Books
Praise for Honeysuckle
An Instant USA Today & National Indie Bestseller | Named a Best Book of March 2026 by Barnes & Noble and Apple |Indie Next Pick | Indies Introduce selection | The Booksellers List selection
Honeysuckle
A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about love and power, autonomy, and consent.
An Instant USA Today & National Indie Bestseller
Once upon a time, on the edge between meadow and forest, there was a lonely child with only his older sister for company. In exchange for being left in peace, his sister made him a playmate—Daye, a girl woven from flowers and words. And for the first time, this boy, Rory, had a friend.
Rory couldn’t be happier, until he learns that Daye is a short-lived creature. At the end of each season, she must be woven back together or fall gruesomely apart. And every time Daye falls apart might be her last.
As Rory and Daye grow older, and the line between friendship and romance begins to blur, Rory becomes desperate to break this cycle of bloom and decay. But the farther Rory pushes his research and experiments to lengthen Daye's existence, the more Daye begins to wonder just how much control she really has over her own life.
As a loose reimagining of the story of Blodeuwedd from Welsh mythology, Honeysuckle is an entrancing, inventive, and unsettling debut.
“Thoughtful, evocative fantasy.” —The Guardian, The Best Recent Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
“Lush and romantic with a hint of darkness, this unsettling tale of desire, power and fear is inspired by ancient Welsh mythology.” —Barnes & Noble, "Best Books of March 2026"
"Fridman-Tell's gorgeous debut fantasy luxuriates on the border between romance and horror . . . Fridman-Tell uses her eerie fairy tale premise to masterfully unpick all of the squirmy ethical implications of the created-lover trope, spinning a story that is as powerful in its human aspects as in its magic. This stuns.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“The novel is composed with brittle, devastating lyricism. Its horrors flutter beneath intoxicating layers of nature references . . . A flower girl magicked to life to be a boy’s playmate comes into her own in the exquisite fantasy novel Honeysuckle.” —Foreword Reviews, starred review
“A haunting reimagining.” —The Times, "The pop culture moments everyone will be talking about in 2026"
“I'm a sucker for a dark fairy tale, and Fridman-Tell's gorgeously rendered debut - featuring a Blodeuwedd, or woman made of flowers, from Welsh mythology - blew me away. Come for the lush prose and horror-tinged romance, stay for the incisive examination of autonomy and agency.” —Phoebe Cramer, Publishers Weekly's "9 Books That Should Be On Your Radar in 2026"
“A fascinating combination of magic and science . . . Tackles issues of consent, bodily autonomy, and codependent relationships. Fridman-Tell has crafted a truly genre-defying story here, one that'll fit perfectly next to Helen Oyeyemi and Carmen Maria Machado.” —Reactor Magazine, "30 SFF Titles to Look Forward to in 2026"
"“Fridman-Tell’s reimagining of the blodeuwedd legend from Welsh mythology is as beautiful as a flower while unearthing the rot festering at their roots ... Highly recommended for fans of feminist fairy-tale retellings and romantic horror.” —Library Journal
"Lush . . . eerie and oh-so-relevant.” —Lit Hub, "March’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books"
"[An] emotionally raw exploration of feminine interiority . . . examin[ing] desire, control and psychological unraveling.” —BookTrib
"I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Honeysuckle since I read it... Fridman-Tell writes characters whose thoughts, worries, and flaws spill off the page into people and experiences I’m sure most readers know in some way. This was a simultaneously familiar and altogether unique reading experience. I highly, highly recommend!” —The Southern Bookseller Review
***
“A lush, dreamlike, wholly intoxicating novel with the elegant lyricism of modern fantasy and the deep, dark roots of ancient folklore. Honeysuckle is a fever dream that I won’t soon forget.” —Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning
"A flower-threaded horror crafted from myth and brimming with lush prose, Honeysuckle is an incredibly timely story about the corrupting power of desire and control. Unsettling and stunning in equal measure." —Maddie Martinez, USA Today bestselling author of The Maiden and Her Monster
"Equal parts fairytale and nightmare, beautiful and terrifying, innocent and disturbed. A novel for anyone who contemplates the rot beneath lovely things . . . A deeply impressive debut." —Danielle Valentine, New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Husband Cookbook
"A hauntingly lyrical, fairytale-like horror. I was absolutely enthralled with Fridman-Tell’s lush world building and devastatingly beautiful prose . . . A searing addition to the literary horror genre." —Kalynn Bayron, New York Times bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart
"Bar Fridman-Tell is a master of the botanical grotesque. This lyrical and captivating debut unsettles and shocks by turns, as a lush and dreamy childhood world gives way to a dark reality." —Charlotte Cross, author of The Brides
"This is magical realism at its absolute best—the fantastical is woven seamlessly into the sumptuous fabric of the world, while what is real is too monstrous and twisted to be anything other than achingly human . . . this is a novel destined to become a modern gothic classic. A glorious, decadent debut!" –Anuja Varghese, author of Chrysalis
“Bar Fridman-Tell has created a rare, beguiling thing. A twisted, wild journey that deftly leads the reader through the forest of hopes and fears, Honeysuckle is a bold, haunting folktale for our times.” —Ami McKay, internationally bestselling author of The Witches of New York and The Birth House