Book Blurb:
It is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It is a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles and escape her small town. She quickly finds herself in the orbits of fellow rising stars Gwen Morris, a driven singer-dancer, and Wes Kingston, a member of the biggest boy band in the world, ETA. As Amber embarks on her solo career and her fame intensifies, her rich interior life is frequently reduced. Surrounded by people who claim to love her but only wish to exploit her, and driven by a desire for recognition and success, for love and sex, for agency and connection, Amber comes of age at a time when the kaleidoscope of public opinion can distort everything and one mistake can shatter a career.
My Review: 4 stars
Honey by Isabel Banta was a multi-faceted look into the life of a pop star as she tries to navigate her way through the industry’s ups and downs.
Amber may be one of the most well drawn characters I’ve read in a while. Her inner dialogue and her actions, both smart and sometimes shallow, allowed the reader to truly get her. With no parental support, she pilots her own course. Her friendship with Gwen was taut with competition, yet there was love at its core. That’s not an easy concept to get across the page.
Gwen was also in a fake, industry produced romance with Wes Kingston, who happened to be Amber’s crush.
This book shared a lot about the music industry as a whole, including the exploitive nature, antagonism, listening to radio and gossips rags dissect your person, and the “it’s who you know” culture. It made me think of all the pop stars now and what a slippery slope becoming the “it” musician can be.
I can’t believe this is a debut novel as it reads smart and sharp. The cover sold me as it screams sexuality with a baby pink, young girl cover. Wow. If you were a fan of Daisy Jones and the Six, I think you’ll enjoy this one as well.
Quotes I liked:
I’m starting to think that no unscathed kid has ever entered this industry. You have to have some emptiness, some cavity that needs filling.”
“When I was a kid, all I wanted was to be seen. Now, so many eyes. Too many-innumerable.
“She decanted her new life into an empty glass, let it breathe, swallowed it. Then poured again.”
“I think parents can affect us without meaning to. By being bad examples, they end up helping us.”
