Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

98 reviews

thebabybookworm's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. I love most JP books. I appreciate how well written the character arcs were and how the twists and turns were spaced throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

dixiecarroll's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.25

4.25 because of timeline confusion. I recommend going in totally blind, if you can. If you want to check triggers SG has them! I had a complicated relationship with Jodi Piccoult after some of the books I read in college, but as I grew so did she - this was so refreshing and sad and mysterious. Def move this up on your list! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

livvyreads's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

I highly recommend everyone read this book. It taught me a lot about the trans community I didn’t know before that I should have. It was heart wrenching and beautifully written. The book is told from the point of view of Lily and Olivia. Lily is new in town and fall in love with Asher. After lily was found dead Asher is the main suspect. Olivia is Asher’s mom she is a bee keeper and domestic abuse survivor and must come to terms with the fact that her son could be more like his father than she realized. I was guessing the whole time of who did it and what the motive was. I never saw the surprise at the end of the book coming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, and Suicide attempt

blubbflubbl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Outing, and Gaslighting

mrsjackiharrell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, and Murder

ranreads20's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

kibbles15's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Not my favorite book.  In terms of writing, it was good, but there was too much language and sex for my taste.   Also, to be honest, the book felt like it focused more on propaganda for current social issues than the actual story.  I realize the authors were trying to be informative, but the result was distracting to the story line. I won't go into too much detail, because that would involve spoilers.  I just felt like there was a lot in the book that was not necessary to move the plot forward.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

mollyb13's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

Such a beautiful and heartbreaking novel. I went into this without knowing exactly what it was about and this was so much more than the courtroom drama I first thought it was going to be. The authors blended their writing seamlessly and I enjoyed the alternating POVs. Highly highly recommend this to everyone (though please be mindful of the content warnings because some very heavy topics are discussed).

The only thing that I had a bit of trouble with was

that some of the passages explaining gender and transitioning and the experiences of transgender people felt a bit forced. These passages, while packed with important information, came off as an educational aside and really kind of jolted me out of the story. I wish that they would have worked this information into the plot more seamlessly. This feeding of information made more sense in the courtroom setting where it could be realistically explained to a jury, but otherwise felt almost like the authors were breaking the fourth wall. 

Despite this, I'm keeping my rating at 5 stars. I don't think it is enough to bring down what was otherwise a very powerful novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

beeblozis's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt

micasreads's review

4.0

Olivia McAfee is watching her son, Asher, fall in love with the new girl in school, Lily. All is good with the couple until Olivia receives a call from her son because he thinks Lily is dead. Asher quickly becomes the main suspect and is arrested. Through flashbacks, Olivia looks back at how her life choices led to this moment. As we get to know Lily, we receive a window into her life and how she became to be the person she always wanted to be.

 

This was a very different novel for me. It covered so many important topics that are not covered in many novels. The authors did such a wonderful job of handling such important and sensitive issues in a respectful manner. The narrators also did a good job of emoting each character's happiness, fear, and sadness. It helped me feel attached to the character and all they were going through.  The only flaw I found with this novel was the length. A 15-hour audiobook is far too long. There could have been fewer flashbacks in an effort to move the story along. While I understand how important Olivia's life with her ex-husband was to who Asher is, they were not all needed for the frame of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Outing