Jodi Picoult is known for tackling a specific societal issue in each of her novels and this one is no different. The story revolves around 2 young lovers, Lily and Asher and the court case when one is found dead with the other as a suspect. Asher lives with his single mother Olivia, who is a beekeeper. Asher falls in love with new girl, Lily who lives with her single mother Ana. When Lily is found dead by Asher, he becomes the main suspect. The case goes to trial and secrets are revealed. The novel goes back and forth in time which is not always useful. Beekeeping, honey, and queen bees are used to relate to the people in the story. There is a lot of information about the issues involved, almost two much. Fans of Picoult will most likely enjoy it but not a story that will keep everyone's attention

I can never refuse to read a Jodi Picoult book. I enjoyed the characters and I recommend not reading the synopsis before going into the book. This was a really good read and I highly recommend.

Excellent character development, the murder mystery was intriguing (although I figured out who the killed Lily early on), the concept on raising bees is informative and well researched, and the courtroom scenes spot on. I enjoyed the dual character chapters but at times Lily’s seemed repetitive. Definitely a book to be read by adults and YA adults to learn about many current hot topics. A good book club discussion title.

This is a long book and it did take me awhile to get through, but that's not a bad thing. I wanted to keep reading as I was interested in the whole story. This is going to be totally spoiler free and I recommend going in blind as it adds to the story.

This book is told in two points of view: Olivia's and Lily's. It starts on the day Lily died. Then the story moves forward from Olivia's point of view. Her son, Asher, was Lily's boyfriend and is arrested and charged with first degree murder. Her storyline goes through that process and the trial. Lily's chapters go backwards in time. She starts with what recently occurred with Asher and then goes all the way back to when they first met.

I didn't love that it went backwards. It was weird hearing about an incident that had happened but not actually getting that incident until the next chapter. I know Picoult wrote one book in backwards time order and that worked... but this one didn't.

Overall, I thought this was well done. There was a lot to unpack and work through and a lot of tough topics handled, but it was well done. I also loved the author's note where the idea for this book started with a dream... then a tweet and now it's a book.

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan was a great read! I thought it was an intriguing story, and I loved the way the book was structured. This story is told from two perspectives: Olivia, a single mom whose teen son Asher is accused of murdering his girlfriend, and Lily, Asher's girlfriend. Olivia's story is told chronologically beginning with the day Lily died. meanwhile, Lily's story is told backwards, beginning with the day she died.

Jodi Picoult used a backwards storytelling method in a previous book (A Spark of Light), and I didn't love it. However in Mad Honey, this method worked so well! Switching between the events happening in the present through Olivia's perspective, and then slowing piecing together what happened in the past with Lily's perspective was a unique and interesting way to tell this story. I loved it!

I have never read a book by Boylan before, but I have read every book that Picoult has written. So most of this review will focus more on that. I know what to expect from a Picoult novel. It will be well-researched, it will shed light on a controversial topic, and there will be a surprise twist at some point. This book checked all those boxes. If I were to offer any criticism (and I feel this often in Picoult's books), it would be that the research at times threatens to overtake the story. There are sections that feel more like textbook reading, and I was close to being bored with information about honey and beekeeping! Towards the end of the book as she dives deep into the "controversial topic," again I felt like it read more like a piece of research at times than a story. Like maybe she's trying just a little too hard to teach us rather than letting the characters/story do that work for her?

I thought it was really interesting to read the author's notes at the end and learn more about how Picoult and Boylan worked together to write this novel and make it feel like one cohesive book. I think they did a great job in creating a seamless story with interesting characters and a unique structure that enhanced the storytelling.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of "Mad Honey", a novel by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Their new book introduces us to a set of characters within two families that will unfortunately always be linked together by a tragic event. Their stories are compelling and heartbreaking. Their stories bring awareness to sensitive topics that are in the news everyday. This book is more than about honey (but it was great to learn about beekeeping) and without revealing too much it is a must-read!

“You feel what you feel. I don’t know if there’s any point to deciding whether it’s good or bad.”

Oh man I wanted to love this. The beekeepers. The courtroom drama. The mystery. But it felt a bit disjointed. I dove into this story and was sucked in right away. But as the book progressed it stalled. There became too much backstory and not enough action. Also the chapters are longggg. The book itself is long. The way the story is told goes between multiple narrators and multiple timeframes. I found myself, at times, questioning where we were. Was it Olivia while she was married? Wait..after she left? Just not for me.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Netgalley, and Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such an interesting read, a study of love, Parenthood, and so much more. Also, bees! The world of the bees is fascinating and Picoult does an amazing job of weaving them into the story.

What a thought provoking and well done book! I loved the timeline and how it moved in both directions at once. The bee facts were super interesting, as was everything else that unfolded.

Absolutely loved everything about this book. I may be biased because I love Jodi Picoult, but this was the type of book that made me forget I was reading!

I loved this page-turning courtroom drama. I true Jodi Picoult fashion, it was well researched, vivid, realistic and wise.

From the first sentence this book had me hooked. It took me a little longer than I would have liked to finish, but that’s due to personal reasons, not the book itself.

I did guess the real killer, but honestly up until that was shared, everyone was a suspect. There was one very good twist midway that I did not see coming! I think my jaw even dropped.
I personally have always loved bees so the tidbits of information about bees, honey, and beekeeping throughout the book were wonderful.

