Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi Picoult are very talented authors who’ve used beautiful prose and compelling characters to tell a story that speaks to so many levels of the human condition. It’s heartfelt, vividly described and thoughtfully told.

This is the tale of two moms and their children: Beekeeper Olivia McAfee, and her son, Asher, and Forest Ranger Ava Campanello, and her daughter, Lily, who’ve recently moved to town. When Asher and Lily become romantically involved, it seems like a match made in heaven and both moms are delighted to see their children so happy after overcoming past events. The bliss turns to a nightmare when Lily is killed and Asher is arrested as the prime suspect in her murder. Did he do it? That’s the mystery.

Then “The Twist”.

It’s a GREAT twist, and one I never saw coming. Even the topic that it addressed had me riveted, and I loved the four major characters. Lily and Asher were particularly well-portrayed. There’s a lot that was right and good with this book, but it did have a few downsides for me.

Structurally, this is SO similar to Picoult’s last book, Wish You Were Here, only the focal point after the whopping twist has been switched out. In the last book, it was COVID-19, while a different topic takes the spotlight here. It's a timely topic, and I love that the authors did their research. I just felt at times like the mystery/courtroom drama got a bit lost in the info sharing after the twist. At 464 pages, it occasionally dragged, and I really didn't like how the ending was handled. It felt hypocritical and completely unbelievable, and left me a bit disappointed.

Overall, I mostly enjoyed this. I initially rounded down due to the ending, but I've thought a lot about this book. I learned a lot and the story kept me turning the pages - isn't that what any of us hope for? If you enjoy books that deep-dive into current social topics in story form, you may enjoy this, though it does have serious triggers like multiple forms of relational abuse and suicidality.

★★★ ½ (rounded to 4)

Olivia, a beekeeper, and her teen-age son Asher move back to small town New Hampshire after her divorce from her abusive husband. When Lily and her mom move to town, Asher and Lily start dating. When Lily ends up dead, Asher is accused of killing her and mom Olivia is worried that Asher inherited his father's abusive traits.

This is the description for this book that I had heard. After disliking the last two Picoult books I'd read (The Book of Two Ways and Wish You Were Here), I was fairly hesitant to devote the time to this 464-page book. But this stock description is not really all this book is about.

Picoult coauthors this one with Jennifer Finney Boylan. After reading some interviews with the authors, my interest in this book was more peaked as Boylan is a trans writer and activist. Then I read the authors' notes at the end of the book (which I know you're not supposed to do, but in this case, they were very insightful and helpful to me- and do not give away too much about the book.) The authors note that Picoult initially wrote the chapters from the perspective of the mother, Olivia, and Boylan wrote the chapters by Lily, the girlfriend. Then they edited each other and wrote one chapter each, then switched. By the time they were done, they could not really tell who had written what. I've read some books before with two authors that at best you could tell who wrote which part, and at worst were a failed experiment in cowriting.

I am happy to report that this book was an almost total success. I really enjoyed the beekeeping details (a little too detailed for me and the metaphor was a little heavy handed, but it did all come together well and was useful to the story.) I really liked how this turned into a courtroom drama and those parts kept me reading and I found them to be some of the strongest and helped balance out the heavier, emotional scenes. This book is about trust, inheritance, courage, loneliness, and secrets. But it's also about community and mothers' love. I found this book to be a well-rounded story with lessons (aka Picoult's specialty) that were pitch perfect. If you liked old school Picoult or Laurie Frankel, this book is for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advance copy for review.

What a brilliant collaboration. I couldn’t put this one down. If you’ve never read a Jodi Picoult book, do yourself a favor and grab this one.

Phenomenal. 5 stars. This is definitely a story that you will not want to put down from moment one, with a narrative that needs to be told and twists along the way. Picoult and Finney Boylan explore gender identities, sex, social norms, domestic abuse, and the classic coming of age story all in a way that feels both gentle and thorough. I absolutely loved and recommend this book!

Hester is the perfect read going into the fall season. It’s somewhat of a retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Set in Salem, Hester draws on the dark history of the Salem witch trials and the people who played a role in the accusations of witchcraft.

Isobel Gowdie is the main character of the story. An accomplished seamstress, Isobel also sees color in letters and language. A native of Scotland, Isobel and her husband Edward immigrate to America in search of a new start after Edward gets them into debt.

Right after they get settled in Salem, Edward decides to take a job as a medic on a ship and leaves Isobel alone to settle into the new world. Isobel immediately begins to draw parallels between her own family history and that of Salem’s past witch trials.

