REVIEW

When I see a new book being released by Jodi Picoult, I know I will drop just about anything I am reading to read her latest.

For me Jodi Picoult novels are always thought provoking yet realistic, she always manages to throw you the most unexpected twist, she is not afraid to tackle difficult and controversial subject yet beautiful presents all sides – she makes you think about your ethics and moral code.

Jodi Picoult co-authored this novel with Jennifer Finney Boylan. It is a story about 2 women with secrets, secrets about their past, trying to move forward towards a better life by taking risk to be their trust self. It is a haunting love story and compelling “courtroom drama” that will keep you guessing. And half way through .. POW .. you get hit with a twist I promise you will not be expecting .. I sat there with my jaw open.

This story is told in 2 POV; that of Olivia McAfee and Lily Campanello.

Olivia is a single mother, divorced, and a survivor of domestic abuse, she is raising her son Asher on the family’s beekeeping farm. Her brother is none other than Defense Attorney Jordan McAfee from Jodi Picoult novel titled Nineteen Minutes. Olivia’s story is told from present day going forward.

Lily Campanello is 18 years old, just moved to New Hampshire from California leaving her old life and secrets behind. She has move here with her mother Ava who has stood by her daughter trying to help her live her best dream – both women are looking for a new start to their life. Lily and Asher’s love story is touching yet heartbreaking. Lily story is told from the present going back in time. Reading Lily’s story of her fight for being true to who she sees, the insecurities she needs to overcome and the bravery she shows making some very tough decisions even as a very young child. Lily’s chapters often left me in tears.

“Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard

This story is just not just about young love, love loss, secrets, murder, and suspense, trusting yourself as well as trusting those you thought you knew it is also about make CHOICES, a person’s freedom to make CHOOSE what they want their life to be.

As with all Jodi Picoult’s novels I always close the book knowing I learnt something new and Mad Honey is no exception .. it is all about the bees, the process of making honey and care of the hives. But the real education came from Jennifer Finney Boylan and what is means to be trans.

As I said early this was a co-authored novel and having read so many of Jodi Picoult’s novels I knew almost immediately who wrote which POV but meshed seamlessly. Something I rarely do is read author’s notes. With Mad Honey there are notes from both authors and I was fascinated how this this whole idea came about and their working partnership. And no Jodi and Jenny I never figured out which chapter you wrote of each other POV.

This amazing novel deserves nothing less that 5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Ballantine Book for the ARC edition of Mad Honey in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! Jodi Picoult does it again. This time, in a co-authorship role. Mad Honey follows Olivia, a mom of a teenage son who has her own troubled past with an abusive ex-husband, and Lily, a teenage girl who has fallen in love with Olivia's son and winds up dead. Like many of Picoult's novels (excluding her last book, Wish You Were Here), the novel's plot surrounds a court case in which readers can hardly guess what the verdict will be.

What I liked:
-Pacing of the novel is amazing. Picoult is really great at planting seeds and major plot twists throughout the novel to make it incredibly hard to stop reading.
-It reminded me a lot of The Pact. Jodi writes really well about complicated adolescent love and relationships. She validates young love as true love, and something for all people to learn about.
-I don't want to spoil any of the plot twists of Mad Honey, but Picoult and Boylan introduce a perspective that many in society struggle to understand. They use their characters' struggles with bias to teach us about what empathy and love truly look like.

I appreciate the topic the authors set out to tackle, but overall I found this book quite a slog. I am very clearly in a minority, as most people who reviewed this book ahead of me gave it many stars (both here on netgalley and on goodreads). I had a lot of comments while I was reading the book, but they boil down to a few main themes. There are SPOILERS here.

