Grace Porter had a plan. She stuck to that plan. She didn’t want to disappoint the Colonel, also known as Grace’s dad. But, the universe had other plans.

In Honey Girl, the debut novel from Morgan Rogers, we meet Grace after a crazy night in Las Vegas. You know, the kind where you wake up vaguely remembering marrying someone the night before but you’re not 100% sure you can trust your brain as your head throbs from the pounding hangover. That kind of night.

In case you’re wondering, marrying a stranger was not at all part of Grace’s post-PhD plan.

No, she was supposed to graduate with a Ph.D. in Astronomy – Dr. Grace Porter – and wow people by being the best. Her plan was to be the best. She could never settle for less. And yet, as Grace comes to terms with her new, post-grad life, and accepts her impulsive decision to marry someone she doesn’t know, she realizes she doesn’t actually know what her best is.

You see, Grace is a young millennial. The kind of millennial that has found herself lost after pushing so hard for her massive achievements. She is black and queer and wears it proudly. However, the post-grad job that she was supposed to be a shoe-in for turned out to be more “diversity and inclusion” on paper but not so much in practice and this knocks Grace from her shaky foundation. (They have the nerve to call her to resume “exclusive” as it lists her membership in queer and black student association which they indicate are contradictory to their “inclusive” company culture – um, WHAT.). Having pushed so hard to come so far just to be mocked in a highly prized interview (the one she’d been working towards for most of her graduate career) seems to destroy the plan Grace had for herself. The very plan she needed to keep the Colonel satisfied with her choice to not pursue medicine.

Soon, she finds herself fleeing Portland for New York City to meet her new wife for the second time. The trip is to get to know Yuki but turns into Grace figuring out why she suddenly feels so lost. Lost enough to marry a complete stranger. Yuki Yamamoto (her wife) is the opposite of Grace. She never had a plan. Or, at least, she never followed through on one. Her greatest achievement is hosting a radio show about “monsters” both the real and imaginary ones, we like to make up. But Grace is unsettled and can’t find her footing in her new relationship. She’s alone although she’s surrounded by her new wife and friends.

She flees again, to the orange groves of Florida to stay with her mother. A mother who was traveling the world to find herself while Grace, confined by rigidity and discipline, followed through heel-to-toe with her big plan. It’s here in the sultry summer of southern Florida that Grace is able to unplug from her world (hesitant but determined) to fix herself.

I enjoyed Grace’s pursuit of vulnerability and how she broke down her own walls. Despite having some of the coolest, most supportive, and realest friends I’ve read in a work of fiction recently, Grace still managed not to be present with them. Spending time with herself made her realize how lucky she was to have a friend circle that would wait for her to return, and I too admire their loyalty to her.

By the end of the book, Grace is finally able to stop and contemplate who the “best” Grace Porter can truly be: a good, genuine, loving friend; a proud daughter; a romantic astronomer; and a solid partner.

Morgan Rogers’s Honey Girl is a book about being lost and figuring out how to find your way back to yourself. It’s about accepting that things don’t always go according to plan. It’s a story about figuring out what’s actually important in life: friends, family, and being your best self in your own, unique way.