Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

84 reviews

bendercath'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This whole review will be a spoiler.

Wow. This book blew me away and has me not being able to stop thinking about it. I could not stop listening (audio book was excellent, btw!) and it kind of took over my days. I love when that happens … especially after being in a bit of a reading slump. I did not know anything about this book. I also love that. The moment when the coroner announced that Lilly was transgendered was a complete shock to me. It was surprising and was done so very well.  I really appreciated how this was handled and how I learned a lot … even as an ally to a few trans people, I learned new things and felt that the information seemed accurate and authentic.

The plot twist that Maya killed Lilly was NOT what I expected and I did not love that at all. I kind of hated it, in fact.  I kept waiting for the fathers to be held accountable! I was SURE that Lilly’s father was the murderer and I was so deeply disappointed that he did not come back to be served justice. Also, where was Braden at the end? I was grateful not to see more of him than we already did, but I could not believe that he would have been more involved all along the way.

I enjoyed the references to the bees but at times, it did feel a bit forced and somewhat overdone. And I wanted Olivia and Mike to hook up … but that plot line didn’t get a ton of careful attention.

Truly a well-written book. For the most part, the pacing was masterful. It dragged at a few points during the trial … but then again: that is real.

Thank you to both authors for this impressive work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

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

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

lydiarh's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Domestic abuse

boba_n_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

Spice Rating: 🌶️ .5 / 5

Mad Honey is one of those books that sucks you in and just doesn't let go. I went into it not knowing much, and there were multiple times where I audibly gasped at this story. 

Olivia and her son, Asher, have been through hell and back. To escape Olivia's abusive ex-husband, the pair moved back to Olivia's childhood home in New Hampshire to take over her father's beekeeping business. Lily is a high school student who also needed a new start. She and her mother moved to New Hampshire to start over. Asher and Lily eventually cross paths at their school, and the two teenagers can't help but fall in love with each other. Olivia is so happy for her son, but one day, she gets a call from Asher: "Lily is dead." Of course, as Lily's boyfriend and the one who found her body, Asher is the number one suspect. Through a dual timeline and dual POV, we follow Lily through the past leading up to her death and Olivia as we watch Asher's trial. 

This novel surprised me in so many ways, and it really was such an amazing collaboration between the two authors. I listened to the author's note at the end and found out that Jodi Picoult wrote Olivia's POV while Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote Lily's POV, but I would have never known that from the way their writing styles complemented each other and blended together. It was such a unique story that centers around secrets. What secrets are that, secrets? And what secrets are ones that are private information that should only be shared by their owner? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Abortion, and Suicidal thoughts

dmswack3's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book started a little slow, and some bits remained that way, but I really enjoyed the duel timeline (moving backwards and forwards) and the two points of view. Lilly's perspective was much more insightful and fun to read, as I did tend to find Olivia overbearing and distasteful at times.

The ending was very anti-climactic which was a huge let down from the exposition. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

litliz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Outing, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

lenab_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative 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

4.0

The story starts with a dead young person and also deals with contemporary issues. Story set in the US

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Sexual content

bookwormcat's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Deadnaming, Outing, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Violence

roveronez's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

A poignant novel written in duo with seamless perfection! So many delicate subjects treated with a lot of kindness and respect. There is a lot of emotion, a lot of second guessing, oh so many triggers... and a mistery to be solved. The story is written in 2 voices, one moving forward as the story evolves, the other backwards - which was a bit disconcerting at times - to slowly reveal the background and shatter our hearts. Beautifully written!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Grief, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion