Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

44 reviews

caitmacd's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Alcoholism, Bullying, Infertility, Abortion, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Violence

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

Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

kimveach's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I didn't know anything about this book besides that it was by one of my favorite authors.   I'm glad I didn't because it made the story more surprising and exciting.   I highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Transphobia, Sexual content, Abortion, Blood, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol

rachelmerrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

So so so so so necessary.

Hated part of the ending: (VAGUE SPOILER)
Why did she get a slap on the wrist when he would’ve had his whole life taken from him? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Alcohol, Murder, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Child death, Child abuse, Body shaming, Homophobia, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, and Hate crime

sarahflanders's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death, Murder, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion

anna_m16's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, and Grief

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Deadnaming and Domestic abuse

coat1234's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Woowee. In a weird way, this was a really tough one to get through. Brought up a ton surrounding vulnerability in adolescence, what good love looks like (but more of what it never should look like). LOTS of sub-themes and topics surrounding familial relationships, domestic violence, anger and aggression and how unconditional (or conditional) love really is. 

I loved it. From start to finish it was intense and binge-worthy. Towards the end I did find myself more speed reading Lily’s chapter bc Asher’s story and Olivia’s take became such a large focus. I also wonder if having them in a different order would have been more cohesive to her story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Transphobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

juleskr02's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad 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

3.5

though somewhat predictable at times, this novel threw me for a loop and i was eager to keep reading the entire time. i loved the narration, the storytelling, the representation, all of it!

i know this is a co-written book, but i’ve never read jennifer finney boylan’s work before, and i see a lot of jodi picoult’s classic twists and turns that it really just feels like her book. and her author’s note is so inspiring. picoult always knows how to perfectly create fiction based off of current issues and reality. this novel was no different and i appreciated the spin of it to reflect trans rights and women’s rights. 

the courtroom scene is great. i screamed on the train when i discovered jordan’s character was returning in this novel from a previous picoult novel, nineteen minutes. his character was fantastic as always. 

i’m proud to say i stuck with my gut in believing in love, just like asher and olivia do. i love love, and that based all of my opinions and predictions throughout the book. and the final plot twist toward the end was not expected by me at. all. crazy. 

overall, i did really like this book. i think some of lily’s chapters fell flat toward the end but olivia’s chapters never failed and the story overall progressed at a decent pace!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Outing, Death, Bullying, Transphobia, Sexism, Deadnaming, and Child death

Minor: Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse

aecy's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

Okaaay. I can’t read another book without reviewing this one first. I’ve read many good reviews about this novel after it came out, and I decided to read it when it was @bookclubbabes.pod’s pick for February’s book of the month. I thought this would be an easy read, and boy, was I wrong?

‼ SPOILERS AHEAD ‼

Reading the first few chapters, I thought the pacing was too slow and that it was going to be the usual whodunnit story where the least obvious one is the murderer, but I’m a sucker for whodunnit tropes so I continued reading. Then, the bomb was dropped halfway through the book. I was utterly shocked, but I liked that the plot developed the way it did because, in my case, it opened so many inner conversations. And story-wise, it raised a plethora of questions, which made the book so much more interesting and relevant.

After the revelation that Lily was a transgender woman, I knew that the prosecution would paint Lily’s death as a hate crime. I was still suspicious at this point about whether or not Asher killed Lily, but as the story progressed, I found myself wondering if it was even really murder in the first place. Events that happened in the past unfolded very slowly, but it was good that the authors did it that way because it almost felt like Lily was opening up to me. Everything was her story to tell, and I felt like I just had to wait until she was ready to reveal her truth. There was this thing that Lizzie told Olivia about learning the difference between secret and private, and for me, that was one of the main points of the book.

I pride myself on being an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, but my concepts about their struggles were challenged, and I came to realize that I really didn’t know the full extent of the discrimination they face. As written in the book, "If you want to understand something, you first need to accept the fact of your own ignorance."

When it was revealed that Asher did not, in fact, murder Lily, I was relieved but slightly annoyed that Maya did it and wasn’t charged at all. Although I understand that Ava may not be able to survive another trial while still grieving for her daughter. I also think Ava believed Asher harmed Lily because her grief was so intense, and she could only assume the worst knowing Lily had gone through so much simply because she shared her true self with the world. But if I’m really being honest, I was annoyed because I had guessed the "murderer" wrong, lol. I had my eyes on Braden the whole time because he’s proven to be violent.

The real heroes of this book are both mothers, Olivia and Ava, who did everything to protect their children. Overall, I rate the book 4.5 stars out of 5 only because the story pacing was a little slow for my liking. Now, I rest my mind and hope to find another book as good as this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicide, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic friendship, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Blood

dernhelms_bag's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

This is basically To Kill a Mockingbird but begging oblivious readers capable of human empathy to give a shit about trans people. I DO NOT recommend this to trans readers or anyone who already has trans people in their life they love and respect because this is intentionally deeply upsetting.  A trans woman and activist asked Picoult to write this with her to make an appeal to society to do something about the violence and persecution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Outing, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Death, Abortion, Medical content, Hate crime, and Animal death