"A Taste of Honey" by Kai Ashante Wilson (BR)

[Lesley]

Welcome to the BR thread for A Taste of Honey! Please use spoiler tags for anything beyond a first impression and note the chapter you’re on. Looking forward to the discussion!

[Anna]

And here's the link for the The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps BR, for those who haven't read it yet and might want to.

[Meredith]

I read Part One (20%), (view spoiler)[ really enjoyed the sweet and flirty interactions between the soldier and Aqib as they stroll through the city (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Just started. What a totally cute beginning!

[Lesley]

Just finished Part 1 and completely agree with both of you. (view spoiler)[ I love the sweet romance that is developing. Wilson’s lyrical writing makes it seem both grounded and giddy at the same time. I was grinning to myself as I was reading their slightly awkward interactions.

I also enjoy the different voices of Aqib and Lucrio. It brings added texture to the prose and really makes it seem like Lucrio is a foreigner. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

This was absolutely beautiful!
More tomorrow, when I'm at my PC. Now I'm way past my bedtime. I only wanted to start it today, but then I could not lay it down or go to sleep before I finished. Beautiful!

[Bobby]

I might start tonight. I know it's a short read, so hopefully I'll get sucked in like Gabi seems to have been.

[Lesley]

Finished part 2 last night and I’m curious how others found the structure of the narrative? (view spoiler)[ I found the timeline switching a bit jarring, but I think it was mostly because I wanted to spend more time with Aqib and Lucrio as their relationship developed. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Lesley wrote: "Finished part 2 last night and I’m curious how others found the structure of the narrative? [spoilers removed]"

I totally, totally, totally adored the structure. (view spoiler)[ It is not everybody's cup of tea, but I love those kind of chronological jumping narrations. When both strands slowly unravel and parts of the puzzle come together or - like in this case - pose more questions and create a nagging sense of foreboding, then I'm in my personal narrative heaven (hide spoiler)]

[Bobby]

I finished the first part last night and it was very pleasant. (view spoiler)[As others mentioned, the different styles of speaking really came through, and I truly felt the cultural difference. (hide spoiler)]

[Lesley]

Finished this tonight. I take back what I said earlier about (view spoiler)[ the narrative switching being jarring. It certainly was at times, but it works so, so well for the ending.

Speaking of the ending, I loved it. Such a satisfying and thought-provoking way to finish off this truly beautiful story. (hide spoiler)]

[Meredith]

Just finished and (view spoiler)[oooh. I have to sit with this a bit. (hide spoiler)]

[Kristin B.]

Just finished part 1 and am dying to click on everyone's spoilers for the rest. I'm hoping to finish this quickly, but I am not a fan of the back and forth time jumps. Did that bother anyone else? It always pulls me right out of the story when I hit one.

[Lesley]

@Kristin I too found the time switches jarring, but I think it ultimately works well for where the book ends up. Will be interested to hear what you think about the end!

[Kristin B.]

Finished

(view spoiler)[I am not at all a fan of "it was all a dream" stories. This one in particular left me with a foul taste in my mouth. For three reasons.
1. if he was so happy in his life with Lucrio, why go to the Sybil and ask if he had made a mistake? That seems cruel to Lucrio. Especially knowing there would be a dire price. "Oh Lucrio, I love you and our life and our family, but I'm going to go pay a high unknowable price to the oracle in the cave to tell me if I made a mistake or not." What's the point of what ifs when you're happy?
2. If he really had all the memories and emotions of that other life, he would have missed his daughter much more dearly. I don't like that he kind of just shrugged that off without much thought.
3. Now I want to know the OTHER story. I want to know about their life together. I want to watch him help care for Olivy and Lucretius. But I didn't get that story. I got the one where he caved to his father and lost his wife.

On the plus side. It was beautifully written. I liked the play on gender roles that we see. Where math and writing are women's things and therefore not as important. Literacy was said to be a crutch at one point.

I loved Lucretia. I loved (even though I only just now realized it because sometimes I'm thick) that she was named after Lucrio. I loved Aqib and Lucretia's relationship. I adored that she was basically him in reverse and was definitely in a relationship with that girl.

I loved the telekinetic grandson. Everything about that scene was delightful.

I also like how the math and science gets blended into this fantasy world. And definitely adored Aqib's relationship with all the animals.

