Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

122 reviews

sunnydale's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

the first jodi picoult book i've read (albeit only half-written by her). her style is easy to glide through, and the characters are authentic and compelling. the plot involves some heavy subject matter that could be triggering, so i recommend checking content warnings. the ending was a little rushed and felt too satisfying—i think a lack of resolution actually would have fit the themes better. 

the audiobook has two voice actors, and they both do an excellent job. i also like the inclusion of recipes at the end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Suicide attempts:

Lily and Asher both cut their wrists to attempt suicide.

Transphobia: Two scenes described in detail.

Both are from Lily's perspective. In the chapter "Lily 6," Lily is publicly humiliated at a school dance, then attacked in the parking lot. This event is referenced in later chapters. In "Lily 10," Lily is bullied at an all-boys school, then is physically abused by her father.

Domestic abuse: Many of Olivia's chapters include flashbacks to moments when she was abused by her ex-husband. Some of Lily's chapters also include descriptions of physical or emotional abuse. Domestic violence is a significant part of this book.

emmashelley's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

lady_n_beautiful_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Suicide attempt

bravelass85's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

4.0

A great partnership between the two co-authors. I am glad that I didn’t read anything about the book ahead of it time so a key aspect of the book was a surprise for me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt

sarahemhavens's review against another edition

5.0

This book has so much depth. So much to learn about every single person in this book, so much to educate yourself on; and when you think you know, do you really know? The talk about bees, and all the different motifs and symbols - blows my mind. I have SO many highlighted passages from this book. So many clues I picked up on, (or things that were so vital but such small lines), and so many words that really moved me. Highly recommend reading this book for so many reasons!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

transphobia, outing, deadnaming

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

Shockingly, this is only the second Jodi Picoult novel I've read! But I understand her broad appeal: she writes compelling and relevant narratives and here, with co-author Jenny Finley Boylan, has crafted a rich, interesting set of characters. It dragged somewhat in the middle for me (which may just be a symptom of reading it over the course of a month!), but stick it out for a powerful courtroom ending. Good stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

emmagalt's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

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

2.5

< spoiler > 

This book tries to do far too much and it suffers because of that. The authors needed to pick one hobby, but there are so many tangents about Lily fencing, playing cello, absorbing facts, as well as Olivia keeping bees that it becomes boring and skimmable.

More than that they needed to pick one trauma. If you try to have a book about murder, domestic abuse, transphobia, suicide, self-harm, abortion, racism in the justic system, etc, then none of the topics are covered with the grace and nuance they deserve. The marginalised characters in the book like Selena and Elizabeth felt like educational tropes pulled from inspirational quotes than 3D people with lived experience.

I felt that the parts about Lily's transition was beautifully written and informative. This book could have been such a positive platform to talk about the love and support she was given to transform as a teenager, and the benefits of being able to act on this choice so young so that she could live as her authentic self for the majority of her life. Unfortunately, this was used as a plot twist to offer motive for Lily's death, instead of a full story about Lily's life.

Finally, the main plot of the book was the trial, but the case and arguments were so weak because too much focus was put on trying (and I think failing) to make the characters seem murky and mysterious.

Such a shame because I always love Jodi Picoult books, but this just didn't do it for me.

</ spoiler >

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Car accident and Abortion

a_d_maillet's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

latashman's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring 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

4.75

One evening Olivia gets a phone call that no mother wants to get, her son, Asher, is being questioned for the sudden death of his girlfriend Lily. He is adamant that he is innocent. 

This is such a beautiful story. As we flip between Olivia and Lily's POVs shocking secrets are revealed. Olivia is torn between believing her son and her fear that he could be like his father. We see how her own baggage and ignorance influences how she sees the world and her son's trial.

We follow Lily as she struggles to navigate not only her new relationship but her own identity and secrets. She has had extensive trauma and struggles to trust people.

She is nervous to let Asher know her true self but, as we see in the flashbacks, he is actually able to handle it with maturity. He shows a deep love for Lily.

There were some twists in this book that shocked me, in a good way. I love the direction this book took. This is such a heavy topic that was approached with incredible sensitivity and care. 

My only qualm is the ending,

I felt that it was rushed and that Maya's confession came out of nowhere. There was no real indication of her jealousy throughout this book. It was shocking the she allowed her "best friend* to go through the trial knowing he was innocent and when she finally confesses there are no consequences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment