Another bestseller by Jodi Picoult, the storyline in Mad Honey is told by two different people - Lily and Olivia - and each is telling the story from two different perspectives; before and after Lily’s death.

For anyone who is familiar with Picoult’s books, this one is very much in her earlier writing style (yay!) and, as always, made me question my thoughts on certain matters which I hadn’t thought about too much in the past. The writing is excellent throughout and I will definitely be picking up more books by Co-writer, Jennifer Finney Boylan!

It was obvious that much research had been done and, although imo it was a slow starter, was definitely one to stick with. I would rate it as one of Picoult’s best books. I can’t say much more without spoiling it for others but would thoroughly recommend for all!

I absolutely love Jodi Picoult's books so was delighted to receive a copy of this although I hadn't read anything about what it was about.
I was surprised to find that a main character was Trans as I hadn't expected it.
I found I've missed the court cases that used to feature in Jodi's books, so I enjoyed that aspect in this story.
I always used to find I'd start one of her books with one opinion and by the time I'd finished I'd be questioning myself about it.
I really enjoyed this read, it broke my heart and i didnt always love Lily, but by the end I found I'd had an enjoyable few hours of escapism and learned a lot about bees and also feel that I understand a bit more about Trans issues.
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

I struggle to review Mad Honey. It's more of a 3.5 star for me. Not because of the big reveal but maybe because it felt like a Hallmark movie crossed with advertising propaganda/how-to guide on the topic of the reveal? Maybe because I didn't warm to Lily, our murdered girl? Could she have been written to be more of a know-it-all? The endless trivia she spouted about wide ranging topics got under my skin. That, and the perfectness of Lily and Asher and their relationship. These kids had no flaws, it seems. It came across so unnaturally contrived and false. Much like Olivia's reflections on the early days of her relationship with Asher's dad. Guys just don't act that way and over romanticising them doesn't ring true.

What I did like was the courtroom drama. You simply cannot beat a good cross examination and the defensive verbal jousting of attorneys. Exceptionally well written, here. Very American and impactful in the pain, vulnerability and cruelty that is unleashed before judge and jury. It made the book worth reading, for me. I liked that Mad Honey raised important issues. I liked the bees. If I am honest, it was the bees that made me pick up this book. Olivia also spouted loads of bee facts, mildly annoying, but proved useful as I had a cold and sore throat whilst reading. Yes, honey swallowed by the spoonful does help a sore throat.

Die Story hat mich gepackt und nicht mehr losgelassen... !

Olivia und ihr Sohn Asher leben in einer amerikanischen Kleinstadt, seit sie vom gewalttätigen Ehemann und Vater geflüchtet sind. Olivia hat sich eine Existenz als Imkerin aufgebaut und Asher ist ein beliebter Junge und im örtlichen Hockeyteam.

Ava und ihre Tochter Lilly ziehen in ebendiese Kleinstadt, und es dauert nicht lange, da verlieben sich Asher und Lilly ineinander.

Was so schön beginnt, endet leider tragisch: Lilly wird eines Tages schwer verletzt aufgefunden und stirbt später im Spital. Asher gerät unter Verdacht, seine Freundin ermordet zu haben. Es kommt zum Gerichtsprozess.

Die Geschichte ist aus den Perspektiven von Olivia und Lilly erzählt. Nach und nach erfährt man in Rückblenden, was bisher geschah. Stück für Stück kommt man der Wahrheit näher und bildet sich eine eigene Vorstellung, bis ein unerwarteter Twist im Gerichtsprozess wieder alle Vermutungen über den Haufen wirft...

Durch die persönliche Sicht der Beiden ist man hautnah dabei und ich glaube, das ist es, was mich so gepackt und auch berührt hat.

Emotional and thought provoking read. Everything about this book was well researched and such an eye opener. Two strong subjects I hardly knew anything about and now I feel very enlightened. I really liked all the characters and found them to have such depth. Olivia's world comes crashing down when her son is accused of murdering his girlfriend. The chapters bounce back and forth between court scenes and past events between all characters. I was hooked from the very beginning and would recommend this book to everyone.

Firstly, thanks to Netgalley for sending me this ARC

Jodi Picoult has done it again! I always enjoy reading Jodi's novels as I always learn something, or they are about a current controversial subject. They used to contain a court case, which has been missing in recent novels. At the time, I was happy about that as I used to find it boring... However, in the book, the court case makes the story! I learned so much about trans people. It is difficult to learn and ask questions as you don't want to offend anyone, so it was great to read it all here in this book. I also couldn't tell the different between the writing of both authors, so another win for both authors. My mum is a beekeeper and she tells me that the information in the book is correct as well

Wow wow wow! What a book!

Jodi Picoult is an automatic read author for me but I hadn’t read anything by Jennifer Finney Boylan before now. How they manage to seamlessly write an enchanting, horrifying, educational, page turner is amazing.

Told by two different narrators, this is a murder mystery with an added extra. Dealing with the messy reality of real life.

I don’t want to spoil any of it for anyone who hasn’t read it, but Lily is one of my favourite characters ever.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Jodi Picoult is a master storyteller and this book is just the latest which demonstrates her skill.
An excellent storyline with excellent and very realistic characters, descriptive narrative and sharp observations of human nature. I was gripped from the very first page until the very end.
Although the book took a few turns that I was not expecting, it was thought provoking and enlightening on subjects I knew little about. No spoilers here as this could ruin the impact.
Highly recommended read.

Olivia McAfee is starting over with her son Asher after leaving her husband and she ends up running her father’s bee keeping business. Asher’s girlfriend ends up dead and he is pulled in for questioning by the police…. A Jodi Picoult book is always a good read and this was did not disappoint with the twists!

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

I love Jodi Picoult's books and this is up there with the very best of them. I couldn't put it down, and was sneaking up to my room after work to get some extra reading time. Dealing with some very contemporary themes, and extremely well researched, it is a fantastic and very enlightening book and with a smattering ofvery interesting information about bees, bee keeping, honey and honey recipes thrown in.

Asher and Lily had a lot in common. Asher's life was uprooted as a small boy when his mum, Olivia, stole him away from his previous life to bring him back to Adams, New Hampshire to escape a very abusive husband and father. Lily was more recently uprooted by her mother and brought to Adams to get away from her controlling and abusive father. When they met it was almost love at first sight, although whilst dating Lily was a little wary of Asher at times. Nature or Nurture - was he is father's son in terms of temper? When Lily is found dead, Olivia gets a call that Asher is being questioned. She loves her son with all her heart but can she rule out thatt he is completely innocent?

This is a book with everything. A love story, a suspenseful murder, a courtroom drama, contemporary fiction, and a lot of general knowledge about bees and other animals. I absolutely loved it - 5 stars just isn't enough.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5122213100

I picked up this book not knowing ANYTHING about the topic and am glad that I went in blind, so if you are considering reading this book perhaps look away now and come back later.
The book centres on Olivia, who has survived domestic abuse, and now lives as a single mum of a teenage boy Asher. Olivia is an apiarist and gets by on the proceeds she gets from her honey and apiary associated products.
In a parallel story that runs in reverse chronology (go with it, it works), is Lily who is the teen girlfriend of Asher. She is new to the area and hoping for a fresh start after some past traumas, again with a single Mum who works as a wildlife ranger.
When Asher is found with an unconscious Lily, he becomes the prime suspect in her accident. From there the story gathers pace and then comes a twist that I did not see coming at all.
In this book Jodi Picoult co-authors with Jennifer Finney Boyle and this brings a real authenticity to the central storyline but stays true to Picoults style of writing.
Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Wow I did not have any idea what this novel would be about before I started but it actually made me exclaim half way through, after a big reveal, 'what?!'

Mad Honey tells the joint stories of Olivia, a beekeeper and the mother of Asher. Asher falls in love with Lily in his last year of high school and we read of Lily's experience before she dies. Asher is implicated in her death and so begins the dual narrative of the court case and Olivia's memories of her abusive ex husband and Lily's life in reverse.

I found the life of a beekeeper to be absolutely fascinating and this was such a nice detail to add to the book. This book deals with some hard hitting, very topical themes and it was philosophical in just the right amount, making it a thoroughly interesting and thought provoking read.

This novel was going down one thrilling yet well-trodden path, only to be entirely shaken up by a midpoint plot twist. From there, the story evolved into something unexpectedly enlightening.

This novel was intricately constructed. Truthfully, I sometimes got lost amidst Olivia’s normal chronology and Lily’s reverse one. I wasn’t always entirely sure how the two timelines matched up. However, once I got past that, I could immerse myself into the lives of the novel’s two very distinctive heroines who shared similarities in some of the most tragic ways.

Throughout the book I was theorising over what actually happened to Lily. The thrilling courtroom scenes perpetuated this. They were fast-paced, gripping and really propelled the story in between its deeper dives into the characters’ personal experiences. Till the very end, I was unsure of how she died.

Apart from wishing the ending was somehow more uplifting, I appreciated the messages the novel cleverly interweaved into the mystery. They were valuable lessons on compassion and acceptance, both of others and of yourself.

