2023-23. Mad Honey

Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boyland. 2022.

This review is going to include some spoilers that you might not want revealed for you if you are going to read this one, but I am so irritated with this book that I can't help it.  I am so sick of the "plot twist" that reveals that the case that so clearly appears to be one of domestic violence on the surface is actually a woman who has set up a situation to blame the boyfriend/husband for it.  Most recently made particularly popular in the wake of Gone Girl, this storyline is supposed to suck us into blaming a otherwise controlling or violent man when, surprise, it was never domestic violence at all.  All this does is perpetuate the myth that women lie about domestic violence and that whenever these allegations arise, we should be extremely skeptical.  This plot is particularly upsetting in the context of trying to raise awareness about and normalize trans-ness by telling a compelling and complex story about a trans teen girl in an unhealthy and violent relationship.  The development of her character is lovely.  She isn't a trope or a shell of a person.  Her mother is supportive and she has had supportive allies, as well as having experienced devastating transphobia and hate crimes.  This level of detail and this quality of writing could have been done without feeding into dangerous tropes about domestic violence.  I'm so disappointed.

Cannot recommend.

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