A review by bendercath
Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

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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