Honey Girl - Book Review

 

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
Publication date: February 23, 2021
Pages: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction, LGBTQ, Young adult
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars ☆☆☆☆
Strengths: Realistic characters, realistic storyline
Weaknesses: Unique characters may be sometimes not relatable

Sometimes coming up with weaknesses is the hardest part of writing my reviews. See, there's no reason I should have found a character written to be a bi-racial lesbian astonomer so relatable. I'm a priveleged old white woman. But her struggles felt universal. 

Grace Porter is strong and determined. These qualities get her through life, all the way to achieving a doctorate degree in astonomy. She's determined to make her father proud of her by being successful in spite of his dream to have her go into medicine. But being a woman, especially a woman of color, in a field dominated and controlled by old white men is hard. After walking out of her graduation ceremony - she assumes from disappointment - her father sends her and two of her close friends to Vegas to celebrate. That's where the book really begins.

In Vegas, Grace meets a girl who she feels really 'sees' her. They get drunk, and married. While Grace feels like it makes her happy, she's pretty sure getting drunken married in Vegas doesn't fall under her father's list of what makes an admirable Porter family member. She keeps it all to herself while she tries to work out what to do in her head.

The story goes on with Grace deciding how she wants to be the best. Does it have to mean working with other respected astronomers? Can it include the adorable wife she's getting to know? Grace's struggles of living up to her parents' expectations, and trying to figure out her own expectations, are way too real. 

I loved Grace, and her close friends who became her chosen family. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to women and young adults who like stories about emotional growth.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my electronic copy of this book. Receiving the book did not influence my review.