A review by lowercaselena
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

i listened to the audiobook and i’m gonna be honest i was scrolling apps for a good part of this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

wasn’t very captivating to me, just a really straight forward book about a woman figuring things out post grad. it SHOULD have been relatable but i didnt really buy any of the characters and their dynamics except with grace and her father. i loved that actually, made me tear up twice, and it’s the only relationship that felt real and embodied in the book

the prose was so repetitive and exhausting, littered with stars, universe metaphors and references to the sun and honey, which stopped feeling novel to me in 2014 after six months on poetry tumblr. it’s like the author learned four astronomy facts and romanticised them to death. 

the characters don’t feel their age at all, i do not buy that they are in their late 20s to 30s. sure learning to identify and healthily express your wants and needs is a theme of the book, but there is a weird immaturity in the way they interact, flirt in pop culture references and viral tweets and it’s like.... i’ve seen this before? no one feels Real like idk, the dialogue is full of overwritten sentimental platitudes in the line of “we are two lonely creatures from the stars my honey sun girl” or whatever the fuck like idk. this book is populated with characters of many ethnicities in the most inorganic way, mostly because the secondary characters are all cut out from different archetypes that aim at making them feel “distinct” but instead make them feel flat. 

i wanted to like this so badly that i ignored the red flags of the prologue and the first chapter. because it’s textbook what you’re told not to do in your first creative writing class. and of course rules are meant to be broken but it’s very obviously a first book, and the author is probably still working on finding an individual voice

and tbh there is a lot of heart to this, even if it is a bit mundane, it’s made by someone who cares a lot. i feel like a lot of people will find comfort in the slow pace at which it unveils, the rather laid back and mostly tensionless relationships, the mellow and open ended conclusion. 

i found myself bored or frustrated or annoyed pretty often, and i never truly let myself go enough to appreciate the book, i just couldn’t suspend my disbelief and live in the world the author was painting 

it was not for me! but it’s for someone out there!! and i hope they find this book :)