Honey Girl: A Novel

There’s this half indescribable feeling I get with some books. An ache in my chest, an ache in my heart more specifically as I read. And it’s as if the book is saying to me, I hear you, I’m listening, and all I want it is for it to crawl its way into my chest and replace my heart because I know so completely that it would pump blood through my veins just as my heart does. I think that Honey Girl is one of those books.I read Honey Girl twice before writing this review. Mostly because I was scared. Did I read it too fast? Does it only feel like home the first time? Can I get that feeling back if it goes? I’m being too poetic I know, but there’s no way to be impartial about something so profoundly personal. When Honey Girl was first announced I was so afraid it was too good to be true, a black lesbian astronomer? As the main character in a book? The specific niche that I happen to fall into? I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Right?But Honey Girl is a call out to the lonely creatures of the world, and therefore it called out to me. Are you there? I said. Are you listening? And I’m here, it replied, I’m here. When I say that the prose knocked the air out of my chest made me cry at least 20 times all while feeling comforting and truthful, I’m not joking. And maybe it’s the truthful part that gets you; this book won’t let you lie to yourself just as it doesn’t let Grace lie to herself.So what is Honey Girl even about? Anxious Virgo Grace Porter gets drunk married to a girl she only remembers in flashes while on a celebratory trip to Vegas after finishing her PhD in Astronomy. She’s spent 11 years pushing herself further in the field, and now she has to fight a fight she’s not quite ready for. Getting a place to give her, a black lesbian, a position she’s qualified for is already proving to be difficult, and Grace has spent her life striving so hard for the best she can’t accept anything else. But maybe her mystery wife who hosts a radio show about creatures and myths, who speaks to the lonely creatures and asks, are you there, is the key to helping Grace get out of her head. So Grace goes to New York to get to know her wife Yuki and to figure out what she’s doing with her life now.I could write entire essays on every character in Honey Girl. Grace’s character arc was amazing and painful to watch as she hits her breaking point and spirals and then tries to put the pieces back together. Even still, Grace is triumphant, and every step she takes to helping herself felt like a personal triumph to me as a reader.Grace finally breaking down after years of avoiding it felt personal. She hit a wall that I seem to hit every 5 years and have to build myself back from, so Grace’s anxiety and bone-deep sadness hit me hard. The depiction of mental illness and mental health care throughout Honey Girl is exactly what I look for in books. There’s a positive depiction of therapy and medication, of getting help when you need it, and sorting through what is making your life harder.Grace’s struggle with fighting her way through academia was all too real. The sad reality of what strides you have to take to be taken seriously when you’re so outrageously outnumbered by people you can’t relate to pulled no punches. And as someone with the same marginalizations as Grace who’s also pursuing Astronomy, too much of it has already hurt me. I literally can’t write about this without crying, so let’s move on.Honey Girl calls to the want to escape that exists in so many of us and the soul-deep loneliness that can prevail even when among your closest friends. With everything that it so perfectly handles I know I’ll be keeping it near and dear to me for years to come.

I like the metaphors of astronomy aligning with connection that the two had. I enjoyed the story line and encouragement of following your dreams, finding purpose, and staying true to yourself.

Easy to read and such a great story! I’m 1/2 way through and I can’t wait to finish it!

The book is cute and while the sense of community and love between the characters is absolutely lovely, especially as the support net for Grace expands as she struggles with the challenges of insecurity and frustration in the face of pervasive discrimination in her field, the characters often end up being racist themselves and the author's ignorance of other cultures becomes clear through far too many phrases spoken by her non-American born characters. It's... Rather exhausting after a while, and as one starts getting drawn back into the story and the characters themselves, more racist behavior--again, from the non-white characters themselves--and ignorance shows up.I do not like giving anything less than 5 stars to any product or work, but... For this book, I'm just really frustrated that it could've been such a great opportunity to explore other cultures and how these cultural influences shaped their own American experience instead of portraying them as a monolith of racist sentiments with slightly different food tastes.

I downloaded this book just looking for some lesbian romance and found so much more. Reading Grace think my own private thoughts, learning about her fun and her funky friend and relationships, the butterflies of imagining marrying a stranger is what pulled me I'm and kept me. Hearing stories about monsters and differentiating between being lonely and alone, resentment towards parents, being afraid of failure, and being a Black, gay woman felt like someone took my feelings and put it on paper. I cried, especially when she starts talking to Heather and acknowledging all of her fears and anxiety, and it encouraged me to reach out to my own counselor again - hopefully with sessions starting soon. The vulnerability this books opened me up to is breathtaking and real, where normally fiction is all happy endings and the hardest thing to deal with are in-laws. This book is fantastic and so well written, I recommend everyone - gay, straight, queer, bi, whatever you identify with - read it and allow themselves to be vulnerable, too, even if it's only in the comfort of their own room. Are you listening?

This is an absolutely exquisite book. A brilliant debut novel that has carved a place in my heart forever. By far one of my favorite reads of 2021.Normally I can get through a book of this size in less than a day, but I found myself having to pause and reflect. I connected with the MC, Grace, in so many different ways (and at times it was too close to home). I loved that Rogers developed and created a character that was in her late-20s who was struggling with her place and purpose in the world. We need more stories like this. We need more stories that normalize finding yourself at any age or stage in life.Found family is one of my favorite tropes and this book was chock full of it. The love and support that Grace had from her friends and work family was pouring off the page. Their bonds and relationships were so beautiful. I thought Rogers did an excellent job of handling Grace's mental health struggles and touching on important topics. I appreciated the fact that Rogers highlighted the trial-and-error aspect of finding the right therapist.This book wrecked me in the best possible way. Almost two months after reading it, I am still thinking about it. If you haven't read this yet, get on it!Favorite quote: "It's okay to admit that something can be best just because it makes you happy, and not because you had to tear yourself apart to get there."

It is a super nice and easy read, however I do think it gives a very hallmark-esque type of feel. I could tell you how the book ends before i even read it.

Stunning, lyrical prose. The emotions invoked were extraordinary and varied. The addresses of systemic racism, depression, mental illness as a whole, medication, self harm, love, lgbtqqip2saa, poc... I am deeply moved by this raw, real story. I can’t relate to all, but it certainly made me question myself, the systems that allows these issues to exist and the world itself.

Wow, just wow. I thought this would be a cute, fun read about a sapphic relationship, and don't get me wrong, it was, but it had no business making me feel the things it did and reading me so deeply.I didn't expect all this focus on Grace finding herself and her path in life and what she wants to do "when she grows up", but it got me right in the heart, and for this reason, this novel will stay on my reread shelf for a long long time.I like Yuki's stories a lot, they made me think a lot about my own life and my personal issues.My only "complaint" is that I wish there was more romance, more cute easy moments with Yuki and Grace as a couple, I wished there were a few more chapters after the epilogue, like "a day in the life" or them settling in their new life.

This book is so sweet and hard too. It can tell you things about yourself. The characters are well written, the storytelling too. I will remember this book and won't mind reading it again.

Drei Sterne für die Kombination aus meinen (zugegebenermaßen ganz schön vom Marketing geschürten) Erwartungen und der Qualität des Buches.Vermarktet wurde mir Honey Girl als Romanze plus Coming-of-Age, mit Fokus auf der queeren Identität der Protagonistin (letzteres hat für mich den Kaufausschlag gegeben). Bekommen habe ich die Geschichte einer gebeutelten Absolventin, die mit Rassismus, den Erwartungen ihres Vaters, und einer für lange Zeit undefinierten psychischen Erkrankung zu kämpfen hat. Das ist erstmal kein Werturteil, allerdings eine ziemliche Abweichung von dem, was mir versprochen wurde.Dazu kam, dass ich der Geschichte selbst nicht allzu viel abgewinnen konnte. Ich denke, jemand der sich mehr mit Grace identifizieren kann, als ich das getan habe (speziell, was die Erwartung des Elternhauses und den systemischen Rassismus angeht, beides Themen, die mir nicht persönlich nahe sind, aber sehr im Mittelpunkt der Geschichte stehen), nimmt wesentlich mehr mit als ich. Die Themen sind nicht schlecht behandelt; man merkt, wie nahe der Autorin viele Punkte sind. Sie sind nur nicht das, was ich üblicherweise gezielt aussuchen würde.Davon abgesehen leidet das Buch auch unter einigen handwerklichen Schwächen. Stellenweise wirken Dialoge sehr hölzern, blumige Beschreibungen werden endlos wiederholt, und neue Charaktere werden fast schon mit einer Liste an Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen vorgestellt, die in einigen Fällen die *gesamte* Persönlichkeit ausmachen. Gerade Yuki ist weniger komplex, als ich mir das gewünscht hätte, und erinnert sehr an den Manic Pixie Dreamgirl-Tropus, ohne dafür ein Gegengewicht zu haben.Über das Ende bin ich mir sehr unschlüssig. Einige Aspekte waren perfekt gewählt und die logische Schlussfolgerung der Ereignisse. Andere wirkten sehr an den haaren herbeigezogen.Wer mit den richtigen Erwartungen liest und den Hauptthemen etwas abgewinnen kann, für den ist Honey Girl sicher einen Blick wert. Für mich wird es wohl kein zweites Lesen geben.

Lovely book, easy read. Well written. Would recommend.