Mad Honey

This book was hit and miss for me. I absolutely loved the character of Lily and thought her chapters were incredibly well-written and engaging. Jennifer Finney Boylan is an excellent writer and could bring her own experiences which made it feel very real and raw. I'll absolutely read more from this author.

The parts written by Jodi Picoult I found far less interesting. Although I (mostly) liked the character of Olivia, it felt to me like JP had done an extensive amount of research on bees and wanted to include every bit of it in her chapters. Yes, there were (sometimes tenuous) links to the main story line but generally these information dumps dragged and I found myself skimming over them to get back to the story.

I find it frustrating that this concept was (literally) dreamed up by Boylan and half written by her, and yet Jodi Picoult is the only named author on Goodreads, and the one being publicised. I appreciate that JP is the better known author here, but she is not the one doing the story justice. In the author's note, Boylan talks about writing Ava's story and that she would have to do it without Picoult - I hope she does.

Overall, I think this is a really important and eye-opening story highlighting trans peoples' rights and experiences. I just think it would have been a far superior book if it was written solely by Boylan. I like Picoult and will usually read most books she releases, but IMO she was definitely the weaker link here.