In this book we meet Amber who has been auditioning for singing jobs since she was young. Eventually all her patience and persistence pays off when she gets the call to join a newly formed girl group - Cloud9 - based in La, which also means that she is able to escape her small town life and, more importantly, her family! This book follows her success as she leaves the group to embark on a solo career, detailing all the perils and pitfalls that go hand in hand with stardom as a young single (?) woman... The manipulation, the face, the exploitation, the threats, the worry, the public's perception of who she is, and all the time, dreading that there is nothing that can pull the rug out from under her.
This book was busy and often chaotic but I guess this mirrors what is happening in Amber's life... Especially with regard to her relationships. It also shows how what people perceive others to be is definitely not always what they are, to often tragic consequences.
There are things that are spelled out and others that are hinted at, but all quite sensitive themes, all done with respect.
I can't really say I enjoyed this book, due to it's content, it's not all that happy at times, and being of a certain age, with common sense, I am not sure it really opened my eyes to anything I wasn't already aware of, but it was, in itself, a rather interesting and intriguing glimpse into the life of a bright star, the things she had to do to get there, and those she has to continue to do to stay there.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A wonderfully told story about growing up, finding out who you are and exploring the possibilities that exist for you, even when others are imposing their ideas onto you.

The story is of a young singer named Amber Young, who gets scouted at a young age to join a girl band Cloud9, in the era of girl and boy bands, the book then follows Amber's career, with all the highs and lows of being in the public eye and feeling owned by those around her. Being questioned if her ambition is enough, or is it just a desire to be loved and find love.

The story is cleverly set out into the sections of a song, I really liked this style and I really enjoyed the honesty and rawness of what it is like to be a young girl growing into adulthood in the limelight and how others thoughts and opinions shape who you think you are and impact you.

This is a brilliantly written debut novel, I loved the writing style, Isabel Banta has a great way with words, that help you to become immersed in the life of these pop icons of the late 90's early 00's.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

would like to thank netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book

a new author for me and her style of writing took me a while to get into... but the storyline was something that pulled me in....

though i struggled with it... its not a bad storyline it just didnt hold my attention...

An interesting read on pop culture and the highs and lows that come with fame. Very immersive writing with some great characters.

I so struggled with this one I am afraid... I think the tag of 'If you enjoyed Daisy Jones...' was the biggest draw for me ad it is one of my favourite reads of recent years, but sadly it did not live up to that hype.

It's fascinating to read about the behind the scenes of the lives of celebrities. We obviously know it's not great for most of them, and this book delves into the ways that younger celebrities can be manipulated and molded to be a perfect idol, no matter the effect it has on them.

I really enjoyed this - it felt current and up to the minute with characters you relate to. Recommended

Sorry, I disliked this book. I was excited starting it but very quickly dawned on me that absolutely nothing of interest was going to happen. It was just the same thing over and over again, new album recorded, fancies a man, has sex, moves on, rings her friend….

Nothing at all happens in this story. I hated Amber, she has no character at all nor does anyone else.

Awful, and very boring.

My thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

💭When I read ‘Like Daisy Jones soaked in Britney’ I just had to request this and was lucky enough to be accepted but it didn’t live up to expectations unfortunately. I think Daisy Jones is too big a book to liken it to, BUT I did honestly feel like I was reading a memoir by Christina Aguilera with Gwen as Britney and Wes as Justin Timberlake which had me hooked.

💭I enjoyed that it gave readers a viewpoint from what it would be like to be a celebrity being that famous. Having people guess what’s happening in your private life all the time. Making stories up that aren’t true. Being controlled by managers. Not making your own decisions. Having to time to yourself. Having to deal with men who think you owe them something. It really shows the negative side to fame.

💭I loved the friendship between Gwen and Amber. The fact that they always had each other to lean on, and how they encouraged each other and weren’t competitive, especially with how much the media pitted them against each other.

💭I found the end random. Maybe because of the ARC layout but it said ‘2004’ and then all of a sudden Amber was married to Axel with a child born in 2009 so I don’t have a clue what year it actually was at the end.

💭Overall an easy enjoyable read but definitely not on Daisy Jones level.

Thanks very much for making this title available to us to read! I've copied my review here and also included some technical errors I spotted while reading, below.

My Review:
Touted as a nod to the #FreeBritney movement and an exploration of the young icons we grew up listening to on the radio, as 90s girl, I was excited to give this a whirl. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype or do much for me as a reader.

