After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

I was Amber’s age during the time frame of this novel so I was excited to read a story about a rising pop star. This music was the soundtrack to my high school and college years. Unfortunately, the overall story fell flat for me. It just never went deep enough into all the topics it tried to address.

I did like the writing style, how it was written like an autobiography with lyrics, interviews, and magazine articles interspersed throughout but I longed for more of the 90s-early 2000s nostalgia. There were things briefly mentioned but honestly, the story felt like it could take place during any time period. Overall, a good debut novel.

I also listened to the audio as well as reading an e-copy. I really enjoyed the narrator and thought she did a good job. I do wish that when we were given song lyrics, they had been sung rather than spoken.

Banta's writing evokes the captivating rise and struggle of young pop stars. I couldn’t be the only one thinking about Britney the entire time while reading.

However, Honey falters slightly in its execution. While the premise is intriguing, the plot can feel a bit scattered at times. The sheer number of influences mentioned raises expectations that aren't always fully delivered upon.

Despite this, Honey is a compelling read for those who crave a behind-the-scenes look at the pop music industry. The story reminds us of the humanity behind the carefully crafted pop personas and the challenges young stars face in navigating fame. If you're looking for a nostalgic trip with a dose of harsh reality, Honey is worth a read.

This book fell flat for me: the fun was suppose to be in being a teenage pop star, the glitz glam and fun and that portion of the story was sincerely lacking. No attachment to the character with minimal character growth.

3.5 stars

As someone who enjoyed Britney Spears' memoir and Daisy Jones and the Six, I was so excited to read this book! Honey follows 90's pop star, Amber Young, from her rough childhood to her rise to fame. I liked how it was written like an autobiography and had news articles and lyrics sprinkled in. If feels very true to the time it is set in and it was interesting to reflect on how women singers were talked about and treated back then versus today. There were times while reading that I was really invested in what was going on, but there were also times when it dragged on. I really liked the last 25% of the book because I felt like that was were there was the most character growth, I just wish that had been more prevalent throughout the whole book. Overall I liked reading it and if anything I felt a little sad that it didn't quite live up to the potential that was there. I wish the author had just gone for it and made the book more raw and dramatic.

4.5 🌟 For all those obsessed with early 2000s pop and boy bands, this is for you. I primarily read fantasy but books about fake celebrities are my kryptonite. The main character will not be for everyone, which is kind of the point. She’s very much a you love her or you hate her, or in some cases you love to hate her. She’s real. She makes mistakes like any child star does trying to grow up in the public eye. She reminded me a lot of Britney Spears or Miley Cyrus in her Can’t be Tamed era. For parents she is a nightmare. There is much discussion about her being a bad role model for her audience, which is something very relevant in today’s culture. I’m glad it was brought up. Her responses to the criticism were handled so well and is a good reminder that is it on a celebrity’s job to raise your child. Something I enjoyed was that our main character wasn’t a huge success right off the bat. She struggled to find her voice and make the charts. She was constantly being compared and pitted against her competitors, which happen to also be girls around her age. I appreciated the commentary on the double standards of male singers vs female singers. This book was hard hitting at times, but also so much fun! I loved all the 90s/early 2000s nostalgia. It is full of interviews, articles, and magazine quizzes that remind me of being a teenager and reading J-14 and Tiger Beat like it was my religion. This book felt like a trip down memory lane. It is a reminder of the pressures of being famous and that celebrities are people too. I really enjoyed the format of the epilogue. It gave me much needed closure!

I really wanted to love this one! The 90s - early 2000s era is perfect for me. I hoped for a lot more nostalgia. A few bands and artists were name dropped but that's about it. The novel follows Amber as she becomes a pop star. It barely mentions a whisp of some really important topics like eating disorders, sexual misconduct, 9/11, etc. but does not address them at all.

I honestly really struggled with this one. I wanted to love it, i was hoping it would be like Daisy Jones, Mary Jane or The People We Keep but it wasn't... The writing felt very amateur, almost like it was written using voice to text, and talked way more about a teen girls sexual life than it needed to. It could have been better unfortunately.

i read this in a day and cried. this was so beautiful and personal, so nostalgic for a life i never lived in a time when i wasn’t alive (or was very young). the way that banta delves into womanhood from the retrospective is so heartwarming. she reminds us that no matter where we come from or who we become, all young women experience the same thing. this made me grateful to no longer be a teenage girl and now i want to read it all over again.

recommended listening:
across the universe - fiona apple
fade into you - mazzy star

thank you to netgalley for an arc of this in exchange for my honest feedback!

A young-pop star’s journey to fame in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. A stunning pink cover. So much promise!

My heart was set on sex, drugs, and rock n roll. I wanted Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. I craved parties and fame, with a side of humour.

What I got was broken homes, childhood trauma, exploitation, loneliness. While I’m sure many will resonate with this more “realistic” fictional drama, it fell flat for me.

3⭐️

I did not make it far into this book. Early on, I found it irritating to read. With each page, I was frustrated, and the further I got, the less original the story became. I know there is a ton of buzz around this book, but I'm struggling to figure out why.

5 star!!

Thoughts: If you are now a late 30s to early 40s millennial that grew up in the era of TRL, pop stars, and boy bands. I think you will love this book. Although I saw mixed reviews, I really fell in love with the characters. having read a few of these popstar memoirs in the last couple of years made me feel empathetic to the characters in this book. I loved the drama and element of what the press puts out isn’t always reality or truth, to me, this book just felt so nostalgic to what I grew up in the midst of!

This was like Daisy Jones meets Evelyn Hugo but with more grit. A tough story that highlights many of the issues of the entertainment industry. I found the characters were overall intriguing and liked the progression of the story - but I found the pacing to be a bit strange. I'm not sure if it was the formatting of the ARC on Kindle, but there were moments where we completely changed scenes within the same chapter, and I found myself lost because the change in scene was so abrupt.

Overall, a great debut!

I need a hug after reading this book.

Banta does such an interesting and good job of talking about the loneliness associated with fame. Amber has always been lonely. As a child her brother and alcoholic mother are always fighting and she tries to sing in her room to escape, but also remind people that she's there. At a talent show, she is "discovered" but eventually has to quit because her mom is tired of driving to and from NYC for auditions- which is completely valid.

Eventually Amber is given a chance to join a girl group, Cloud9, which puts her foot in the door for her music career. However, once she goes solo, her persona has to be in contrast to the other young women in the business.... And because the "good girl" and the "girl with a secret" are already taken, Amber is forced into the role of the "bad girl" the "sexual deviant," etc. That's not to say that there aren't parts of her in her persona, but it does mean that she has a part to play.

That idea of a "part to play" is a cornerstone of this story. Relationships, friendships, etc. are all made public or hidden based on what the studios think the public wants. Somehow this is even more sad to me. Amber can have a relationship, she can have a best friend, but the public cannot know about it. The public MUST think of her as the villain.

This is such an interesting story about figuring out who you are (in the public eye no less) and being unapologetic about it. I will give a small spoiler alert and let people know that there are just as many happy moments in this book as there are sad, and to be honest, there are probably a few more happy moments than the sad ones. So while this review makes it sound sad, it's also an incredibly heartfelt, happy book as well.

3.5⭐️

I liked how they explored Isabel Banta explores the topic of women’s sexuality and expectations upon them.

I found the story itself interesting, but didn’t find myself relating to Amber Young or any of the side characters. By the end, I could see a glimpse of who Amber is, but it didn’t feel like her character was fully fleshed out.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow, this ended up surpassing my expectations. When I first received it, I was very excited to read. It is definitely nostalgic for a 90's baby when it comes to the pop princes and princesses of the era (think Britney, Nsync, Christina etc). I found the peek behind very interesting to see what their lives are like and the struggles young people may face. Overall I would have given 4 stars as I think the characters are a bit under developed, and that it is more of a lightly touching on their issues, but I could not put this book down, so bumped up to 4.5 (Rounded to 5). Banta's writing style is addictive in the best way!

I loved this story so much!!! Gwen, Amber and Wes are three young people who are rising superstars in the pop music world. They navigate fame, fortune and all of the ups and downs associated with their new popularity. What a lovely coming-of-age story under the glare of the public eye as they age and try to figure out what is real and what is fake in their crazy lives!!!

Beautiful debut from the author. Thank you to netgalley and Celadon Books for the chance to read and review this book!!!

There are things I loved about this book, 90s/00s boy band/pop stars living through the ups and downs of becoming and being famous and things that I didn't love about this book, grazing over important topics like they weren't important.

This book had a lot of potential but fell a little flat for me. I wish we dove more deeply into the downs of the characters. I feel what they were trying to do was show what it was like for the pop stars we had in the late 90s/early 00s but it just didn't hit fully for me but saying that, I would still recommend this book to anyone that wants a little nostalgia in their lives.

Could not put this one down! As someone who was a huge fan of pop music as a kid, this felt very nostalgic for me to read. It captured that time period of Britney Spears/Nsync perfectly! I felt so bad for Amber and the way people treated her, but was happy she got her happy ending in the end. I honestly could’ve read so much more of her story.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read Honey :)

I really enjoyed this book. The late 90s early 2000s nostalgia coupled with the music industry piqued my interest.
The one downfall is that a lot of the central characters were either unlikable or unremarkable.
There was a feminist tone to it that I appreciated and the plot revolving around Amber's journey through the music industry made for an interesting read.