Early on, Isobel meets Nathaniel Hawthorne and they are immediately drawn to one another. The romance was a bit predictable, but what happens later is not and I loved how the author included so much of the history of the time into the story.

The novel has the same somber, forbidding tone found in The Scarlet Letter and I found this to be a perfect read going into October.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am pleased to offer my honest review.

Mad Honey is a rich, twisty and at times heart-breaking novel from bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. When Asher Fields finds his girlfriend Lily dead at the bottom of her staircase suspicion soon points to Asher. High school seniors in a small town in New Hampshire, Asher and Lily's romance was well known to those close to them. Olivia Fields, local bee keeper, cannot believe her sensitive son Asher is responsible for Lily's death-but in her darkest moments she remembers flashes of his temper-and his father's. During explosive testimony more truths are revealed that lead to more questions. Told in alternating narratives and timelines Mad Honey is a relevant, poignant mystery that readers will long remember.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I've been a fan of Jodi Picky it's books for a long time. This did not disappoint. She has such a way of developing beautiful characters. The concept was interesting, and I admit being totally shocked with the big reveal halfway through the book. A few of the plot lines felt forced though. I think if the focus had stayed on the domestic abuse and transgender issues, it would have been better. But throwing in the hint of a budding romance with Olivia and Mike, the relationship between Jordan and Selena, and some of the other minor plots just wound up taking away from the story more than adding to it.

I was eagerly anticipating reading this book. I enjoy Jodi Picoult's novels and I am now a huge fan of Jennifer Finney Boylan. The premise of the book is fairly simple - 2 teens being raised by single mothers each with their own backstory - fall in love. Both kids are smart, motivated students with promising futures ahead of them. They are passionate and talented each with their own talents- Asher with ice hockey and Lily with her Cello. . Like many teenage romances Asher and Lily, at times have tumultuous moments. After a bitter argument, Lily is found dead, Asher, who finds her body, is the main suspect. The plot seems pretty cliche and the courtroom drama, which Picoult is known for, could also seem formulaic. However, this book is different from past ones that i have read. For one, I loved the perspectives in the alternating chapters of Olivia, Asher's mom and from Lily in the weeks and months prior to her death. The chapters from Lily's point of view were incredibly poignant. I really enjoyed the book and the big twist literally took my breath away. However, there are several items which I did not love. I felt that there were too many issues being dealt with - violence against women, abortion, LGBTQ themes, single motherhood, interracial relationships. It got to be a bit preachy and over the top in my mind. I really enjoyed learning about bees and honey and the recipes in the book look delicious and inviting. The biggest problem I had with the book was the ending. It really irritated me. Unfortunately, I have found this to be the case with several of Picoult's book. They are interesting and riveting and then the ending annoys me. This one seemed like a real cop out.

Overall this was an enjoyable and very fast read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. As someone who grew up in a smaller town & somewhat sheltered it was eye opening to get to see inside the mind of someone who has transitioned. It gave me a new perspective that I so appreciate. What a heart wrenching story. I felt for all the characters.

Loved this book! I’m typical Picoult fashion, I couldn’t put it down. It was thought provoking and emotionally charged.

Mad Honey is a book about starting over, abuse, finding your true self, family, love, hate, ignorance, and a mystery all wrapped into one fantastic book. Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Boylan do a wonderful job of allowing the reader to feel what's in each characters heart and mind. Olivia is trying to start over with her son, Asher, after leaving her abusive surgeon husband. They move to New Hampshire and move into Olivia's parents house and take over the beekeeping business as Olivia's parents have passed. Lily is a teenager who has been abused by her father and by her school mates. so her mom, Ava, decides to leave and ends up in the same small New Hampshire town. Ava is a forest ranger and got a job at a park in New Hampshire.

Lily and Asher meet in high school through Asher's best friend, Maya. Maya and Lily are both in the orchestra and Asher comes to Lily's rescue as one of the hockey jocks is trying to flirt with her. Lily is immediately impressed by Asher and the feeling is reciprocated. Maya, Asher, and Lily go out to get milkshakes and a friendship is born. Asher asks Lily out that evening and she says yes. Things between Asher and Lily heat up quickly and they are falling in love with each other. Lily is hiding something big from Asher, but she doesn't know whether to tell him. She trusts him, but she's afraid if she tells him her secret that he will leave her and expose her secret to others. Asher is dealing with issues and secrets of his own relating to his Dad and the abusive relationship he had with his Mom. Will Lily be honest with Asher? Will Asher share his fears with Lily?

