Mad Honey

 Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan (2022, 464 pages)

In a small New Hampshire town called Adams, high schoolers Asher and Lily are falling in love. They both have single mothers who escaped abusive men. Asher's mom, Olivia, is a beekeeper and Lily's mom, Ava, is a park ranger.

During a fight, Asher decides to come over to Lily's to speak in person. Instead, he finds her dead at the bottom of the stairs. Asher is then arrested for her murder, and we follow along with the two families during the arrest and trial through Olivia's and Lily's point of view. Olivia starts to wonder if Asher inherited some of his father's aggression; and Lily wonders if she can really fit in in Adams, or anywhere.

I would have liked this book a lot more had it not included detailed romance and sex scenes of two kids. I personally just don't enjoy reading it, but I understand it's an important piece to have in some books. The story itself was really interesting, and I loved almost all of the characters. It was really interesting to hear about the details of beekeeping, too!

★★★☆☆