Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

44 reviews

internationalreads's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.0

SO PROBLEMATIC

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Content Warnings

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

pattyreader's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

Starting slowly but building to edge of your seat page turning, Mad Honey is a story told in two POVs. Olivia's son is on trial as she deals with her own history of abuse and loss. Lily's story is told in reverse and we slowly come to know her and her history. Emotional, tense, thoughtful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Child death, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Outing, Self harm, Death, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Confinement, and Pregnancy

karyan1'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Murder, Outing, Sexual content, Transphobia, Bullying, Child death, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

alyssa_dorene's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

It’s been awhile since I read what I consider to be a classic Jodi Picoult novel, a story that is so fucking sad yet keeps you hooked and on the edge of your seat wondering what the truth is. This book may take the cake for being the saddest one of her books has made me (granted I read so many of her books years and years ago so I don’t necessarily remember them all in full detail.)  I haven’t read anything by Jennifer Finney Boylan before though so I’m going to have to check out her other books. 

This book has honestly left me feeling so horribly sad and unsettled. I honestly wish the narrative had taken a different route. You find out about midway through that

the character Lily, who dies at the beginning of the book, is a trans woman.

Why do we have to keep writing TRAGIC stories for trans folk?? Why couldn’t this book have had a different tragic twist but something that allowed Lily and Asher’s love story to continue to grow?? Was the mother who had escaped a violently abusive marriage not enough tragedy for this book??

The discussions and information about transgender folks in the book felt well researched and it shed so much light on the tragedy that often surrounds these folk. I just wish they could actually be left alone to live their lives FULLY and not have such high risk of a tragic end. Maybe this book will bring to light the bigotry and prejudice people harbor and the harm this causes. Boylan is a trans woman and I feel that her life experiences likely added so much to the story! I learned more about what transitioning is like from this book and more about the medical procedures than I had known before.

Reading this book just reminded me why I love reading romance novels over all other genres, I love the HEA you are always guaranteed as it eases my anxiety and feels like an actual escape from reality. Tragic books like this just remind me too much if the reality we live in which doesn’t provide the escape that I crave from reading. 

This was a very well written and well researched story, I’m not really sure how to rate it as far as star ratings go. Sticking with a middle ground rating because I didn’t hate it, I just wish it hadn’t been so goddamn depressing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Suicide attempt, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, and Abortion