Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

72 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Body horror

Moderate: Misogyny and Grief

Minor: Deadnaming and Sexual assault

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

sp00ky_girl28's review

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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cancer and Cannibalism

Minor: Sexual assault

kleinekita's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Cancer

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

readingqueerly's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Y'all this was so good and scary and I couldn't stop reading but I also kept going to bed wide eyed and breathing hard thinking something would get me in the night. It was so weird and every but it was so incredibly intriguing trying to understand what was going on and throughout the book the author does such a good job of luring you into a false sense of security along with the main character. But when you finally learn what's going on like AHHH dig its nasty little stinger in my and didn't let go (HA That will make sense if you read it).
In addition, the main character is non-binary and gender fluid and the way they were being treated was very relatable. 
"I'm openly out and telling you I use all pronouns" 
"ok cool I will only call you by your pronouns that fit your agab"
This was such a good book and I truly truly can recommend it. And the podcast of this author as well which is how I found them. Listen to Bad Author Book Club y'all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Death, Violence, Transphobia, and Sexism

cluelessavian's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Transphobia and Misogyny

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