-There is too much telling, not enough showing. There are many examples, but a few are given here. The doctor who did Lily’s surgery was flown in to take the stand in the trial. Why? Only to give an encyclopedic delivery about what it means to be trans, hormone therapy and bottom surgery. If some of this information (along with the information that Elizabeth super-patiently told Olivia) could have been revealed in thoughts or actions of Lily, the book could have been less wordy. And passages like this “The prosecutor pauses, and I realize all of the questions so far have been easy ones, the breadcrumbs leading Ava off the main trail onto a darker, thornier path,” are totally unnecessary as this is obvious to any reader who is not monosynaptic.
-I never believed there was a strong enough case against Asher to actually worry about his being convicted. He said he hadn’t been in Lily’s room but his fingerprints were there? Easily explained by him explaining he had been in there previous to that day. The case was too circumstantial. And then the case where someone confessed wasn’t even taken forward?
-Olivia should have been a sympathetic character, but was not. I couldn’t stand her. She said so many stupid things. Perhaps if the story had been told in third person instead of her pov, some things could have been relayed in other ways instead of her thinking as saying things that came across as naïve, misinformed, and judgmental. In addition, she refused to call her ex-husband to ask for help with bail money for four months, even though Asher had been beaten his first night of confinement. She kept lamenting about how it hurt her so much that Asher was in jail, but not contacting Braden was stupid and selfish. She was rude to her brother, who was taking on Asher’s case for free. He dropped everything, uprooted his own family, and came to help immediately – no need to yell at him and tell him that any circumstances are his fault or to “shut up” and be family.
-Some of the teen sex scene language was cringy, e.g. “and I opened like a rose,” “he parts me like the petals of an orchid,” and “I’m wet as a harbor seal now.” Barf.

Some questions I had:
The case was big. In four months, wouldn’t Braden have seen the case in the news? They didn’t live that far apart, since Asher was driving to visit him once a month. At the trial there were “news trucks from as far away as Connecticut and New York.” (Asher should have been out on bail immediately, but then those four months of angst couldn't have been part of the story)
Are flannel pants really too warm for an April day?
Why didn’t Asher, the “golden boy,” have more adults to stand in as character witnesses? Escpecially since he just only had to smile to get what he wanted. Really, only his hockey coach?
Would the prosecutor really ask Maya if the dating relationship was “copacetic?”
Do mothers really get to act as character witnesses?
Doesn’t the prosecution generally give closing statements before the defense?
Can you have two Hail Mary witnesses (Dr. Powers and Dr. Oluwye)?
Why was the physical appearance of Dr. Powers elaborated on, but not the physical appearance of Dr. Oluwye? I know why, but why are just the physical features of the trans woman being pointed out?

I was really taken aback by the description of women “like Gina Jewett,” which bashed women who are trying to balance being mother, wife, and professional. I expected better from Picoult. And then the description of Gina’s clothing = “a tailored blue site that looks expensive, though I bet she got it at T,J. Maxx and had her aunt hem it. What the heck is this trying to say? It seemed so judgmental. Again, I expected better.

At 69%, starting with “There is no set of rules that dictates…” was my favorite part of the book. Well stated.

So much to say about this book. This is easily one of my favorite books that I have read so far this year. I went in to it not knowing anything about the story, and I am so glad I took that approach. I read this as quick as I possibly could, just wanting to find out what happens next. I connected with each character in different ways. It took me a second to track the jumping timeline, but once I got the hang of it, it was easy to keep up. Highly recommend!!

I loved the back and forth of the trial as well as the honey/bee metaphors, but everything else was either a trigger warning or just really graphic. I've read other Picoult books but this was too much for me.

Everyone has secrets, it's just that some are bigger than others. And, what is the difference between wanting to keep a secret and wanting to keep something private? This only touches on one of the themes of this book.

I was absolutely thrilled to be given the opportunity to read an early copy of this book! Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors and her books never disappoint. This one is no exception. She never shies away from difficult subjects; ones that are currently noteworthy and/or newsworthy. This time, she has collaborated with author Jennifer Finney Boylan to write a suspenseful work of fiction, that also turns out to be educational.

I chose to read this book without knowing anything about the story beforehand and without reading any of the reviews, and I'm glad I did. It was eye opening, informative and heart rending. It really made me sit up and deeply pay attention to what I was reading. All of this, along with a few surprising reveals in the story, definitely secures a five star rating from me. I'm just sorry that my book club will not get the chance to read this until October. (Publication date: October 4, 2022)

I would like to extend my very sincere thanks to Ms. Picoult and Ms. Boylan for writing this book and to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read a digital ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

I may not have read MAD HONEY if I really understood the topic up front, but I am thankful I accepted the invitation and read this book. From the first sentence, I was completely drawn into this story about love, family, friendship, personal secrets, a trial, and ultimately, knowing and being true to yourself. There is nothing I would change about this flawless novel by master writers Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boyland. I especially appreciated both Author’s Note at the end. I will certainly read more of Jodi Picoult’s novels, and will purchase a novel by Jennifer Finney Boyland.

Mad Honey is an excellent book. Having been a fan of Picoult's for years I expected an excellent book and was pleasantly rewarded. Mad Honey centers around the relationship between Asher and Lily and their mothers, beekeeper Olivia and park ranger Ava. Asher is a star hocky player entering his senior year in highschool . Lily just moved to their small New Hampshire town and is trying to get a scholarship to the New York Conservatory, Lily is quickly befriended by Maya who is also Ash's best friend. It takes very little for Lily and Ash to meet, then fall in love. As they learn more about each other trust becomes an issue. Ash's father was physically abusive to Olivia and Ash for a long time - to the point where mother and son started over in Olivia's childhood home. Olivia earns a living raising bees and crafting products from their honey. Lily's father is also abusive and she and her mother fled to New Hampshire hoping to never see Lily's father again. A well-meaning Ash tries to help Lily, resulting in an awful fight and a lot of miscommunication. When Ash leaves to confront Lily, Olivia is stunned by a phone call stating that Lily is dead and Ash is in jail. From this point on we learn more of Lily's story in flashback and Ash's story through his own thoughts as well as his mother's. Their friends and family's testimony reveals more of the details of Ash's and Lily's relationship and as startling facts are revealed, the story takes an unexpected turn. I read this in one sitting. The characters are compelling and the plot is well thought out and develops in a way that you're completely involved before you know it. I don't want to reveal any spoilers, but you need to read this book. The partnership between Picoult and Jennifer Boylan has a lot to do with the story - you need to read about that as well. Fans of Picoult will love this book and book clubs will find a lot to discuss. The book does contain sensitive issues that may be triggers for victims of abuse. Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Big fan of this Jodi and everything she writes. All her stories are incredible and the topics make you think and feel. This was no different. It was a bit slow for me to start but as you get deeper into it, you just can’t take your eyes away. Informative and eye opening. I will definitely be buying this for family and friends as gifts because everyone needs to read this one.

Another fantastic novel by Jodi Picoult, this one also authored by Jennifer Finney Boylan. This story is centered around the relationship between Lilly and Asher. Lilly’s mother moved them to town to escape the abuse and bullying Lilly received at her last school, both by her classmates and her own father. Asher’s mother moved them to town to escape an abusive husband, fearing that Asher could be the next target of her surgeon husband. Both teens have their own secrets, but the one Lilly harbors could change the way Asher and the rest of the community sees her. When the unthinkable happens to one of the teens and the other is blamed both families lives are changed forever. Beautifully written and thought provoking, this novel was impossible to put down. As always with Picoult’s books, this book is educational as well as entertaining, the facts about bee keeping and the bees contribution to the environment were fascinating.

This is a very different Jodi Picoult book; written in conjunction with Jennifer Boylan. The book is very quick reading and very easy to follow the characters. It delves deeply into the feelings of an 18 year old senior in high school who is transgender. After moving cross-country with her mother, she enrolled in a new school and falls in love with a young man, also a senior. They have much in common in that they are both estranged from their fathers. I think there was a lot of research done of not only the feelings of a transgender but exactly what is involved along the way in changing from one gender to another . I found the book very informative and interesting. There were several surprise twists along the way which you don’t see coming.

Wow!

This book was packed full of information on beekeeping, love, friendship and murder. I was a bit irritated that it took to long for the defense to get a second opinion on the autopsy. This book was eye opening on trans people and I was shocked to read Lily’s story. This book will stay with me for a long time. Thank you Net Galley for the eARC copy.

This book took me forever to read. A little slow to start but once it got going…whew.
Asher is a high school senior, captain of his hockey team, and only child of Olivia.
Olivia is a beekeeper, a use survivor, and doting mother to Asher who will always have her sons back no matter what.
Lilly is new in town and Asher rescues her from the creepy goalie on the hockey team. The two become a happy teenage couple until Lilly is found dead and Asher is accused of murder.
As the trial progresses Interesting details about the young couple and their relationship emerge and has everyone questioning what happened the night Lilly died.
At one point I thought I had it figured out but once again Jodi Piccoult proved me wrong.

Mad Honey
By Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan
Release date: 10/04/2022

We begin with Olivia telling us about her sons Ashler who she loves very much. She’s taken over her dad's bee farm, and through this book, you become quite intrigued by beekeeping. 🐝🐝🐝
Her son Asher meets Lily at school and they fall in love. When Lily ignores Asher for a specific reason for a few days, he goes in search of her. When Asher finds Lily at the bottom of her steps, dead, his whole life turns upside down, he’s charged with murder. His uncle Jordan Mcafee (from 19 minutes) returns to this book and I was glad to see and read about him again. Truly a poignant character.
There’s a big twist mid-book, so I can’t reveal much more - however, it's wonderful to read about it and learn more, the words of Jennifer Boylan should help all be a little more understanding in life.
5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 [̲̅S̲̅][̲̅T̲̅][̲̅A̲̅][̲̅R̲̅][̲̅S̲̅]

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I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult so I couldn't wait to read this book. This book was absolutely phenomenal. The characters were so real and the issues they faced were just as real. There was a huge twist that I did not see coming. Once I reached that twist, I could not put the book down until I read the last page. What a fabulous, raw story.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an advanced copy of this novel on family, secrets and honey cultivation.

Moving to a small town to restart a life that is not going the way one wants it is a common trope in fiction and even nonfiction. The hope is that the small town, the slower ways the difference in air, the increase in sunlight, even the animals, of in the case of this novel the insects will change things, make the past less intense and let the healing begin. However trauma, like the past is hard to forget, and sometimes hard to escape from. Mad Honey by bestselling author Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan is a story about leaving the past behind, the secrets and damage that make that hard, and the world of bees and the honey they create.

Olivia McAfee has returned to the small town that she grew up in to take over the family business of honey cultivation with her son Asher. Fleeing the big city and her husband a big time doctor and full time abuser, Olivia hopes that a return to the familiar will help her and Asher heal and forget. Lily Campenello has also come to the same town in New Hampshire with her mother to complete her last year in high school, and hopes that this year will be better. Soon she and Asher are friends, until something happens. And Oliva is left wondering what her abusive, violent husband might have passed on to her son, and what other secrets are being kept from her.

The story keeps surprising the reader right up to the end, with a plot that sounds like it should be hard to control and keep track off, but that both authors keep control of. There are changes in time and narrative focus, but again the reader is never confused or lost and as the plot is revealed everything makes sense. The characters not cookie cutter, or designed just for this scene, but characters with full lives, and stories that give the reader a lot to care about, and feel empathy for, which is rare in a lot of books today. There is a lot about bees, and honey and history, but it fits will with the story, and never clogs the narrative. A book that is both educational and thrilling.

Jodi Picoult has never written the same book twice, and the research she does is just astonishing. Egyptology, nursing, wolves, Galapagos, honey. Not that I am short changing the work of Jennifer Finney Boylan here, but the steady hand of Ms. Picoult keeps the story moving, with a strong sense of family, and gives the reader a chance to learn something about agriculture that might never have occurred to them. Another great book, not just for summer reading but for all times.

Ever since I read My Sister’s Keeper on my honeymoon in Cancun, my favorite thing to read on vacation is a Jodi Picoult book. I saved this book to read on our recent vacation to Grand Marais, MN, and it did not disappoint! I was immediately drawn into the story and stayed up late to find out what happened. The story has a big twist in the middle, which I think was handled nicely, and I appreciate the co-author’s expertise in the subject area. This will be a quick bestseller. Add it to your TBR now! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for a review.

TW and spoilers.

Well, I found the book that triggers me. Violence? Turn the page. Language? Turn the page. graphic sex? Kidnapped, killed children? Rape? Gay relationships? You get the idea. This book hit too many nerves for me.

A beekeepers son is charged with murdering his girlfriend. What follows is a dual timeline of the trial and all of the past events that led us here, with a spattering of beekeeping information, Olivia is a battered woman who left her husband. Asher is accused of following in his fathers footsteps. Lily is a transgender teen who had been horribly horribly bullied by her peers and her father. Other characters have secrets of their own.

I enjoyed the information about beekeeping I was ok with Asher and Lilys relationship. The trial moved ok and I enjoyed the back and forth. The ending was lackluster and frankly a letdown. The violence on transgender youth was too much, the domestic violence on top of that was too much in one book for me.

Once again, Jodi Picoult shows she is a master of words. This book is beautifully written and full of complexities and complicated characters. There are twists and turns and each page is captivating. I finished it in a day because I could not put the book down!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this Netgalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautifully written book. So very many emotions I felt. This book took me away from this crazy world and filled me with all the feels.

I loved the story. I loved how much I know about Bees.. Just amazing.