A review by amalbouf44
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan

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

4.0

This book is being told in two narratives-Olivia, a mother to her son Asher that moved to a new town years ago due to an abusive marriage, and Lily, a daughter to Ava, that moved to the same town this year to get away from Lily's past (more to come on this). Asher and his best friend since childhood, Maya, meet the new girl Lily and become friends. Lily and Asher begin to date as the school year starts and they fall in love. They do so much together and can talk for hours on end, leaving Maya out sometimes. The couple gets in an argument over some things and they don't speak for nearly a week. Finally Asher reaches out to Lily because she's been staying home from school and tells everyone she's sick and he says "I'm coming over, this ends now" to work out their disagreement. When he shows up, Lily is at the bottom of her staircase with a pool of blood around her head-dead. When the cops arrive they take a statement from Asher and start an investigation. The only fingerprints and evidence they can find is Asher's in her bedroom-which he was in a few weeks before when he snuck in but not that night. A few days later, he is arrested for first degree murder of Lily. The book goes through the fine details of the trial and verdict from the jury and at the same time there are flashbacks to Lily and her experiences she's been dealing with. Does Asher get charged with murder and what secrets does Lily have that is revealed during the trial? 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings