Have you read Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan and want to discuss the case and the ending? You have come to the right place: my Spoiler Discussion for Mad Honey.
Spoiler Discussion for Mad Honey
Here’s the table of contents for this post.
Plot Summary for Mad Honey
What Was the Ending of Mad Honey?
Who Killed Lily in Mad Honey?
Spoiler Discussion for Mad Honey
Plot Summary for Mad Honey
Olivia is a divorced mom who left her husband and moved with her son to New Hampshire to live in her childhood home. She also inherited her father’s bee colony.
Olivia’s son Asher is a high school student who has been dating his girlfriend Lily for three months. Asher decides to surprise Lily by arranging a meeting with her estranged father. She is angry and they argue.
Lily stays home sick for three days and Asher decides to come visit her. He finds her front door open and Lily lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs.
Lily’s mom arrives home and finds Asher crading her injured daughter. She calls 911. Lily is taken to the hospital and Asher is taken to the police station. The police call Olivia and she comes to listen to him tell his story. They learn that Lily could not be saved.
At Lily’s memorial, Olivia expresses her condolences to Lily’s mom, who clearly blames Asher for her daughter’s death.
In a flashback, Asher suggests that he and Lily visit his father Braden and his new family. Lily’s friend Maya warns her against it. After they arrive, Asher immediately wants to leave.
Afterwards, Lily admits that her own father abused her.
In the present, the police come to arrest Asher for Lily’s murder.
Olivia has called her brother Jordan, who happens to be a prominent defense attorney. Fortunately, he’s one of the most famous defense attorneys New Hampshire has ever had.
Asher is arraigned. Lily does not want to tell her ex-husband Braden that Asher is in jail, so she plans to the house up as collateral for Asher’s bail.
Olivia and Jordan go to speak with Asher in jail.
Flashback to Lily’s POV. Lily’s found her love of music while recovering from a suicide attempt.
Jordan questions Asher about his relationship with Lily. Though Asher told the police he wasn’t in Lily’s room, his hair and fingerprints were there. Asher admits to sneaking in the window multiple times and spending the night with her.
Olivia is clearly worried that Asher might have violent tendencies like his father. She remembers a time recently when Asher punched a wall. Olivia also recalls that her ex-husband Braden also pushed her down the stairs.
After Asher attempts suicide in jail, Olivia reluctantly goes to her ex and asks for money. Asher is released on bail.
The trial begins. After a question about why Lily’s autopsy didn’t mention her female reproductive organs, the coroner drops a bombshell: Lily was a trans woman.
Flashback to Lily finally gathering the courage to tell Asher why she pulled away after they had sex for the first time: she’s trans. After she tells Asher, he is shocked and leaves. Lily feels rejected and deeply upset.
Back in the courtroom, after the revelation about Lily, something neither the prosecution nor the defense knew, the judge dismisses court for the day.
Jordan is worried that the revelation offers even more motive for Asher to have killed Lily.
Asher starts to tell Jordan that he did know Lily was trans before her murder. Jordan stops him. He tells Asher that it’s better if they pretend he didn’t know.
Olivia runs into Lily‘s mother Ava in the bathroom. Ava is still very cool to her.
Flashback to Lily going with Asher to meet his dad, which he’s secretly been doing.
Afterwards Asher asked Lily what she thinks of his dad and she says she didn’t like him. She points out that he’s never met his half-siblings Asher gets angry and starts driving really fast.
Lily recalls what preceded her suicide attempt: at her old school, she confided in one friend that she was trans and was badly bullied. Jonah, her ex, didn’t defend her.
Asher tells her he’s afraid of being like his father.
Lily recalls the fencing match where Asher grabbed her arm. She had just run into her ex, Jonah and was upset. Asher saw Lily and Jonah was jealous of the two of them. Asher grabbed Lily’s arm, leaving bruises.
Olivia testifies and drops a bombshell of her own: she was married to an abuser and she’d know if Asher were one.
Then Asher insists on testifying and tells the court that he knew Lily was trans and didn’t care.
What Was the Ending of Mad Honey?
After court is dismissed Olivia notices bruises on Jordan’s wife Selena.
Selena explains the bruising is because because she’s been taking estrogen after her hysterectomy for endometriosis. The estrogen makes her bruise easily.
