A review by mardell
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

4.0

One of the simultaneous joys and perils of listening to literally thousands of hours of romance podcasts since the Great Podcast Boom of 2020 is that I have lots of reading recs floating around in my head, unmoored from many of their pertinent details. Honey Girl was just such a book and while I vividly remembered the description of the hauntingly gorgeous romantic setup - a Vegas wedding between an astronomer and a monster hunter followed by a long-distance, late-night radio show courtship - some other key details slipped my memory. It didn't help the blurb wrong-footed me. (Hello, Grace's drunk Vegas I Do was not 'her one moment of departure' from her father's vicarious lifeplan!) So here are some things I think it would be good to know so you can enjoy this book from the start, rather than slowly finding your way into it like me. First, Grace is not some perfect daughter aquiescing to every expectation. She is more complex than this trope implies (and more inconsistent). Second, Honey Girl is not a romance, but contemporary fiction with romantic elements. This is Grace's book and Yuki remains the seductive voice filtering in by long wave radio via first person naration. Several other reviewers have also conned on to the whole Manic Pixie Dream girl vibes. I've noticed its undertones in several sapphic reads of late and would like to return this character to the straights c 2003. Finally, is a really raw and emotional read. I definitely suggest reading the content warning around mental health issues (not included in the audiobook version!) Grace is negotiating an autocratic father, a somewhat absent mother, and a brutal higher education employment environment made worse by systemic racism. Understandably, she has issues, as do the 'broken girls' she has made her queer found family from. I actually have real questions about the dynamics of this group, but don't have time to get into it here. Actually Grace has TWO found families and I'm still stressed about how they are all coping. So full marks for getting me invested in the slew of secondary characters (I'm including Yuki). For me, this is a 3.5 star story rounded up for some excellent writing. Get it for your book club and the conversation should flow like wine.