Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
Stacey Irving • December 30, 2022
Interesting take on some difficult topics

I just finished Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan
Olivia is no stranger to the dark. Having to start over with her son back in the town she grew up in and watching her son, Asher grow up…. A son who has some of his fathers tendencies.
Lily moves to Adams with her mother, for the last year of high school. Hoping this is the new start both of them need.
Asher and Lily fall in love and they seem to share a lot of the same pains…. Then one day Lily is found dead at the bottom of her home stairs… Asher is found cradling her body. It was no secret that they had been fighting.
Is Asher as innocent as he is leading everyone to believe? Or is there more to this than anyone knows.
I am a huge fan of Jodi’s. Always have been but this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The writing was on point but the storyline had so much crammed into it, it felt like every hot topic button from the last 10 years had to be hit. I felt that by doing that, it took away from the book. Quality over quantity would have been nice here. The premise of the book was clever and I, for the most, was kept entertained but I also felt like the book was trying too hard.
I didn’t enjoy the jumping back and forth in the timeline or the multiple POV. I felt a little lost a few times and that is not a fun feeling when you are reading.
If you love her books normally, you will likely still love this one but be warned, it is a little overstuffed even for Jodi!
Thank you #netgalley and #penguinrandomhouseca for my review copy
4 stars! If you like a lot of meat to your reads, then this one will exceed your expectations!

Book review - Fiction - Audiobook - Romance Pick Me by Victoria Schade Brooke needs some inspiration for her writing so looking for a romance opportunity means looking in the weirdest places. She even learns to play pickleball to get close to a handsome man on the courts… She just needs to learn to play so when her friend pays for Owen to give her some lessons… Can she keep it strictly on the courts or will the attraction come off the page too? This one was a real surprise. I haven't ever played pickleball.. I've never seen a game either so it intrigued me. I might have gone to youtube to take a look at it and OMG there has to be easier ways to date haha. I really liked Owen. He was so grumpy and cute I wanted to eat him up with a spoon. I liked Brooke too and that's the magic for me. Their build up. The story was fine and the narration was good but the two of them were the wow factor for me. I liked how they connected. I thought it was really cute and I give it 4 stars Thank you @netgalley #netgalley #bookreview #bookishblog #pickleball #pickme #romancereader #bookalorian

I just finished Only Lovers in the Building by Nadine Gonzalez and here are my musings. Liliane quits her job as a lawyer after someone else got the credit for her hard work. Not willing to go home from the retreat just yet, she gets herself an air bnb and plans to read all summer. She finds herself bumping into her neighbor Ben and they discover a shared love for romance books and they spend the summer reading and critiquing books together while fighting the mounting attraction that neither wants to act on. This is one of the only beachy reads I did this summer and it was definitely the only one I needed. The thing this book had in spades was an eclectic group of characters. All unique and perfect in their imperfection. I loved Ben. He was refreshingly honest in how he dealt with people but had the biggest problem being honest with himself which really made for an interesting read. It was a realllllllllyyyyyyyyyy sssssssssslllllllllllllooooooooooowwwwwwwww burn. I mean really slow but honestly it worked for me. I liked the build up of their friendship and their mutual love of books. I liked their banter and how they started their podcast on their musings. It was very cool! 4.25 stars Thank you @harperaudio for my gifted copy You can find all my book reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A You can find all my book merch at Bookaloriandesigns.com and bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com #onlyloversinthebuilding #bookish #bookalorian #bookreview #audiobookreview #bookblog #bookpod #bookpodcast #litdulterous #booksbooksbooks #bookrecs #romancereader

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I just finished Dot Slash Magic by Liz Shipton and here are my musings. Seven Jones is in college… she just wants to get through it all. Walking into a secret underground magic club was not on the agenda. Learning she had magic is a big adjustment and the fact she doesn’t know what channels her magic is making everyone uneasy. When she accidently creates a magic computer program, an AI she calls dot… She keeps it a secret but someone is summoning terrifying creatures and everyone is looking at her to blame. This might be the weirdest plot of a book ever but dang I was hooked from the first chapter!! Seven has powers and she joins a group that can help her channel so the power doesn’t go bad.. She spends her time fighting the people in the group and working out how her magic works. I loved all the characters. It was a motley crew of magic wielders and they all connected so well. I loved the narration. The voice for dot was excellent. It made me giggle every single time. I liked how the book gave us the pitfalls of AI while showing us how it can make some things so much easier. I was really blown away with the plot! It was so different and fun! The ending threw me through a loop too! It was an excellent book! I love sci-fi’s and this one was unique and brilliant!! 4.5 stars! Thank you @tantoraudio and @netgalley #litdulterous #bookalorian #dotslashmagic #lizshipton #fantasybook #romancereader #dystopian #darkacademia #bookpodcast #bookreview #Urbanfantasy #sciencefiction #newadult

Book review - Fiction - audiobook - Thriller - general fiction Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan It was the eve of 1999 summer solstice that was the last time anyone saw Roison… just 9 years old… she went into the hanging woods and never came back out. Twenty years later Roison's sister DeeDee is now a cop and she is barely holding her life together. Roison's childhood bestie Caitlin… A petty thief is returning home for the first time in years… She was the last person to see Roison before she disappeared.. It took me a while to get used to the audio narration on this one but I am so glad I stuck it out because the story was fabulous. It was dark and ominous and the twists came together at the end for a beautiful heartbreaking conclusion. I never really connected with any character and I think that was on purpose… We were supposed to distrust them all and it was a seriously clever way to tell a tale. I found the pacing started out really slow… It was a build up I didn’t get until I got further in so keep going! It will make sense! The writing was very good! I have ordered a copy for my shelf! Definitely worth the read. 4 stars Thank you to @netgalley and @harperaudio #netgalley #audiobookreader #thrillerbook #bookpodcast #bookishpodcaster #bookblog

I just finished Joy Moody Is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne and here are my thoughts Cassie and Andy were made to believe they were from the future and they would be going back there one day… Cassie the believer and Andy believing they are being lied to. On their 21st birthday, their adoptive mom Joy Moody is found dead and all the family secrets have come skittering to the surface. This is a weird story. Joy truly believed what she was telling them and watching the fall out between the three women was different. The more you learn about Joy, the more you should be angry at her but you never end up feeling that way. I liked the potential sci-fi plot that ran through it but the ending was really solid. I actually loved this book way more than I thought I would. It was a really unique and well structured story. I liked the characters and the narration was absolutely spot on! Joy is one of those characters that really steal the show and I highly recommend grabbing the audio of this one. 4 stars Make sure you check out my store Bookaloriandesigns.com Bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com Unique bookish merch for the book dragon connoisseur. You can find all my book reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Youtube.com/@litdulterous #bookreview #joymoodyisoutoftime #bookalorian #booktok #booktube #funnybooktok #litdulterous #audiobook #audioreader #literaryinfluencer #bookishpodcast

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