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Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)'s Reviews > The Honeys
The Honeys
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Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)'s review
bookshelves: arc-netgalley-edelweiss, fantasy-scifi-dystopian, lgbtqia, young-adult, most-memorable-2022, grief-trauma
Jan 28, 2022
bookshelves: arc-netgalley-edelweiss, fantasy-scifi-dystopian, lgbtqia, young-adult, most-memorable-2022, grief-trauma
The atmosphere of a younger Summer Sons meets the grief of The Ghosts We Keep.
I believe this is one of the best books I’ll read this year, and the year has only just begun. What an exquisite piece of work! Loved, loved, loved it. The Honeys is startling. Thrilling. Breathtaking. Eerie. And at its heart, so very queer.
Don’t expect another Reverie or Be Dazzled. Above, I referred to Summer Sons, a queer very messed up adult horror story. Although The Honeys is young adult, I felt the same heat, the same tension, the same toxic masculinity, and the same grief seeping through the pages. Not being able to trust anyone, to be on your own. Wanting to find closure. The Honeys feels like dark academia in bright summer light.
The writing is descriptive, lyrical even. And so incredibly intense. That first chapter! My stomach flipped upside down, and I gasped for breath. Ryan immediately pulled me in and held me so tight that even if I had wanted to tear myself away from the story, I never could. Whenever I was doing something other than reading, my mind yearned for the story repeatedly. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mars’ journey through life, searching for what happened to his twin. My eyes wandered to my ereader, and my hands itched to grab it again. Aw, how I desperately want to hold a printed copy in my hands, caressing the cover, and look at it in admiration. Those wildflowers are so heavenly and sweetly creepy at the same time. When I finally closed my ereader, the story left me in awe.
Ryan, whatever this book took away from you, it gave me. It gave me Mars’ story, chills, personal awareness, and so many things to think about, and you touched me deeply with this gem of a book. Thank you so much!
Many thanks to Scholastic (Push) who provided me this wonderful ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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I believe this is one of the best books I’ll read this year, and the year has only just begun. What an exquisite piece of work! Loved, loved, loved it. The Honeys is startling. Thrilling. Breathtaking. Eerie. And at its heart, so very queer.
Don’t expect another Reverie or Be Dazzled. Above, I referred to Summer Sons, a queer very messed up adult horror story. Although The Honeys is young adult, I felt the same heat, the same tension, the same toxic masculinity, and the same grief seeping through the pages. Not being able to trust anyone, to be on your own. Wanting to find closure. The Honeys feels like dark academia in bright summer light.
The writing is descriptive, lyrical even. And so incredibly intense. That first chapter! My stomach flipped upside down, and I gasped for breath. Ryan immediately pulled me in and held me so tight that even if I had wanted to tear myself away from the story, I never could. Whenever I was doing something other than reading, my mind yearned for the story repeatedly. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mars’ journey through life, searching for what happened to his twin. My eyes wandered to my ereader, and my hands itched to grab it again. Aw, how I desperately want to hold a printed copy in my hands, caressing the cover, and look at it in admiration. Those wildflowers are so heavenly and sweetly creepy at the same time. When I finally closed my ereader, the story left me in awe.
Ryan, whatever this book took away from you, it gave me. It gave me Mars’ story, chills, personal awareness, and so many things to think about, and you touched me deeply with this gem of a book. Thank you so much!
Many thanks to Scholastic (Push) who provided me this wonderful ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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Reading Progress
January 25, 2021
– Shelved
January 25, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
January 20, 2022
– Shelved as:
young-adult
January 20, 2022
– Shelved as:
lgbtqia
January 20, 2022
– Shelved as:
fantasy-scifi-dystopian
January 20, 2022
– Shelved as:
arc-netgalley-edelweiss
January 25, 2022
–
Started Reading
January 25, 2022
–
0%
"Still thinking about Summer Sons although this is YA. That tension … and that writing …"
January 26, 2022
–
0%
"Grief, I have learned, cracks us into pieces that make all sorts of strange, alarming shapes"
January 26, 2022
–
0%
"Long ago I had to learn that my body isn’t who I am; who I am is how I feel."
January 26, 2022
–
0%
"Long ago I had to learn that my body isn’t who I am; who I am is how I feel."
January 27, 2022
–
0%
"There’s nothing after, neither bright nor dark. No disorganized energy or dissipated particles. That’s what I tell myself. Anything more than nothing leaves too many questions."
January 27, 2022
–
0%
"Hardly anything is real. Gender, the idea that there are two shores directly across from each other. The lake has a ton of hidden shores, but you don’t know that if you’re stuck standing on the land."
January 28, 2022
– Shelved as:
most-memorable-2022
January 28, 2022
–
Finished Reading
February 3, 2023
– Shelved as:
grief-trauma
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Jan 28, 2022 10:40AM
Oh my days, you’re so lucky! I can’t wait to get my hands on this 🙌🏻✨
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James wrote: "Oh my days, you’re so lucky! I can’t wait to get my hands on this 🙌🏻✨"Yeah, I know I am 😀. I’m so happy I got to read this early.
I don't know how I feel about this review. 🙃
Andreas wrote: "I don't know how I feel about this review. 🙃"Because of my reference to Summer Sons? I just read your review of that one again and the sentence ‘the story is supposed to be about grief, mystery and ghosts’ fully relates to The Honeys.
Marieke wrote: "Because of my reference to Summer Sons? I just read your review of that one again and the sentence ‘the story is supposed to be about grief, mystery and ghosts’ fully relates to The Honeys"I'll hope for the best. I really liked Ryan's previous books, although they've already been completely different.
Andreas wrote: "Marieke wrote: "Because of my reference to Summer Sons? I just read your review of that one again and the sentence ‘the story is supposed to be about grief, mystery and ghosts’ fully relates to The..."This is way, way different than for example Be Dazzled. That one was cute and adorable, this one is dark. Don’t expect a romantic story, it’s mostly about grief, masculinity and gender. Maybe first read a preview before you decide to buy the book.
Marieke wrote: "This is way, way different than for example Be Dazzled. That one was cute and adorable, this one is dark. Don’t expect a romantic story, it’s mostly about grief, masculinity and gender. Maybe first read a preview before you decide to buy the book."If it's well written I'm in. A preview is still a good option. 🙂
Andreas wrote: "Marieke wrote: "This is way, way different than for example Be Dazzled. That one was cute and adorable, this one is dark. Don’t expect a romantic story, it’s mostly about grief, masculinity and gen..."In my opinion it’s very well written! Hope you’ll love this story as much as I did 😀!
Saimon wrote: "Oh, I'm sold on your review Marieke!!"Aw, thanks Saimon! I hope you’ll love this story as much as I did!
Margaux wrote: "Great review!"Thank you 😀!
I'm finally back around to finishing this (I read a bunch of the ARC earlier and put it down), because it's a book I have to be really "into reading" at the moment to read because it's so thoroughly descriptive and intense! And it is even better than I remembered! Even better, I get to see Ryan again this Saturday at a convention, so I'm hurriedly busting my way through finishing it.
Ed wrote: "Wonderful review! I loved Summer Sons. If this has a similar feel, I need to read it."Thank you, Ed! I loved Summer Sons so much too!
