I went into this story completely blind and was mesmerized by the dual timelines/POVs of Olivia (Asher’s mom) and Lily (Asher’s girlfriend) as they recount Lily/Asher's relationship and Asher’s arrest for murder.

What I loved:
✨The Bees: everything about this worked for me - from general facts about beekeeping, honey, hives, and colonies to how these bees foreshadowed the story and served as metaphors for real life.
✨Social Issues: I loved the multiple viewpoints - a deep dive without ever feeling preachy.
✨Courtroom drama: I’m not a lawyer, but the courtroom drama and the mystery felt frustratingly accurate - angered by how our judicial system works and gripped by the clues to the murders. I needed to know how this ended!
✨Narration: Both narrators mastered their character’s POV, which helped with the cohesiveness of dual writing by these authors. I emotionally connected, sympathized with, and loved both Lily and Olivia. I suspect this audiobook will be in my top 5 at the end of 2023!

Highly recommend Mad Honey for book clubs, audiobook lovers, and contemporary lit lovers who enjoy small-town scandals, elements of mystery, and thought-provoking stories. But do yourself a favor and go into this book as blindly as possible! You can thank me later.

3.75 stars rounded up - Mad Honey - a book about a mother and her love for her son who is accused of killing his girlfriend, as well as a book about what it means to grow up and navigate a world when circumstances do not always turn out as you would like. The story is told in two voices, the mother and the girlfriend. It is also told in two timelines, with the mother's story essentially starting with the murder and moving forward in time, and the girlfriend's story starting with the murder and going back in time. As a parent, I would have to say I related more with the mother's story and how she would do anything to protect her son even under such tragic circumstances. Also as a parent, it was difficult reading the girlfriend's story because no matter what her mother did to protect her, her life was cut short. Along with the parent/child relationships, you do learn about beekeeping and a bit about the process of a criminal trial both of which I found interesting.

Favorite quotes:

“People always talk about how their love for you is unconditional. Then you reveal your most private self to them, and you find out how many conditions there are in unconditional love.”

“I don’t know, Asher, but I’m still going to tell you the truth. You’re brave, and you’re strong, and if you don’t believe it today, maybe you’ll believe it tomorrow.”

“How similar does someone have to be to you before you remember to see them, first, as human?”

“There is no set of rules that dictates what you owe someone you love. What parts of your past should be disclosed? Should you confess you are trans? Alcoholic? That you had a same-sex relationship? An abortion? That you were abused by the person you trusted most in the world? When, if ever, is the right time for that conversation: before your first date, before your first kiss, before you sleep together? Where is the line between keeping something private, and being dishonest?”

I buddy read Mad Honey with @blessed_not_perfect and we loved it! We pretty much binge read the second half of the book. I honestly had no clue where the plot was going to go and because of that I loved every shock factor.
Highly recommend!

Wow, what an emotionally gripping, character driven novel, about so many important topics. It is told in two different point of views and backwards, unraveling the story like an onion. I loved the way it was written. The subtopic of beekeeping was so interesting and really added an important layer to the story. I am so glad Jennifer Finney Boylan Tweeted about her dream, and that Jodi Picoult reached out. They really created a true work of art together.

I have only read a few books by Jodi Picoult but enjoyed the ones I've read. Mad Honey is a book written in dual authorship with Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. I went into this one without any background knowledge and that is definitely the way I recommend reading it. However, if you have particular triggers, you may want to research ahead of time. This is a book I can't say too much about because of the spoilers, it's really best read without knowing much about it! Olivia is a beekeeper living with her son in a small town in New Hampshire. Olivia's son is dating Lily who is found dead and with Olivia's son, Asher being a suspect, their life gets turned upside down. I recommend this book for readers of family drama stories.

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father's beekeeping business.

Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.

And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . .

Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.

Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.

Jodi has written another thought provoking book and I am hear for it. This book was emotional and shocking. I was heartbroken at times, but also dramatic and enthralling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is heavy. There is a lot of emotions in this book which I can't express without giving too much away. There are two mothers, who love their children and have sacrificed much for them. Olivia has left her life in Boston, returning to her small New Hampshire town, with her son Asher. She keeps her secrets to protect him. Ava and her daughter, Lily, have recently relocated to the same town. Ava, too, has sacrificed much to protect her daughter. They too have their secrets, but are hoping for a fresh start, and Lily, particularly is looking forward to her senior year. Both mothers are happy but wary when their children fall in love. And then everything changes...Lily is dead, and Asher is the main suspect. Told from two POVs, this is very much Lily's and Olivia's stories. Without spoilers, know this is an emotional raw story. There are many triggers. The authors delve deep and provide a point of view so honest and open. But also, it's a mystery thriller cumulating in a courtroom drama that had me second guessing. What happened the day Lily died? Will both Olivia and Ava lose their children? I did like time spent with Olivia's bee keeping. It gave me a chance to peacefully catch my breath and absorb everything I was reading. I think these are characters that will stay with you for a long while. They most definitely opened my eyes to so much. Please also read the authors' notes at the end. It's remarkable how this book came to be!

