Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

44 reviews

readingpicnic's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Deadnaming, Grief, Bullying, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Gore, Death, Transphobia, Homophobia, Blood, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Classism

erica_reads_things's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Not a bad YA read at all! And especially for this authors first novel. I liked the weird spin on the summer camp horror trope, but I was so confused most of the way through at where exactly this was going. It took me out of it a bit, but not enough to not enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Child death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Transphobia, Cancer, Hate crime, and Violence

Minor: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, and Sexual content

dixiecarroll's review

dark mysterious 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? No

4.75

This surprised me. I’m not sure why i had low expectations for this except that maybe because I’ve had not great luck with YA books lately. But this BLEW ME AWAY. So unique and so mysterious. I didn’t predict everything and it was such a wild ride. I loved the representation and the humor through that representation without being preachy - it was very accessible. Definitely recommend to everyone! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Gore, Blood, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm

ellagant's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This book was a fever dream. Idk if the author was drinking honey while writing this (creepy cult honey) but it had really no plot. Truly was all vibes. At least it was a quick read. Nothing felt fleshed out, it was all very surface level. If you think that this review sounds disjointed, you will probably be getting close to how I felt about this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Gore

Minor: Cancer and Homophobia

morgue666's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

"I'm not hurting people," Mimi pouts.
"I'm hurting boys."
Bria, to her credit, throws me a sideways glance and asks, "What are your pronouns again?"
"Uh..." My throat still feels raw from being choked within an inch of my life. "I'm cool with really anything. I'm fluid."

This part absolutely cracked me up. I really enjoyed this a lot more than i thought I would! As a nonbinary person it was so nice to read something from the point of view of another genderqueer person! Would’ve loved a bit more horror in it but I really loved the book as a whole. The ending has devastated me though,

Mars already lost their whole family and they couldn't just have a happier ending with Wyatt at the end? 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Suicide, Cancer, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Hate crime

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, and Sexual harassment

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Grief, Blood, Death, Bullying, Sexism, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Cancer, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault and Cannibalism

20sidedbi's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Murder, Body horror, Sexism, Gaslighting, Blood, Homophobia, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death of parent

jessicabobessica's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I had zero expectations going into this read, but was pleasantly surprised. It’s a dark, queer, mysterious look at the cult-like nature of class systems - among other things.

It’s the kind of book you can picture HBO turning into a miniseries. Non Binary lead, weird and wild story, and a plethora of teen angst.

I will say, the third act comes on a bit fast and feels off-pace with the rest of the book. If you’re prepared for it, it feels less abrupt.

I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Dysphoria, Blood, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

bookishchaos's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Homophobia

Moderate: Blood and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Murder, Body horror, Grief, Gore, Blood, Misogyny, Violence, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Abandonment, Classism, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

Minor: Cancer, Ableism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault