Mad Honey: A Novel

The major takeaway from Mad Honey is that we should all be more compassionate to the transgender community. Lily tried to commit suicide and was harassed by her father and ex-boyfriend. The mental and physical abuse targeted at transgenders is alarming. Imagine living in a body that’s completely foreign to you and the only option to feel comfortable in your own skin is a life-altering surgery. Lily underwent a major gender reassignment surgery and had to take puberty blockers to prevent facial hair growth. Lilly was also afraid to reveal she was transgender to her boyfriend who she loved with all her heart. After all there is a taboo tied to being transgender. So she had to live in torture with the big secret. Asher ended up still loving her regardless but she never got to live her life out in happiness with the person she loved. I would recommend this book to everyone because it’s well written and compelling.

So, first of all, this book reminded me why I love Jodi Picoult and need to read more of her books. Picoult can be counted on to deliver a well-written, powerful, human narrative that’s still a relatively easy read. Looking for a “beach read” that’s great instead of trashy? JP is your woman. Here she partners with Boylan who is also a great writer, and in all honesty, it’s seamless and does not for a moment read like a collab.

Mad Honey is compelling from the start with hero characters including Olivia, a single mom/power beekeeper/abuse survivor, Lily, a teen savant/cellist/depressive/also survivor, and Asher, a teen Prince Charming whose hidden depths- and hidden pain- no one but Lily truly sees.

Quickly this becomes a murder mystery and trial procedural, so, again, super entertaining and also emotionally intense. For the first probably half of the book, I did not want to put it down.

I really want to avoid spoilers here. I will say there’s a major plot twist, an interesting one, but unfortunately at this point the book takes a dive. There is SO MUCH explication to support the plot that the book becomes more of a textbook and less of a novel. For me personally I didn’t need 99% of this surrounding information, it was familiar to me – and I think it would be at least understandable to anyone who would love this book. This is the point where, I think, the writers needed to decide if they would rather just tell a story and let the reader fill in, or if they needed to inform and provide massive context, and they chose the latter. The book is about 30% longer as a result (insert head-banging emoji).

I really loved the writing here; the character development; and the power and empathy with which the writers communicated painful and joyful things. But *just as a novel* it’s a super-flawed book: there’s all this endless explication, the ending is unsatisfying, *and* you can see the real whodunit coming from miles away.

If I were not such a fan of the intent here, I’d say three stars.

This was my first book by these authors 🙁 and definitely not the last 🙂

I don’t even know how to begin this review.
This book is so damn complex and full of hidden messages and meanings. It was a challenge for me at first to find the right direction behind the scenes.
But despite the fact that the story was a bit unnecessarily drawn out at the beginning (only at the beginning), the book is a masterpiece of modern literature.

What the authors have created is not only an exciting and gripping story about a open court case, but a great opportunity for people who are not particularly well informed about the topic of transgender, to engage with the topic and at least understand a small part of the meaning and to  experiencing at least a little what these people’s lives are on a daily basis.

The multiple POV’s are an unbelievable emotional opportunity to experience the whole story through different points of view, and mixed with the past from the 4 characters, different stages of grief and dramatic past events.

I’m a mother, and maybe that’s the reason I was so emotional invested in Olivia’s character.
I could feel and relive her past with her. I could feel her fight with her demons like they were mine. I could identify with her and was also conflicted with her decisions and doubts so damn strong that I have had my own conversations with her (like POV 5)🤦🏻‍♀️

What the authors created is not only a gripping and dramatic story about the first, very complicated love story that ends very tragic, what they also created is a very unique and dramatic story about the unconditional mother’s love.

I think that everyone should read this book.
If not because of the suspense-packed, gripping crime story,
then definitely because of the very educational nature of the descriptions of the characters’ lives.

I would love to write more to make you see why this book is a must-read for everyone, but I can’t spoil the wonderful story.

So read this book and enjoy this extraordinary story.

Big no, its just so badly written and arrogantly long. The story could be 200 pages max and the fillers do nothing for story. This is my first Picoult novel and I am very disappointed. I got 70% through before I had to give up. Life is too short for bad books.