Ratings
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Characters: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖

My Thoughts
This is truly one of my favorite reads so far this year. The style and pacing were engaging and the story was so understandable. This was a raw and honest story with emotions and experiences voiced in a way that was just so perfect. There are so many quotes and passages that I highlighted because they were so REAL and relatable.

Amber Young is a rising pop star where her sexuality was used to really set her apart from her peers. The comparisons you see and the standards and expectations she must navigate in her personal and public relationships are truly perfect for those times.

It was so satisfying seeing Amber grow from a desperate girl who wanted fame at the cost of her voice to a woman who wasn’t afraid to speak up about her wants and needs.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. 💕

Daisy Jones and the Six for the generation that grew up on Britney and Christina.

Amber Young is scouted for a girl band at a talent show, as things start crumbling before they even started Amber launches a solo career, and while she struggles with life and the times of being in the spotlight one thing she always has on her side is her best friend Gwen Morris who is also a rising pop star and got her start the same way as Amber in a failed girl group Cloud 9

The pop culture/90s vibe was so much fun! Unfortunately, this book fell short. It was a bit boring at times. This book had so much potential. It just needed a little bit more development.

Highly recommended for lovers of coming of age novels and romance, Honey truly explores the themes of what it was like to be a rising star in the late 90s-000's. I loved most the friendship between her and Gwen, that withstood all the trials of a busy life with little time to collect yourself. The romance in this novel is not what you would expect, it is honest and raw, and it is complex unlike a lot of straight forward romance novels. Touching on both the lighter themes of love and friendship and darker themes such as alcoholism and mistreatment in the industry. Overall a 4 out of 5 read and I would recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to have a first read of this amazing book, and I will definitely be checking out more work by Isabel Banta.

I loved this book so much more than I thought I would!! There’s something about the authors that celadon publishes that have such a poetic way of writing that i really enjoy. I was worried this one would be too much like the Britney Spears story, and there were a lot of parallels of course. Even so, it was fresh bit of nostalgia and heart.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately I was unable to connect with the story at this time and therefore settle on a rating of 3 stars.

💭 MY THOUGHTS: I was super excited to do this #celadonbuddyread with @katyisreading @cabinreading and @what_whits_reading !

The 90/00s pop singers and groups are totally iconic - Britney, Christina, Justin. So it was fun to read this book from the perspective of a teenage girl going through her rise to pop icon status. In Honey you get to see the before, during and after little bit of after. It pretty much goes as you’d expect but it’s a fun ride. I kept finding myself trying to correlate who the book characters were representing in real life. Isabel did a great job creating these fake personas - very similar to Daisy Jones and the Six but YA Pop version.

I really enjoyed the audiobook. There was some music incorporated to show transitions to magazine articles and news coverage of the fake bands.

Read for:
💫 Rise to Fame
🎵 Pop Superstardom
🌅 Coming of Age
🩷 Young Love
🫶🏼 Friendship

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Spice Level: 🌶️/ 5

This is a book that I had FOMO about! It seemed everyone was reading and talking about it. And I couldn't get anyone to send me a copy. Thank You Netgalley for granting my wish. That being said - it kind of got lost among the millions of ebooks I needed to read. Really physical books work best for me. ANYWAY - Honey by Isabel Banta is basically about Amber Young (so many Ambers in this time period!) who is selected to be in a girls group in 1997. IF you followed the music of girls and girl groups in the 90s and early 2000s you will love this. I am a little old for this - but being a teacher and parent I think I could connect. The writing is well done and has an easy flow. i will definitely recommend to others.

I really enjoyed this book. The 90s/2000s pop culture nostalgia was right up my alley and it felt like I was given an insider's look into a Britney, Christina, Mariah, Jessica, Justin, Hollywood story. I loved Amber's growth throughout the novel and her relationship with Axel. I was just left wanting more. The book at times felt like I was reading it through a filter. I need more depth and and just more. The end article just felt like a copout. I understand she wasn't ready with Axel, but I felt like I would have read a whole book on that dynamic alone. Even still I really enjoyed myself and I couldn't put it down.

I was so excited to be selected to preview this uncorrected proof in exchange for my honest review. I had previously seen it on book of the month and was curious to read it. With that, I went in with high expectations. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I liked the story of the rising pop star, but never really felt that hook or connection to the characters. Maybe it just wasn’t the right time for me to read it, but it was a bit laborious to complete.. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the oppty to preview this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book brought me so much joy!! It was like being able to teleport back to Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake early days!! And so many other of my favorite artists of that time. If you like Britney’s memoir you’re going to LOVE this even more! 🩷

A huge thank you to Celadon Books for not only this early copy but for bringing together new friendships here on bookstagram!!

I’ve been paired with three amazingly awesome bookstagrammers for a buddy read of Honey by Isabel Banta.

Also, not me shedding a tear when a story taking place in the late ‘90’s early 2000’s being described as Historical Fiction?!! I’m not well! 🤧 😭😭🤣🤣🤣

Now, a little about Honey 💿💿

💿 A coming-of-age story that follows the meteoric rise of singer Amber Young as she navigates fame in the late-90s and early-2000s era of pop music superstardom It is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call.

💿 About the Author: Isabel Banta is a writer, book publicist, and indie bookseller based in Brooklyn.

💿 336 Pages

💿 Fiction + Literature Genres, Coming of Age

Let me not forget an even bigger thank you to Libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for an early listening copy!! This audiobook truly brought this story to life!! I still can’t believe this was debut novel!! W2G! I can’t wait to pick up more books by this author!!!

4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

i liked this a LOT more than i thought i would. it gives such nostalgic vibes to a time i was too young to remember. amber is a decent character who wants fame and is hungry for attention and engagement. it’s hard knowing that any of the pop stars we know and love have gone through these things or something different and how everything can be manipulated by the media ms other people.

still i enjoyed the second half of this book a lot more than the first but the first did serve its purpose.

This book screams 90s nostalgia! The main characters reminded me of real pop stars like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

It was such a fun read. The pacing was good, and the main characters were a hoot! I loved the concept of a 'behind the scenes' look at the 90s pop scene. The main character was a little annoying at times, but I just think it made her story that much better in the end.

This is a really good book that will make you feel all the feelings! I'm a millennial so I really identified with the character!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

welcome back daisy jones & the six, we’ve missed you! no but seriously if you’ve been looking for a fix after loving tjr, may i present miss isabel banta??? SUCH a good story and filled with so much heart and passion, i felt like she was a real person and it was giving very much 2000s britney (so maybe not as close to tjr, but did you see where i was coming from there?) anyways, highly recommend checking out this book!

I liked the way the author captured the time period in this book. What I had trouble with was connecting to any of the characters.

Thank Celadon for providing with an advanced copy in exchange for writing a review.

Amber has grown up in a single parent household wth her mom and brother. She loves to sing and can thing of nothing else she wants to do. The reader get to embark on her journey to become famous with a few friendships she develops along the way. The books has a primary focus on the 90s when boy or girl bands were a big thing.

I was hoping to enjoy the book more than I did. I struggled connecting with Amber throughout the story. I wasn’t very interested in those bands in the 90s and perhaps if I was the story would have resonated with me more than it. The book did capture my attention enough that I wanted to read it to the very end. I would consider reading another book by this author and I appreciate having had the opportunity to read this book. I liked her writing style and there were some memorable quotes.

Early 2000’s nostalgia at its best! The author captured the essence of the TRL music scene, and the inside of the entertainment industry during that time with impeccable accuracy. I would have liked more from a story development standpoint, and the ending seemed rushed, but I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy myself. I would definitely still recommend!

HONEY by came HIGHLY recommended by Bookstagram and it did not disappoint! Set in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s, the book follows one of the era’s teen pop icons, Amber Young — her career, her rise to fame, and the rumors through out it all.

I couldn’t help but compare the fictional pop stars to our real ones — Britney, Christina, Jessica, Justin. I feel like the book nailed the balance of feeling very real and derivative of real people without crossing over to a complete rip off.

A big part of the story — which should come as no surprise considering how much pop stars are sexualized — was Amber’s own sexuality and how it shaped her career. I loved how headstrong she was as a character— through every challenge she faced, I was rooting for her not feeling sorry for her.

The audio for this one is fantastic! One of my fave audiobook narrators @britpressley brought Amber to life! (There are song lyrics in the book, but they are spoken not sung, btw!)

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. i thought this would be one for me with all the nostalgia of it. i even liked the premise of regular girl becomes major pop star but i don't think it was executed quite well. the character building and the chapters themselves could have used more building up because it all felt unfinished. why couldn't we be shown all the little details of being a beloved popstar, especially in her private life and maybe some conflict with public life.