Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

88 reviews

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Picoult and Boyle (both well known authors of multiple bestsellers) team up to weave a story from 2 different perspectives: one, Olivia, a middle-aged single mom; the other, Lily, a teen girl dating Olivia's son. The story is told along 2 different timelines but it is done so  well it is easy to follow. Multiple characters are given rich histories and I could almost smell the honey in Olivia's beehives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Outing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

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

saramoser's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

5.0

Another amazing book by Jodi with co-author Jennifer. These authors wrote controversial topics so beautifully, they make sure to educate at the same time as telling an amazing story. The murder mystery along side high school drama and exploring what it is like to be trans youth in this day.

Highly recommend. And to those who are saying “why is she pushing her agenda down our throats?” - you chose to read this book…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, Transphobia, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Mass/school shootings

rit's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

Oh my goodness! I am absolutely blown away by this book! From this point forward, it has claimed the title of my all-time favorite book. Let me tell you why - the trans representation within the pages is absolutely phenomenal! I have never come across such genuine and authentic portrayal before. And here's another reason why I can't stop raving about it - the way the authors capture the court proceedings and keep you updated with all the juicy details is simply remarkable. It's so well-described that you actually feel like you're right there in the courtroom, witnessing everything unfold. It's truly incredible!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Suicide attempt

elainacm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Transphobia and Sexual content

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.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement

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

ltulisiak's review

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