I also loved the mother/son storyline. I felt connected to Olivia and Asher because I know that I would protect my sons, no matter the cost. And no matter what they do or don’t do in this life, good or bad, my love for them is unwavering and unconditional. There is no relationship like the one between a mother and son.

This book will always hold a special place in my heart.

I do want to add that I have it a 4 star because of ALL the controversial hot topics the authors tried to shove in the book. I have no problem reading about the topics that were discussed, but I did feel it was too much and overwhelming. I think they could have stuck to Lily being transgender and focused more on the storyline of her being murdered by her best friend.

I read this book in less than 2 days as I could not put it down! The characters in the book remain in my head even now. The author's did an amazing job at showing both sides of the trans experience. I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone!

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boyland

455 Pages
Publisher: Random House – Ballentine Books, Ballentine Books
Release Date: October 4, 2022

Fiction, Literary Fiction, Transgender

Olivia is Asher’s mother and Lily is a teenage girl in a relationship with him. Lily’s mother came home to find her on the sofa with Asher standing over her covered in blood. Was it accident? Premeditated? Olivia calls her brother Jordan for support. What we find is not everyone is who we think.

The story is written in first person point of view from two different perspectives (Olivia and Lily). The characters are well developed and flawed individuals. The story leads up to the incident then one perspective moves backwards while the other goes forward. I admired the strength the women show throughout the story. This is a well written emotional story. It shows how people should be treated for who they are not what they are. It is a story that will stay with the reader long after the last page is read.

Mad Honey!! Wow one of my favorite books by JP and now a new to me author JFB. What I loved was how the book flowed between multiple POV. I felt the character development was outstanding and complex to some degree in that each one brings secrets and sorrow to the story. I found myself living in each of their lives as I read their respective chapters, which doesn’t always happen for me. It’s a romance with mystery and topics relevant to today. In addition you get insight into the world of honeybees which is fascinating, although at times it was hard to follow the terminology. A book that gets the reader to think outside the box for sure. One theme that’s resonates is the secrets we keep and how they haunt us. Does the apple really fall far from the tree? The storyline definitely gets you to looking at transgender in a different light and does a good job explaining the thought process of people who identify in that realm. It also gives insight into terminology not familiar to some cisgender folks. Breaking down the resistance for sure. Ty #Netgalley for the ARC all opinions are my own.

Jodi Picoult was one of the first authors that made me fall in love with reading as a teenager and this book felt very reminiscent of what I so fondly remember from that time. I appreciated that this was the familiar voice of Picoult, with an added voice of Boylan that made this story feel like something so new. This book has its moments of heart break, important social topics, redemptions and love. I truly could not put it down. If you truly enjoy Jodi Picoults books, this one will be no different for you.

My thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this e-book.

This story is told from Olivia's and Lily's perspectives. Olivia is raising her son Asher in the home she grew up in, raising bees as her father used to do. Lily and her mom Ava have recently moved to New Hampshire from CA. Both women had abuse in their home - from Olivia's husband and from Lily's father. Asher and Lily meet in high school and quickly become friends and start dating. Their relationship becomes intimate. Until one day, Olivia gets a call from Asher who is at the police station and Lily is dead. A good part of the book is the trial with Olivia's brother defending Asher.

Jodi Picoult is a great writer but it felt like she wanted to write this book with all of today's gender issues and hot button topics like abusive men. It was a bit much for me and at one point, I just had to stop reading for a while. Be aware this is a book with a lot of author agenda issues that not all will agree with. For me, I have some issues with giving children hormones and having them go through sex change surgeries before they are fully grown. Picoult wrote Olivia's chapters, Boylan wrote Lily's chapters, with each having written one of the other's chapters to assure a flow of writing in the book. {kindle, audio}

I read an ARC of this book, so I don’t know if any changes were made prior to publication. This book wasn’t at all what I expected it to be. I wasn’t bothered by the LGBTQ theme, I just didn’t expect for it to takeover as the prominent theme halfway in. I felt that it then became less of a whodunnit and the murder was secondary. I loved the beekeeping information throughout this book, but I don’t know that the tie in connection to the theme made a lot of sense. It felt disconnected. Perhaps there were too many themes running through this book at the same time that as a whole it felt disjointed. Murder mystery, domestic abuse, transgender rights, beekeeping, mother-son trust… if there were fewer congruent storylines running through it I think it would feel more cohesive. Also, the time hopping doesn’t bother me, but it jumps back and forth within Lily’s story, which led to confusion and redundancy. I think her entries should’ve been chronological to her timeline (ie what happened after talking to Asher, then going back to what happened before talking to Asher.) Finally, WHY introduce Dirk? I don’t know if this was an attempt at the whodunnit theme, but it was very out of place and I’m not sure why he is continually introduced when he plays no part in the story. For that matter, Maya could’ve played more of a role. Dirk coming to the house was very misplaced. Overall, it was entertaining and the writing was captivating. I learned a lot. Overall though, I think it could’ve been cleaned up a bit to keep the story focused on fewer currents.

4 ⭐️‘s
If you think this is just another book about a good boy that’s accused of murdering his girlfriend and the mom that stands behind him, you will be sorely mistaken. This book is so much more. Piccoult and Boylan tackle some tough subjects with heartfelt sensitivity. Voiced by two very different women, both overcoming obstacles in their past, intermixed with the intriguing life of a beekeeper, this book was a compelling read. When blindsided by an epic twist, this book took on a whole different feel, one that will leave you pondering long after the last page is turned. Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this novel! It was well written and had a lot going for it. I did seem a little long but I still liked it.