I’ve been a huge fan of Jodi Picoult’s for years and was so excited to see this new release, Mad Honey, co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan.

The story is told from two perspectives: Olivia, a former victim of domestic abuse raising her son Asher at her family home and running her beekeeping business, and Lily, a new student and Asher’s new girlfriend.

When Lily is found dead at the foot of the stairs, Asher is accused of her murder and we follow Olivia and her family as they move through the trial process. While Lily’s story tells of her past before moving to New Hampshire and delves into her growing relationship with Asher.

There are so many twists and turns to this mystery (I definitely did not see that ending coming and I suspected everybody!) and the story explores some real hot topics (LGBTQ+, abuse, abortion, etc) which were both insightful and moving at times.

I found that I really connected with the two main characters, seeing them grow and change as the narrative progressed.

The story is also beautifully interwoven with factual information on beekeeping, which was unexpectedly interesting!

A must read for all Jodi Picoult fans!

I love Jodi Picoult and some of her earlier books are amongst some of my favourite books of all time and this had the same feel to them so I loved it. It is well written with charcaters that are well developed and an interesting storyline that is intriguing, mysterious, twisty and morally gray. I loved it.

Having enjoyed some of Jodi Picoult's earlier books such as The Pact and Nineteen Minutes, but not having enjoyed some of her more recent ones so much, I'm glad I gave this one a try. It felt like a return to all that I loved about her earlier books, and it was a gripping and thought-provoking read.
It focuses on a teenage couple, Asher and Lily. Lily dies, and Asher is charged with her murder. The story is told from two perspectives: Olivia (Asher's mother) who tells of the aftermath of Lily's death and her son's trial, and Lily who tells the back story of her relationship with Asher.
The story is full of suspense and draws you in. It was interesting to consider the situation from the different characters' perspectives. It touches on a lot of difficult and complex issues but it is sensitively done. Definitely worth a read!

The way the book was written gave me 'The Pact' feels which I absolutely loved by Picoult. This is my first time hearing/reading anything by Jennifer Finney Boylan and I would be keen to read further stuff by her.

While I did enjoy this it was a bit heavy on trying to educate the reader and that was frustrating for me.

Overall rating: 5.5/5 (an extra 0.5 because I learnt so much about bees and beekeeping)

One of the BEST books I've read in 2022! I am confident that this book will be a SENSATION when it releases!!!

I kid you not, I INHALED this book. I finished it in less than 12 hours and that too because of my humanistic needs of eating and going to the washroom.

I am utterly blown away by this wonderfully written story. This book will gut wrench you when you're least expecting. It's a small town murder mystery teeming with emotions. It's filled with love, tragedy, suspense, unmeasurable strength, and societal issues. This book will have you hooked from the very first page. Throughout the story, you'll feel that it's predictive and you know where the story is going but BAAAAAAM! At every twist and turn, you will feel that you've been hit by a bus! I thought I figured out the mystery while reading but man oh man was I incredibly WRONG!

The story is narrated by Olivia and Lily alternatively with a switch between timelines.

Olivia escaped an abusive marriage 12 years ago with her little 6 year old boy, Asher. She takes over her family's bee farm and tries her best to be a wonderful parent to Asher. Asher is now 18 and irrevocably in love with Lily, the new girl.

Lily is finally happy after a really long time of battling with her own demons. She is young, beautiful, and madly in love with Asher. She keeps her demons buried in the past but when Asher showers her with love and care, Lily begins to lower the walls she so desperately built around her. But can she trust Asher with her deepest secret?

However, Olivia's world turn upside down when she gets a call from the panic stricken Asher from the police station saying that Lily is dead. Thus, begins Olivia's fight for her son's innocence. But does she, herself, believe her son's innocence?

THIS IS A MUST READ OF 2022!

The book releases on 15 November 2022

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading Mad Honey
by Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan.
It was a highly enjoyable read

Another book that I completely devoured. It's co-authored but, despite reading how it was written, it's impossible to spot the different writing in the novel.
Asher and Lily are teenagers in love. Both have moved to the area after starting again, living with single mothers. But some secrets about their past are just too hard to escape from.
When Lily is found dead at the bottom of the stairs, Asher turns from witness to suspect and his mother Olivia wrangles with her natural love and instinct to defend him, with her knowledge of the genes within him.
I learned so much through reading this book, whilst never preaching. A gorgeous read, with an ending that was entirely unpredictable.
'Sometimes making the world a better place just involves creating space for the people who are already in it'.

I went through a phase of reading lots of books by Jodi Picoult but haven't read one for quite some time so was quite excited to be offered the opportunity to read and review her latest, this time a joint venture with Jennifer Boylan.
The storyline was classic Picoult, with lots of challenging issues for book groups to discuss and get to grips with. A new light was shone on a hot topic which I won't name because of spoilers. The characters were well developed and the story was full of twists and turns. There was a lot of jumping about in time and in one particular story I did find it quite hard to work out in what order everything was taking place but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. I would definitely recommend for book groups.

What a brilliant read, I really loved this novel so thought provoking .Olivia left an abusive relationship and takes over her family's small farm where she becomes an apiarist and looks after her small son Asher. They have a special relationship Asher does well at school and is captain of his ice hockey team and with his girlfriend Lily things seem to be going well but after Olivia receives a call from him things are set to change forever. I was engrossed in this story which was told in alternate chapters by Olivia and Lily and was so beautifully written that I could really empathise with the characters and the secret that eventually comes out and is central to the story. Don't want to give anything away except to say this is a must read book and I highly recommend it

Another stunner by Picoult and her co author Boylan. I am a massive Picoult fan so many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy of the book. A powerful, emotional and educational read that will keep you turning the pages. When young couple Asher and Lily meet it appears that Lily has finally been given a second chance of happiness. Overall they are in love and happy. But Lily hasn't been honest with Asher and is struggling with how to tell him she is transgender. Asher lives with his mother Olivia who left her violent husband and is raising him alone and farming bees. When Lily is found dead and Asher is arrested it is Olivia's worst nightmare. Could he have his father's violent tendencies. A brilliant book that touches on an important topic and you relate to both the mothers in the book. A huge sense of loss ,discovery and recovery in this book. Absolutely brilliant.

I always describe Jodi Picoult as a guilty pleasure. As a 39 year old male, I am not sure I should enjoy her writing but I do and I am not going to do it guiltily anymore.

What I enjoy about her writing is that she deeply researchers all her novels and they can be very educational as well as enjoyable (I know more about bees now than I ever thought I would).

In this novel, Asher and Lily are in a loving relationship. Asher moved to New Hampshire with his mother after she left an abusive marriage to Asher's father and when Lily turns up dead and Asher is arrested, Asher's mother wonders if the same violent streak of her husband has been passed down to her son.

It is a hugely entertaining novel, and Picoult does what she always does - tackles a major societal issue with knowledge, compassion, heart with a healthy dose of entertainment and great writing.

Massive thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mad Honey and couldn't put it down wanting to know did he or didn't he!! I found all the characters very believable and would never have known that this was a co authored book. I also found the information on bee keeping interesting,

The only downside for me was the amount of trans narrative. I totally agree that this is an important subject to know about but for me it was too much, unnecessary for the plot. If I wanted this much information I would buy a book on the subject. This said, I found the story line brilliant with great twists.

Many thanks to Netgalley & Hodder & Stoughton.y for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.

This was a fantastic dual perspective read featuring two females with difficult backstories which tackles several relevant issues in a sensitive but incredibly approachable way that greatly enhanced my understanding especially regarding gender identity. Olivia finally walked away from her abusive husband when her son Asher was six, she’s proud of the young man he has become and grateful that he seems nothing like her ex husband, Lily is settling into a new life in a new state and a new school and falling in love with Asher, they had a few disagreements in the past but when Lily dies in suspicious circumstances Olivia is stunned when Asher is charged with her murder. I found it really interesting to have elements of Lily’s life played out going back weeks and months from her death as it really built her up as a character rather than a memory. Olivia was a brilliantly strong woman who just kept going and focussed on being a mum and protecting her son, the only elements of this book I actually weren’t keen on were all the different information about bees, I think the book would have had more pace without it as it didn’t really add anything to the overall story. That said Lily’s story both in life and death was excellent and definitely one I’ll remember for quite some time.

This is my first book by either Picoult and Boylan, but I've heard only great things about both. I was also in the mood to let a book make me cry once again so I was all for it.
To say I enjoyed "Mad Honey" is maybe not true. It handles a tough subject, or really more than one of them. It tells the story of a boy and a girl who fell in love - until the girl died and the boy is accused of her murder. Through the perspectives of the dead girl, Lily, and the mother of her boyfriend we read about both the past that lead up to her death and the present proceedings surrounding the investigation of her death. It's an emotional novel, well written and not shying away from more difficult topics. There's one big twist, though I do think most people will see it coming. It doesn't take away from the story at all, though. Even if you guess the twist, it makes the story even more interesting and heartbreaking. Now, does it make sense that the twist exists? I don't think so, the crucial information should have been available to most of the people involved before. I still liked it though, even if it was a little too dramatised.

Now, while I though the premise was interesting, I wasn't absolutely in love with the novel. For one, a lot of it was written as more of a courtroom drama, and I don't really enjoy these. I rarely find them very engaging. I'm also not the biggest fan of stories being told backwards, so while I really loved reading Lily's perspective I couldn't fully get into them due simply to the way they were written chronologically. Generally, the pacing was rather slow and the story at times meandering. I admit I skimmed a page or two. I didn't care about most of the characters either, really mostly felt for the two pov characters but noone else, though that is very subjective, of course.

It's still a good book though, and one that focuses on different themes and subjects relevant to our society today. I also really loved all the beekeeping information and now want to keep my own hives. So there's that.

5 stars! Challenging, thought-provoking yet packaged in that eminently readable Jodi Piccoult style that’s as comforting as a rustcoloured Afghan blanket your grandmother crocheted in the 70’s. Enjoy!

Mad Honey is simply stunning. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m torn between what I can and can’t write in this review, because I wouldn’t want to ruin any of the plot twists and reveals for you.

Written seamlessly by two authors the story is captivating, intriguing and brutally honest. At times painful but ultimately enlightening.

It made me think, deeper than I ever have, about what being a woman means. It broke my heart in places yet it also opened me up to new ideas.

Mad Honey isn’t published until the 15th November, I was lucky to get an ARC copy from NetGalley but I’d encourage you to pre order and I will be bigging this up again at release date.

It’s a book that will stay with me, as will Lily, Asher and those amazing bees.

I always enjoy Jodi Picoult's books, and I was intrigued by the idea of her co-writing this with another author. The collaboration is clearly a success, and the result is a gripping and devastating family drama centred around the sudden death of the teenage Lily, and the subsequent arrest of her boyfriend Asher. The story has a dual narrative, told partly by Asher's mother as she navigates the weeks and months following Lily's death and her son's trial for murder, and partly by Lily, who shares the story of her life and her relationship. It's beautifully balanced and thought-provoking.

What an astonishing read this is! There are not enough stars in the world to convey how much I adored this read.
Firstly, you cannot tell at all that this book is co-authored. The transition is seamless and they both write in the same style, it is very well done.
The plot for 'Mad Honey' really feels like old school Picoult and that is when I loved her books the most. The plot is a tough one, and reminded me of 'Nineteen Minutes'. There are distressing and upsetting scenes but none of it is there to be sensational, all of it is integral to the plot and what an outstanding plot it is.
There are the usual twists I have come to expect from Picoult as well and they really turned the book on its head and meant the reader suddenly saw things completely differently. I also love how Picoult weaves in the facts about bees and honey, this aspect of Picoult's books always sets them apart from others for me.
The characters are also fantastic, they are strong, realistic and tell the story perfectly. For long time fans of Picoult there are some returning characters in this book and yes I did scream in delight.
'Mad Honey' is another outstanding, special read from Picoult and Finney Boylan. If you read one book this year, make it this one. I could not have loved this anymore.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy.

What a fabulous novel! Just when I thought I knew the direction this one was taking, I was proved wrong and the twists just kept coming.

Olivia has had to start over, after fleeing her abusive marriage and returning to her hometown to take over the family beekeeping business with her son Asher. Now in high school, Asher is a popular and well adjusted teenager with a girlfriend.

Lily also knows what it is like to start over, when she and her mother relocated to New Hampshire. Then she met Asher and fell in love, starting a new beginning together.

The future looks bright for both of them but then one day Olivia gets a call - Lily is dead and Asher has been arrested on suspicion of her murder. As the case unfolds, secrets come to light and a whirlwind court case begins that will undo both families.

There was just so much I loved about this one! Olivia's family that came into the story were intriguing, along with her past and the beekeeping side was fascinating. The timelines of now and then worked so well and I love a courtroom drama, which it had too. I want to share so much more about this story but I can't, due to spoilers. It's one I highly recommend.

Firstly I would like to thank netgalley, and Hodder stoughton,and Jodi Picoult&Jennifer Finney Boylan for a copy of there book to read.

This is new authors wanted to read something out of my comfort zone,Wasnt so keen on parts of this read talking about bees wasnt very interesting to me.The storyline was okay.This book starts with a single mum who has a son named Asher,Asher met lily who becomes his girlfriend, Lily is found dead.Did Asher have anything to do with her Murder?For me prefer a faster paced book.

This book will be reviewed on goodreads and Amazon uk.