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A review by arisbookshelf
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
5.0
SORT OF SPOILERS:This will be a long, detailed review. I don’t normally write reviews but this book made me think so many thoughts, and I figured “Why not share them?”. I may reuse some adjectives in this, but there aren’t enough words to describe Honey Girl.
The Diversity in this book had me thinking. Most of the books I’ve read have mainly cishet white protagonists/side characters, so when I started this there was a delightful surprise. I’m fairly certain there are only 5 white main/side characters, and 3 of them are queer/trans (but we like the last two still). And not only is there hijabi rep, Mixed, black, Queer, Trans, etc, but theres Jewish rep. You see a lot of books marketed as ones with jewish protagonists or side characters and they make their whole marketing system as “here’s a book with jewish representation” but this book treated it like it was normal. Which being jewish (as a jewish person) is normal, but a lot of books bring it up constantly or play into stereotypes. This book did neither, and not only did they treat the jewish rep well, they treated the rest the same. I’m so glad to see such diverse rep in one book, I went into this thinking it was going to be the classic “WOC with cishet white friend group and a token POC character” but this book proved me wrong, and I’m so glad it did. Honey girl has not only inspired me to read more Queer books, but to read more books with better POC representation.
The thing about this book is; yes Grace did make mistakes but they were ones I myself would make, they were ones someone who is becoming their own person would make, they’re the ones someone who is confused about their marriage would make. But in books everybody has flaws, and the way this character was written makes me love them even more, because everybody needs a flaw, it makes them realer.
The Discussion of mental health really speaks to me as well, I love to see grace learning about herself and finding out new things. Especially when it discusses such a careful heavy topic, the author did an amazing job handling it.
My favorite characters are Yuki and Grace, I know it sounds basic to like the two “main” characters but they are both simply divine, the way grace’s inner monologue sounds like my own sometimes makes me feel very comfortable. And the parental relationships are similar to my own, (what would a MC be without parental issues ). The way grace’s personality feels warm and comfortable is perfect, it feels homey and as if she’s giving you a mental hug, as yuki also said
“Goodnight Grace Porter, who i rmr shines like the sun is reaching from out from the very core of her”.
The most accurate description of her!! That’s to say Grace Porter has become one of my favorite fictional characters.
Yuki, the sharp, funny, storyteller who is literal perfect. From the moment she was introduced I absolutely loved her, the way she spoke, her actions and her serious yet sarcastic personality. Usually I skim a lot of character introductions, but this one I was drawn to.
“Her scrunched nose and her sharp eyes and her dimpled cheeks and the quarter moon light that glints off her ears from all her piercings.”
She felt simply ethereal, mystifying, intriguing, and it matched her personality; which was extraordinary. Every time she Told a story on the radio i feel as if i could also fall asleep (if it was an actual radio show not just words on paper). Or as Grace Describes it;
“Goodnight Yuki Yomamoto, who tells stories like they were crafted within her, spun with magic and sea salt.”
That is just one of the many beautiful sentences written in this extraordinary book.
My Favorite lines were:
“What do you think about?” she asks the fish in the tank. “Do you ever think about the big, wide ocean, and how you would feel if you could swim in it?” She taps the glass again, and another, or maybe the same fish, darts forward. “I thought I wanted to be out of my tank,” she confesses with a whisper. “But the ocean is big, you know, and I am very, very small.” The fish follows her finger. “I don’t know that I like it,”
“Oh,” Yuki says. “I think I’m having an emotion.” She disappears into her room.”
“Her arms, like armor, guard her heart and her ribs and her soft parts, like she is scared, too. Grace doesn’t want either of them to be scared.”
“It’s everywhere,” Grace says. “It’s in our skin and our hair, and it turns our midnight blue blood to rust red.” She presses fingers to the dotted freckles across her cheeks. “We are birthed from its dust and ashes the same as those hulking masses in the sky. How can anyone think we are not evidence of the thumbprint of the galaxy?”
