Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in two sittings. However, I am not sure how I felt about the “twist.” I don’t really feel great about this important topic being used as a literary device for shock value, and I think this book might get some negative feedback because of it. However, it was obviously very well written and researched (learned more than I ever thought I would about bees!) and an enjoyable read.

Excellent book. This book will be one of my favorites of the year! So good. The writing, the character development

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan is a great contemporary fiction that is just fabulous!

This one really does have it all: compelling narrative, mystery, suspense, love, loss, and what it means to trust yourself and the one’s you thought you knew.

This book has so many great elements that balance it out perfectly. It kept me desperately turning each page wanting to know what was going to happen next. I haven’t read many books by Ms. Picoult yet, and I am not sure why, because when I do, I always enjoy them.

I recommend this one for anyone that likes not just contemporary fiction, but also those that love mystery, surprises, and suspense. It would make a nice Book Club pick as well as it has something for everyone.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Ballantine/Random House Publishing for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 10/4/22.

At times lovely when talking about beekeeping and then tough when dealing with a young man who has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend. I enjoyed the bits about “tell it to the bees”, something I heard years ago and thought was so sweet. It’s good to see this through the eyes of the mother of the young man. How she questions herself and goes through so many different feelings. Such a good reminder that we are innocent until proven guilty.

#netgalleyarc This was a classic Jodi Picoult book, but also better than her last few ones. The themes and topics discussed in this story were on point with things going on in the real world and are ones that people can relate to. I won’t give any spoilers, but there was a character twist in the story that I didn’t see coming, especially because I didn’t know much about the plot before starting this book. A great read and one I’ll purchase for my high school library.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Another brilliant page turner by Picoult and a good collaboration with Boylan. As always, the writing style allows the reader to imagine being each character in turn. I learned a lot about the practice of bee keeping. I enjoyed the romance of two artistic young people, and felt compassion for the two women who were their single parents. We are introduced to the well explained emotions and biology of a young transgender girl. I always end up with so much to think about after I’ve read Picoult - my mind is opened to parenting trans as well as being trans, and the fight all people face to live as our authentic selves without fear. I recommend this novel
(Posted to GoodReads)

MAD HONEY is an incredible collaboration of Boylan and Picoult! It is difficult for me to put into words the manner in which this book makes me feel. I have never read a book by Boyan, but that shall soon be rectified.

A story about young love, abuse, and secrets, MAD HONEY, like all books associated with Picoult, has huge twists.

My biggest concern with the book it will be censored by so many state legislatures, which have placed strict laws into affect disallowing students in high school to have access to this wonderful story. It is a book which can open the eyes of so many teens, as well, as their parents.

MAD HONEY is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. I applaud Boylan and Picoult for telling this story.

Incredible book by one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult, and a new favorite author, Jennifer Finley Boylan.

Lily Campanello is the new girl in high school. Maya befriends Lily and they become inseparable until Lily meets Maya’s childhood friend Asher. Asher and Lily fall in love. Their relationship is complicated and each harbors secrets that they fear if shared will jeopardize their budding relationship. This book is a complicated journey of emotions. It challenges our views and gives us an insider view of the struggles others face to live a life that is true ones self. It begins with a lie and ends with a deep and lonely secret. It speaks of truth and denials of the greatest proportions. It will tug at your heart.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Random House Publishing for this ebook galley in return for an honest review.

This book had me up until 1am despite having to get up at 5am for work. I couldn’t stop reading! Boylan & Picoult’s voices blend so beautifully in this book you would have no idea it wasn’t one person’s thought. The characters were portrayed in a way where you felt the pain of the mother, the anger of the son, the grief of the victim’s mother. Beautiful. Also, the book was so incredibly thoughtful and accurate with LGBT+ issues. There was casual education intertwined with horrifying “history” (and things that happen today) and I think it was done very well. Hoping that part reaches an entirely new crowd given some of Picoult’s fan base. Well done ladies. 5/5.

This book had a very exciting start about a beekeeper and her son living up in New Hampshire, away from her abusive husband, a heart surgeon in Boston. Her son starts dating a new girl in the small town who is also together with her mum escaping her abusive father. Things get rather complicated when she is found dead at her home by the beekeeper's son who ends up being accused of her murder. The plot was good but the authors felt the need to constantly educate the reader on various topics such as beekeeping, transsexuality and a multitude of other less related topics. I have to admit that the "education" portion became a bit tedious at times. Thus only 4 stars.

I am a true fan of Jodi Picoult books.. Jodi Picoult leaves you thinking long after the book is done. The controversial topics need to be brought forward in conversations. Mad Honey is no exception. The relationship with Olivia McAfee, her ex-husband who was abusive and their son Asher. The relationship with Asher and Lily his girlfriend. Picoult brings up the old question is it nature or nurture that determines how we react in certain situations. Do you believe your child or not?. Mad Honey has us readers questioning these and other topics that are in the media currently. I truly enjoyed this book Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

CW: suicide, partner abuse, abortion

This book is amazing. Mad Honey is one of those books that is so rich with content, it makes the books I read after it feel superficial. It is such a smart story of love, sacrifice, and identity. I literally gasped out loud at one point as I was just so shocked by the turn of events. But it was handled beautifully and Picoult and Boylan make a great team. Everything from the perspective of bee keeping to the trauma endured through different circumstances of life - was just felt so deeply. A definite must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The first quarter or so of this book dragged a little bit for me, but once the tide turned I couldn't put it down! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this fabulous book!

I was pleasantly surprised by how well thought out and developed this book was. Picoult and Boylan really captured the two main character. I can't wait to recommend this book to everyone.

Mad Honey is a thought provoking book that hopefully will be read by a large audience. Love and acceptance are the main themes throughout the book. I love that Jodi always tackles the tough topics which always spark a lot of conversation afterward. The collaboration of the two authors is seamless. #JodiPicoult #JenniferFinneyBoylan #MadHoney #NetGalley

Picoult with help from Boylan gives us another what would you do family novel. A dead girl and a woman's son suspected in her death. What does a single mother do?

After reading this very special book, I took several days to process the unique story it tells. Often, after reading an especially compelling non-fiction book, I say it reads like fiction, but this book blends a great deal of fact into a fictional and timely narrative.

These authors create a dual narrative., told by both Lily and Olivia It begins with the death of Lily, one assumed to have been caused by a homicidal rage. It incorporates the story of spousal abuse. The narrators tell their back stories which come together during a stirring and shocking trial.

So many timely topics are incorporated into this well researched novel. I learned a great deal about bee-keeping, since one of the narrators is a bee-keeper. The book explores, in great detail, gender issues and the concept of gender affirmation surgery. Working in a university setting, this was invaluable. Additionally, another issue, very much part of campus life (sadly) is the abuse of women by their partners.

This is a book that should be widely read on campuses and by reading groups. There are myriad topics worth discussing. It’s so beautifully written that I was engaged throughout this thought provoking journey.

Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity. This is really a must read on many levels.

Mad Honey was an enjoyable read with a very liberal slant. The writing was decent, and maybe I should have guessed what the 'surprise' twist was based on the authors, but I didn't.

This was pretty good but nothing amazing. The story kind of went all over the place and didn't really seem to have a focus. It's like they were trying to cover too many themes & topics in one book. In contrast, the Good Son by Jacquelyn Mitchard is about a mother whose son is in a similar situation but it's a much richer story.

I would describe this joint effort nothing short of a gift for the entire world. Picoult has been well known as an author who seeks out social issues that are misunderstood by most, and often the subject of willful ignorance. Here she teams with Jennifer Finney Boylan to reveal the lives of yet another protected group that is anything but protected. I’ll leave the subject group to the reader to discover but merely acknowledge that this book shook me to the core by illuminating most of my own life experience in the central character, Lily, an attractive young woman taking a delayed senior year at a new high school as one of the town’s newest residents. Life has never been easy or simple for Lily, and has left her the only child in a single parent home. Her mother has made Lily the central part of her life for all of Lily’s life and is devastated when tragedy strikes. That devastation serves as the backdrop for yet another individual who is left to struggle for his own existence in the aftermath of the tragedy. Picoult and Boylan accomplish something truly beautiful in this novel, writing with a seemingly single voice, something that is rarely accomplished for writing duos. The duo combines their voices and life experience to give the reader something no single author could have. Please, give yourself the gift of this effort and grab this book at your earliest opportunity. Soak in the insights the authors sprinkle throughout and open your mind.