Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Honeys

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

50 reviews

peregrinwho's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The first time I've seen a human genderfluid person portrayed away from fanfiction. It was difficult to get through the homophobia of some of the characters, but not all the antagonists act that way toward the mc and I was living for that variety. I understand its necessity for the purpose of setup, but this book really thrived when it was away from the Bear cabin boys, since those chapters were just hard and slow and mostly unrelated to the conclusion. But the cult aura? The reframing of femininity as a dance for survival cutting a continuum towards destruction helped by sisterhood??? I could eat that all day.

I felt for Mars, I fell in love with Bria, I still fucking hate every man in this book (Wyatt's on the thinnest of ice). I wanted to hurl my book at the wall when the slut comments were brushed off as if there weren't already other signs of sexual assault happening to people at this fucking camp.

Ultimately, it was slow in the middle 50%, but the lyrical reminders of the themes of grief and sisterhood were nice and made the reading experience rather dreamy. Choosing to interpret the last two chapters so that's not undercut. Have fun floating in the middle.

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readingpicnic's review against another edition

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3.75

This book kept me guessing the whole time, and I enjoyed being surprised by each new twist and turn that revealed itself as the story went on. I will say that this book was very slow for me to get through, which I think really slowed me down for the TRR unfortunately, and I considered DNFing it at certain points. It starts off really intense and then slows almost all the way down before picking back up around 70% through. However, I really enjoyed the ending of the book, so I'm glad I stuck through it ultimately. The bee horror in this book felt so creative and new, and I loved the drippy, rotten, and sweet imagery throughout. The depictions of grief were very real in this book and became all the more real after reading the author's acknowledgements section at the end. I appreciated how Caroline remained a presence throughout the whole story, even if just in the peripheral. I think that this book would make an excellent A24 horror movie honestly, going off of the trend on BookTok, as this book felt so cinematic and I could picture so much of it in my head. It reminded me a lot of both Wickerman movies, the original with its slow-paced disconcerting vibes and horror, and the remake with its bee horror. I was also reminded of Bunny a lot while reading this with the group of Honey girls, but I think this specific story hasn't been told before even though it reminded me of other horror. Overall, I enjoyed this and its explorations of gender, sexuality, and class. I think this story has so many layers to it and I wasn't necessarily patient at times with this slow method of storytelling, but I understand why it's well loved.

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sp00ky_girl28's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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kleinekita's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.25

Bunnies meets The Wicker Man

The audiobook is excellent. There are background sounds, musical touches, and voice effects. Absolutely a must listen on audio!

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moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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bookishchaos's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I think I'm in the minority that didn't LOVE this. I can see the appeal and I do love horror, but this felt kinda...dumb? I hate to talk negatively about books, and I really wanted to like this, but I just didn't vibe with it. I probably would've liked this as a teen though.

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