Mad Honey: an absolutely heart-pounding and heart-breaking book club novel

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan is a powerful contemporary novel that consumed me from the start. I have always loved Jodi Picoult’s novels and Mad Honey is no exception. The plotline surrounds a young man, Asher, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Lily. The reader follows the trial through the eyes of Asher’s mother after the event; and we hear Lily’s voice leading up to the event. Two women who love Asher. The reader wants to believe that Asher is innocent – but even his mum has doubts. A major theme is that of being true to yourself. “You’re the only one who gets to decide who you’re going to be. You don’t have to be just like your father.” We must not let anyone mould us into being someone we are not. It is heartbreaking to see a character suffering at the hands of the bullies. Even their own father bullies his offspring. There is a heartbreaking scene that leaves a youngster powerless. There is the theme of domestic abuse. We witness a character who is so beaten down and destroyed, believing that she deserves what comes her way and making excuses for her abuser. All the characters were well drawn and believable. The leading pair and their mums were extremely likable. As I read, the novel elicited a variety of emotional responses from me. Did I have a favourite character? Definitely Lily. My heart just broke for her at times. Mad Honey had two jaw-dropping and defining moments within the story. I definitely did not predict either event. Mad Honey was a superb novel, drawing out many feelings from me. I can highly recommend it.

I am a big fan of Jodi Picoult and I am also a big fan of bees (but weirdly enough I don’t like honey) so I was hopeful that this would be another great book by Picoult. I was slightly apprehensive as she was a co-author but there was no way I was not going to read “Mad Honey”. The story is told by two voices. Olivia McAfee, a single mother and survivor of domestic abuse. Olivia is raising her teenage son Asher by herself whilst running the beekeeping business she has inherited, and Lily Campanello. Lily is 18-years-old and is leaving her old life behind by moving to New Hampshire with her mother Ava and her dog Boris (excellent name for a dog) Ava is always at Lily’s side, doing everything she can to give her daughter a life she dreams. The book flicks between these characters POV’s and also moves back in time using their voices to tell us a gripping story. This reminded me of Picoult of old. It felt like she was back to her earlier style and, for me, this was great. One of the things I have always liked about Picoult’s writing is that she teaches us about completely different subjects every time. This time we learnt about bees. I enjoyed the long depictions and elaborated information about beekeeping and the nature of bees and the magical healing power of honey and I love how Picoult weaves these subjects into her stories seemingly effortlessly. This book started off well and I was soon swept into the character’s lives and the drama unfolding but I lost some of the love for this story when it started adding in all these controversial, hot topics including LGBTQ, abuse, suicide, abortion, gender equality, and interracial couples. I have nothing against covering any of these subjects but it did feel like it was rammed down my throat a little. As usual, the subject matter is disturbing and passionate and the characters are highly believable and instantly relatable. We are left on the edge of our seat several times and there are the usual twists and jaw-dropping moments thrown in. I did find the ending a bit predictable as I had already guessed it but it was still interesting to see it played out. Overall, I enjoyed this book although I actually felt like the lessons on bees were woven into the story better than the constant teachings on gender equality. It did remind me of some of the older Picoult books that I loved, it wasn’t quite as good but still a good read.

This author can be hit and miss with her stories, sometimes she writes a great novel and other times an awful one, this is the former. I tend to read reviews before buying her books as I've been caught out a few times and resented paying money for trash but the 1* reviews for this book appeared to be from transgender haters so I went ahead and bought it, so glad I did, I loved it. It was beautifully written and I loved how sensitively Lily's character was written, she knew as a toddler she was a girl and never wavered, I understood why Asher loved her so much, I did too and I hadn't even 'met' her. I was happy with the ending, I didn't want her to have lost her life over something she started as a teenager, that would have been too cruel. A very well researched book and all the characters were great, not something this author often achieves.

Absolutely loved this book. Apart from it being a great story, it was very educational. Some fascinating & extremely interesting facts about bees & beekeeping, plus such enlightening facts about transgender women, who I support wholeheartedly.

This was an interesting concept but was too full of information about bees which took from the story in my opinion. I’m not anti bee but don’t want long tracts of information on them in a book of fiction - the storyline didn’t flow evenly because of these pieces appearing too often & unnecessarily at times. Pity really as the plot was interesting but not one of Jodi Picoult’s best - not familiar with co author’s work.

