Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

43 reviews

annabelreadsandwrites's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death, Deadnaming, Violence, Toxic relationship, Outing, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Cursing, Torture, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Car accident

rronnniii's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Self harm, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Violence, and Grief

readinglitwithbritt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child abuse, Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Gore, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Sexism, Sexual content, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, and Toxic relationship

megan96smith's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Suicide attempt, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Outing and Deadnaming

Minor: Abortion

samburkhouse's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Child death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Medical content, Transphobia, Blood, Outing, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Deadnaming, Alcohol, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

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

sunnydale's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense 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

3.5

the first jodi picoult book i've read (albeit only half-written by her). her style is easy to glide through, and the characters are authentic and compelling. the plot involves some heavy subject matter that could be triggering, so i recommend checking content warnings. the ending was a little rushed and felt too satisfying—i think a lack of resolution actually would have fit the themes better. 

the audiobook has two voice actors, and they both do an excellent job. i also like the inclusion of recipes at the end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Outing, Transphobia, Grief, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Gaslighting, Abortion, Hate crime, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Suicide attempts:

Lily and Asher both cut their wrists to attempt suicide.

Transphobia: Two scenes described in detail.

Both are from Lily's perspective. In the chapter "Lily 6," Lily is publicly humiliated at a school dance, then attacked in the parking lot. This event is referenced in later chapters. In "Lily 10," Lily is bullied at an all-boys school, then is physically abused by her father.

Domestic abuse: Many of Olivia's chapters include flashbacks to moments when she was abused by her ex-husband. Some of Lily's chapters also include descriptions of physical or emotional abuse. Domestic violence is a significant part of this book.

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

emmagalt's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

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

2.5

< spoiler > 

This book tries to do far too much and it suffers because of that. The authors needed to pick one hobby, but there are so many tangents about Lily fencing, playing cello, absorbing facts, as well as Olivia keeping bees that it becomes boring and skimmable.

More than that they needed to pick one trauma. If you try to have a book about murder, domestic abuse, transphobia, suicide, self-harm, abortion, racism in the justic system, etc, then none of the topics are covered with the grace and nuance they deserve. The marginalised characters in the book like Selena and Elizabeth felt like educational tropes pulled from inspirational quotes than 3D people with lived experience.

I felt that the parts about Lily's transition was beautifully written and informative. This book could have been such a positive platform to talk about the love and support she was given to transform as a teenager, and the benefits of being able to act on this choice so young so that she could live as her authentic self for the majority of her life. Unfortunately, this was used as a plot twist to offer motive for Lily's death, instead of a full story about Lily's life.

Finally, the main plot of the book was the trial, but the case and arguments were so weak because too much focus was put on trying (and I think failing) to make the characters seem murky and mysterious.

Such a shame because I always love Jodi Picoult books, but this just didn't do it for me.

</ spoiler >

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Car accident and Abortion