Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

122 reviews

crazycactus12321's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

2.5

This is a really graphic book that depicts trans violence. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide

curious_oyster's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Transphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Pedophilia, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

nreyno's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Sexual harassment

readinglitwithbritt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Outing, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

ethanses's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This story broke me. The domestic violence, death, trial, and crime left me on the edge of my seat. I loved that the narrators were Olivia (Asher's mom) and Lily (the girlfriend) both women. The whole crime ordeal was tense and compelling. And this happens in real life; I bet it's super stressful and scary, especially for the parties involved. 

I truly believe a person's upbringing makes a part of a person. Meaning, as time went we decide for ourselves, and through that decision-making, we learn. What I'm saying is that we make what we are as people. Yeah, we can blame others for breaking us, but if we didn't pick up the pieces after that, we suffer so much and we won't survive. That's why I salute Olivia and Ava as mothers because they care about their kids whoever they may be. They both made sure that they were safe and away from people who constantly break them. That's not easy to do. I don't know transgender people irl, but it must not be easy to be trapped in a body that you don't see yourself in. Lily is a brave soul for knowing who she is and what she wants at an early age. 

I love the story structure of this. Liv and Lily told the story both in the past, but Liv's in the future style. If that even made sense. The story is gripping and fast-paced even though it's long. I didn't get bored even for a second.

Oh! The honey stuff and the fact that Liv called her queen bees pop divas names made me smile. This is my second book from Jodi and my first from Jenny, I'll read more. Oh, and it was so cool that this story was based on Jenny's epic dream. Overall, a great read❤️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

mel024's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.0

A  good book, although the “plot twist” (so to speak) made it a very heavy read and so for me it’s only 4 stars. Definitely check the trigger warnings before picking it up instead of halfway through like I did

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Blood, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mass/school shootings

samburkhouse's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, and Outing

Minor: Deadnaming, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

cryfest's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Reading this as a trans queer non-binary person who has loved Jodi Picoult (one of the authors of this book) since high school -  I was a little apprehensive because I wasn’t sure if I trusted Jodi with my trans siblings, and while heart breaking, a lot of nuance to trans identities was explored compassionately, with the genius and lived experience of Finney Boylan of course. I definitely would encourage non-trans folks to read this as a small slice of insight to one fictional trans person’s experience/journey.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Mass/school shootings, and Abortion

rsbrown19's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion