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

challenging emotional informative reflective 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 WOW WOW. I remember why I love Jodi Picoult so much, and now I'm going to have to check out more of Boylan's work. The plot twist of

Lily being trans caught me completely off guard because they treated her character like any other female character, which of course is appropriate since she's a girl, I just feel like other writers usually hit it earlier to show how "diverse" their book is early on. I'm also still working on my own understanding, and the metaphor of not choosing to be left or right handed, one just feels right, really helped me to see what a trans person may be coping with. Obviously, this metaphor is on a much smaller scale than a person's gender, but it better described something I'm still working to understand in a way that I think other, less accepting people might also understand.

The "plot twist" at the very end didn't hit me quite as hard as the other one, but I thought it was still pretty good. And like any other Picoult novel, I didn't want to put it down, and I'll definitely be recommending it!