Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

16 reviews

anarmandameg's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Self harm, Child abuse, Murder, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Misogyny, Bullying, Outing, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Transphobia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Transphobia, Sexual content, Sexism, Confinement, Mental illness, Death of parent, Blood, Child abuse, Outing, Cursing, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion, Confinement, Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Deadnaming, and Animal death

kades26's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Outing, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Deadnaming, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Abandonment, Body shaming, and Mental illness

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Child death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Toxic relationship

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

saramoser's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

Another amazing book by Jodi with co-author Jennifer. These authors wrote controversial topics so beautifully, they make sure to educate at the same time as telling an amazing story. The murder mystery along side high school drama and exploring what it is like to be trans youth in this day.

Highly recommend. And to those who are saying “why is she pushing her agenda down our throats?” - you chose to read this book…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, Transphobia, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

cryfest's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Reading this as a trans queer non-binary person who has loved Jodi Picoult (one of the authors of this book) since high school -  I was a little apprehensive because I wasn’t sure if I trusted Jodi with my trans siblings, and while heart breaking, a lot of nuance to trans identities was explored compassionately, with the genius and lived experience of Finney Boylan of course. I definitely would encourage non-trans folks to read this as a small slice of insight to one fictional trans person’s experience/journey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Hate crime, Mental illness, Outing, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Pedophilia, Abortion, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Mass/school shootings

joey1914's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Self harm, Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

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: Medical content, Transphobia, Grief, Outing, Murder, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, and Abandonment

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, and Toxic relationship

shalisa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

I haven’t adored a book in a long time. Thank you Jodi & Jennifer for writing this. This is fiction but it means so much. So damn much

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Abandonment

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-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

One evening Olivia gets a phone call that no mother wants to get, her son, Asher, is being questioned for the sudden death of his girlfriend Lily. He is adamant that he is innocent. 

This is such a beautiful story. As we flip between Olivia and Lily's POVs shocking secrets are revealed. Olivia is torn between believing her son and her fear that he could be like his father. We see how her own baggage and ignorance influences how she sees the world and her son's trial.

We follow Lily as she struggles to navigate not only her new relationship but her own identity and secrets. She has had extensive trauma and struggles to trust people.

She is nervous to let Asher know her true self but, as we see in the flashbacks, he is actually able to handle it with maturity. He shows a deep love for Lily.

There were some twists in this book that shocked me, in a good way. I love the direction this book took. This is such a heavy topic that was approached with incredible sensitivity and care. 

My only qualm is the ending,

I felt that it was rushed and that Maya's confession came out of nowhere. There was no real indication of her jealousy throughout this book. It was shocking the she allowed her "best friend* to go through the trial knowing he was innocent and when she finally confesses there are no consequences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, Child death, Grief, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia