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.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.
This was a really fun book! I chose this book for two reasons: 1- It has been highly recommended to me as a popular upcoming book. 2- It is narrated by one of my favorite audiobook narrators, Brittany Presley! (I could listen to her read almost anything!) I was lucky enough to get accepted for both the ebook arc and audiobook alc!

This was a great story. I would say it is a coming-of-age story, but not necessarily appropriate for young adults. I probably am also slightly younger than the target audience for this book, as a late 90s baby. While it alluded to pop culture icons of the 90s and early 2000s, it doesn't mention many of them by name (Britney, Nysnc, Backstreet Boys, etc), This was a fact, I was slightly surprised by.
I should mention that there are certain topics that might be too sensitive for some readers, so please check your trigger warnings.
Overall, this was a fantastic debut novel, and I look forward to reading more books by Isabel Banta in the future!
—


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

********


If you are interested in seeing more of my reviews and other content feel free to connect with me here <3:

https://linktr.ee/bookreviewsbyjules (links to my Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, Storygraph, My blog and Substack newsletter, etc)

If you are a publisher or author who has questions about my reviews (as well as questions about my stats, reach or engagement), please free to email me. I am also open to requests for book reviews from authors or publishers. Thank you again for taking time to read my review, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

This was a very fun and nostalgic read! As an elder millennial I really enjoyed the 90’s and early 00’s references. I really enjoyed the characters in this book especially Amber. This totally gave me Daisy Jones vibes and I would absolutely recommend it if you enjoy books like that.

I was VERY intrigued by the synopsis was so intriguing (a young girl turns into a mega pop star) and those plots always get me but with books of similar storylines (think Daisy and Evelyn Hugo but I did not enjoy this one as much!The main character was someone narcissistic and I did not enjoy that. Overall was a ok read.

This book follows the life and career of Amber Young and girl group Cloud9…and you can’t follow a girl group without following a guy group! So it’s about the music industry in the 1990s-early 2000s. I was here for the 90s nostalgia….I wish there was more of it in this book.

Unfortunately, the only characters I really liked were Axel and Gwen. I couldn’t stand Amber for most of the book. I dunno, I just didn’t click with this book like I thought I would.

I didn’t like the lyrics in the book especially not the audiobook because it was a monotone spoken word and just seemed to distract from the story.

I’m not a bit YA fan and this read like a YA book…except for the sex scenes which were the best parts about the book in my opinion. However they were pretty devoid of emotion/connection…which I suppose was the point because it drove home the point of loneliness that 90s pop stars felt. The book also focused on how they had to manipulate the media as their #1 priority. Which is pretty sad.

I just didn’t care for this one, just felt like it was missing something and didn’t flow well. I did like the excerpts from the reporters though because it did a nice job of setting the stage.

Honey follows Amber Young’s rise to pop stardom in the late 1990s/early 2000s. It made me feel so nostalgic for my teenage years of CDs, MTV, boy bands, etc. While I enjoyed the book overall, the plot didn’t engage me as much as I expected. For me, the nostalgia factor was the draw! 3.5 stars

I was excited to read that the author is an alumni of my Alma later! Go Hoos!

I was gifted an advanced copy of this book by the publisher as part of #CeladonReadsTogether

"But what do I do, what do I do With all this pain? I only have myself to blame in the dark of night. There's no dream, there's no light. Only shame." -Song lyric from Honey (fictional album from Amber Young.)

This one blew me away. Every geriatric millennial needs Isabel Banta’s debut book on their summer TBR. The youths are writing historical fiction about my early adulthood, but this is where we are.

Spanning from 1999 to 2004, we see the meteoric ride of teen pop sensation Amber Young transform from latch key kid in New Jersey to oversexed tabloid fodder, and, eventually, Young morphs into a stunning artist and functional adult. Amber is a true talent. No connections. Just raw talent and hustle. The book captured the slut shaming, the obsession with extreme thinness, and the all consuming tabloid culture that existed prior to social media in the early aughts.

It's utterly engaging, but I adored Banta's understated writing style. It mirrored this time in history. The loud moments that connected men drive are LOUD and the important character development is understated and beautiful. This accessible and plot driven piece of historical fiction hits June 25, 2024.

This is a summer 2024 poolside MUST!! 4.5 ⭐️ rounded up!!

Traditional format 📕 (digital)

Did not finish at 68%. Normally I don’t rate DNF books but since I got a good chunk of the way through this one I will.

The book started off pretty strong. The writing was poetic at times and I did get somewhat drawn into the story. It kind of had Daisy Jones vibes at the beginning. But it just went downhill from there. None of the characters were likeable and the book was super super draggy and boring. I kept waiting for something good to happen and it just didn’t. I could no longer waste another few hours finishing off this book that I had no vested interested in. I am giving this a generous 2/5.

Thank you Celedon books and Net Galley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for a review.

As a millennial, Honey was the perfect nostalgic read for me to reminisce about all the pop stars I idolized as young teen. But it also shined a light on the darker side of fame, which as a young person I didn’t think about.
I love the cover art but this book packs a punch too with our main character dealing with societal pressures around sexuality and weight.
Overall this was a solid debut! I do with we had a little more about Amber at the end but I really enjoyed this story.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

I’ve realized something about myself I love books about famous people or things and how messed up they are. Honey by Isabel Banta was no different for me I was hooked from the start with Amber’s story and I thought all the characters were really well done and the story was well written. I will be on the lookout for Isabel’s next release.

I was a teen when this book takes place. I remember peak early 200s pop music and the stars. This book was written choppy. I did not enjoy the style. To be honest (let me put my tin foil hat on) this book feels like it was originally a memoire for Mandy Moore and she didnt want to expose all the scumbags in her life, so someone took it and made it fiction.
I was either bored, annoyed, or confused the whole time reading.