Mad Honey: A Novel

Jodi Picoult · Jennifer Finney Boylan

Oct 2022 · Sold by Ballantine Books

About this ebook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Alternatingly heart-pounding and heartbreaking. This collaboration between two best-selling authors seamlessly weaves together Olivia and Lily’s journeys, creating a provocative exploration of the strength that love and acceptance require.”—The Washington Post
 
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • PEOPLE’S BOOK OF THE WEEK • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar

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 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.

Ratings and reviews

I have always LOVED all of Jodi Picoult's novels. However, it broke my heart to read all the promotion and normalization of child abuse and mutilation that occurs in this book. Revolting to see actions so insidious and abusive be written about as if it is acceptable. Jodi Picolut is usually one to do a lot of research on her topics, however it is very apparent that this novel hosts a plethora of misinformation and lacks her usual flair for including scientifically backed evidence. This novel could have been an excellent opportunity to properly educate and save the lives of children!

This was the first book I've read by Jodi Picoult. The subject matter wasn't one that I would read again, but I did enjoy her the intense research on the subject. I did read the book with an open mind. I do admit that the book's charcter's captivated me! I HAD TO KNOW THE ENDING!

I loved this book. The author takes you very deep into an often misunderstood issue that is becoming more accepted but not where I honestly feel it should be. She is always thorough with her research, and informative. This book is exceedingly beautifully written by both Picoult and Boylan. I am always inspired by Jodi Picoult's writing. I will be looking at more of Boylan's work. A fantastic read for fans of realistic fiction, sit on the edge of your seat, educational yet entertaining novels that can change on the flip of a dime or drop a massive bomb just when you thought you had it figured out. Simply Irresistible not to keep reading all night!

About the author

Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-nine novels, including Wish You Were Here, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister’s Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.

Jennifer Finney Boylan is the bestselling author of more than a dozen books. She is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer-in-Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University and a 2022–2023 Fellow at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. A nationally known advocate for human rights, she is a trustee of PEN America. For many years she was the national co-chair of GLAAD as well as a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She lives in New York City and Belgrade Lakes, Maine, with her wife, Deedie. They have a son, Sean, and a daughter, Zai.