Review of The Color of Honey
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Kutloano Makhuvhela
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Review of The Color of Honey
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Color of Honey" by Ty Robbins.]
The Color of Honey by Ty Robbins is an urban fiction collection of short stories that are centred around lesbianism and personal identity. The ten short stories are upbeat and straight to the point, with a linear plot that is consistent throughout the book. The author is described as a Black LGBT woman who is from New York City. This is her debut book and is inspired by her city’s dynamic culture. This book delivers on its promises and more, which makes a quick, great read that will keep you company and resonate with people within and without the LGBTQIA+ community.
The first story is called Outside Your Door. It follows Aliyah Morrison, who is attracted to her neighbour, Lynn Saunders. Their first encounter was a bit awkward, but Aliyah knew she wanted to know more about Lynn. Their relationship develops into something more, and both of them are enjoying it. Until Aliyah learns that there might be something about Lynn’s past that’s still affecting her. Would Lynn open up about her past and let Aaliyah in? The other story is titled Journey to Mecca. In this one, we are introduced to Sandy, who is trying to find love. She was set up with Marcus by her co-worker, Amina, but things didn’t work out between them. But Marcus invites her to a playoff party, and Sandy is a bit reluctant but agrees. This is where she meets Mecca. Mecca is different, and Sandy is totally attracted to her. Will their relationship work? Are they compatible?
The third is called Can I Have You? We’re introduced to a bit reserved Tori, who is attending her sister-in-law’s birthday party. She meets Elise while she is resting on the side to catch her breath. Now Elise is everything that Tori is not. They hook up, but their relationship, if one can call it that, is messy from the get-go. What’s messy about it? The Tenth Floor is the fourth one. Here we introduced Allison, who is attracted to Jade, who works on the tenth floor in their law firm. Allison instantly makes her move and is shocked when Jade reciprocates. Will their relationship survive the office gossip? Will it advance into something more serious?
The answers to these four stories’ questions are found in this book. I only mentioned the first four stories so you can get an idea of what kind of stories this book has. In total, as I have said, there are ten stories. The author made sure to make the stories as short as she could while retaining the attractiveness of their characters. What I noticed about the characters of all these stories is that they are unfulfilled at the beginning, so they look into relationships for that fulfilment. In some stories, that fulfilment is not guaranteed; in some it is. Meaning there are stories with happy endings and some with sad endings. This made them unpredictable, fun, and realistic.
The narration was accompanied by dialogue which balanced the stories well. The narration made sure the stories moved forward at a steady pace. Then the dialogue gave the characters life and personality. This made sure that the characters were not flat and pale. The use of the first-person narration worked well and made things interesting. The characters did all the talking and thinking for themselves. This was an enjoyable aspect of this book.
The stories revolved around women who are lesbians, so it would be wrong for me if I didn’t mention how well this aspect was executed. The author did mention at the beginning of the book, in the introduction, that she wrote this book because she noticed a gap in Black lesbian stories out there. So this was her way of closing that gap. I loved how unapologetic her characters were about their sexuality in this book. I loved that there was no trauma about their sexuality, as most stories about LGBTQIA+ characters usually are. Here, characters were freely exploring their identity and sexuality on their own, free of trauma and fear. It was a breath of fresh air. The sex scenes were explicitly depicted to give off that steamy passion. This was one part that is mostly portrayed in heterosexual couples.
There’s nothing I disliked about the book. It met and exceeded my expectations. It was exceptionally edited because I detected minor errors that didn’t affect the quality of the book. That’s why I rate this book five out of five stars. I strongly recommend it to people who love stories of people of colour by people of colour in the LGBTQIA+ community, especially lesbians. Only mature adults should read it because of explicit sex scenes. My favourite story is Lady DuJour.
