulties that nearly all young people face when trying to find their places in the world. Additionally, Honey Girl was written from an intersection between Black and Queer identities that are all too often excluded from the publishing world. Morgan Rogers will be an author to watch out for in the coming years if you are a fan of deep, well-written contemporary fiction!

My Recommendation-

If you are a type-A, work-yourself-into-the-ground sort of person, I would highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Honey Girl. This story addresses the difficulties of finding a path in the complicated mess of a world in a truly remarkable way!

Going into Honey Girl, I was expecting a fun and humorous romance between two women. That’s not what this story is, for those that, like me, thought this was a romance novel. Don’t get me wrong, there is a romantic relationship (that I would die for) in this book, but at its heart, this is a story about the main character feeling lost after her life plan has come to an end. This is a story about lonely creatures wondering what comes next and of feeling lost underneath all of the expectations of others.
Honey Girl follows Grace Porter as she’s trying to find her way into the career field of astronomy. She’s just graduated with her PhD in astronomy and her first interview was so bad that she walked out on the interviewers. Grace is black and a lesbian, so she not only faces the struggle of being a woman in this scientific field, but also those that come with being black and queer. Grace and her two best friends, Ximena and Agnes, take a vacation to Las Vegas to blow off some steam now that Grace has finished her degree. Grace wakes up the next morning with hazy memories of a girl who smells of sea-salt. With a picture, and a quickly written note, and her memories, Grace realizes she got married the night before to someone whose name she can’t even remember. After returning home, she receives rejection after rejection from jobs she’s interviewed for. She feels lost, but she doesn’t know what to do about it. Her whole life she’s had a plan and she’s followed that plan. But what is she supposed to do when there isn’t a plan to follow any longer?
Grace keeps her marriage a secret until one night, she finally confides in her two best friends. Together the three of them listen to Yuki’s radio show about monsters. These monsters reflect humanity and loneliness. Grace works up the nerve to call Yuki, finding herself intrigued by this girl who smells of flowers and tells stories of monsters. With the pressure of her life and expectations from others, Grace escapes Portland and flees to New York, to Yuki.
I cannot say enough good things about this book. I have to start by talking about the writing. This story was written so beautifully. The words were lyrical, emotion-filled, and a tad whimsical. I highlighted so many lines from this story on my Kindle. There was no way I wasn’t going to get pulled into this story. To believe that these monsters Yuki talks about might just be real. Now, Grace, she’s really struggling but she doesn’t know how to talk about it or what to do about it. I really appreciated that because I honestly feel like that’s where I am currently. I finished my degree in 2020 and I know what I want to do next, but unlike Grace, I don’t know how to stick to the plans I make. I loved seeing Grace and Yuki fall in love. Following them as they got to know one another was an honor. They were both such fascinating characters that I couldn’t help but love them individually and together. I love that they got their happy ending.
There are several different kinds of love shown in this story. The obvious one, romantic love, between Yuki and Grace. But there’s also so many amazing friendships. The platonic love between Grace and her two best friends was a joy to read about. All three of them are imperfect humans, but getting to know these three was hard and wonderful. It reminded me of my relationship with Antonia (love you so much it hurts). There is also the love between siblings. Meera and Raj are Grace’s sister and brother by choice rather than by blood. I loved the three of them interact. But even more, I enjoyed seeing Grace’s relationship with them individually. Meera and Grace work together at Meera’s family’s tea shop. Meera knows what to say, when to say it, and when to say nothing at all. Then there’s Raj, Graces older brother. When they see each other in New York it was so hard to read, but their love for one another was so clear. Only those that love you know exactly what to say to hurt you. Finally, Grace’s parents divorced when she was young. She doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother and her father is a Colonel in the military and raised Grace like she was one of his soldiers. It’s his expectations that she’s trying and failing to live up to. I liked the development of Grace’s relationships with them. There’s progress by the end of the book, but everything isn’t suddenly ‘all better.’ This was realistic and I really liked it.
There are some really tough topics covered in this book, including but not limited to: racism, sexism, mental health, self-harm, and homophobia. I think these topics were discussed and included with thoughtfulness and care. (Though I’m not the authority on that for racism, but this is an own voices story.) I think this story was hard to read at times, but it’s such an important one that I hope many people read and love as much as I do. I think the discussion surrounding therapy was so good and so important. There are several characters that talk about going to therapy and talking to their therapists. It’s always discussed in a positive light and I really appreciated that. There’s even a scene of Grace finding the right therapist (meaning she goes to several before she finds one that is right for her).
Finally, the found families. Both Grace and Yuki have created their own families. We get to meet Grace’s while she’s still in Portland and we continue to see them throughout the story. I loved them almost as much as I loved Grace and Yuki. Once Grace gets to New York, we meet Yuki’s roommates, her found family. They are all hilarious and hardworking people. I loved them too.
Overall, Rogers has created a story that will linger in my mind long after I’ve finished reading it. The writing was nothing short of beautiful. The characters were diverse, well developed, so funny, and a genuine pleasure to read about. This is a story about a woman trying to find her place in the world, trying to find out what comes next, and I think it’s such an important story that will speak to so many people. I will be recommending this book until the end of time.

Vegas Wedding romances are usually fun, mostly light-hearted stories, but Honey Girl is definitely not that. When I picked this one up, it was labeled as women's fiction, and that about sums it up as far as genre, so if you're looking for a lot of romance, you won't find it here. What you will find is a wonderfully written debut by a talented author who is now on my watch list. The story hits on some heavy subject matter at times, but it's also hopeful - it may take some time getting there, but it's there. This book is so well done, and Grace is a character I won't soon forget. Her journey is one that kept me turning pages, and if you enjoy the genre, I'd certainly recommend Honey Girl.