Honey

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

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 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.

MEDIA REVIEWS

‘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 ‘Juicy, dark, addictive, and truly clever. Yrsa is the antihero we've been waiting for’ Silvia Saunders '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' Louise O'Neill

'Wow, basically. It’s a cracking read, crackling with energy and wit … 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 … Honey is a marvel of a novel, a story that breathes beyond its pages' Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us

‘This is a beautiful, relentless novel, twisting away from easy answers, arcs, or redemption’ Abigail Dean, author of The Death of Us ‘Yrsa is the most compelling of protagonists: sardonic, fiercely intelligent … This novel is rich, hilarious, and shocking’ Jen Sookfong Lee, author of The Hunger We Pass Down 'Dark, thrilling and undeniably hot, this novel will leave you gasping for air' Glamour

‘Honey might be the most-anticipated debut novel of the year’ Esquire 'Imani is a writer to watch and Honey is the entertaining (and quietly damning) read you'll need to kick off spring' Elle

'The hotly-anticipated debut from British author Imani Thompson, Honey is 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

‘Thompson is poised for her literary breakout’ Vogue 'A twisted comeuppance story, a campus-life spoof, and a look at the dating-app generation of women … Wow. Think Fleabag channeled by Valerie Solanas' Kirkus 'Sensual, whipsmart' The Bookseller