A quick summary:

Two young women both move to the same small northeastern town hoping to escape the nightmares of their past. Both hoping to protect their children from the anger and abuse of their ex-husbands. Both hoping to start fresh and create new memories.

Neither of the women knew that their lives would intertwine with each other, and their children would fall in love. A love that would end with one child dead and the other on trial for murder.

This is not your typical novel of boy meets girl and falls in love. The plot twists and unexpected outcomes keep the reader engaged and curious through the entire novel.

The story is told from two different perspectives, both of which I thought were the perfect choices to tell the story from start to finish.

We hear from Olivia, the mother of Asher and the owner of a beekeeping farm (which was quite fascinating work!). She is also the former wife of an abusive cardiac surgeon. Olivia shares snips of her past that help us understand the truths she chose to hide from her son regarding his father. We also begin to understand where the anger and uncontrollable emotions that sometimes show in Asher may have derived. Olivia’s past is truly heartbreaking, and it creates a sense of empathy for women suffering from any kind of abuse by their husband.

Olivia is an easy character to like. She is strong-willed and capable (enough to run a bee farm!), while also showing small character weaknesses that let us understand better why she may have chosen to stay in an abusive relationship.

Her love for Asher is pure and complete. The heartbreak a parent must feel when witnessing her child struggle in this manner is almost unbearable to read. Especially while tying in the uncertainty of her son’s innocence and questioning her own knowledge of the truths within her son. Olivia’s chapters were engaging on every page.

The other perspective we hear from is Lily. Asher’s girlfriend and first love. Lily is soft and compassionate but also has some truths hidden in her past that she is very selective to reveal to anybody. From Lily’s chapters, we travel back to the beginning of her relationship with Asher and learn their strengths and weaknesses as a couple. Lily shares bits of their best memories and also some of the worst. It is a relationship that does have its shares of ups and downs, more so than what we would typically think of with a teenage romance.

From Lily’s memories, we see a dark side of Asher that begin to make us question his innocence. On the other hand, we see his softness and love for Lily that compel us to believe he does not have her blood on his hands. Despite what the detectives find at the crime scene.

Speaking of detectives, the town’s only investigative detective just happens to have been Olivia’s prom date some 25 years ago! Ironic? Additionally, Olivia’s older brother is coincidentally one of the state’s best defense attorneys… that is quite the stroke of luck!

We watch as the trial unfolds, family secrets are revealed and the haunting past of several key characters continue to surprise us.

What I liked about mad honey:

As usual with novels authored by Jodi Picoult, it was wonderfully researched. The amount of research conducted around bee farming, honey and everything that it encompasses was quite interesting to me. It is a unique profession and must have taken quite some time to gather the amount of information Picoult inserted into the novel. It added a bit of flare and charm to the novel that may have otherwise been a bit lacking.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the character of Asher. I thought the balance given to his strengths and weaknesses advanced the book to another level. Asher is caring and accepting. He has a big heart and loyal friendships. Things seem to have come easy to him as a handsome hockey star and popular boy in a small town. However, we also see his temper, jealousy and his lack of control (at times) of his emotions. This contrast creates empathy for Asher during the trail but also suspicion. It added quite a lot to the plotline, and for that I felt like it was one of my favorite pieces of the puzzle.

What I did not like about Mad Honey:

I felt like the novel took a bit of a political turn about halfway through, when a secret was revealed about Lily’s past during the trial. I don’t want to reveal the secret in this review, because it is quite the shocker once it is uncovered! However, I think the author let this reveal take away from the perspective of the murder trial and derail the plot line to focus on this item more than I thought they should have done.

I was also a bit disappointed in the ending. I did not think that the sentencing and prosecution for the murder offered much closure for the reader (or for some of the characters within the novel).

I thought Lily’s mom’s storyline ended abruptly without much closure, and I could say the same for Asher. We see how he responds to the verdict but I don’t feel like we get a lot of insight into his true mindset, without Lily’s perspective to dig deeper. It would have been nice to have had an epilogue told from Asher’s POV or perhaps a couple of chapters from Asher intermingled with his mother and Lily’s chapters.

What do I rate Mad Honey:

This book earns a 7.4/10 for me. It checked off a lot of the boxes for an emotional fiction novel but took some unexpected turns and ended a bit too abruptly for my taste.

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