I honestly can’t remember the last book I rated 5 stars. I’m tough on books. O’Porter is one of my favourite authors - probably my favourite to be honest. I have read all of her books, many, many times and am rarely disappointed by her writing.
Honeybee follows on from two books she wrote at the beginning of her writing career about two teens navigating life on the small island of Guernsey. These teens are now 22, and still chugging through life however they can. The book follows them navigating friendship, love, work and adulthood. As a 22 year old myself, I found this book so reassuring and comforting. I feel like so little of my life is being unfolded the way I thought it would and the women in this book feel the same way.
Something I really enjoyed about this book was how fast paced it is. Somehow this book is almost 400 pages long and I felt like it was only 200 I slammed it like a cadburys bar. I have been left with a desperate feeling to move to Guernsey and surf in the mornings and eat chips on a wall looking out to sea. I want to feel safe on a remote island, everywhere I look is someone I know. The idea of that life sounds incredibly comforting. The fast paced nature of the book also meant that though the plot line was mildly predictable at times, I barely had time to predict because it was already happening. There were a few curveballs, especially when I forgot that this book is set in 2001 and a certain major world event takes place (no spoilers but I’m sure you can guess) and there was another scene where one of the characters forgot her phone and I could not figure out how a 22 year old in 2024 could ever forget her phone - obviously different time period.
Some lines I absolutely loved:
“It’s a bit like when Georgina brings in doughnuts for everyone. Renee is the doughnuts.” (Chapter 6) Just loved this way of describing someone.
“It’s weird how people go to university when the people who don’t seem to come out of school and get the same jobs anyway.” (Chapter 6) Never related to something more.
“I never imagined feeling old at twenty-two, but my guess is that no matter what age you are, would feel old if you’re not where you should be.” (Chapter 21)
This book is funny, emotional and perfect for anyone in their 20s. I feel seen and my love for Dawn O’Porter has grown even more. She has been my biggest inspiration for life for so long and her writing is just perfect.
I was very lucky to get an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley, I have already preordered the special signed edition of this book because I cannot not have a physical copy of this book.
Thank you Dawn for being a writer.
I honestly can’t believe since starting this blog ive been on the biggest reading slump, but I do plan on picking it up a bit more now. Once university starts up again I know I will have negative time to read because there is so much I need to do. I have joined a book club at the pub I work at so im hoping I can keep up enough for that but we will see!
This actually does sound like a really comforting read, even if it’s not my genre of choice! I’ll give it a go!