Selena wonders if maybe that’s why Lily was bruised: because she was taking estrogen as part of her hormone therapy.
Jordan finds a forensic pathologist to examine Lily’s file and testify.
The forensic pathologist believes that Lily was suffering from a blood disorder called TTP (thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura). TPP is a rare disorder which can be either genetic or aquired. In the latter, it can be caused by pregnancy or hormone therapy. The disorder can cause bruising, fever, dizziness, and seizures, offering an alternate explanation not only for Lily’s symptoms, but for the injuries that caused her death.
Who Killed Lily in Mad Honey?
After the trial, Asher’s friend Maya shows up at Asher and Olivia’s house. She admits being with Lily the day she died. Maya was in love with Asher. She had accepted the fact that Asher didn’t love her back, but she didn’t think Lily was right for him.
She argued with Lily that day, begging Lily to let Asher go for his own good. There was a scuffle over Lily’s phone and Lily fell down the stairs.
Spoiler Discussion for Mad Honey
There’s so much to discuss in this one!
I am cisgender and while I support the right of every person to live as their most authentic self, I have no personal experience with gender transition, so I will not weigh in on that aspect of the book, but if anyone else wants to do that in comments, I welcome it.
Here are some of my thoughts and questions about some other issues of the book:
What was your favorite part of the book?
For me, it was Lily’s narration. I loved her as a character and got very invested in her story in the past. For me, just reading about her struggles and hopes and dreams was much more moving than the sometimes info-dumpy explanations of gender identity, like when the surgeon testified.
What is Mad Honey?
As the book explains it, mad honey comes from bees that forage from rhododendron and mountain laurel. Eating is results in dizziness, nausea, and vomiting, and convulsions. Symptoms last for twenty-four hours and can (rarely) be fatal. Who knew?
What role did the bees play in Mad Honey?
The bees were a passion that Olivia threw herself into upon leaving her husband. She was incredibly obsessed with the bees.
I love a thematic book. While I really did like all the bee information, there was definitely a point when I got bee overload and felt it was taking over the book. I didn’t feel like this was supposed to be Olivia’s story, but she kept bossily trying to take it over. By the end, she came off to me like a boring person at a cocktail party who just wants to talk about one thing (bees, bees, and more bees.)
What do you think Mad Honey as a mystery?
To me, this didn’t read like a mystery. Yes, there was suspense as I waited for the trial’s outcome, but there was no real investigation into Lily’s death, not much evidence discussed, and no real suspects besides Asher.
In her acknowledgments, Picoult says, “I chose to have Olivia be an abused wife because I wanted to underscore that violence agains women is real and horrific, but it is not a reason to dismiss trans rights.”
It seemed to me that the point of having Asher’s father be an abuser was suggest that violent tendencies are biological and inborn, and to make us think that Asher had these tendencies too.
At the end of the book, Olivia decide that no, Asher is like her. Because he believes in love.
But is he like Olivia? He grabbed Lily’s arm so that it hurt and punched a wall in anger. He gets angry when Lily tells him she doesn’t like his father.
And does Olivia really believe in love? To me, she only believes in bees. (I was not the biggest fan of Olivia if that wasn’t obvious.)
What did you think of the ending of the book?
First, we are led to believe that Lily’s death was just a tragic accident.
Then, in the last few pages, Maya confesses that she did it. Why didn’t she either say something sooner, or say nothing at all? Confessing after the trial was over was the most bizarre possible choice.
Was the TTP all a ruse on Jordan’s part to create reasonable doubt, something he says over and over through the book?
Is this justice for Lily? I wanted more for poor Lily. Everyone just moves on, except her mom Ava, and my heart really broke for her.
What point was Mad Honey trying to make at the end?
Lily wasn’t killed for being trans, or even by a rare side-effect of her medication. She was killed by a jealous girl.
I believe that Asher thought he loved Lily, but did he really? To me, he seemed to have a lot of his father’s tendencies of being charming and then angry.
Then Olivia, who really only cares about bees, suddenly has a boyfriend who’s secretly been in love with her forever. What? I agree with what Jennifer Finney Boylan said (in the acknowledgments): if anyone needed a boyfriend it was Ava. Olivia had her bees.
