Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

24 reviews

annabelreadsandwrites's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Car accident

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

 I would like to preface this by saying that I kind of went into this book blind. The only thing I knew was what the synopsis told me (which I think was purposefully done by the authors) and I think depending on how open-minded you are, I think you should do the same. However, I would like to state that as an avid thriller reader, I don't think this should be marketed as a “thriller”, it's a light mystery at best. So if you’re expecting anything thriller-crazy, don’t. 

But anyway, I LOVED this book! It did take me a while to love it though. As I was reading in the beginning, I liked it but I didn’t love it, but it all came together soon enough. There are so many layers here and stories told that this book provides lots of depth. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was getting really attached to the characters and even teared up a couple of times hearing what they had to go through (especially one character in particular). And I love how multifaceted and flawed our main characters were; I feel like it humanized them in a way because with stories like this sometimes authors make the characters a little too perfect that it takes the authenticity of the story and the character.

The writing is sooooo good! I could literally feel the characters' emotions through the page. I LOVED this book so much and I personally was a big fan of how educational it was considering I knew nothing of what it would've been like to be in Lily's situation. 

The only qualms I have with this book is that I wasn't really into the "bee talk", but some metaphors did stick (no pun intended). Also, in regards to Lily and Asher's relationship (loved them, they were the type of toxic that you actually want to root for) and them "knowing each other so well"; I feel like we were TOLD that rather than shown. I would've loved a few scenes dedicated to them having innocent fun and listing things they had in common rather than just being told that they have this phenomenal connection.

Also, that scene that we get about Asher being okay with Lily being trans. I wish we could've gotten that reveal through Lily's flashback instead of Olivia's present perspective. Because in Lily's POV it shows him freaking out and storming out of her bedroom when he found out. I feel like it would've been more impactful if we got a dedicated scene in her perspective of him being okay with her being trans and loving for "who she was, not what she was".

  Also, another thing, I feel like the ending "twists" was so underwhelming. 

It being Maya to be the one that pushed her was so cliche and felt like a cop-out to me (I was hoping it would've been Dirk). And her not facing any repercussions for what she did piss me off because she literally killed someone and got away with it. The writing was so good in this book that I think I'm gonna cock it up them being in a rush and unsure how to end the book. It's a great book regardless,  but the ending twist was not it. The overall ending was good though.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide, Transphobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Sexism, Blood, and Abortion

readinglitwithbritt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Outing, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

ariel_marie's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I had such a soft spot for all of these characters.

Mad Honey was so well written & covered important topics.

There were definitely some triggering moments as a large focus of this book covers DV. Sometimes it felt like things were being over explained & facts were given on end, but it was done in a way that was compelling.

The different POV's & past & present storytelling provided character depth that was much needed. Liv & Lily were so different yet so similar. I love that this was co-written with an author was has experience & can provide an authentic outlook to the topic covered in this book.

The ending though - it felt rushed & for a story that was so focused on justice, I did not appreciate the outcome.

I did absolutely love all the information I learned about bees & honey in this story. It was such a fun & lighthearted aspect to this heavy story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion

cryfest's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Reading this as a trans queer non-binary person who has loved Jodi Picoult (one of the authors of this book) since high school -  I was a little apprehensive because I wasn’t sure if I trusted Jodi with my trans siblings, and while heart breaking, a lot of nuance to trans identities was explored compassionately, with the genius and lived experience of Finney Boylan of course. I definitely would encourage non-trans folks to read this as a small slice of insight to one fictional trans person’s experience/journey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Mass/school shootings, and Abortion

ltulisiak's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Deadnaming and Sexism

mollyb13's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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

5.0

Such a beautiful and heartbreaking novel. I went into this without knowing exactly what it was about and this was so much more than the courtroom drama I first thought it was going to be. The authors blended their writing seamlessly and I enjoyed the alternating POVs. Highly highly recommend this to everyone (though please be mindful of the content warnings because some very heavy topics are discussed).

The only thing that I had a bit of trouble with was

that some of the passages explaining gender and transitioning and the experiences of transgender people felt a bit forced. These passages, while packed with important information, came off as an educational aside and really kind of jolted me out of the story. I wish that they would have worked this information into the plot more seamlessly. This feeding of information made more sense in the courtroom setting where it could be realistically explained to a jury, but otherwise felt almost like the authors were breaking the fourth wall. 

Despite this, I'm keeping my rating at 5 stars. I don't think it is enough to bring down what was otherwise a very powerful novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

rachelmerrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

So so so so so necessary.

Hated part of the ending: (VAGUE SPOILER)
Why did she get a slap on the wrist when he would’ve had his whole life taken from him? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

laneychambless's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting