Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

95 reviews

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, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Medical content, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

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: 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

nerdy_book_mom's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Transphobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, Gaslighting, 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

emily_koopmann's review

slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

a_d_maillet's review

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

corriejn's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia and Pregnancy

finnmiles's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.75

A beautifully written book with so much you can learn from it. The story telling was astounding and the education given about trans and nonbinary people is unlike another book I've read. It wraps love, grief, suspense, hope, loss, and learning all in one wonderful package. I would recommend this book to just about anyone I would meet. Be sure to take a look at content warnings as well. The book deals with many heavy topics, including but not limited to transphobia and domestic abuse. 

As soon as I learned Lily was trans, everything she had went through made so much sense to me. Reading this as a nonbinary person was so life changing in a way. Seeing the way trans people are spoken about and the education this book brings is something everyone needs to witness. I love Lily, I love the fight she put up to win her life back, and I will always think of her.

The biggest thank you to Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan for this collaboration. The world needs more humans like you and books like Mad Honey in it. I will absolutely be buying my own copy of it. <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, Sexual content, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

wackly93's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deadnaming and Pregnancy

gracestg's review

emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this! Kept me coming back to find out what happened. Thought the timeline jumping got confusing, but loved dual perspectives. I just really liked Lily and Olivia and rooted for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Transphobia, and Medical content