Thanks for reading my Spoiler Discussion for Mad Honey!
That is my take: more Lily, less Olivia. Some bee talk, but not so much. I wish there had been more of Ava. And I’m not sure about this ending. But what did YOU think? I hope you’ll tell me in the comments!
NOTE: due to the subject matter, I have had to edit some sexually explicit language out of a few comments. I’m sorry about this, but my hard work is funded by advertising. Advertisers do NOT like words like murder (I’m doomed lol) or explicit language. I am not trying to censor anyone, just to keep comments PG-rated. If you prefer I delete your comment rather than edit it, please re-comment and let me know. I have tried hard to keep the spirit of the original comment while still keeping it ad-friendly.
Looking for more Spoiler Discussion Posts? Check out my Armchair Book Club home page OR an alphabetical list of all my spoiler discussions.
Thank you for taking the time to write this post. This book was thought provoking and heartbreaking. My heart broke Olivia, Asher, Ava and Lily. Especially Ava and Lily. I lost my son six months ago as a result of an accident and I can identify with Ava and losing Lily so suddenly and unexpectedly. My heart breaks for Lily and for the years she had to hide her self from the world – how lonely and isolating she must have felt. And just when Lily seems to find happiness, it’s suddenly over and my heart aches for everything which will never be for Lily. I’d like to ask your opinion of the introductory quote from Kierkegaard and how you feel it applies to the book.
Anne, I am so terribly sorry about your son. I can’t even imagine what you and your family have been going through and will keep you in my thoughts.
My heart also broke for Ava – I wish she had been more a part of the story.
I did really like the book but the more I think about it, the more I dislike the fact that Olivia is the lens through which we see much of the story. To Olivia, Ava is an enemy, someone who blames Asher for what happened. But what Olivia (and we) don’t know right away is how much Ava and Lily have been through.
I also wonder about the reveal of Lily being trans as a twist/reveal and I’ve also been thinking about what the book had been like if that information hadn’t been revealed in that way to Olivia, the courtroom, and the reader.
As for the quote (“life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”), being a middle-aged person who feels like I am looking both forward and back, I like it. But I feel the way the quote applies to the story once again centers my least favorite character Olivia, and her looking back on her life, her choices and the way they might have affected her son. Does Olivia have any regret? She is SO obsessed with those bees I feel like she misses most things going on around her.
Lily is too young to have any chance of the quote applying to her. Same with Asher. Ava isn’t really part of the story. So it has to be Olivia’s quote I think.
But that’s just my opinion, and I hope others in comments will weigh in.
A few things that really bothered me about Mad Honey.
1)I personally did not like Olivia, actually hated her. What mother leaves her son in jail, when she had the resource to post bail? A mother never puts her own life before her child’s. Even though it meant going to her ex-husband, she should have been there the day after he was arrested.
2)There was no way the police had enough evidence to arrest Asher. He found Lily and there were fingerprints in her bedroom, the rest was speculation. I felt like that made the reader feel stupid, to actual suggest that.
I loved Lily’s story. It sadden me that she did not get to live her life, and my Heart broke for her mother. I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed learning/understanding more of the trans community. I would recommend the book, but far from Jodi Picoult’s early books. They are my favorite.
Thank you Sharon. I felt bad saying I disliked Olivia, but as I was working on this post, I realized that I absolutely could not stand her. I thought it might be my own personal experience with a parent who was not very attentive/lost in their own world and I thought maybe it was just me.
Also, the most on-brand thing Olivia does is at the end. Ava comes to say goodbye and tells Olivia she lost a son but gained a daughter and now she has nothing. That just guts me but what does Olivia do? Hands her a jar of honey.
1) The bail thing confused me. DID she have the resources? The bail is a million dollars and the bondsman tells her she has to put up 100-150,000 and I had no idea that you don’t get that money back.
2) Yes, Asher found her, so he had to be a suspect. Yes, his fingerprints were all over Lily’s room but that’s not weird because they were in a relationship. I’m sure Maya’s fingerprints were there too, and on Lily’s phone. I understand that Asher would be a main suspect, but I also dislike books where the police seem incompetent. Other obvious suspects: Lily’s father, who seemed like a psycho. In fact, I was sure he was the killer. But okay, it was Maya. We know from the book that she and Lily texted each other often. Did they not read Lily’s texts?
I agree with you that reading Lily’s story was an amazing experience and by far my favorite part of the book. I would have liked the book even more if she weren’t a tragic figure who had to end up dead 🙁
I am not sure if you understand what it’s like to be an abused partner and then leave them and even the thought of seeing them or contacting them again is panic inducing. Also, it did mention a restraining order, which could’ve been part of why she didn’t contact her ex right away. (although I doubt it as it’s no issue when he shows up at court) So, even though I wasn’t a big fan of Olivia, I truly understand why she didn’t contact Braden at first just as someone who comes from an abuse background.
Thank you, Ali. I am so sorry for what you went through. I really appreciate you charing your perspective with us and your comment helped me understand Olivia better.
Will we ever return to the immense satisfaction of Jody’s early books?
I have not read all her books but I think most I’ve read were earlier ones. What are your favorites?
I enjoyed the book and LOVED the twist with Maya. However I felt the end was kind of rushed and after the whole trial Asher lived through , nothing at all happens to Maya?!?! He moms were so overprotective of her only to find out she caused Lilly’s death. We needed more there. I liked to see the mothers defending and protecting their children but understanding the pull of doubt Asher’s mom carried and her guilt. Over all I really enjoyed this book. I see how the bees tied into the story so the information didn’t bother me. Just wish the end had as much punch as the rest had.
I completely agree about Maya. That was not at all resolved. What happened was a tragic accident, but for Maya to let her best friend since kindergarten sit in prison and be tried for something she did was pretty horrible.
And you make such a great point that mothers were an important part of the story. The dads in this story were not great, sadly, but that fits in with the Queen Bee theme etc.
I liked the bees at first, I really did. And I love a thematic book. But the bees were used to explain everything and after a while I’d reached my limit!
I felt that exact same way! Most of Jodi Picoult’s other books that I’ve enjoyed have shocking twist endings, that are examined and played out entirely. This ending felt like a lot of the most interesting parts of the story were left out.
I would have loved to examine how Maya lived with the fallout, did she face the same backlash from the town that Asher and Olivia did when he was the prime suspect? What was Ava’s side through all this? A lot of the book was educational which I enjoyed but I feel it came at the expense of the plot.
Just finished Mad Honey and was very disappointing. I feel like Jodi usually makes the last few pages epic but this was a let down that Maya was responsible. Just my opinion
You aren’t the only one! Were you disappointed with the fact that Maya was responsible for Lily’s death, or was it that you didn’t feel like it was resolved?
I was a little confused. The police and DA are willing to put Asher on trial for Lily’s death when he said he had nothing to do with it, and then Maya admits she’s responsible and they are like, don’t worry about it?
There was a point in the book where someone (Olivia?) said that Lily wasn’t killed for being a trans woman but for being a woman and I guess that’s true but she really died because Maya was jealous and controlling of someone she said was her friend (and also pretty horrible to let someone she said she loved be accused of a crime he didn’t commit and thrown in jail and put on trial).
I don’t feel like justice was served for poor Lily!
I guess the most disappointing thing is Olivia leaving Asher in prison when he could have been spared that experience. Also the investigation was shoddy. Jordan should have been able to secure Asher’s release. But then he didn’t have all the facts.
I agree – I do not even think there wasn’t enough evidence to put him on trial!
I loved the book. I couldn’t sleep worrying about the trial. I never thought he was guilty but was trying to figure it out.
– I couldn’t believe it was Maya and still can’t. She seems the type who would have told someone before the trial or when he was put in jail.
– I agree the Dad should have put up the ball earlier. How did he not know about it when he lived 2 hours away, Asher hadn’t changed his name and they constantly talked about press from far and wide.
– how was Lily mom Ava gone to get Advil so long that Dirk, Maya and Asher beat her home from a one stop light kind of a town.
– Dirk made more sense as causing the murder after the inappropriate things he said to Lily. Not that it was intentional, just that he came upstairs and she had to get him out.
