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

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

3.5

Mad Honey follows duel perspectives in different timelines: Olivia, whose son is accused of murdering his girlfriend, and Lilly, the victim. 

I often find duel perspectives difficult to get into, and that was the case here. I was more interested in Olivia's storyline. Olivia's chapters spend a lot of time discussing bees and honey production, which, while interesting as a metaphor, sometimes dragged. While going through the story of the trial, there are also flashbacks to Olivia's time in an abusive marriage, and how these traits may be echoed in her son and girlfriend's relationship. This is never fully resolved, and given the lengthy discussion about her marriage, something that should have been explored at the end. 

SPOILER:
While I didn't love that the 'twist' her was about Lilly's gender, I do think the authors took care to have a thorough discussion so as to not present the topic as tokenism. I'd like to hear an own voice perspective on this part of the narrative. 

Overall, it's an interesting read, and something I wanted to pick up, but there were sections I scanned more than read, and could have been cut down. 

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