Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

88 reviews

sariereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Child death, Outing, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia

jade_sanderson's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child abuse

theverybookish's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Child death, and Murder

mamareadstuff's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

First 5 star read of the year. I couldn't put it down. I had so many theories. I didn't know what I was getting into. I loved this. So much. I did hope for a slightly different ending, but we can't win them all. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Deadnaming, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Medical content

daniellereadslikealot_'s review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Nineteen Minutes is my absolute favorite Picoult novel and this one is a very, VERY close second. Mad Honey absolutely sweeps you away in its part contemporary family drama, part murder mystery and part young adult story. I am an absolute sucker for multiple POVs and a non linear timeline and this book did them both so well, giving us just enough to make us think we know the story, but then revealing something else to completely throw us off the scent. It’s hard to talk about this book without revealing spoilers for the midway through twist, but I thought the handling of that topic was done beautifully and in a really authentic way. I also loved the look at complicated relationships, even during the parts that were really sad to read. I thought both Olivia and Lily had strong voices and I liked the (maybe) symbolism of the literal (and figurative) masks they wore, Lily with her fencing and Olivia as a beekeeper. My only complaint was the ending felt a bit rushed. The final big reveal made perfect sense and it was honestly an option I was rooting for, but once revealed, it felt like everything just went back to normal. But overall, I loved this book. It’s brutal at times in many different ways and contexts, but I think it’s a very necessary read, especially these days.

Mini spoiler: nothing bad happens to the dog!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Mental illness, Child death, Transphobia, Abortion, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death

violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

cwalden's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

This was incredibly emotional, and covers a lot of important insights into the trans experience. Rating is just for the ending and parallel murder mystery storyline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Murder, Transphobia, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Outing

snowhite197's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Child death, Outing, Dysphoria, and Domestic abuse

kellyeweber's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

alliereads_'s review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad

2.0

For a long time, Jodi Picoult was the automatic answer to “who’s your favorite author?”. While I still love her work, this book really started to feel redundant to me. The style and expansive metaphors became almost cringey to me. I’m not giving up on Picoult yet, but this book really did nothing for me. The one positive was the tie-in with characters from previous stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Transphobia, and Deadnaming