Reviews with content warning for Murder - Mad Honey

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

183 reviews

samireads's review against another edition

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mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

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thebooknookgroup's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

At the beginning I really liked this book. I knew next to nothing going into this book and when I realized it was a murder mystery I couldn't put it down. I liked the writing and connection to honey bees. That is, until about a quarter way through the book when the novelty wore off for me. I began skimming sections and pages. It went downhill from there for me. Not only did the plot become a bit predictable, but it seemed like the author was stuffing as many social issues into it as she could. I really do tend to enjoy books that tastefully/artfully address important social topics, but here it just felt like the author was trying too hard. It was one after another with more honey bee facts sprinkled in between. This will sit at three stars for me because I can understand why others like this book - it just wasn't for me.

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mollz12's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I was actually surprised to love this book. I decided to listen to it for some of my road trips and it was worth it. I could hear the parts I would have put it down and had a hard time coming back.
I was confused a lot why they would back track with Lily’s memories. I kept thinking I went backwards but I think they did it on purpose.
It was very intense and very sad. The hopeful parts were of the mothers saving their children.

The parts of Lily recounting Ash being mean; yelling , grabbing her, speeding, etc. were interesting to add especially because Lily never shared them out loud, and the court scenes were of him being nice and calm.
I thought that these pieces were silly to add because I wanted justice for Lily that Ash wasn’t the greatest. Or I wish it was more smaller anger emotions that he apologized later because of his trauma. I think I was disappointed that Lily never got to share it. The true character.

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goodin10tions's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Mad Honey is it's own story but I feel like if you are a fan of Saving Jacob, Middlesex, or The Lovely Bones you will love it. The journey of all the characters is haunting and melancholy. Sensitive readers should research the content because there are many possible triggers.
This is a long story (15 hrs) but it goes by really fast.

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mama_pillot's review against another edition

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It’s just not for me. It didn’t grab my interest and I’m not “dying to know what happened”

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hml_33's review against another edition

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emotional tense slow-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? No

3.75

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sunshine_sophia's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

this was my first jodi picoult book, and oh honey (no pun intended) did it not disappoint! this was an absolutely heartbreaking story about compassion, overcoming hardships, and trauma, with some crime/mystery thrown in.

i love multiple POVs and seeing the story through both olivia and lily's eyes was a great stylistic choice. i absolutely adored lily's character and was so heartbroken to see such a wonderful soul gone from this, albeit, fictional world. i found myself so engrossed in the story, and loved the facts about bees in the background of the story. the analogies that were made between the story and bees/beekeeping were a fascinating experience, one that was enthralling and educating.

overall, this is one of my favorite books i have read so far this year (yes, it is january, i know, but i can see this book being one of my favorites of 2024). i really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more jod picoult!

i have seen some critiques that asher seemed like too obvious of a suspect and that the police should not have honed in on him but honestly, what did we expect???

also,

i knew early on that it was not asher, but i did not expect maya. that part i did not love because it seemed a little cliche and cheesy

but nonetheless it was still a good story.

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