by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan ★★★★★
Mad Honey is a bit of a challenge to write about, mostly because I don't want to ruin any of this excellent read for others out there. At its foundation, it's the love story of two high school seniors: Asher -- captain of the hockey team, the popular kid in school -- and Lily -- newly transferred in to their high school in New Hampshire from California. The story alternates chapters between those told from Lily's point of view, and those told from the point of view of Asher's mother, Olivia. And, in an interesting twist, Lily's chapters are told in reverse chronological order.
That reverse chronology choice allows us to see a unique perspective of the moments that built Asher's and Lily's relationship. When we meet them, they are deeply in love. And working backwards from there, we get to see the building blocks laid down for that relationship. We also get to see when key pieces of information were disclosed and how that changed things for both of them.
The novel is not purely about the two lovebirds, although they are clearly at the center. Olivia, as the narrator of half of the chapters, is in many ways more of the focus than Asher, and the reader gets to see how she relates to her son as well as how she copes with the challenges of her abusive relationship with her ex-husband (and Asher's father), Braden. Her brother plays a prominent role in the story as well, and I think that the authors did a really fine job of capturing sibling love (and tension), as well as the guilt her brother feels for not recognizing the abuse in Olivia's marriage.
Against that setting, there is tragedy that happens relatively early in the novel, and a murder trial that dominates a good portion of the book. Those who read Defending Jacob by William Landay (an excellent read, by the way, if you have never sought it out) will likely pick up on some parallels and common themes. But, where that was a more straightforward legal thriller, this is a wholly unique novel that carries the story to significantly greater depths, with a surprising twist about halfway through that plays a brilliant role in the novel executing its purpose.
I had never read anything by Jennifer Finney Boylan, and the only book I had previously read from Jodi Picoult was My Sister's Keeper, and that was over a decade ago. Despite a lot of press and buzz, thought My Sister's Keeper was...fine, but mostly unremarkable. Mad Honey is significantly better. As the authors share in the acknowledgments, Picoult actually wrote all of the Olivia chapters, and Finney Boylan wrote all of those from Lily's point of view. Except, just to keep things interesting and to make sure it felt consistent throughout, they each wrote one of the opposite chapters. I had no idea that was the case while reading, and I think even if I re-read the novel with that knowledge, I'd have a very hard time picking which chapters were written by the "other" author. That's a long way of saying that despite having two authors, the novel feels seamless and as if it was written by one person.
If you read Mad Honey purely for plot, it's a compelling mystery / legal thriller. But because of the subject matter and the layers built into that solid plot, it's quite a bit more. That depth elevates it from something good to something more powerful and important than it perhaps would have been otherwise. This will keep you entertained, and you'll learn something along the way as well. Highly recommended.