Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

38 reviews

caitmacd's review against another edition

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

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

catreadbook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Homophobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Outing, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

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

jlfaith21's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I loved this book and the topics it covered, I feel like I learned a lot and it opened my mind more. I thought the sorry was great but the story itself was kind of slow. Definitely check trigger warnings before reading this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm

internationalreads's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.0

SO PROBLEMATIC

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Content Warnings

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

lulacorn's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Bullying, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Self harm, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Outing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence