🥀 Arc Review 🥀
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Comes out - March 24th 2026
I am absolutely obsessed with this one. I was hooked from start to finish and have been thinking of it nonstop ever since. This book was heartbreakingly beautiful, the writing was breathtaking and exquisitely detailed.
Our main characters Rory and Daye were so captivating and beautiful, it was such a lovely experience to watch them now together.
This story was everything I hoped it would be. From the plot of the story to the unique characters within it.
this amazing authors has created such a beautifully unique story and I absolutely cannot wait to see what else they will do.
I cannot wait for you all to be able to jump into this fantastic world and fall deeply in love with it!

Bar Fridman-Tell’s Honeysuckle is officially one of my favorite reads of the year.

We follow Rory and Daye, a Blodeuwedd companion created by his sister, through their adolescence as they navigate codependency, consent, and exploitation. What truly defines the line between altruism and greed? When is it too late to acknowledge your mistakes?

Daye’s decomposition at the end of the season is inevitable, and Rory starts to become obsessed with extending her lifespan. When Rory’s experiments and research start to spiral out of control and take on a morally questionable route, Daye begins to question her purpose—not just to Rory, but as a whole.

Fridman-Tell is an incredibly captivating writer. This piece is both beautiful and deeply disturbing. Packed with enticing metaphors and atmospheric descriptions, it will leave you wondering how something so harrowing can occur in such peace. This novel explores narcissism, objectification, the conditionality of accepting imperfection, and the development of resentment.

I stayed up all night needing to know how it ended. It isn’t often that you find yourself as devastated for a pair of characters as I did for Rory and Daye. Their perspectives differ tremendously, and the writing is so impactful that I found it difficult to disapprove of a character’s problematic standpoints.

I have already recommended pre-ordering Honeysuckle to some friends! I truly believe that Fridman-Tell’s debut novel will grow into a must-read piece of feminist literature. I will absolutely be recommending this book for a long time and hope to see more work from this author… an immediate auto-buy!

This book discusses sexual and emotional abuse, grief, some gore and animal abuse.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the eARC.

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH.

The genre is hard to pin down - I'd say a dark academia horror fantasy romance. Which sounds like a chaotic mess but it's perfect.

It reminded me of Anne of Green Gables, because the writing is gorgeous, with its atmospheric descriptions of each season, creating a painting you just sink into. It made me love and long for each season as we rotated through them.

This was like Frankenstein, as Rory obsessively studied and experimented with prolonging his girlfriend made from flowers, but the Monster is Rory as we watch him shift from innocent boy to controlling, objectifying man.

It reminded me of Sally Rooney's Normal People, as Rory and Daye blossom together, become codependent, but then grow apart, with Rory bringing about the very thing he aims to prevent through his crazed obsession.

Rory and Daye are captivating as you watch them either sink into monstrosity or expand into freedom. You understand and weep for both of them. The story is incredibly surprising and well done, especially for a debut book, and I can't wait for more from this author.

Honeysuckle is a compelling tale that starts off sweet, and slowly evolves into something darker. Lines are blurred, and eventually crossed, as Rory's love for Daye grows into obsession. With a combination of Welsh mythology and Frankenstein-vibes, Honeysuckle is one unsettling read that you won't want to put down!