<b> What worked for me: </b>
● I liked the commentary on how developmentally stunted fame made Amber. How she couldn’t relate to her own age group, had problems connecting with people, and felt so isolated. That felt plausible, especially at the beginning when she was finding her footing in a super toxic industry.
● Amber’s growth arc was compelling. I hated her for most of the book but toward the end, felt myself soften. I deeply appreciate the feminism she came to embody!
● I really liked Gwen and Tammy

<b> What didn’t work for me: </b>
● No sense of the time period at all. Apart from some interspersed name-dropping, this didn’t feel like a 90s story. The attitudes of the characters, the references to internet culture, the online articles all felt really 2024. I couldn’t help but feel like Amber and Gwen were given a 2024 mindset that didn’t really gel with the 90s/00s setting. At times, they seemed a bit too self aware (which didn’t match their vapid characterizations) and the comments that they made to the press weren’t congruous with how a teenager/young adult would likely handle the situations. I might have been more convinced if their agents or PR people were mentioned helping them craft replies but I just can’t suspend disbelief that they handled the fallout of the relationships they had with that much tact and grace. Relationships are often life and death to kids that age and both Amber and Gwen have vicious streaks.
● I didn't enjoy the writing style: it was self-important and trying way too hard yet banal, navel-gazey, and, at times, just <i>bad</I>. Some very odd descriptive phrases (eyes collided on him, her eyes inhaled, the water zips shut). The short stuccato sentences read drily (like a list or a how-to manual) and drove me nuts for most of the book. If not for the loads of gratuitous and excessively detailed sex, I would’ve assumed this was aimed at the YA audience by the way it’s written. Overall, the whole book (and writing style) felt a bit too YA for me.
● The song lyrics are top-tier cringe. I couldn’t read any of them all the way through because I was expiring from second hand embarrassment. Maybe that’s the point? 90s pop songs weren’t the pinnacle of deep and meaningful!
● I didn’t get a sense of a genuine friendship between Amber and Gwen, especially at the beginning. We were told they were best friends but they seem to be acquaintances for a lot of their younger years. There’s certainly no compelling connection between them until later in the book.
● From where I’m sat, this book has nothing to say. I was expecting a nostalgic trip back to the 90s and some new commentary on what our pop icons went through during this exploitative era. Instead, I felt held captive by the insufferable, narcissistic, and sex-obsessed MC.
● Amber reflects on Sonny’s cruelty to her towards the end but we never see any of this! Sonny appears to be supportive and mostly off screen. It comes out of nowhere when Amber starts ticking off the things he’s said and done over the years. As a reader, it’s not convincing. We know Amber is a narcissist and isn’t the most reliable narrator… why was none of this detailed at the time?
● Amber’s relationships and sex life were given far too much airtime. Wes was such an immature and self-involved knob. While I’m happy that Amber found herself and her independence before latching on to a man, I wasn’t really convinced by the romance.

<b>A note on the cover:</b> I first saw this book on a Goodreads roundup and the 90s child in me <i>loved</i> the North America cover! It’s so fitting for the era with the colours and font! When I saw the British cover, I was <I>so</I> disappointed. Maybe I don’t get it because I’m not British, but it’s so bland compared to the North American one. There’s also a typo on the cover (Britney Spear’s should be Britney Spears’).

I’m glad I read this and I’m deeply appreciative of Bonnier Books UK for making this available on NetGalley, but it just didn’t work for me as an individual reader.

Technical errors I spotted (not part of my review):
In the full song lyrics to “Sweat”: should “swear”, be “sweat”?
Pg. 287 there's a rogue period
Pg 318 the quiz is missing arrows from the second answers to the third questions and the final answer “take the lead” doesn’t have an arrow to anywhere.
Pg 344 rogue period after “total”
Also, on the ARC copy as noted above, there is a significant grammatical error on the cover: Britney Spear’s should be Britney Spears’.

This is a book I read based on Twitter recommendations and I devoured it! It is some of the best writing I have read this year, I had to read it in one day as I was desparate to find out what happened. Amber is a teenager about to enter womanhood and this book goes on that journey with her - how much do other people's opinions of her matter? it's fierce, emotional and heart felt - a definite 5 stars from me.

I have mixed feelings about Honey. The throwback to the late '90s and early '00s was enjoyable, but the storyline itself didn't captivate me as I had hoped. Ultimately, it just didn't resonate with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Comparing any book to Daisy Jones and The Six is a dangerous game as it’s unlikely it’ll live up to it and sadly Honey was a miss for me.

I wanted to love it, a story about a teenage pop sensation in the late 90’s/early noughties seems like something right up my street but unfortunately Honey didn’t live up to the hype for me.

Honey follows Amber Young, a Britney/Christina-esque singer that is thrust into the spotlight and is surrounded by men who have nothing but bad intentions towards her. The only saving grace is her best friend (and fellow pop star) Gwen but that relationship hits the rocks when Amber decides to sleep with Gwen’s ‘boyfriend.’

It was an easy read that I got through quickly but I just wasn’t rooting for Amber to be honest, I think Gwen was a much more interesting character and I would’ve rather read her story.

I also found the song lyrics in the book cringey and unnecessary (this is a pet hate of mine!)

Following the Britney memoir, Honey feels claustrophobic and right on the edge os seedy with the pitch perfect pop culture references,and too close to the truth. It has been compared to Daisy Jones but the uncovering of the history in a linear first person perspective feels closer to Evelyn Hugo to me, and I was pushing on despite the creeping unease of this reading experience as Amber's rise to fame (or more accurately, her endless pursuit of acceptance and love) is chronicled like an never ending merry go round. I don't know I enjoyed it about half way through because the constant male gaze made my skin crawl, however realistic it is, but I just couldn't stop reading it. And I am so glad I didn't, for the euphoria of Amber discovering her autonomy and voice finally eclipses the visceral references to desire for a thoroughly satisfying ending.

This book is so enthralling from the beginning to the end. The main character Amber was so likeable and her journey from a nobody to a superstar was well chronicled. Her love interests were described beautifully and just how a young girl would feel. The supporting characters all had a part to play in the book without taking over the storyline. I particularly loved the ending which was years later - a proper epilogue!

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book a lot and very nearly gave it the full four stars. It's a shiny, fun, sometimes deep story about teen pop stars in the 90's/2000's. The characters are familiar if you lived through those times and there was a nostalgic air about the writing, for sure. There are male and female characters in the main story although it focuses on the females. They certainly get treated differently to the male stars and all the positions of power are held by middle-aged men. Mistreatment, and the pressure of fame at such a young age, are key themes in the book...and this is what led to my ultimate decision to not give four stars.
I felt that there were some punches pulled and that there were things left unexplored in the relationships that female stars have with their management teams, other stars, the media, and the fans. In this time of oversexualising young women and pitting them against each other, the public generally accepted it and didn't really question whether it was right or not - it was just part of the machine. I was definitely a part of that, devouring gossip magazines that had 'circle of shame' articles to call out less than flattering pictures, and salacious stories about fights/hook-ups. I think that more could have been written about how these things play out from the inside, but I appreciate that would have made for a much darker book.
The central coming of age theme is brilliantly written and rings true in terms of universal things that girls go through as they grow up and try to figure out who they are as opposed to who everyone is telling them they should be - in Amber and her friends case, it's literally everyone whereas non-famous girls just have to contend with their parents, peers, and magazines.

Took me straight back to the 90s and early 00s right back to being a little girl who idolised all the pop princesses like our lord and saviour Miss Britney Spears. Loved the inclusion of song lyrics, Wikipedia etc etc. It didn’t grip my attention from start to finish but it’s definitely an enjoyable read!

As someone who was growing up in the nineties, this took me right back and I loved it.

This was a quick, easy read and the author did a great job of capturing the 90s cultural references of the time.

The book is a work of fiction that reads like an autobiography and it so much more of an addictive read as a result of it.

I liked the reflection of media attention on young popstars at the time and just how damaging and impactful this could be.

I enjoyed reading about Amber as a character.

This was the perfect nostalgic throwback and I could not put it down

There was much about this I enjoyed, the treatment of women in media, the push in certain areas to pit women against women. At times I struggled to empathise with characters but overall this was decent read. (Copy received via Netgalley in return for an honest review).

I was really intrigued by the premise of Honey, not least because it is set in my era. The late 1990s and early 2000s was a period where I was just getting into music myself and Isabel Banta does an absolutely sterling job of recreating this time, particularly the pressure on popstars to look and behave in a certain way. As a young person, I may not have always recognised this, and I found it interesting to look back on these times in a different light.

Honey is told in the first person by Amber, and this gives the reader plenty of opportunity to get to know her and understand the way she is thinking and feeling at different points in her journey. I often felt sorry for her, and I ultimately wanted her to be happy. She's surrounded by some interesting characters, especially Gwen, Wes, Axel and Sonny, who all play an important part in her life and despite never hearing directly from their point of view, Isabel Banta gives us a good idea of what they are like, which helps us to sympathise (or not) with them and understand their motives.

I also loved the song lyrics, Wikipedia entries, magazine articles and quizzes which broke up the main text. These are absolutely spot on as I remember them and really helped to create the atmosphere of the time in the novel.

Isabel Banta is a debut author and I look forward to seeing what she does next!