Mad Honey

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

(Format used for this read: Audiobook)

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.
 
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start. 
 
And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can trust him completely. . . .
 
Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in Ash, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
 
Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.

While I have read Jodi Picoult before, she is not an author I frequently turn to….and I never can remember why. 🤣

I have zero specific rememberances of hating any book of hers or having huge problems with her writing…I just don’t frequent her work.

But my friend Sara told me recently that I HAD to read this book.

Sara is a very close friend and KNOWS how I am (the good and the not so good lol) and what things I am into (and NOT into!) when I’m reading, so I trust her recs a billion percent.

After reading the summary, I wasn’t TOO jazzed about getting going with Chapter 1.

And I remained feeling that way about 1/3 of the way thru it.

It just felt like SO many other books I have read before and deal with many familiar topics as well.

Domestic abuse and the effect it has on a person….mother/son relationships…teenager coming of age/angst…first time falling in love.

It was well written don’t get me wrong (this book was FULLLLLL of powerful quotes, yall)…but it just felt too “done” for me at first.

I was like “Come ON, Sara…don’t you KNOW ME?!? What IS this?”

BUT THEN…

A big revelation…and big things just start HAPPENING.

The story then turned into something TOTALLY different than I expected…and it was friggin’ phenomenal.

And then I was like “SORRY FOR DOUBTING YOU SARA! You are a thousand percent correct!”

This is a double narrative book, which yall KNOW I completely love. It also jumps around in time a bit so the REAL story is slowly revealed, having you get to know the characters bit by bit. That just adds to the intrigue and interest level.

There is a lot I want to say about this book, but there is NO WAY for me to talk about it without giving away a spoiler.

So here’s what I’m gonna do…if you think you may read this book and do NOT want to know ANY of the surprises, just stop reading here and come back after you complete the book to see what I thought LOL

If you want to know my opinions before proceeding with the book, scroll down a bit and continue reading this review…just know there is a surprise plot twist that won’t be much of a surprise for you when you’re reading.

I don’t think it will ruin the story as a whole for you but if you are someone who HATES spoilers of ANY kind (like yours truly) than just stop here, yall.

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I wondered why this book had two authors when I started reading it. …but once the story progressed I COMPLETELY understood and appreciated it.

Jennifer Finney Boylan is a transgender woman. Jodi Picoult is a cisgender woman.

Ms Boylan wrote from the perspective of Lily, who is also trans and Ms Picoult wrote from the perspective of Olivia, who is also cis.

(although at the very end of the book in the two author’s notes, they DO reveal that during their collaboration they DID write ONE chapter each from the other character’s perspective!…they didn’t say which ones although I would LOVE to know)

This is SUCH an important piece of this book.

So many times authors write from marginalized groups perspectives when they have ZERO FREAKIN IDEA what it is like to live in that person’s shoes.

I HAAATTEEE that shit.

Do not co-opt someone’s lived experience to make a buck.

DO NOT DO IT.

ESPECIALLY when you are part of the dominant power group in a society.

That is gross behavior.

Pass the mic…or in this case, SHARE the mic…and move on.

The way this book was created actually is that Ms Boylan said in a tweet that she dreamed she wrote a book with Jodi Picoult with THIS storyline…and then Ms Picoult contacted her and said “let’s do it”!

That made me appreciate this book EVEN MORE.

This story got into SO many emotions–grief, loneliness, depression, true love, desire, anger, fear–and SO many important topics and issues–falling in love, growing up, abuse, trauma, prejudice, ignorance, bullying, equal rights , discrimination, community, connection–that it was just an OVERFLOW of all the things, yall.

It was SO well done.

Both of these authors write with so much honesty and sensitivity and with such simple yet impactful TRUTHS.

Listen to some of their words:

“Memories are so heavy”

“How similar does someone have to be to you before you remember to see them, first, as human?”

“If you want to understand something, you first need to accept the fact of your own ignorance. And then, you need to talk to people who know more than you do, people who have not just thought about the facts, but lived them.”

“being a woman has meant being someone who gets talked over in conversations or ignored; someone who gets judged as a body instead of as a sentient soul; someone who, no matter who you are or what you are doing, always has to be on guard, lest someone else decide that you’re going to be his victim.”

“We are so lucky to have our children, even for a little while, but we take them for granted. We make the stupid assumption that as long as we are here, they will be, too, though that’s never been part of the contract.”

“What’s shocking to you isn’t that the justice system is flawed, Olivia. It’s that you were naïve enough to believe all this time that it wasn’t.”

“But gender isn’t simple, much as some might want it to be. The fact that it’s complicated—that there’s a whole spectrum of ways of being in the world—is what makes it a blessing.”

“All of us have something in our hearts like a flower that cannot bloom because it is held in secret.”

“it turns out a party without guys is like a quiet sigh. No one is checking out their reflection in the window; no one is hooking up in a dark corner. We are just women, draped over couches and pillows, feeling safe.”

“People always talk about how their love for you is unconditional. Then you reveal your most private self to them, and you find out how many conditions there are in unconditional love.”

This is a story that lingers…

That stays with you…

Because it carries so much meaning and so much weight in the real world, not just in it’s fictional pages.

I know I have said this SO many times in my reviews, but I’ll keep on saying it:

In order to empathize and truly understand others experiences, we have to first truly listen.

I am BEYOND thankful for brave humans who take the time to share their own stories, to create art from their pain and from their joy.

Even though the characters in THIS book are not real, there are many people just like them who ARE.

As the author’s state:

“What would I like you to take away from this novel? Absolutely nothing. I’d like you to give—a chance, a thought, a damn. Like gender, difference is a construct. We are all flawed, complicated, wounded dreamers; we have more in common with one another than we don’t. Sometimes making the world a better place just involves creating space for the people who are already in it.”

Let this book inspire you to care for others better…listen to others better…LOVE others better.

OH!

There was one thing I was NOT crazy about in this story….

All the damn talk about the science of BEES, yall.

I mean, there were *some* bits that were a tad interesting…but at points I felt like I was knee deep in a biology class or something.

NOT my thing. lol

It did not come close to ruining the book as a whole for me, but it did not add any gold stars either.

I do think if you DO enjoy that kinda stuff (like my friend Sara), you will TOTALLY soak it all in and it WILL add some gold stars for you!