Goodreads
I received an ARC from Netgalley. Spoiler Free. This is one of those novels that feels like riding a rollercoaster (which to me is the best feeling when going on a book journey). You start off steady with that delicious undercurrent of anticipation, knowing that you will eventually climb and fall but be exhilarated all the while.. I thought I knew where the twists and turns were taking me until one "bottom dropping out" moment left me feeling like my heart was in my stomach. This is a fantastic novel that explores the complexity of identity and relationships while challenging the reader to re-examine how the concept of privilege influences both.

This mystery started out solid. One of those books you read the first chapter, sigh, and realize you will be doing nothing but reading Mad Honey until you have finished.
The characters are well crafted.
There are a few "B" stories, and one of those is a history lesson about bees.
I found the bee story fascinating, at first.
As easily as I found myself in love with the book, I found myself disliking it, skipping along instead of savoring.
Politics has seeped into everything; it's almost impossible to escape lectures by those in Ivory Towers, and Mad Honey firmly delivers on veering into great story telling to lecturing.
The teen sex scenes...didn't need actual description there. I'd have liked more description of the murder scene than the sex scenes.
One very frustrating point (SPOLIER ALERT) is the mom did not push for details of what had happened when her son went to see the girlfriend and found her dead. Any mom would ask questions of not only her son but also the detective. She didn't even TRY.
The flashbacks were tedious after time.
I will happily sell this book to the right readers, and I know they will love it. For me, the politics, flashbacks, and Ivory Tower lectures wrapped as prose, is a one star.
The craft in which the story was told is five stars (the characters, the writing, simply flowed). Surprising ending (the killer) which was, unfortunately, overshadowed by all the wokesim along the way.
If you are looking for entertainment without politics or sexual science fiction, skip this.
If you don't mind slight politics and enjoy sexual science fiction, this is a great book.
I'm rating it five stars, because for me, it's the craft that matters.