Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

4 reviews

alexandramiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-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

4.0

Learned an awful lot about bees

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Outing, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Misogyny, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Self harm, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Violence, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity and Mass/school shootings

thatswhatmegread's review against another edition

3.0

While I liked this story, it had ISSUES. First, it reeks of white privilege. A white man on trial for first-degree murder with an actual chance he could walk free? Groundbreaking. Second, the twist about Lily (the deceased) felt disingenuous. It felt like it was included solely for shock value, which doesn’t sit right with me. Third, there was a brief but cavalier mention re police brutality included. It was like “yea and my partner just ran the guy over and alleged he felt unsafe because he lunged at the car, but *shrug* what can you do??” Like excuse me?! Not as big of a deal as the ones above, but there were also a lot of things that just didn’t make sense and the characters often felt unbelievable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Self harm, and Bullying

Minor: Abortion and Police brutality

b_carlson'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

Wow. I unknowingly picked up one of my favourite books of the year when I picked this up at my local library. I was originally concerned as it was only a two week loan as opposed to the normal four and it was a big chunk of a book but, I didn't need to be worried I flew through this in under 24 hours. The suspense is one thing but the story and the involvement of social commentary is not something that is often touched on in murder mysteries. This book both stuck to convention and shattered the rules on the ground. My heart actually beat faster as I stayed up waaaaay too late to get the answers and it was all worth it. The shifting perspectives, the questions it makes you ask yourself, this book is so much more than a murder mystery, so so much more. It is important, it puts a lens up to society and through a fictional storyline, communicates a very real message. PLEASE CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS THOUGH BEFORE GOING IN, IT COULD BE VERY CONFORONTING FOR SOME. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Self harm, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Violence, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, and Blood

Minor: Police brutality

kerriw's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

In general, I really enjoyed this book. I appreciated the writing, mystery, and the education it provided on

the trans experience.

 

Overall, I learned things I didn’t know, and was intrigued as to how this story would play out. The fact that the author’s co wrote this without it seeming disjointed was amazing. And I love how Olivia‘s story moved forward in time, whereas Lily’s story moved backward in time, giving you hints and bits to provide further context. 

However, here are my issues with the book. There will be spoilers so just a heads up. 

1) The relationship that develops at the end of the book between Olivia and Mike made me roll my eyes. A woman who was previously a domestic abuse victim is gonna be in a relationship with a law enforcement officer?! An occupation that has a much higher rate of partner abuse?!? Come on. 

2) The fact that Lily was ill and could have simply fallen down the stairs should have been brought up earlier. Obviously no lawyer is perfect, but the fact that this renowned attorney didn’t even think of that as an option or to get a second opinion seems kinda silly. 

3) The revelation about Maya and the subsequent lack of charges seems a bit unrealistic. Even if Ava, the mother, didn’t want to press charges, it seems like the state would? Kinda weird but whatever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Child death, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Cursing, Medical content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Bullying, and Hate crime

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment