Audra (ouija.reads)'s Reviews > The Honeys

There's something about horror that takes place in the sun that seems almost more horrific. The bright light of day doesn't allow for anything to hide away. Instead, we see the monstrous in its fullness, and we can succumb, run, or fight.

A queer, genderfluid main character is the only way to experience the liminal spaces presented by this novel. It is interested in the in-between and what lives in that push and pull. It explores family, especially what is expected of us and how much of ourselves we hide away to fulfill those expectations. On the other side of the familial tug-of-war game is who we are and what we want. How much space do we have to reject expectations and make our own way in the world? It is a book about grief and the ways we hide from and accept it. It confronts the gender binary, especially toxic interpretations of masculinity and femininity that are mired in our society's patriarchal worldview.

How do we—any and all of us—break free from all of that? Once you start unpacking it, the question becomes more about how many constructs we've internalized until they feel true. Where does the unraveling begin? How can we begin to create a new world if we are products of the old one? There is a quote that hit me hard as I was reading: "It made me wonder what shape I'd be if I'd never met another human being." Wow. Would it even be possible to form in such a vacuum?

These are the kinds of questions that La Sala's book is seeking answers to. I'm not saying there are answers, but it's more about the process, the work of becoming. Along the way, the book serves up some hellishly visceral body horror. It is the kind of book that draws you in with a sweet scent, but once you taste the honey, you become mired in the sticky pool. And it's only then you slowly realize that the sticky sweetness hides something darker.