Asher and Lily are a young couple looking hopefully towards a future together. Their relationship has its ups and downs but one day Lily dies and Asher is accused of her murder. Can his mother Olivia prove his innocence…?
TRIGGER WARNING: domestic abuse, hate crime, suicide attempts
Mad Honey is a family and legal drama set in America.
Olivia escaped her abusive marriage and rebuilt her life, taking over the family beehives. She thinks her son Asher has no contact with his father but he has been keeping secrets. Olivia is delighted that Asher has found contentment with Lily but both young people are hiding their pasts from each other.
There is plenty of drama and mystery as we consider how and why Lily may have died. The use of the alternating points of view allow the tension and character engagement to build for the reader. The characters all have a vulnerability which endear them and they are written authentically so we believe in their reality.
As Jodi PIcoult is one of the authors, the plot features significant, relevant and modern issues. I loved the to and fro of the court case and the plot developments that ensue. There is a major twist revealed during the court case and this changes the focus of the book and makes you rethink certain characters, their behaviour and experiences. I won’t give the twist away but I felt it was handled sensitively.
Mad Honey is a gripping drama, packed full of emotion.
Book blurb
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined 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 at times, she wonders if she can she 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 him, 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.
