Overview

The darkly comic killer debut novel of 2026.PICKED AS A BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR BY VOGUE, ESQUIRE, MARIE CLAIRE, THE NEW YORKER, STYLIST, ELLE AND GLAMOUR ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––'Dark, thrilling and undeniably hot' GLAMOUR 'The entertaining (and quietly damning) read you'll need to kick off spring' ELLE 'The blistering thriller taking the literary world by storm' VOGUE 'Honey might be the most anticipated debut novel of the year’ ESQUIRE 'It's just so clever' LOUISE O'NEILL 'Impossible to predict' ERIN KELLY ‘A beautiful, relentless novel’ ABIGAIL DEAN 'Wow, basically' HARRIET TYCE 'Worryingly relatable' SOPHIE DUKER 'Rich, hilarious and shocking’ JEN SOOKFONG LEE ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––The first time, Yrsa doesn’t intend to kill. But the Cambridge professor sitting opposite has manipulated her friend, stolen her research. When she flicks the bee into his Sanpellegrino, she thinks he’ll get a nasty sting. Then he’s dead. And Yrsa, who – let’s face it – has been bored for a while, is alive. It’s a sweet feeling, finally having some control. Comic, sexy, addictive, unpredictable, Honey is about the not-always-righteous path of taking justice into your own hands. The essential next read for fans of Butter, My Sister the Serial Killer, Such a Fun Age, Luster or Boy Parts. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––‘Yrsa serves up the unhinged hot girl homicide I didn’t know I needed’ SOPHIE DUKER ‘Juicy, dark, addictive, and truly clever. Yrsa is the antihero we've been waiting for’ SILVIA SAUNDERS 'A marvel of a novel, a story that breathes beyond its pages' ORE AGBAJE-WILLIAMS 'A twisted comeuppance story … Wow. Think Fleabag' KIRKUS 'The hotly-anticipated debut … a dark tale which throws light on the intersections between politics, race, sex, violence and love through the eyes of a female serial killer' MARIE CLAIRE

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9780008759773

Table of Contents

Reviews

‘Honey is a potent and addicting rollercoaster of a read. I’m awed at how deftly Imani Thompson puts sex, blood and rage on the page. A worryingly relatable, deliciously dark debut – Yrsa serves up the unhinged hot girl homicide I didn’t know I needed’ Sophie Duker ‘A wonderfully sticky debut, impossible to predict or to forget’ Erin Kelly, author of The House of Mirrors 'Dark, thrilling and undeniably hot, this novel will leave you gasping for air' Glamour 'Imani is a writer to watch and Honey is the entertaining (and quietly damning) read you'll need to kick off spring' Elle ‘Juicy, dark, addictive, and truly clever. Yrsa is the antihero we've been waiting for — very few of us could fail to understand her righteous anger, if not her measures…’ Silvia Saunders, author of Homesick 'Phenomenal. The voice is utterly singular, the writing is stunning, and it's just so clever and sharp. It reminded me of Promising Young Woman (except it didn't pull *any* punches) with a touch of Such a Fun Age and Never Saw Me Coming' Louise O'Neill, author of Idol 'Wow, basically. It’s a cracking read, crackling with energy and wit, but full of tension and pathos, too. The writing is brilliant and, for a stone-cold killer, Yrsa is a warm and engaging protagonist. A one-sit read' Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange 'It would feel slightly cheap or easy to call Imani Thompson’s Honey, ‘whip smart’ and ‘wildly entertaining’ because it’s so much more … It’s a hugely talented writer examining power dynamics in various facets of society, the concept of ‘justice’ and to whom it belongs … Honey is a marvel of a novel, a story that breathes beyond its pages, makes you laugh, makes you angry and makes you want to learn in equal measure. It’s a book that quite frankly, should be studied, as should Imani Thompson’s brain, incredible thing that it is' Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us

'Phenomenal. The voice is utterly singular, the writing is stunning, and it's just so clever and sharp. It reminded me of Promising Young Woman (except it didn't pull *any* punches) with a touch of Such a Fun Age and Never Saw Me Coming' Louise O'Neill 'It would feel slightly cheap or easy to call Imani Thompson’s Honey, ‘whip smart’ and ‘wildly entertaining’ because it’s so much more. It’s an incisive and very human look at the world as it is today but also as it seems always to have been. It’s a hugely talented writer examining power dynamics in various facets of society, the concept of ‘justice’ and to whom it belongs; it’s a story about the uniquely complex and frustrating intersection of race, gender and class, the equally rewarding and un-rewarding world of academia and of course, trauma. Not trauma in the exploitative way, but in the way that closes people off to others, that seeks to self-soothe and medicate, that curls in on itself in order to protect others yet never taking time to preserve itself. Honey is a marvel of a novel, a story that breathes beyond its pages, makes you laugh, makes you angry and makes you want to learn in equal measure. It’s a book that quite frankly, should be studied, as should Imani Thompson’s brain, incredible thing that it is!' Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us

'Phenomenal. The voice is utterly singular, the writing is stunning, and it's just so clever and sharp. It reminded me of Promising Young Woman (except it didn't pull *any* punches) with a touch of Such a Fun Age and Never Saw Me Coming' Louise O'Neill

‘Honey is a potent and addicting rollercoaster of a read. I’m awed at how deftly Imani Thompson puts sex, blood and rage on the page. A worryingly relatable, deliciously dark debut – Yrsa serves up the unhinged hot girl homicide I didn’t know I needed’ Sophie Duker 'Phenomenal. The voice is utterly singular, the writing is stunning, and it's just so clever and sharp. It reminded me of Promising Young Woman (except it didn't pull *any* punches) with a touch of Such a Fun Age and Never Saw Me Coming' Louise O'Neill 'Wow, basically. It’s a cracking read, crackling with energy and wit, but full of tension and pathos, too. The writing is brilliant and, for a stone-cold killer, Yrsa is a warm and engaging protagonist. A one-sit read' Harriet Tyce 'It would feel slightly cheap or easy to call Imani Thompson’s Honey, ‘whip smart’ and ‘wildly entertaining’ because it’s so much more. It’s an incisive and very human look at the world as it is today but also as it seems always to have been. It’s a hugely talented writer examining power dynamics in various facets of society, the concept of ‘justice’ and to whom it belongs; it’s a story about the uniquely complex and frustrating intersection of race, gender and class, the equally rewarding and un-rewarding world of academia and of course, trauma. Not trauma in the exploitative way, but in the way that closes people off to others, that seeks to self-soothe and medicate, that curls in on itself in order to protect others yet never taking time to preserve itself. Honey is a marvel of a novel, a story that breathes beyond its pages, makes you laugh, makes you angry and makes you want to learn in equal measure. It’s a book that quite frankly, should be studied, as should Imani Thompson’s brain, incredible thing that it is!' Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us

Author Information

Imani Thompson was born in 1998 and is a British writer of Scottish, Irish and Jamaican heritage. After studying Sociology at Cambridge University, she wrote Honey while working as a bookseller at Daunt Books. She lives in London.

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