Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

632 reviews

taydayismyday's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was not at all what I expected,  but was beautiful and sad. I’m not one who can enjoy a really sad book as it will stay with me forever. This was the perfect amount of sad and emotion. I shed a tear but am not left with this awful sadness. It’s beautifully written and a story I kept reading and guessing and finding myself to be wrong. The touch of true crime in this story is enthralling. 


There are some mentions of domestic violence, suicide, and nudity. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

h_oflanagan's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Very well written, hard to read for the content. Similar to other books by this author, plot isn't as interesting.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hannahnahb's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bhaunty's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!

A beautiful insight into a trans woman’s experience and life while also dealing with the mystery of her death. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Mad Honey pulled me out of a reading slump—I couldn't put this book down. I have been an avid reader of Jodi Picoult's works in the past, but lately, I've focused on fantasy and romance books. Mad Honey reminded me of why I love Picoult's writing.

However, I have to admit I felt betrayed by how the story unfolded. The plot twist around the halfway point completely unhinged me—not in a good way. It shifted the focus of the narrative to something entirely different. While it was still part of the story, it wasn't the plot I was expecting based on the blurb.

The ending also felt rushed. I didn't agree with the conclusion, especially after we finally learned what happened on that day. Ava's choices were also questionable. I understand that she only wanted Lily to be happy, but that doesn't mean she should give in to everything Lily desired. Ava could have waited a few more years before allowing Lily to pursue all the things Lily wanted. If Ava had made different choices, Lily might have grown stronger and wiser.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

seregelda's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

CW: domestic violence, abuse, transphobia, bullying, child abuse, assault, suicide attempts, homophobic slur

Two novel pet peeves: Anachronistic names (There were no "Bradens" born in the 70s, that is a pure 2000s name!), and back-dating a story to avoid the pandemic. 

I had no clue what this novel was about, and might not have read it if I knew it was mostly courtroom drama.  But I liked the main characters and how they were both fonts of knowledge and trivia.  And I like to promote novels about the LGBTQIA+ community. The first "twist" of the story was spoiled for me long before I read it, and that's partly why I picked it up.  I won't say more here for spoilers.  But I've only read one Jodi Picoult novel before (My Sister's Keeper) and it was twisty good. I'd never heard of Jennifer Finney Boylan, but her chapters were awesome and the book flowed seamlessly :)

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

hayleycorrigan's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

a_marie444's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

katmcg910's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

chemreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

So many characters, plot lines and topics that are touched upon and then just dropped like a hot potato without ever being resolved or treated with the required depth. Additionally, the ending should have just been open in my opinion for the readers to make up their minds and challenge their own biases as the characters have to. 
I also now know way more about bees and beekeeping than I ever imagined. However, the purpose of all this information for the book is still not clear to me. At best, the bees served as a blunt metaphor for the unfolding plot, but in most cases it did nothing for the story since everything was spelled out anyway. If everything bee related was deleted from the book, it would be at least 100 pages shorter and neither plot nor character development would suffer.
Lastly, this would have been a dnf for me, but am reading for a book club, so had to push through. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings