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A review by lk222
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
4.0
Grace Porter is a perfectionist. For 11 years she’s dedicated every fiber of her being to earning a PhD in astrology. It’s not the medical degree her military dad wanted, but it’s what she wanted, and because she’s a Porter she executed her plan with excellence. But the plan now completed, Grace is directionless. She’s also about to implode beneath the pressures of her perfectionism, her dad's expectations, and the racist job market. So on a rare night out in Vegas with two of her closest friends, Grace finally lets loose. She gets drunk and marries a “champagne bubble girl” “with rosebuds in her cheeks.” She wakes up to find a note from her new wife asking Grace to find her, to follow the sound of her voice through the air waves of her radio show: “Brooklyn’s late night show for lonely creatures & the supernatural. Sometimes both.” And so begins Grace’s search for her wife, happiness, and mental health.
Morgan Rogers’ debut is a wildly touching story that successfully begged this jaded reader to stop being skeptical of new love. Grace, our heroine of honey-gold hair, finds romance in the stars and finds the stars in the bodies of her loved ones. Her new wife, introduced through Grace’s almost psychedelic memories of their wedding night, is a Japanese-American woman who spins stories of monsters into achingly personal tales of humanity. The newlyweds are funny and vulnerable, two perfectly imperfect, lonely creatures searching the other for a safe place to crawl inside. You can’t help but root for them. And I absolutely loved their friends, each of whom is complex and queer and/or BIPOC.
In addition to being a poignant romance, this is also a story of mental health. Grace’s drive for perfection bleeds into anxiety and she begins to pinch and scratch at her skin, to break herself apart. In a refreshingly real moment, Grace realizes she needs a therapist. There’s no drama around this decision. It’s treated as a normal response to a normal problem. And this decision enables her to mend and grow in ways that romantic leads rarely do.
This is the type of book I’d love to see more of for so many reasons. Recommended for fans of Casey McQuiston seriously sweet romance.
Morgan Rogers’ debut is a wildly touching story that successfully begged this jaded reader to stop being skeptical of new love. Grace, our heroine of honey-gold hair, finds romance in the stars and finds the stars in the bodies of her loved ones. Her new wife, introduced through Grace’s almost psychedelic memories of their wedding night, is a Japanese-American woman who spins stories of monsters into achingly personal tales of humanity. The newlyweds are funny and vulnerable, two perfectly imperfect, lonely creatures searching the other for a safe place to crawl inside. You can’t help but root for them. And I absolutely loved their friends, each of whom is complex and queer and/or BIPOC.
In addition to being a poignant romance, this is also a story of mental health. Grace’s drive for perfection bleeds into anxiety and she begins to pinch and scratch at her skin, to break herself apart. In a refreshingly real moment, Grace realizes she needs a therapist. There’s no drama around this decision. It’s treated as a normal response to a normal problem. And this decision enables her to mend and grow in ways that romantic leads rarely do.
This is the type of book I’d love to see more of for so many reasons. Recommended for fans of Casey McQuiston seriously sweet romance.