******
The Color of Honey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Color of Honey by Ty Robbins is an urban fiction collection of short stories that are centred around lesbianism and personal identity. The ten short stories are upbeat and straight to the point, with a linear plot that is consistent throughout the book. The author is described as a Black LGBT woman who is from New York City. This is her debut book and is inspired by her city’s dynamic culture. This book delivers on its promises and more, which makes a quick, great read that will keep you company and resonate with people within and without the LGBTQIA+ community.
The first story is called Outside Your Door. It follows Aliyah Morrison, who is attracted to her neighbour, Lynn Saunders. Their first encounter was a bit awkward, but Aliyah knew she wanted to know more about Lynn. Their relationship develops into something more, and both of them are enjoying it. Until Aliyah learns that there might be something about Lynn’s past that’s still affecting her. Would Lynn open up about her past and let Aaliyah in? The other story is titled Journey to Mecca. In this one, we are introduced to Sandy, who is trying to find love. She was set up with Marcus by her co-worker, Amina, but things didn’t work out between them. But Marcus invites her to a playoff party, and Sandy is a bit reluctant but agrees. This is where she meets Mecca. Mecca is different, and Sandy is totally attracted to her. Will their relationship work? Are they compatible?
The third is called Can I Have You? We’re introduced to a bit reserved Tori, who is attending her sister-in-law’s birthday party. She meets Elise while she is resting on the side to catch her breath. Now Elise is everything that Tori is not. They hook up, but their relationship, if one can call it that, is messy from the get-go. What’s messy about it? The Tenth Floor is the fourth one. Here we introduced Allison, who is attracted to Jade, who works on the tenth floor in their law firm. Allison instantly makes her move and is shocked when Jade reciprocates. Will their relationship survive the office gossip? Will it advance into something more serious?
The answers to these four stories’ questions are found in this book. I only mentioned the first four stories so you can get an idea of what kind of stories this book has. In total, as I have said, there are ten stories. The author made sure to make the stories as short as she could while retaining the attractiveness of their characters. What I noticed about the characters of all these stories is that they are unfulfilled at the beginning, so they look into relationships for that fulfilment. In some stories, that fulfilment is not guaranteed; in some it is. Meaning there are stories with happy endings and some with sad endings. This made them unpredictable, fun, and realistic.
The narration was accompanied by dialogue which balanced the stories well. The narration made sure the stories moved forward at a steady pace. Then the dialogue gave the characters life and personality. This made sure that the characters were not flat and pale. The use of the first-person narration worked well and made things interesting. The characters did all the talking and thinking for themselves. This was an enjoyable aspect of this book.
The stories revolved around women who are lesbians, so it would be wrong for me if I didn’t mention how well this aspect was executed. The author did mention at the beginning of the book, in the introduction, that she wrote this book because she noticed a gap in Black lesbian stories out there. So this was her way of closing that gap. I loved how unapologetic her characters were about their sexuality in this book. I loved that there was no trauma about their sexuality, as most stories about LGBTQIA+ characters usually are. Here, characters were freely exploring their identity and sexuality on their own, free of trauma and fear. It was a breath of fresh air. The sex scenes were explicitly depicted to give off that steamy passion. This was one part that is mostly portrayed in heterosexual couples.
There’s nothing I disliked about the book. It met and exceeded my expectations. It was exceptionally edited because I detected minor errors that didn’t affect the quality of the book. That’s why I rate this book five out of five stars. I strongly recommend it to people who love stories of people of colour by people of colour in the LGBTQIA+ community, especially lesbians. Only mature adults should read it because of explicit sex scenes. My favourite story is Lady DuJour.
******
The Color of Honey
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
‘When you do a good deed, people are grateful, and that creates a nice feeling inside you; and then because it feels good, that makes you want to do more good deeds. That repetition is the cycle of goodness.’
~Hogoromo.
~Hogoromo.
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Sandra Amami
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She was very interesting my interest was on the black lesbians
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Blueberry Dragon
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Thank you @Kutloano Makhuvhela for your insights into the book. Sounds like an interesting collection of stories peopled by diverse characters. I will try and get a copy of the book to read it.