Phenomenal story about a mother whose son is tried for murdering his girlfriend. She has a background of spouse abuse (son's father) and starts to doubt what she knows about her son.

I forgot how much I love Jodi Picoult books!

Highly recommend this book for everyone!

I've always been a fan of Jodi Picoult but haven't read any of her books in a few years. This one reminded me why I love her stories.

A mother with an abusive past is suddenly wondering if she knows her son as well as she thinks when he is accused of murdering his girlfriend. In dual timelines, you follow the trial as well as the relationship of the son and gf plus both of their past family lives which illustrating why they are the way they are.

Again, highly recommend.

I was thrilled beyond words to receive an advance copy of Mad Honey by Jody Picoult from NetGalley and the publisher to review and give my honest opinion. This is a no brainer as anything Jody Picoult writes in my mind is an instant best seller. She never fails to disappoint. I dropped all plans and cuddled up with this book and a blanket for the long haul as I was not stopping until I finished this. This book is absolutely jaw dropping and will leave you gasping for more. I absolutely loved it and will recommend this to anyone I can! THANK YOU so much for allowing me to read this!

“If your only child dies, are you even still a mother?” What a sad question to ask! Of course you are still a mother. That doesn’t change all that time that you have mothered your kid. You are a mother as long as you feel like a mother.

But would being a mother make you not see some disturbing signs coming your way? Would you be totally objective when it is about your child? One, you raised that kid. Two, it’s your baby. Would the kid who protected you against your bully, helped you out with your bees, and put the coffee machine on first thing in the morning, be a killer?

This is a book of mothers who tried to protect their kids from all danger while making sure they can be who they are. What happened to their kids could have been anyone’s story. It wasn’t their fault that their kids suffered. They did their best only for one to lose her kid twice and another to have question mark looming over her

Wow. This was a wild ride. I had no idea where this was going. I was just lost in reading it. The characters are well-developed. The story was revealed at a perfect pace. It went back and forth with the timeline and point of view. It's a bit too long. Some parts could have been cut. Regardless, I loved it. The facts about the bees were great. What a unique idea to put in a book. It made perfect sense in parallel to the plot. I have never read anything by these authors and will read more. The author's note made me bawl. I didn't know before reading this book that Jennifer Boylan is a Trans woman. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Random House Publishing for the gifted e-book! ❤️

I haven't read a Jodi Picoult book in a long time but I am so glad I read this one! I really, really loved it! Such an appealing summary, characters, etc. I loved the back and forth between Olivia, our main character and Lily, our teen whose death is the reason we hear this story. I can see why this book has been doing so well at our library!

Jodi Picoult is one of my all time favorite auThor’s so I was curious how this book would read since it was penned with a co-author. They did an excellent job keeping the writing very seamless to the point where I didn’t know until I finished who had written what. As usual it involved chapters with alternating POV’s and as usual there is a court case involved. It’s the story of a single mom who is a beekeeper who lives with her 18-year old son. He has a girlfriend who also has a single mom. Then there is a mysterious death ….The chapters do a lot of back and forth in time and place….. sometimes confusing. You learn a LOT about beekeeping and also about our court system, which must have involved a TON of research - typical for a Jodi Picoult book. I found this book to be compelling and it kept my interest as I wondered how it would end. I really enjoyed this one.

I always love reading a new Jodi Picoult novel and Mad Honey is a real stunner. Jennifer Finney Boylan is a new-to-me author, and I think her collab with Picoult was pulled off seamlessly. I couldn't tell this was written by 2 authors and the story of how it came about was pretty funny, so I’m glad it was included in the author’s notes. This novel tackles big, important subjects which I was expecting, but I love that it was a mystery as well. I am used to more of a literary fiction vibe from Picoult’s books, so this was a nice change of pace and it kept me on my toes! I 100% had no idea how it would end, and the authors did a great job of keeping me guessing about Asher. I also loved the beekeeping aspect, and it was fun learning about something that I knew absolutely nothing about. The chapter switches between Olivia and Lily at times made this feel a bit like a young adult novel, but with very adult topics. I was really glad that even though Lily dies, Picoult and Finney Boylan still included her chapters throughout the entire book. It is in this way that we ultimately find out exactly what happened to her.

