Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

24 reviews

sav_j's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Mental illness, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

lucyroberts's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

foxreadsbooks's review against another edition

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

3.5

Mad Honey follows duel perspectives in different timelines: Olivia, whose son is accused of murdering his girlfriend, and Lilly, the victim. 

I often find duel perspectives difficult to get into, and that was the case here. I was more interested in Olivia's storyline. Olivia's chapters spend a lot of time discussing bees and honey production, which, while interesting as a metaphor, sometimes dragged. While going through the story of the trial, there are also flashbacks to Olivia's time in an abusive marriage, and how these traits may be echoed in her son and girlfriend's relationship. This is never fully resolved, and given the lengthy discussion about her marriage, something that should have been explored at the end. 

SPOILER:
While I didn't love that the 'twist' her was about Lilly's gender, I do think the authors took care to have a thorough discussion so as to not present the topic as tokenism. I'd like to hear an own voice perspective on this part of the narrative. 

Overall, it's an interesting read, and something I wanted to pick up, but there were sections I scanned more than read, and could have been cut down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide attempt

lvosler21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Gaslighting, Self harm, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Mental illness, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Death, Deadnaming, Child death, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

rsilverst's review against another edition

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

piscespnwmama's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

As a survivor of domestic violence who is raising his teenage son, I almost shyed away from this one thinking it would be too triggering. I'm so glad I didn't. This book is so well written, and I love Jodi's flow. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, and Sexual assault

amesnotamy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Medical trauma, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence

sholtie's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Outing, Deadnaming, and Blood

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism

kbweis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Child death, Outing, Sexual assault, Suicide, Deadnaming, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Car accident

punchedtoast's review against another edition

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

4.0

A tense mystery that was either a touch too long or I felt like it was tough to finish. The plot could have been more interesting in my opinion.

Instead of a cis man on trial for murdering a trans woman, it could have been about a trans woman on trial for a cis man’s murder. The authors could have explored how the community reacted to a queer suspect, and the unfortunate trope of the gay person dying could have been avoided.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia