Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

85 reviews

sarahmcg's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad 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

4.0

I haven’t read a book by Jodi Picoult in a long time (but she was a favorite growing up) and it was incredible to see how her and Jennifer Finney Boylan co-authored a dual POV book that read so seamlessly!

This book gave classic Jodi with mystery/drama, multiple twists, a compelling court case where you feel like a juror, social commentary that feels organic and not “preachy,” ethical dilemmas that cause you to consider things from a new perspective… 

There was so much interesting information about bees and honey! I do think the book could have been shorter without some of this (because the book did feel so long, even on audio), and I don’t think all the bee info was strictly necessary, but it was an interesting aspect to the book and Olivia’s character, and the facts brought up tended to connect back to the story.

The dual timeline was a bit out of order in the past, but as long as I was paying attention, this didn’t bother me much. What did both me though was the ending - the last big twist in regards to the case felt rushed and not fully fleshed out, and then I didn’t feel satisfied with the explanation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Outing

kbweis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Child death, Outing, Sexual assault, Suicide, Deadnaming, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Car accident

kvrapcu's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Bullying, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Grief, Mental illness, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Abortion, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Self harm

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Transphobia, Child death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Deadnaming, Outing, Bullying, and Hate crime

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

bookedbyclare's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

a whole lesson in beekeeping 🐝🐝 maybe slightly too long but I couldn't put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

alphlia's review against another edition

informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Transphobia

sophieamreacher'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Check TWs. 

Amazing, powerful, thought provoking. I didn’t know where this was going until it was revealed, loved the characters and their development, and discussed important topics. I loved all the bee and honey facts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcoholism, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

annabelreadsandwrites's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death, Deadnaming, Violence, Toxic relationship, Outing, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Cursing, Torture, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Car accident

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

 I would like to preface this by saying that I kind of went into this book blind. The only thing I knew was what the synopsis told me (which I think was purposefully done by the authors) and I think depending on how open-minded you are, I think you should do the same. However, I would like to state that as an avid thriller reader, I don't think this should be marketed as a “thriller”, it's a light mystery at best. So if you’re expecting anything thriller-crazy, don’t. 

But anyway, I LOVED this book! It did take me a while to love it though. As I was reading in the beginning, I liked it but I didn’t love it, but it all came together soon enough. There are so many layers here and stories told that this book provides lots of depth. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was getting really attached to the characters and even teared up a couple of times hearing what they had to go through (especially one character in particular). And I love how multifaceted and flawed our main characters were; I feel like it humanized them in a way because with stories like this sometimes authors make the characters a little too perfect that it takes the authenticity of the story and the character.

The writing is sooooo good! I could literally feel the characters' emotions through the page. I LOVED this book so much and I personally was a big fan of how educational it was considering I knew nothing of what it would've been like to be in Lily's situation. 

The only qualms I have with this book is that I wasn't really into the "bee talk", but some metaphors did stick (no pun intended). Also, in regards to Lily and Asher's relationship (loved them, they were the type of toxic that you actually want to root for) and them "knowing each other so well"; I feel like we were TOLD that rather than shown. I would've loved a few scenes dedicated to them having innocent fun and listing things they had in common rather than just being told that they have this phenomenal connection.

Also, that scene that we get about Asher being okay with Lily being trans. I wish we could've gotten that reveal through Lily's flashback instead of Olivia's present perspective. Because in Lily's POV it shows him freaking out and storming out of her bedroom when he found out. I feel like it would've been more impactful if we got a dedicated scene in her perspective of him being okay with her being trans and loving for "who she was, not what she was".

  Also, another thing, I feel like the ending "twists" was so underwhelming. 

It being Maya to be the one that pushed her was so cliche and felt like a cop-out to me (I was hoping it would've been Dirk). And her not facing any repercussions for what she did piss me off because she literally killed someone and got away with it. The writing was so good in this book that I think I'm gonna cock it up them being in a rush and unsure how to end the book. It's a great book regardless,  but the ending twist was not it. The overall ending was good though.

 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

Minor: Sexism, Blood, Body horror, Abortion, Alcoholism, and Animal death

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Transphobia

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

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