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A review by backpackingbookworm
Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
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
4.75
Wow. Even though Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors, I still didn't expect to love Mad Honey as much as I did. It's one of those books that feel more real than reality, with flawed yet fully-developed characters, triggering themes that are rife in the world, and powerful writing that draws you in from the very first page.
At its core, Mad Honey is a story of love, heartbreak, and secrets. Asher and Lily might look like two blissfully loved-up teens from the outside but when Lily dies and Asher is accused of murder, cracks start to emerge. Small things blow up into motives, childhood trauma swims to the surface, and a secret Lily has taken to the grave splits the case wide open. Woven within that is the perspective of Asher's mum, Olivia, who takes refuge in her bees while fighting her own demons.
As this book becomes more popular, it's going to be harder to go in blind but if you can, I absolutely recommend you do. I was listening to the audio and gasped out loud when the announcement was made in the courtroom (IYKYK) and thought the not-knowing made an even bigger impact because it revealed so many potential motives that neither we nor the jury had thought of until then.
Speaking of the audiobook, I was a little disappointed with the narrators but it didn't affect how much I was pulled into the pages. I was able to listen for long stretches of time and found it easy to get lost in the events, always wanting to listen that little bit longer.
I was a bit nervous at how the book would work with two authors and assumed early on that they'd taken a character each and written alternating chapters from their character's perspective. As Jodi has a very distinctive writing style, I wasn't sure how Jennifer would seamlessly fit into that as I'd never read a book by her before, but it was clear that they had a very rigorous and ruthless editing process to ensure the story flowed. Co-authoring (during lockdown too) must be so challenging and this refining of the story only added to my enjoyment (not to mention they swapped and wrote an opposite chapter each just to keep see if readers would notice - a sign of flawless writing)!
I read this with my book buddy so I knew we'd have really in-depth discussions and I wasn't disappointed. I loved dissecting the chapters and discussing the themes; if there's one thing this book does, it prompts conversation around very important topics.
While the book wasn't perfect (I didn't love the ending and was kind of hoping for something different), it was raw and emotionally impactful. It isn't a book that's written for the sake of the ending; instead, it's the characters and the themes that make this book a truly exceptional piece of work.
Finally, the author's note added so much context to how this book came about which just made me love the whole thing even more. Imagine tweeting about having a dream where you're co-writing a book with the legendary Jodi Picoult only to have her message back and say LET'S DO IT; let's hope I have the same dream one day.
GO READ THIS BOOK.
Rating breakdown
At its core, Mad Honey is a story of love, heartbreak, and secrets. Asher and Lily might look like two blissfully loved-up teens from the outside but when Lily dies and Asher is accused of murder, cracks start to emerge. Small things blow up into motives, childhood trauma swims to the surface, and a secret Lily has taken to the grave splits the case wide open. Woven within that is the perspective of Asher's mum, Olivia, who takes refuge in her bees while fighting her own demons.
As this book becomes more popular, it's going to be harder to go in blind but if you can, I absolutely recommend you do. I was listening to the audio and gasped out loud when the announcement was made in the courtroom (IYKYK) and thought the not-knowing made an even bigger impact because it revealed so many potential motives that neither we nor the jury had thought of until then.
Speaking of the audiobook, I was a little disappointed with the narrators but it didn't affect how much I was pulled into the pages. I was able to listen for long stretches of time and found it easy to get lost in the events, always wanting to listen that little bit longer.
I was a bit nervous at how the book would work with two authors and assumed early on that they'd taken a character each and written alternating chapters from their character's perspective. As Jodi has a very distinctive writing style, I wasn't sure how Jennifer would seamlessly fit into that as I'd never read a book by her before, but it was clear that they had a very rigorous and ruthless editing process to ensure the story flowed. Co-authoring (during lockdown too) must be so challenging and this refining of the story only added to my enjoyment (not to mention they swapped and wrote an opposite chapter each just to keep see if readers would notice - a sign of flawless writing)!
I read this with my book buddy so I knew we'd have really in-depth discussions and I wasn't disappointed. I loved dissecting the chapters and discussing the themes; if there's one thing this book does, it prompts conversation around very important topics.
While the book wasn't perfect (I didn't love the ending and was kind of hoping for something different), it was raw and emotionally impactful. It isn't a book that's written for the sake of the ending; instead, it's the characters and the themes that make this book a truly exceptional piece of work.
Finally, the author's note added so much context to how this book came about which just made me love the whole thing even more. Imagine tweeting about having a dream where you're co-writing a book with the legendary Jodi Picoult only to have her message back and say LET'S DO IT; let's hope I have the same dream one day.
GO READ THIS BOOK.
Rating breakdown
- Plot/narrative - 4.8
- Writing style/readability - 4.8
- Characters - 4.8
- Diverse themes - 4.8
- Ending - 4.2
Overall - 4.7
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Dysphoria