Mad Honey

Do we ever really know the people we hold close?  Two teens in love, jealous friends, single moms who left dark marriages; every single person is hiding something.  The deeper the secret, the more pain it brings when it finally comes to light.  Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan spins a tale about a town full of secrets and the pain that comes when the truth is finally revealed.

Mad Honey is a captivating mystery and coming of age novel told from dueling points of view: Olivia, a mother and beekeeper; and Lily, her son’s girlfriend.  They each have secrets they keep from Asher and their community.  Those secrets will come to haunt them both in the end.

I found myself absorbed by this story and read it over the course of two days.  The character development and detail given to every aspect of the novel created a spellbinding story and left me wanting more when I finished.  Without giving away too much, I found this book both entertaining and informational about sensitive topics that any person could encounter on an ordinary day: domestic violence and LGBTQ+ relationships.

I give Mad Honey 4 out of 5 stars.  While I did enjoy this novel immensely, the final chapters left me feeling like something was left out.  The ending felt as though the authors were rushing to button up the story line before the close of the book.  Some actions taken by the central characters felt out of place or against the earlier character development.

I would recommend this book to mature audiences only.  With themes of teen sex and domestic violence, younger audiences and those triggered by those themes should be discouraged from reading Mad Honey.  I would recommend this novel for readers looking to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community and the challenges faced by its members.

This book was the January choice for The Girlfriend Book Club – it’s my first month participating! You’ll notice in the “what I’m reading” section below that there’s not a book listed for my current audio or print books right now. After finishing both Mad Honey and Smoke in the past 24 hours, I am taking a break. These two books were full of mystery and drama – it’s taking me some time to unpack what I’ve read and decompress! I did, however, receive an advance reader copy of Dark Angel by John Sandford – it’s the second book in the Letty Davenport series. I’ll be starting on it tomorrow and I’m looking forward to sharing my review soon!

What I’m reading

• Current print book: Dark Angel, John Sandford
• Current audio book: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
• Book I’m most looking forward to: China Rich Girlfriend, Kevin Kwan