Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

135 reviews

mecmccann's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Mad Honey follows two teenagers, Lilly and Asher, as they fall in love, until tragedy strikes and Asher finds Lilly dead in her living room. The story follows Asher as he is accused of murdering her and he is left to grieve and grapple with this turn of events. 

This book had a clear purpose, to shed light on the lives and dangers of queer youth, and it did achieve it. I thought this aspect of the book was poignant and thorough. However, I had some difficulty really believing the love story. Asher and Lilly were only dating for three months and they fought to the point that they weren't talking for like 8 weeks. They were very much on-again-off-again, in my opinion, but they're so set that this is the love of their life. It's not, you're not talking to each other, you've known each other for a month. This is part of the reason I tend to have issues with books about/from the perspective of teenagers. I was a teenager once, and yes I thought little issues were the end of the world, so I do see that for them. However, I felt that the immaturity of the characters and of their relationship took away from the overall impact that this story could have had.

I could also argue that the immaturity of their relationship reflects that of high school relationships, which this was, and maybe this was some people's high school experience, we all think we're in love after the first date when you're 15. But these kids were 18, seniors, almost done with high school and moving on to college where they would learn quickly how to be adults, and at that point, I think the infatuation of instalove dies down. But this was very much instalove, and that is what takes away from the purpose. 

I also felt like it was written to embody tumblr circa 2014, at the height of every teenage girl's John Green era. It really threw me back to when I was 16, on tumblr, reading every book John Green wrote and Supernatural fanfic. With this, there were some similes that just didn't make sense. At least John Green's brother is a scientist, so he wasn't over here making similes about exploding inert compounds. I feel like it's not hard to do a google search to make sure you're actually saying what you want to say. Don't get your information from a tumblr poem. 

So I guess TLDR; This book had a clearcut purpose that it achieved well, but it should have been written in 2014, and read and raved about by the John Green girlies on tumblr. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Blood

lvosler21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Gaslighting, Self harm, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Mental illness, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Death, Deadnaming, Child death, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

jrow's review

emotional sad slow-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

3.75

Found the book boring until the trial revealed Lily was AMAB. I thought it was a clever way to surprise the reader with the knowledge, just like the court was discovering it. However, before that point reading the beginning was as easy as a walk through knee-deep mud.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, Outing, Suicide attempt, Violence, Transphobia, Bullying, Deadnaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood

cari_mac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

really appreciated this book. check the TWs, there's some serious content in here. but love the story itself and how it is revealed. y'all know i love a twisty turny 

i do not love a miscommunication trope, but when it comes to family secrets, its at least a more realistic use of them!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Child abuse, Death, Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Outing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Self harm

thatsssorachael's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming and Toxic friendship

christinesreads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Grief, Bullying, Deadnaming, Child death, Death, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abortion

silverhill's review

challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Death, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Blood, Outing, Deadnaming, Medical content, and Bullying

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Death of parent

misslaurenreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

Wow! This book was so good. The twists and turns were amazing. I love how the story was set in two perspectives, one moving forward in time and one moving backwards. It was a really neat way to uncover new ideas and theories. This was truly incredible 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, Hate crime, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Death, Sexual harassment, Outing, Transphobia, and Deadnaming

droznowski's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

Wow was this book good! I love how the authors were able to keep me guessing the whole book. I was so conflicted about whether or not Asher did it even after the verdict. 
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The way the book revealed Lily being trans was done really well. I think that a lot of the points characters made around being trans were really beautiful. I really appreciated Jennifer’s authors note at the end. I too was saddened by Lily’s death just when she was finally getting to be herself and starting her life but that is the reality for so many trans women. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion

pferdina's review against another edition

hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Olivia tells her story forward while Lily tells hers backwards in time. It was very interesting structure. I enjoyed the facts about bees. The story itself was compelling. Really good depiction of trans women, I thought. Also great depiction of all women’s issues. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Hate crime

Minor: Abortion