I’ve been seeing this book everywhere and decided to get it in audio form. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers is a New Adult novel centered around learning to love oneself and navigating adulthood.
Here’s a quick summary—
Grace Porter was gifted a trip to Vegas from her father after completing a PhD in astronomy. The trip was supposed to be a way for her to blow off some much needed steam but Grace takes it a little too far when she gets black out drunk and marries a stranger. Her mystery wife is the least of her problems though. When her perfect plans for her future don’t work out she’s left with the insanely heavy weight of her father’s expectations and seeks refuge in this new wife’s arms. But Grace soon learns that you can’t run from your problems and hunkers down to do the hard work of taking care of herself.
If I woke up in Vegas with a wife I would have immediately started googling how to annul the marriage. After all, how could I have signed a binding contract completely inebriated? However, I hold strong feelings against matrimony, and Grace Porter sees her marriage as something good. Though I couldn’t relate to the sentiment, I was very interested in why Grace felt the way she did. Sometimes it’s fun to read about someone who is so different than one’s self. A large part of Grace’s openness to this new normal is her realization that life doesn’t need to be as planned out as it has been for her so far. This is the first spontaneous action she’s taken since committing herself to her adult plan so it’s no wonder it feels good to her. Breaking free from the structure that her father has binded her in is a huge adrenaline rush.
There was a really strong sense of setting throughout the novel, which I felt was important given how often Grace changed locations. Vegas to Portland to New York to Florida, this girl got around. There was a lot of imagery, especially in utilizing different smells. I did feel like the narrative was a little over-telling at times when some emotions and actions could have been left for reader interpretation instead of everything being explained out. I see how this was a stylistic choice, but I’m the type of reader who likes to “get it myself” so to say.
The burn out that Grace faces after 11 years of schooling was something I think our generation can really relate to. There are a number of side characters, including wife Yuki, who are given page time with Grace to show that she has that support and love which she wants. It seems telling to her character that despite this love surrounding her she still feels like a lonely creature. Maybe this would have been too deep to get into for a book that isn’t that heavy, but I liked the small exploration of that feeling. It beckoned the question, can we ever truly be not alone?
I don’t want to give away spoilers, but I will say that it was well-rounded how the book ended how it started, but with Grace being in a much more grounded place. We don’t see too much of Yuki, but I really liked the monster stories she told in her podcast. That added an extra level of depth to the novel as a whole.
If you’re looking for a book about a queer, black girl trying to find her way in the world, then Honey Girl could be for you!