Honeys

Ryan La Sala, author of Reverie, returns with a horror novel set at a secluded summer retreat in the mountains. Mars has long lived in the shadow of his twin sister, Caroline. When she dies in a horrifying way, Mars sets out to understand the sister who was once his closest companion but had grown distant.

Mars is genderfluid, and his politically connected family has never fully made room for him in its customs and expectations. Caroline spent much of her summer at the Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy, so Mars, still raw from grief, decides to attend in her place. The academy presents itself as a sunny, friendly idyll, but beneath its folksy warmth lie outdated ideas about gender and a harsh, punishing focus on achievement. Mars soon realizes the place was never meant for someone like him.

Looking for answers, he seeks out his sister's old friends, a circle of girls called the Honeys after the beehives they tend behind their cabin. They are lovely and unsettling, and Mars is convinced they are tied to Caroline's death. As he stays on, the sweet mountain breezes begin to carry a hint of rot, and his memories start to slip away under the relentless summer sun. Something is stalking him in broad daylight and working on his mind. If Mars cannot uncover what it is soon, it will devour him.