2024 the best books of 2022 review

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(as of Nov 27, 2024 12:07:24 UTC - Details)

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past and what we choose to leave behind, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here and the bestselling author of She’s Not There

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 at times, 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.

*Includes a downloadable PDF of recipes from the book

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Reviewer: CeCeFrankie
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Well written and peaks your interest
Review: I really like the way this author writes. She’s descriptive, but not exhaustively so. Her characters are well developed and I liked all the bee and honey facts within the story. I did not expect the twist at the end.

Reviewer: BooksAreWings
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Compelling novel with some flaws, but Picoult and Boylan can do no wrong
Review: So, first of all, this book reminded me why I love Jodi Picoult and need to read more of her books. Picoult can be counted on to deliver a well-written, powerful, human narrative that's still a relatively easy read. Looking for a "beach read" that's great instead of trashy? JP is your woman. Here she partners with Boylan who is also a great writer, and in all honesty, it's seamless and does not for a moment read like a collab.Mad Honey is compelling from the start with hero characters including Olivia, a single mom/power beekeeper/abuse survivor, Lily, a teen savant/cellist/depressive/also survivor, and Asher, a teen Prince Charming whose hidden depths- and hidden pain- no one but Lily truly sees.Quickly this becomes a murder mystery and trial procedural, so, again, super entertaining and also emotionally intense. For the first probably half of the book, I did not want to put it down.I really want to avoid spoilers here. I will say there's a major plot twist, an interesting one, but unfortunately at this point the book takes a dive. There is SO MUCH explication to support the plot that the book becomes more of a textbook and less of a novel. For me personally I didn't need 99% of this surrounding information, it was familiar to me - and I think it would be at least understandable to anyone who would love this book. This is the point where, I think, the writers needed to decide if they would rather just tell a story and let the reader fill in, or if they needed to inform and provide massive context, and they chose the latter. The book is about 30% longer as a result (insert head-banging emoji).I really loved the writing here; the character development; and the power and empathy with which the writers communicated painful and joyful things. But *just as a novel* it's a super-flawed book: there's all this endless explication, the ending is unsatisfying, *and* you can see the real whodunit coming from miles away.If I were not such a fan of the intent here, I'd say three stars.

Reviewer: Helen Yanchewski
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Eye opening novel
Review: The major takeaway from Mad Honey is that we should all be more compassionate to the transgender community. Lily tried to commit suicide and was harassed by her father and ex-boyfriend. The mental and physical abuse targeted at transgenders is alarming. Imagine living in a body that’s completely foreign to you and the only option to feel comfortable in your own skin is a life-altering surgery. Lily underwent a major gender reassignment surgery and had to take puberty blockers to prevent facial hair growth. Lilly was also afraid to reveal she was transgender to her boyfriend who she loved with all her heart. After all there is a taboo tied to being transgender. So she had to live in torture with the big secret. Asher ended up still loving her regardless but she never got to live her life out in happiness with the person she loved. I would recommend this book to everyone because it’s well written and compelling.

Reviewer: Bibliomaniac
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The authors should be credited "Jennifer Finney Boylan with Jodi Picoult"
Review: I tend to have a love/hate relationship with Jodi Picoult books. I live her stories, hate her endings. And I really hate that that's the first thing that comes to mind in reviewing this book.It is an amazing book. The absolute best thing I can say about Picoult is that she doesn't write the same book over and over. She tackles new topics in every book of hers that I've read, and I've read most of them. Sometimes I forget who I'm reading because every book is so different. I think even the writing style is unique to each story.But enough about Jodi, Jennifer, I'm sorry. It's your story, literally your dream child, and Jodi gets top billing on everything, even in this review. But one thing she gets absolutely right is that she couldn't have told this story without you because it isn't her story to tell. I think this is my introduction to you and I will be reading much more. I'm also sorry you didn't win the Detective Mike argument. Lol And I am curious who's idea was the ending, the reveal of the culprit, so to speak. I blamed it on your coauthor because whack endings are the one thing that you can count on in a Picoult book but not having read you before, I admit I could be wrong.Regardless it's an amazing book. To get 5* from me a book has to make me laugh and cry. And oh it did just that. I also have to have someone to root for. I loved almost all the characters and realistically every book has to have an antagonist or two, so the characters were perfect. I also should relate to it in some way no matter how small. There was a lot that could be pulled from my own story both as a child and as a mother.For some of my book club friends, to get five stars, they require a book to be something that everyone should read. Something that everyone can get something from. I haven't looked yet to see how they rated it but for me, this is one of those books. I think we live in a time when being trans or enby or anywhere in the LGBTQ+ spectrum has so much more acceptance than ever before and at the same time so much more opposition. The more acceptance anything other than the "traditional male/female sex assignment" gets, the more those that think it's truth need to fight to maintain their status quo. The strongest purpose of fiction is empathy. It's to allow ourselves to walk around in another person's shoes and find out how our preconceived notions are wrong and how they inhibit other people. Obviously if every person in the world read this book, many would identify more with Braden, or Lily's father, or Dirk and completely miss the point. One of the book club questions is, can someone like them change. It's not easy, but I have seen it happen. The reason there is more acceptance of differing genders is because people can change. But there are also people in this world like Olivia who just don't have a cl inue until they have the first conversation, until the first time they walk around in those shoes. So I do think everyone should try all these various shoes on for size.

Reviewer: Melissa
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Read
Review: Her book 19 Minutes brought me to this book, there are reoccurring characters and it references that storyline a few times. I enjoyed this book, it was slow in parts. But over all a good read. You can't go wrong with Jodi.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Very easy book to read and right up my alley. Definitely recommend!

Reviewer: Eugenia M.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I loved this book because it opened my mind on so many issues. Specially knowing that in some places, this book is banned, I felt privileged to be able to read it. Learn about minority communities like the one discussed in the book was mind opening.This is a book that makes you look at the society with more compassion and understanding. Loved this book.

Reviewer: Sim
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Big no, its just so badly written and arrogantly long. The story could be 200 pages max and the fillers do nothing for story. This is my first Picoult novel and I am very disappointed. I got 70% through before I had to give up. Life is too short for bad books.

Reviewer: Tenten's mom
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Jodi Picoult did it again! Literally smiling and teary-eyed ON THE BUS as I go through the chapters! I cannot put the phone (e-book) down! But I have to since I have a 5 yr old boy and a 5 month old girl... I love every minute of reading it!

Reviewer: Ana
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: El libro llegó a tiempo para las navidades.