Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

88 reviews

ltulisiak's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexism and Deadnaming

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

Moderate: Blood, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Gaslighting, Abortion, Hate crime, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Murder, Death, 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.

joey1914's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Self harm, Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

c100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Child death, and Transphobia

courtneys317's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

I’m so glad I read this book without having much knowledge on what it was about, especially the plot twists. I didn’t see either coming (hated the last plot twist and still trying to make sense if the book really needed to include as part of the ending. I think I somewhat understand  what the authors were trying to do, but personally felt like it took away from the story). There were so many tough topics included that it felt like it could have been stronger if certain parts were left out and overall felt it could be shorter. I think the authors did do a great job including bee facts and created some strong storylines at points, but some parts felt wordy and unfocused. I was also getting a little lost at who was not talking to who and for what reason, so in my opinion, as much as I appreciated the change in narratives and timelines, I found myself wishing they simplified things at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing

Minor: Toxic friendship

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

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

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

Moderate: Car accident and Abortion

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Transphobia, Self harm, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Suicide, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

logikitty's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Suicide, Gaslighting, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Outing

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual content

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