Honey Girl

Narrator York Whitaker gives a mixed performance of this charming novel about finding your purpose in the unlikeliest of places. To celebrate finishing her PhD, Grace leaves Portland, Oregon, and heads to Las Vegas, where she marries a woman she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by postdoctoral choices, she spends the summer getting to know her new wife. Whitaker excels at voicing Grace's internal monologues but falls short voicing other characters. The diverse and engaging cast, who range from Grace's parents to her found family, all sound about the same. As a result, the dialogue is hard to follow. Nonetheless, listeners will appreciate the way Whitaker brings the novel's beautiful prose to life. L.S. � AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

May 1, 2021

Grace Porter has her PhD in astronomy in hand and is ready to embark on her professional career. To celebrate her graduation, responsible, hard-working, overachieving Grace lets her hair down with a girls' trip to Vegas. When she awakens in Vegas with fuzzy memories of vodka-fueled hours, it slowly dawns on her that she got married last night. Her new wife has vanished, leaving only a business card. Grace returns to Portland but is unable to forget the beautiful woman who is at once a stranger and her wife. Under the weight of her parents' expectations and unable to find a job, Grace soon abandons her life plans and heads to New York City to find Yuki, her new wife. She moves in with Yuki and her roommates, who are more like family, and the couple grows closer. Despite their mutual attraction, Grace's emotional scars may make the marriage impossible. Grace is a vivid, realistic character, and York Whittaker's engaging narration is exceptional in creating a rich portrait of this multifaceted figure. VERDICT Listeners will relish this Own Voices debut love story, which focuses on Grace as a young Black woman trying to find a place in her family and in the world.--Maureen Roberts, Baltimore Cty. P.L.

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