And of course, I loved his relationship with Lucrio at the beginning. He was so sweet and naive but gave himself fully to the relationship. Their interactions were lovingly crafted and endearing.

There were a million little details that I adored. It would have been a solid 4.5 stars. (Losing a bit because I'm not a fan of the bouncing timeline) But the ending spoiled it for me. So I appreciate the writing and all the intricate details in such a short space of story, but I have to knock it down to 3.5 for the ending. It felt like it made the rest of the story cheap.

Ok. It's late. I'm done ranting. Still thrilled I read it, just wish I could unread the last few pages. :) (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Regarding the end: (view spoiler)[ Since the narrative structure hinted at an ending like this it worked very well for me. I didn't expect the way it finally turned out, I thought it had to do with the moment in the garden, because of those mentions of 'something happening that he forgot'. … and regarding the chronological jumps, I wrote it before, I totally loved them. (hide spoiler)]

[Lesley]

@Kristin I appreciate your perspective on the ending. I can see why it would be problematic in the ways you describe. (view spoiler)[ I sort of read the ending as more open ended, that either reality could be the “true” one, which would make the garden scene that Gabi references make more sense if the Blessed had somehow tampered with his memory. (hide spoiler)]

[Meredith]

I appreciate reading the range of thoughts, both positive and critical, that folks are sharing! I enjoyed the story and these comments are making me think more deeply about it.

(view spoiler)[I wondered about the garden scene as well. I assumed the Blessed was trying to make Aqib forget either a) herself, since she was physically gone from his life, or b) Lucrio, since the Blessed was peeved she wasn't his first love. I like the idea that it was something larger. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

I'm late to this BR- but I just finished part two. Part one was sweet as everyone else agreed, but I didn't love part two and now I'm liking part three even less. I feel like there's no real focus to the story.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Alright so I finished and I'll admit the ending was good- I just wasn't thrilled about a lot of the other stuff in the middle. Seemed to have lost it's way a little.

[Kristin B.]

Sarah wrote: "Alright so I finished and I'll admit the ending was good- I just wasn't thrilled about a lot of the other stuff in the middle. Seemed to have lost it's way a little."

I was almost opposite. I didn't mind the middle (although I did think/hope it was heading somewhere different) but I was really not a fan of the end.

It was a pretty read overall, though.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Kristin B. wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Alright so I finished and I'll admit the ending was good- I just wasn't thrilled about a lot of the other stuff in the middle. Seemed to have lost it's way a little."

I was almost op..."

I will say it was kind of (view spoiler)[generic. The protagonist wakes up and it was all a dream. The hand thing was weird.

Also- as a mother, it rang overall a little false to me. Between having a partner and having my daughter- the daughter wins every time. Because the story doesn't focus so much on his relationship with his daughter, and also makes other aspects of that life lonely and miserable, I think the reader is manipulated into being "happy" he's really with his partner.

I guess I just liked that there was a twist. If it had just ended the way it was going I don't think I'd have been happy. I'd have been really depressed. (hide spoiler)]

[Kristin B.]

Sarah wrote: "I will say it was kind of (view spoiler) ."

Re: Mom instinct. (view spoiler)[Yeah, my mom brain was the same reason I didn't like that bit. And I know he's the dad, but I don't think it makes a difference. I know my husband would pick my kid over me every time. (I mean, he's kind of hopeless with bills and organization and grocery shopping, etc, so they would both need someone to take care of them after, but...) I think there was a story arc in Agents of Shield that explored the same thing, and the dad in that show definitely wanted his kid that never technically existed. I think if there hadn't been a kid involved I would have been way less annoyed at the ending. Especially because Lucretia was kind of a badass and I loved her. (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

Kristin B. wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I will say it was kind of (view spoiler) ."

Re: Mom instinct. [spoilers removed]"

Well I’m glad I’m not alone on that instinct. (view spoiler)[I know some people don’t feel that way about kids, they like having their freedom and independence, I just think more credence would have been given to the story if we had seen more of his reaction, or just gotten more of a sense of mourning the daughter he never had.

And I agree- Lucretia was awesome! (hide spoiler)]

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

@Kristin I just realized you already said all that- sorry’ I thought I clicked all the spoilers but I just realized I only clicked up to part two.

Very well said. I didn’t even think about (view spoiler)[ the gender roles stuff. I mean i caught that it was role reversal but missed that it was still non-important. (hide spoiler)]