Things take a turn when Lily gets a phone call from Asher. He's at the police station and Lily is dead. From here the book is told in two timelines, the current one and before Lily died. How did Lily die? Was it a hate crime? Was it an accident? Did someone kill her on purpose? Was Asher involved? Lily calls her brother, Jordan, who is a lawyer. Jordan comes to New Hampshire to help along with his wife Selena who is his investigator. I had my theory, but was not correct in the end. I adored all of the characters in Mad Honey and am going to miss each one of them. This book is beautifully written and I highly recommend that you read it! I rate the book 5 starts.

I'd like to thanks NetGalley and Random House Publishing House-Ballantine for an advanced copy in exchange for a fair review. #MadHoney #NetGalley

Characters that are just plain human, complete with emotions and frailties, are such a joy to find in a novel. The main characters in this story are totally believable and bring the action to life. As usual, any book with Jodi Picoult’s name on it will feature current societal issues and this is no exception. The dual authors wrote a novel that reads so smoothly that the reader never feels a jolt moving from one to the other. My only observation is that the epilogue seemed to rather abruptly tie up loose ends.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books/Random House for the ARC to read and review.

I went in blind.

I will admit, at first I was bored. Lily and Olivia? Who cares? Don’t get me started on Asher.

The Lily reveal blew me away. I’m glad they did it this way, and if you read the authors’ notes at the end, it all begins to make sense. There is a certain subset, possibly the majority, that will not feel for Lily had the authors not written her this way.

I won’t get into the murder or the trial. Those aren’t the heart of the story. The people are. Their backstories are.

There’s abuse. Physical abuse. Emotional abuse. Abuse of rights. Jodi is known for this. If you don’t like it, why’d you read it?

Trans rights are human rights 🏳️‍⚧️

The first half of this book really just grabbed me and I couldn't put it down. The second half of this book still held my attention, but I felt at times, there was too much emphasis on issues that are happening today. I get that we want to talk about them and make them relevant, but I felt it was a tiny bit of overkill. I still enjoyed this story, but felt that the twist in the end was just sort of ehh. Overall, I did enjoy the book and I enjoyed the storyline.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I’ve read numerous books by Jodi Picoult and this was another strong book by the author. She writes strong characters with timely plots. I’ll continue to read more of her books in the future!

I loved Mad Honey. I'm sure there are more flowery, eloquent ways to say it, but that's the simple truth. I just loved it. I learned so much about transgender, cisgender, love, and hate. I also learned a fair amount about bees and beekeeping, but that was just a bonus.

Full confession, I've never read a book by Jennifer Finney Boylan before, but you can bet that I'm now going to be a fan. I have, however, been a long-time Jodi Picoult fan, and I know going in that it's going to be emotional, that I'm going to get all the feels, but this one caught me by surprise. It blew me away by the depth of the characters and the attachment that I developed for them. I wish I could give it more than five stars. It's that good.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult.
Mad Honey is a story based around an abusive husband, a new start, and a son on trial for murder. This book has a solid plot and the typical Picoult twist. Although I felt the LGBT information in the book was important and necessary, at times it felt preachy and took away from the story. Jodi Picoult tackles tough topics, but in this book the information distracted from a great storyline.

I love Jodi Picoult but I am not sure how to feel about this book. I was super excited to see this on Netgalley for me to read and review but about halfway through I lost interest. At the start of the book, it was interesting and I was completely involved in her writing style. About halfway through some topics seem to come from nowhere and almost seem to just be placed in. I am not sure if it's just because the topics they added were recently in the news or hot topics but I didn't think they fit well with how the book began. I don't like to give a negative review because I do try to remain positive throughout the book but I was not able to complete this with a positive attitude. This is one of the few books I did not finish and probably will never finish. I will not be recommending this to my followers either. I do have to say to my followers that if they want to read this book but are easily triggered by topics do not read this because you will not be able to finish this without being upset or triggered.

I forgot half way through this novel that the story was being written by two different people. It felt seem less in that sense. But the story itself left a little to be desired for me. It seemed unrealistic that so many people held such ongoing secrets from each other. I will recommend it to customers who enjoy mysteries, sudden revelations, and trans depictions.

This book was something special. Picoult always knows how to create a story that resonates wit readers. She knows how to develop characters, flesh out a story and pace it in way that make the book hard to out down. Mad Honey was all those things and so much more. You cannot help but be drawn into the story and care deeply about what is happening. It was such a delight and a book I recommend!