-and many more
This is now my favorite book and it has the BEST rep in any book I’ve seen, and the characters are all so precious and complex. I wish I could rate this above a 5 stars, Best wishes to the author!!! Hope you write more books like this.
The Diversity in this book had me thinking. Most of the books I’ve read have mainly cishet white protagonists/side characters, so when I started this there was a delightful surprise. I’m fairly certain there are only 5 white main/side characters, and 3 of them are queer/trans (but we like the last two still). And not only is there hijabi rep, Mixed, black, Queer, Trans, etc, but theres Jewish rep. You see a lot of books marketed as ones with jewish protagonists or side characters and they make their whole marketing system as “here’s a book with jewish representation” but this book treated it like it was normal. Which being jewish (as a jewish person) is normal, but a lot of books bring it up constantly or play into stereotypes. This book did neither, and not only did they treat the jewish rep well, they treated the rest the same. I’m so glad to see such diverse rep in one book, I went into this thinking it was going to be the classic “WOC with cishet white friend group and a token POC character” but this book proved me wrong, and I’m so glad it did. Honey girl has not only inspired me to read more Queer books, but to read more books with better POC representation.
The thing about this book is; yes Grace did make mistakes but they were ones I myself would make, they were ones someone who is becoming their own person would make, they’re the ones someone who is confused about their marriage would make. But in books everybody has flaws, and the way this character was written makes me love them even more, because everybody needs a flaw, it makes them realer.
The Discussion of mental health really speaks to me as well, I love to see grace learning about herself and finding out new things. Especially when it discusses such a careful heavy topic, the author did an amazing job handling it.
My favorite characters are Yuki and Grace, I know it sounds basic to like the two “main” characters but they are both simply divine, the way grace’s inner monologue sounds like my own sometimes makes me feel very comfortable. And the parental relationships are similar to my own, (what would a MC be without parental issues ). The way grace’s personality feels warm and comfortable is perfect, it feels homey and as if she’s giving you a mental hug, as yuki also said
“Goodnight Grace Porter, who i rmr shines like the sun is reaching from out from the very core of her”.
The most accurate description of her!! That’s to say Grace Porter has become one of my favorite fictional characters.
Yuki, the sharp, funny, storyteller who is literal perfect. From the moment she was introduced I absolutely loved her, the way she spoke, her actions and her serious yet sarcastic personality. Usually I skim a lot of character introductions, but this one I was drawn to.
“Her scrunched nose and her sharp eyes and her dimpled cheeks and the quarter moon light that glints off her ears from all her piercings.”
She felt simply ethereal, mystifying, intriguing, and it matched her personality; which was extraordinary. Every time she Told a story on the radio i feel as if i could also fall asleep (if it was an actual radio show not just words on paper). Or as Grace Describes it;
“Goodnight Yuki Yomamoto, who tells stories like they were crafted within her, spun with magic and sea salt.”
That is just one of the many beautiful sentences written in this extraordinary book.
My Favorite lines were:
“What do you think about?” she asks the fish in the tank. “Do you ever think about the big, wide ocean, and how you would feel if you could swim in it?” She taps the glass again, and another, or maybe the same fish, darts forward. “I thought I wanted to be out of my tank,” she confesses with a whisper. “But the ocean is big, you know, and I am very, very small.” The fish follows her finger. “I don’t know that I like it,”
“Oh,” Yuki says. “I think I’m having an emotion.” She disappears into her room.”
“Her arms, like armor, guard her heart and her ribs and her soft parts, like she is scared, too. Grace doesn’t want either of them to be scared.”
“It’s everywhere,” Grace says. “It’s in our skin and our hair, and it turns our midnight blue blood to rust red.” She presses fingers to the dotted freckles across her cheeks. “We are birthed from its dust and ashes the same as those hulking masses in the sky. How can anyone think we are not evidence of the thumbprint of the galaxy?”
-and many more
This is now my favorite book and it has the BEST rep in any book I’ve seen, and the characters are all so precious and complex. I wish I could rate this above a 5 stars, Best wishes to the author!!! Hope you write more books like this.