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A review by laelyn
Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult
3.0
This is my first book by either Picoult and Boylan, but I've heard only great things about both. I was also in the mood to let a book make me cry once again so I was all for it.
To say I enjoyed "Mad Honey" is maybe not true. It handles a tough subject, or really more than one of them. It tells the story of a boy and a girl who fell in love - until the girl died and the boy is accused of her murder. Through the perspectives of the dead girl, Lily, and the mother of her boyfriend we read about both the past that lead up to her death and the present proceedings surrounding the investigation of her death. It's an emotional novel, well written and not shying away from more difficult topics. There's one big twist, though I do think most people will see it coming. It doesn't take away from the story at all, though. Even if you guess the twist, it makes the story even more interesting and heartbreaking. Now, does it make sense that the twist exists? I don't think so, the crucial information should have been available to most of the people involved before. I still liked it though, even if it was a little too dramatised.
Now, while I though the premise was interesting, I wasn't absolutely in love with the novel. For one, a lot of it was written as more of a courtroom drama, and I don't really enjoy these. I rarely find them very engaging. I'm also not the biggest fan of stories being told backwards, so while I really loved reading Lily's perspective I couldn't fully get into them due simply to the way they were written chronologically. Generally, the pacing was rather slow and the story at times meandering. I admit I skimmed a page or two. I didn't care about most of the characters either, really mostly felt for the two pov characters but noone else, though that is very subjective, of course.
It's still a good book though, and one that focuses on different themes and subjects relevant to our society today. I also really loved all the beekeeping information and now want to keep my own hives. So there's that.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the arc!
To say I enjoyed "Mad Honey" is maybe not true. It handles a tough subject, or really more than one of them. It tells the story of a boy and a girl who fell in love - until the girl died and the boy is accused of her murder. Through the perspectives of the dead girl, Lily, and the mother of her boyfriend we read about both the past that lead up to her death and the present proceedings surrounding the investigation of her death. It's an emotional novel, well written and not shying away from more difficult topics. There's one big twist, though I do think most people will see it coming. It doesn't take away from the story at all, though. Even if you guess the twist, it makes the story even more interesting and heartbreaking. Now, does it make sense that the twist exists? I don't think so, the crucial information should have been available to most of the people involved before. I still liked it though, even if it was a little too dramatised.
Now, while I though the premise was interesting, I wasn't absolutely in love with the novel. For one, a lot of it was written as more of a courtroom drama, and I don't really enjoy these. I rarely find them very engaging. I'm also not the biggest fan of stories being told backwards, so while I really loved reading Lily's perspective I couldn't fully get into them due simply to the way they were written chronologically. Generally, the pacing was rather slow and the story at times meandering. I admit I skimmed a page or two. I didn't care about most of the characters either, really mostly felt for the two pov characters but noone else, though that is very subjective, of course.
It's still a good book though, and one that focuses on different themes and subjects relevant to our society today. I also really loved all the beekeeping information and now want to keep my own hives. So there's that.
Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the arc!