Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

177 reviews

libbylou1201's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Read this because of a tiktok I saw that mentioned it as a book with

a trans character

. Was also hesitant by it being a Jodi Picoult but gave it a try and IM SO GLAD I DID. The book was suspenseful and intriguing and left you thinking and wondering and guessing what was to come. But it also never left me anxious and nervous so a real win.

One thing to add is that it was funny to discover at the beginning that this was set in New Hampshire and then to easily be able to contextualize the geographic area they were in. But I was taken aback by the audiobook narrator’s mispronunciation of Concord and also by a few random tidbits through that were just not true or not real about nh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion and Transphobia

Minor: Child abuse

beetsbydwight's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Transphobia, Murder, and Child abuse

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Wow. I came in not knowing at all what this book was about and I’m glad. The mystery surrounding a young girls death and if her boyfriend at the time did it. The perspectives of the mother of the boyfriend and the girl are so real. The authors note is very touching. If you’re an abolitionist like me though, the themes of police and Justice are a little hard to take. The ruining of multiple lives through the system at the end is rough so the conclusion was slightly disappointing to me. But still totally worth a read. One of the best books I’ve read in a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Murder, Self harm, Body shaming, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Bullying, Outing, Transphobia, and Violence

m_chavez's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Suicide attempt

anarmandameg's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Self harm, Child abuse, Murder, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Misogyny, Bullying, Outing, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Transphobia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Transphobia, Sexual content, Sexism, Confinement, Mental illness, Death of parent, Blood, Child abuse, Outing, Cursing, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion, Confinement, Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Deadnaming, and Animal death

adilyn's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

roccosmama21's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

danajoy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Transphobia

bendercath's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This whole review will be a spoiler.

Wow. This book blew me away and has me not being able to stop thinking about it. I could not stop listening (audio book was excellent, btw!) and it kind of took over my days. I love when that happens … especially after being in a bit of a reading slump. I did not know anything about this book. I also love that. The moment when the coroner announced that Lilly was transgendered was a complete shock to me. It was surprising and was done so very well.  I really appreciated how this was handled and how I learned a lot … even as an ally to a few trans people, I learned new things and felt that the information seemed accurate and authentic.

The plot twist that Maya killed Lilly was NOT what I expected and I did not love that at all. I kind of hated it, in fact.  I kept waiting for the fathers to be held accountable! I was SURE that Lilly’s father was the murderer and I was so deeply disappointed that he did not come back to be served justice. Also, where was Braden at the end? I was grateful not to see more of him than we already did, but I could not believe that he would have been more involved all along the way.

I enjoyed the references to the bees but at times, it did feel a bit forced and somewhat overdone. And I wanted Olivia and Mike to hook up … but that plot line didn’t get a ton of careful attention.

Truly a well-written book. For the most part, the pacing was masterful. It dragged at a few points during the trial … but then again: that is real.

Thank you to both authors for this impressive work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

kellyfacee's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Murder