I absolutely adored the audiobook and Carrie Coon and Key Taw completely knocked it out of the park. Coon narrates Olivia while Taw is the narrator for Lily, and I couldn’t have picked two better people for these roles. They really brought it when it came to the emotions of both characters, and I was completely captivated by the way they swept me into the world of Mad Honey. I was also thrilled that the audio included the author’s notes, and even better they were narrated by the authors themselves! I still have a physical copy since I couldn’t resist, but if you like audiobooks this is one you won’t want to miss. There were so many layers to the book and characters, and if you don’t feel compassion while reading this, I’m going to say you are basically a monster (#sorrynotsorry). The author’s notes actually made me cry in relation to the story and I was just completely blown away. Picoult and Finney Boylan did not let me down, and I would love to see another collab with them in the future.

I don't know why I put off reading this book. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down, which is often the case with Jodi Picoult novels. This is another thought-provoking book with a strong social theme over a hot topic that's been receiving a lot of attention lately: transgenderism. The plot reminded me of Picoult's breakthrough book, The Pact. Once again, we have a mother whose son has been accused of murder. A large portion of the book focuses on the trial and the relationship between the mother (Olivia) and her son (Asher). But it's important to note that this book was cowritten with Jennifer Finney Boylan, whose contributions were just as important. From what I understand about the backstory, Boylan came up with the concept for the book in a dream in which she and Picoult co-wrote a book. When she tweeted out her dream, Picoult contacted her and said, "Let's do it!" Boylan wrote most of the chapters about Lily, the transgender girl whom Asher may or may not have killed.

If there's one drawback to the book, it's the heavy-handedness that sometimes creeps into Picoult's books. Some metaphors are overwritten (for example, there's a comparison between the taste of honey and secrets), and she often sinks into sentimentalism. But overall, this is a very compelling story with intelligent writing and thought-provoking themes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my opinions.

Wow, I can already tell this will be a top book for me this year. I love the way Jodi Piccoult writes to “untangle” the messes that society finds themselves in. Her writing partner on this one Jennifer Bolyn also added a great voice for Lilly’s character. This is a book that should really open people’s hearts and minds.

Synopsis

A battered woman starts her life over with her young son in the small town of Adams, Vermont. She makes her living as a beekeeper.
Years later another mother and child come to Adams to start over for very different reasons but equally as compelling. Their lives intersect when the two teenagers date and a tragedy strikes. Neither family’s lives will be the same again.

My thoughts

The information on bees and the lore around them was fascinating and well researched! I love how Jodi’s writing opens hearts to complex topics that are prevalent in today’s society. I want to make every person who has ever said and ugly word against a trans gender to read this book. Ignorance breeds hate, and reading books like this works to open minds and hearts to things we may not otherwise understand. Thank you Jodi and Jennifer for writing this amazing book that will stay with me forever!

You won’t want to skip the author’s note on this one because it’s really neat how this collaboration of Piccout and Bolyn came together!

I am a fan of Jodi Picoult, but I couldn't get into this book. I didn't enjoy the overall premise or like some of the characters. I was incredibly excited to read this book, but sadly not for me.

Any book by jodi picoult is going to be good and this book definitely was amazing. You are drawn in instantly to the story. Reading different point of views gives you a different perspective and keeps the story moving. I learned alot about beekeeping! I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys drama, mystery, family dynamics, and issues in the world today.

A young couple in love soon become star-crossed lovers. But was Lily simply involved in a tragic accident, or was she murdered by her boyfriend?

I'm so glad to see Picoult decided to do with <u>Mad Honey</u> what she failed to do with <u>Small Great Things</u>: rely on a knowledgable co-writer. At first I was absolutely horrified to discover that it seemed like Picoult was using being transgender as the plot twist of a novel. Then I looked into Jennifer Finney Boylan and discovered that she herself is a transgender writer. Suddenly, the reason why there was two authors tied to this Picoult novel couldn't have been clearer. I'm very pleased she worked on this with an own-voices author that could lend their firsthand knowledge and experience to this story. Had Picoult made the same mistake she did with <u>Small Great Things</u>, this probably would have been an instant 1 star rating for me. The main reason I gave this one three stars is simply because it started to become too drawn out/tedious and just seemed far too long. The end twist was decent enough, but other aspects were rather predictable. At the end of the day, this was not my favorite Picoult novel, but it was definitely not her worst.