Mad Honey: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel

By Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi Picoult

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.

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Published Sep 5, 2023

496 pages

Average rating: 7.58

4,039 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Mad Honey* is a layered, emotionally charged novel blending family drama with a courtroom thriller. Reviewers agree it features strong su...

CeLynasings
Jun 05, 2026
10/10 stars
Being a mother, a woman, a child and being a person who has experienced abuse, this book was so beautifully and powerfully written from so many perspectives, it is easy to understand how trapped the world can make you feel. I will only be able to understand Lily through her voice because I am not Trans, but I can understand the loss of a child and the story I wish that child could have had. I truly hope more people can learn that there are some parts of us that are for public and other parts that are for the people we love. For now all I can do is help share stories that help others to educate themselves to be less ignorant and allow the question of who are you to be more about the way a person thinks and the way their character is rather than what they look like without clothes on or who is in bed with them.
Ginac
Jan 07, 2026
4.1- star rating
Cresta McGowan
Dec 25, 2025
2/10 stars
I will update more later but the virtue signaling in this book is disgusting.
LTC
Nov 21, 2024
Book #63: Bonnie's pick, discussed via Zoom!
Gingy
Jun 25, 2024
9/10 stars
As always, Jodi surprises and creates challenging, topical writing.

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