I did not feel as connected to these characters as I normally do with this author. The storyline felt more forced and didn't flow as well for me. I did really enjoy the parts about beekeeping. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book

I’m so grateful for a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is written pretty seamlessly by co-authors Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan.

The story is written in two timelines. Lily’s story is backward from her death; Olivia’s (Lily’s boyfriend’s mother) story moves forward from the same point. Was Lily murdered? Was her boyfriend the murderer?
I thought I had this figured out by chapter two. I was wrong. Really wrong.

There’s a lot going on in this book. Domestic violence, transgender, what mothers will do to protect their children. Even beekeeping. It’s all done very well and I learned some things I hadn’t known.

WARNING-- POSSIBLE SPOILERS--

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4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

So many good things to say about this book. I found myself completely fascinated in learning about the hierarchical behavior of bees. Who knew they were so fascinating?

About a third to a half way through this book, we learn that Lily is a trans woman. I thought the topic might be transgender people because of Jennifer Finney Boylan being a co-author, so I wasn't surprised, but I also sort of was because it was a while before that was revealed.

In a time in which I feel like rights are being taken away actively, I was so glad to have this book come out dealing with the topic of sexuality in a thorough, factual yet sympathetic way. I hope this serves to educate folks through reading it.

Picoult and Boylan did a really great job blending their voices. It was fun to read about that process at the very end of the book.

The always-brilliant Jodi Picoult has done it again - this time with the help of another writer. Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote the bestselling memoir She's Not There about her journey from growing up male to transitioning to female. This novel focuses on a major societal issue, like Picoult's novels often do.

Dating violence is front and center in this novel about Lily Campanello, a high school girl, and her boyfriend Asher McAfee. Asher's mom Olivia divorced her husband after years of domestic violence at his hands. Determined to raise her son away from that type of violent behavior, the beekeeper raises her son away from the bad influence of his father.

When Lily is found dead at the bottom of her staircase - following an argument with Asher, no less - the police question the boyfriend. After all, it's often the husband/boyfriend/romantic partner who commits acts of violence against women and girls.

It's difficult to say much about this novel without giving anything away, but readers can go into it knowing they'll read about realistic characters with real problems, and that they'll get to enjoy some great courtroom scenes. Plus, longtime fans of Picoult's work will recognize defense attorney Jordan McAfee, Asher's uncle. Jordan also appeared in her novels Nineteen Minutes, The Pact, and Salem Falls. He's one of the author's few recurring characters.

Mad Honey is all about the secrets we keep from the time we are small, to the love and acceptance we each desperately search for. Two young teens in love with so many secrets they’re hiding from the world and a tragic day when a jealous friend gets mad.
How their lives became as wild and crazy as eating Mad Honey.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Asher is excited to get to know Lily better. When they start dating everything seems great. When something happens Asher becomes the number one suspect. This book grabbed my attention from the beginning.

A huge thank you to Random House for co0ntacting me through NetGalley on being pre-approved for an early read of this amazing book! Such a beautifully written love story that will break your heart. A powerful story of secrets kept and risks taken in order to become ourselves. I don't want to give anything away as you need to read this book when it's released in October. Just know I learned so much (and have much more to learn). This book will stay with me for a long, long time!

This story is so thoughtfully told and so seamless that you would never guess that it's coauthored. It's simply brilliant and reminds me of Picoult's earlier works.

Mad Honey will run you through a gamut of emotions while leaving a lasting impression on your heart.

This book was so well written. I don’t want to spoil anything but I just felt like it took me by surprise while also teaching me a lot - and not just about bees. I’m not sure how I felt about the end and the last twist and I thought there were some loose ends but otherwise I thought this was a great book.

This is Jodi Picoult at her finest! Jodi co-authored this with Jennifer Finney Boylan after a random Tweet and once this book is out there into the world and read, readers will be so thankful for that Tweet!
The main characters are well developed, to a point where I felt I could be living in town with them and KNOW them.
The book has all the main ingredients for a well written story- family, love, highs and lows, death and in this case- a murder trial.
I’m sitting here reading, quickly absorbed as I normally am when reading a Jodi Picoult book, when about half way through, my jaw drops and my kindle drops and we’ll, wait and see for yourself!
Thank you so much to the publisher for the opportunity to read this early in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It is reminiscent of Piccoult's earlier work and over was an enjoyable read. 4/5 stars.

Mad Honey is written in the first person narrative from the perspectives of Olivia, mother of 18-year-old Asher, and Lily, Asher’s girlfriend. The chapters alternate evenly between Olivia and Lily, starting on December 7, 2018. At the beginning of the book, Olivia receives a phone call that Lily is dead and that Asher is the only suspect.. Olivia’s POV chapters move in chronologically and Lily’s POV chapters progress backwards in time as we work to understand what led to Lily’s death.

Thoughts: Guys! This book was so good! I haven’t read much Picoult since high school but her 2021 release Wish You Were Here blew me away with a twist that shocked me even more than the thrillers I love and I knew I could no longer sleep on her new releases. I was intrigued by the fact that she co-authored this book with Boylan, as I’m a fan of her work as well and I was curious how the writing would blend together. They did a fantastic job and it was fairy easy to distinguish one’s voice from another but it meshed well. Definitely make sure to read the Author’s note when you’re done (huge spoiler there though so don’t jump ahead). Overall, I found this to be a very powerful read. Part coming-of-age, part romance, part courtroom drama, and part murder mystery. There was a great twist (that I slapped myself for not seeing coming) and the character development was great! You think you know what’s going on but watching it all unfold was *chef’s kiss*. I’m a huge fan of creative timelines so I loved how we have two narratives moving in opposite directions, although there were some aspects I found to be a bit repetitive. This book really helped educate me on something I’m not too familiar with and it’s so relevant. It will definitely be very insightful for others as well. Picoult continues to succeed at tugging at your heartstrings and reflecting on morality, she always makes a reader see past the black and white. I’m excited to see what others think of the book and I highly recommend to fans of contemporary fiction with dual timelines, dual POV, and uncovering the details of a murder.

I really loved that Jordan McAfee was a returning character in the Picoult universe! I’m way overdue to reread Nineteen Minutes, another fantastic Picoult book.

Unrelated to Mad Honey but if you haven’t read Wish You Were Here yet and are ready for a powerful COVID read, highly recommend it!

Favorite quotes:
“Here’s what they do not tell you about falling in love: there’s not always a soft landing beneath you. It’s called falling, because it’s bound to break you.“

“But we keep on looking for it, day after day. Getting our hearts broken. And getting them healed again.”

“I would never know what it felt like to fly. But I knew all about what it was like to come crashing back to earth.“

“Where is the line between keeping something private, and being dishonest? What if the worst happens? What if honesty is the thing that breaks you apart?”

“There are some secrets that I think we are willing to take to the grave for the people we love.“

This story is poignant and beautiful. Devastating and heart wrenching. The writing flows in such a way that the reader would never be able to know it was written by two different people. Olivia and Lily’s stories both parallel in their display of fear, misery, and bravery. You want to root for everyone in this book, you want to be able to decide unfalteringly that they are good. But you will second and third guess yourself over and over until the very last page. This book excellently displays two of Picoult’s best strengths; making you feel pain and love and teaching you something new about things you had no idea are as intricate and intriguing as they turn out to be. The return of readers’ beloved Jordan McAfee is never taken for granted and always so heartwarming. This story brings back the “it” factor of Picoult’s early books.

First of all, I must say the title really fits the book perfectly. I definitely enjoyed the backstory of bee keeping. I learned some very interesting facts The main plot made me very emotional because it was personal, but I can't go into detail because it would entail a spoiler. It touched me in ways I don't have words for. I felt Ava's emotions so keenly there were many times I had to stop to wipe away the tears that were pouring from my eyes. There were so many sentences I reread and highlighted because they were so meaningful and are meant to be pondered long after the book is read. I hope many people read this book and are educated as to how to treat people even though they are different. There is no normal way to be, we are all unique and human. A great thanks to the authors for writing a book that needed to be written.

What a gift to have the chance to read Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Netgalley and publisher.
Mad Honey is Lilly's story; powerful and stunning. Lily, a transgender girl climbs the treacherous mountain of cruelty, abuse and trauma to be accepted for who she is. No plot description or spoilers here. Enough to say the writing is seemless, the characters are typical of the writer's past work, so authentic they feel like like friends and family. Mad Honey has suspense, court drama, family issues and most importantly, shines a ray of light on a topic that often breeds ignorance, contempt and violence. Thanks to the writer's for knowledge that gives understanding, acceptance and empathy instead. I strongly recommend this thoroughly engaging, brilliantly written story. One of the best this year. Five easy stars.

"Imagine a sorrow so deep that it batters the hatches of sleep; imagine drowning before you even realize you've gone under."

I was super stoked to get access to a copy of this highly anticipated pairing of minds and in reading the Afterward notes by both authors, I was super interested and intrigued by how they both wrote, edited and challenged eachother during their writing process to create a truly seamless novel of heart.

Told from two perspectives, both before and after Lily's death and with multiple timeline narratives intertwined, it does get a bit hard to keep track of where you are in the overall story. Though it isn't enough to take away from that natural flow of the progression, I could see it being annoying to some.

Lily and Olivia are very similar, alike in more ways then you initially realize. Both woman are endearing and courageous, broken both in heart and soul, but prevailing day in and day out. It made me wonder if I would be able to do the same in either situation.

As a mom, Olivia's plight spoke to me, freaked me out and made me anxious. As a woman, Lily's struggles resonated with my younger self and angered me by the sheer audacity of humans and their cruelty.

I also REALLY loved the honey and bee knowledge. I always gain such wonderful facts when reading a Picoult book 🥰

In the end, we are all human, above anything else. We all have a soul worth loving, no matter what the "covering" may look like.

"Maybe we are nothing more than the confidences we keep, plastered over with a distraction of skin and bone and shadow."

Special thanks to @penguinrandomhouse & @netgalley for the advanced copy!

Olivia McAfee is starting over after her husband destroyed their perfect life. She and her son Asher have moved back to her hometown and she has taken over her fathers beekeeping business. Lily Campanella knows the feeling as she and her mother have moved back there for a fresh start. Their paths cross when Lily and Asher begin a relationship. After a tragedy, secrets emerge and Olivia and Asher face the hardest test of all.


Thanks to Jodi Picoult and Finley Boylan for the book and also Random House Publishing Group!

Holy cow. I could not put this down! Had no idea what I was getting into when I downloaded this book. I just knew it was co-authored by Jodi Piccoult and that meant I would love it! It wasn’t until a revelation occurred that I realized I recognized the other author’s name as well and everything came full circle.

This was both heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time: a lesson that maybe we shouldn’t love people for what they are…but WHO they are.

Thank you to @netgalley for the early addition!

While I did enjoy this book it didn’t hold my attention like some of her other books. I hate to say it but I could tell there were two authors as, at times it felt like it didn’t flow and that things were thrown together. Still decent, just not one of my favorites.

Another home-run for Jodi! Absolutely stellar book! I've read everything she has written and her books continue to amaze me. She does not disappoint with this one!