I definitely recommend this book... you will be gripped by the drama but moved by the characters.

This was a great book and I'm really glad it was my first Jodi Picoult. I've heard rave reviews about their books before, but never got around to reading one for myself.

Lily and Asher are a couple in school, working up towards heading off to university. Both Lily's and Asher's homes are single mum's that are coping very well, but there's an unknown undercurrent running though that is an earth shattering revelation around halfway through the book. I waited with bated breath through the second half of the book until the climactic ending - for that not to be the actual end of the story; there's an even more twisty ending waiting to ambush you!

This was a well-written book, with a cast of well-thought-out characters, that went down avenues the reader does not see coming. The authors address some potentially difficult topics and although a trigger warning might have been appreciated, this would detract from the surprises in the story. The story being told in dual timelines and from different perspectives, as well as the narrative about bees, could have detracted from the plot by adding complexity, but I did not feel this was the case and was able to differentiate easily between the timelines and characters.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for an ARC.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel because of the crime elements, the characters of Lily and Asher and its flawless plot that moves effortlessly backwards and forwards in time.

Often a novel written by two authors doesn't gel perfectly - this absolutely did!

There are many key themes that add depth to this novel: crime, parent-child relationships, transgender experience, abuse, friendship, jealousy. All this makes for a novel worthy or reading and discussing. My perceptions have changed as a result of reading this novel.

I saw the ending coming but that wasn't really the point so didn't impact my overall enjoyment. A really good, worthwhile read that I will recommend.

Described as a soul stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past and what we choose to leave behind
We meet Olivia McAfee, who has recently returned to her childhood home following her marriage breakdown and Lily Campanella a high school student, who lives with her mum. Lily and Olivia meet when Olivia’s son falls for her after she starts at his school.
One day Olivia receives a call to tell her her son Asher is being questioned following Lilys death.
This book is Co written by JodiPicoult and Jennifer Finney Boyan, I am very familiar with Jodi’s work, having read all her previous books but new to reading Jennifer. It had a familiar style to it, which I enjoyed. I felt the characters were all well written, there were times I felt it dragged and I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the ending but that said it kept me reading and got me thinking. It kept my internet throughout.
I was impressed with how they handled the situation and felt they wrote well together
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book

An emotional, thought provoking read although I struggled to engage with the narrative. There were many important topics and I enjoyed learning about the art of beekeeping.

I knew only the barest details of this story before I read it. I knew it was co-authored by Jodi Picoult, whose books I love, and that it was the story of a mother whose son is accused of murder.

Just before a pivotal moment in the book, Jodi tweeted about trans rights and there followed a barrage of abusive and nonsensical replies. I didn’t think much of them - I was living through Matt Hancock seeking ‘forgiveness’ by sitting in a tank of toads so was used to ignorance and stupidity bleeding out of social media. I didn’t really know what the tweet had to do with the story though.

It turns out it had everything and nothing to do with it. To say too much might be to spoil and I don’t want to do that. So I’ll focus on this story of a young woman and her handsome, caring boyfriend; a tragic and needless death; a trial, and the impact of these things on the mothers and other people around them.

Beautifully and so skilfully written that each voice can both standalone and merge with the others, this is a thought-provoking and enthralling read.

I did want to race to the verdict and was a tiny bit disappointed with the denouement because I felt utter fury that her life had ended but…

I really enjoyed this story and would recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an early copy to read.

Olivia McAfee moves back to her hometown to take over her late father’s beekeeping business after she realises that she needs to get herself and her son (Asher) away from her abusive husband.

Lily Campanello is also looking for a new start and ends up in the same New Hampshire town at Asher’s high school. They quickly fall for each other and for a short time these fresh starts look to be paying dividends, though Lily does sometimes wonder how much she can trust Asher.

Everything falls apart on the day Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead and Asher is being questioned by the police. As adamant as Olivia is that Asher is innocent, she cannot deny the flashes of his father’s temper that she’s seen in him and as the case against her son progresses, she realises just how much he has hidden from her.

This is a story of trust and love and who we choose to leave behind. It’s emotional and thought-provoking, which is what I’ve always loved about Jodi Picoult novels. There’s also an element of mystery to the story because of the interwoven timelines and perspectives. What actually happened to Lily? Who was responsible?

Personally, I loved all the modern references and thought that Olivia naming her beehives after musical divas was a particularly great touch.

Lastly, I was impressed by how seamless this book was considering that it was written but two authors. They spoke about how they attempted to write like each other and that really came through for me.