I used to read all the Jodi Picoult books but had got out of the habit years ago. A friend recommended this one though so I thought I would give it a try. The blurb looks interesting and I was curious about it being written with a co-author. This was first published in 2022. It has 432 pages split into 11 sections and has a dual narrative. The text uses a small font and there are frequent breaks in the narrative making it easy to have natural pauses while reading. We are initially introduced to the relationship between Asher and Lily - both are teens and have been damaged by their childhoods. They have complicated back stories involving their fathers, a commonality which seems to bring them together and tear them apart. Lily is then found dead at the bottom of her stairs and Asher is accused of murder. The story then progresses in two separate directions. Lily's story gradually works backwards to reveal the details of their complex back stories. We also work forward in time with Olivia (Asher's mother) who gives her viewpoint of the court proceedings. Interspersed with these stories there is a lot of space given to Olivia's relationship with her bees. The bees show many parallels to the human world and give important opportunities for reflection. I had no idea how Lily's story was going to reveal itself and I found her journey to be educational and fascinating. I felt slightly guilty for being so curious but then also smug that I didn't feel I was judging anyone for their actions (I genuinely don't care how someone decides they want to announce themselves to the world - if they feel it is necessary at all). The details of the court room are more cloudy and I was never convinced about the evidence being strong enough for the case to go ahead. There were always far too many doubts but, of course, the jury's decision was the important one. Once I had some questions about the plausibility of the plot, I also decided I wasn't sure about how real the relationship with Asher and his father was - in my mind there were too many inconsistencies. The authors managed to create a perfect balance between the tension of the trial and the empathy for Lily. The overall effect is to build conflict in the mind of the reader which mirrors the confusion presented to the jury who had to judge the case.

“Most People in Adams, New Hampshire, know me by name, and those who don’t, know to steer clear of my home. It’s often that way for beekeepers…. Honeybees are far less vindictive than their yellow jacket cousins, but people can’t often tell the difference, so anything that stings and buzzes comes to be seen as a potential hazard.” - ‘Mad Honey’ by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. First off, this is a novel that I really would recommend be read ‘cold’. As I have a long history of reading Jodi Picoult’s novels, this was not difficult as I trust her storytelling skills and prefer surprises to spoilers. In ‘Mad Honey’ Picoult has collaborated with Jennifer Finney Boylan, an author who previously was unknown to me. This is a return to the courtroom style dramas that were prominent in Picoult’s early novels and features her recurring character criminal defence lawyer, Jordan McAfee. Indeed, McAfee’s younger sister and nephew are leading characters in ‘Mad Honey’. So a few plot details for context: following her divorce Olivia McAfee returned to her childhood home in Adams, New Hampshire and taken up her family’s beekeeping business. Details about bees and beekeeping are scattered throughout the narrative. Her son, Asher Fields, is a high school senior and member of their hockey team. The novel opens in December 2018. For the past few months Asher has been dating Lily, who had recently moved to town with her mother, who works for the Forest Service. Olivia’s world is forever changed when Asher calls her from the police station and tearfully tells her that Lily is dead. Not long after Asher is arrested and charged with her murder. Olivia turns to her older brother, Jordan, for help. He comes out of retirement to defend his nephew. The story is told by Olivia and Lily in alternating chapters. Obviously as Lily is no longer alive in the present, her chapters focus upon the events leading up to her death. Olivia’s chapters cover the days, weeks, and months following Lily’s death including the dramatic murder trial. I found ‘Mad Honey’ a powerful story that unflinchingly addresses timely social issues, including troubling aspects of the USA legal system. It is also a moving love story, made all the more poignant for an awareness of its loss. Following the main text there are a number of recipes featuring honey and both author’s contribute insightful Notes about how they came to collaborate on ‘Mad Honey’, background on their writing process, as well as on its key themes. Jodi Picoult has long been known for tackling difficult ethical and/or moral themes in her writing. I certainly appreciate that this novel is bound to provoke controversy, though hopefully it will also serve to encourage discourse. I do expect that this thought provoking, compassionate novel will not only prove popular with individual readers but with reading groups as it provides plenty of material for discussion along with a well written and engaging story. On a side note the golden hued cover art was very striking and within the novel the occasional bee decorates the pages. Highly recommended.

I honestly don’t know where to start. I LOVED every minute. I duel read the kindle version and audiobook and I would highly recommended the audio book. It was like I was watching a court room drama. The issues tackled in this book are done so well. The story is amazing, the characters are engaging and the information I learnt about bees was so interesting. I have truly found my love for Jodi Picoult again.