Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

140 reviews

rsilverst's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

This was such a fantastic book from start to finish. The closer I got to the end, the more I worried that I would be disappointed, but this book was really well architected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death, Dysphoria, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical content, Transphobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Sexual assault

mj1996's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Domestic abuse

barktea's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

mollz12's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I was actually surprised to love this book. I decided to listen to it for some of my road trips and it was worth it. I could hear the parts I would have put it down and had a hard time coming back. 
I was confused a lot why they would back track with Lily’s memories. I kept thinking I went backwards but I think they did it on purpose. 
It was very intense and very sad. The hopeful parts were of the mothers saving their children. 

The parts of Lily recounting Ash being mean; yelling , grabbing her, speeding, etc. were interesting to add especially because Lily never shared them out loud, and the court scenes were of him being nice and calm. 
I thought that these pieces were silly to add because I wanted justice for Lily that Ash wasn’t the greatest. Or I wish it was more smaller anger emotions that he apologized later because of his trauma. I think I was disappointed that Lily never got to share it. The true character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Outing, Death, Child abuse, and Toxic friendship

alicarty's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

goodin10tions's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

Mad Honey is it's own story but I feel like if you are a fan of Saving Jacob, Middlesex,  or The Lovely Bones you will love it. The journey of all the characters is haunting and melancholy. Sensitive readers should research the content because there are many possible triggers.
This is a long story (15 hrs) but it goes by really fast. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, Bullying, and Homophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Grief, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

alexisvv14's review against another edition

informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

It pissed me off that they unveiled what happened to Lilly in half a page. There’s over 400 pages and that’s it? Anticlimactic in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abortion

droznowski's review

emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

Wow was this book good! I love how the authors were able to keep me guessing the whole book. I was so conflicted about whether or not Asher did it even after the verdict. 
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The way the book revealed Lily being trans was done really well. I think that a lot of the points characters made around being trans were really beautiful. I really appreciated Jennifer’s authors note at the end. I too was saddened by Lily’s death just when she was finally getting to be herself and starting her life but that is the reality for so many trans women. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Abortion

hannahjacobsen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I found the writing to be really engaging and I loved the character development. However, while I did learn a lot, it was a bit heavy-handed on the hot topics for a fiction book and came off preachy or over-the-top at times. The twist that came halfway through the book was unexpected and really changed the focus of the story, which I wasn’t anticipating based on the synopsis.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Child abuse, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

kayls2315's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.75

I gave the book 2.75 stars. The only reason it’s not lower is because it started strong, hooking me in from the beginning. However, around the halfway point, at a crucial twist, it began to unravel. It felt like the story was suddenly forced into addressing numerous societal issues—LBGTQ, transgender, suicide, abuse, abortion, race, bullying, gender roles, feminism even squeezed in a brief mention of a school shooting. This overload detracted from the initially good storyline.

 This book didn’t land in my DNF only due to the fact that the beginning was put together so well and as a hobbyist beekeeper myself, I appreciated the well-researched beekeeping elements. Listening to the audiobook saved some time, thankfully. Lily’s character and her narrator became tiresome. The rushed ending crammed in every controversial topic, almost making me feel duped into reading about subjects I wouldn’t typically choose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Abortion, Transphobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Self harm