ARC Review: “Honey” by Imani Thompson
“Honey” by Imani Thompson
Publishing Date: May 5, 2026
Genre: Thriller, Horror. Mystery, Fiction
Page Length: 384 pages (electronic review edition)
Synopsis:
Yrsa is in a funk. She’s bored of her PhD program, bored of her research on Afropessimism, bored of the entitled undergrads she has to cater to. But most of all, she’s bored of the men in her life—especially the bad ones.
When her best friend, Nina, confesses to having an affair with her professor, and that he’s stolen her research, Yrsa is mad. On the quad, Yrsa bumps into the professor and witnesses his death: an unfortunate incident involving his San Pellegrino and a bee allergy. What she sees that afternoon awakens something in her: a taste for murder.
Emboldened, Yrsa decides to chase that high, and soon, no sexist, misbehaving man within commuting distance is safe.
With each murder, Yrsa feels a greater sense of meaning and purpose—finally, her doctoral research feels useful. But how long can killing in the name of feminist and racial solidarity justify her actions? Will her rampage ever assuage her feelings of rage and revenge? And how long until her actions—and buried family secrets—come back to haunt her?
Review:
Honey is a novel of academics, race, morality, and one woman who decides to take justice into her own hands. Reading the blurbs and synopsis for the novel, it reminded me of My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite which is a story of family ties, crime, and has elements of a psychological thriller. It’s described as a novel with dark humor, but I personally didn’t get those feelings during my reading experience.
Yrsa, is a main character that is bored with everything in her life and a bout of anger unleashes a darker side of herself she’s kept hidden away. She commits crime after crime, in order to rid the world of bad men, but soon her decisions begin to eat her alive. Its evident in the way she spirals throughout the latter part of the novel that she begins to question her entire life. Her character is conflicting, unreliable as she weaves through obstacles she’s created for herself.
Rather than the humor this book as described as being it reads as overwhelming academic, which took me out of the book at times. Because of the more serious topics surrounding racial justice and inequality Yrsa’s work is based in the story focuses more on that the thriller elements of the story. It spends a lot of time deep diving into these themes over the story’s actual progression. It took me a while to figure what was actually happening in the story because a lot of things are alluded to but not described on page. It left me a bit confused at times. I wish the plot lines were wrapped up a bit more cleanly to make for a easier reading experience.
Final Verdict:
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Were there any clues that the story was going to have a more elevated aspect to it, like is it from an academic press? When I’m not expecting that, I can feel quite disoriented. Sometimes if I stop reading and return to it later, even start over sometimes, my expectations can adjust but, with a story like this that might be easier said than done, cuz you probably also want to know how it’s going to end and what’s going to happen next!