Again, I loved it. Not my book, I’m not the author so I don’t get to choose
I’m listening to the Audiobook now and plan to finish it but I won’t enjoy it. I don’t care for any characters in this book but most particularly I don’t like Lily! It might be the actress reading her parts that I don’t like; I’m not sure. Maybe it’s a combination of the character and the actress’s interpretation. Anyway, I found the plot thin (agree that there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest Asher) and some inconsistencies (Lily knows everything, including the state capitals but doesn’t know where the White Mountains are!) and repetitive. It’s also predictable. I thought Maya was responsible for Lily’s death and turned to the Internet to confirm…in case I can’t bring myself to finish this book.
Hi Ginevra and thanks for joining the discussion. I read the printed book and absolutely loved Lily’s chapters, but as someone who sometimes listens to audiobooks I understand that the narration is everything. Olivia drove me crazy. No way there was enough evidence to take Asher to trial.
I am impressed you suspected Maya. It made no sense, but there you have it.
I agree! I couldn’t finish so had to read spoilers. Why were character witnesses testifying at the trial when they had no knowledge of what happened that day? The police didn’t take fingerprints from the door knob or Lily’s phone? Why didn’t they look for any other suspects? Also, Jordan was the worst attorney! He didn’t want to know anything about the case! If he would’ve let Asher talk he might have had a better defense. And he says at one point, “how are we going to convince 12 people that Asher is innocent”? You don’t have to prove innocence. They only need to convince one juror that there’s reasonable doubt. And why wouldn’t Asher tell his mom to get the bail money from his dad? I also agree that Lily’s knowledge of literally everything became annoying and unbelievable.
I’m 300 pages into this book and also suspected Maya. I also turned to the Internet to confirm but I will finish the book. I’m one of those ppl that can read the last chapter of the book and then read the book from the start. I guess I don’t like suspense. I’m surprised there is so much dislike for Olivia. I’ve been sympathetic to her for having been abused. I also agree that there’s too much about bees.
I am 100% with you on spoilers, which is why I do spoiler posts. Sometimes I just like to know what is going to happen, sometimes I want to see where the book is going and if I want to go there (in this case, not really!)
If you aren’t subscribed to either my weekly newsletter or my monthly mystery and thriller newsletter that is the best way to find out what spoiler posts are up!
I was very sympathetic to Olivia’s past (sorry if that didn’t come across) but I also felt that in the present she was so shut down that she wasn’t a good parent. Even if she was too triggered/afraid to ask her ex for the money, she could have had her brother do it. Her son was counting on her! And innocent!!
I am only a third to a halfway through the book. I would not even be this far if I hadn’t read the spoilers about Lily. There is no way that lily’s condition could have been unknown until after the start of the trial and that lacking makes the book A. less interesting and B. less thought provoking. That said the abusive relationship with the father, both fathers really, does make the book relevant, but the abuse isn’t the story and ends up being a detractor.
I thought Wish You Were Here, and The Book of Two Ways were excellent. This one, though I will finish it, does not do the subject matter or the authors any favors.
Hi JC and welcome!
Do you really think people would have known Lily’s secret when the only people she told were Maya and her mother? Now that I read your comment I wonder where she went for her medical care.
I agree that using Lily’s secret as a big reveal felt a little manipulative to me. I was really surprised, though.
As I discuss in the post, I was also not a fan of the trial as a way to create tension, or in the ending. Another commenter made some really insightful comments on the abusive fathers/husbands and I do think that element could have been strengthened and that the book could have just focused on the investigation into Lily’s death, with suspicion thrown on Asher and Lily’s father. How was there an investigation and a trial in such a short time?
I do think Jodi Picoult has written some incredible books but this wasn’t my favorite of hers. One of my favorite things about Picoult’s books is her ability to write completely distinct voices for multiple characters and I felt this was missing in Mad Honey.
I hope you’ll come back for another discussion. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
The autopsy report would have detailed it. Ava would have mentioned it as a fear for why Asher (or someone else) would have murdered her daughter. It was a secret but I am sure that Ava would have feared that the secret was what resulted in the death.
That said I felt that both stories, the abuse and the trans story, were important they just need to b e in separate books where they don’t get in the way of each other.
Yes, that makes sense. I am not a lawyer but would think that the autopsy report would be released as part of discovery.
I agree with you 1000% that these storylines would have had more breathing room in two different books. One was Olivia’s story and one was Lily’s and I do think that they sort of got in the way of each other.
Hope you will consider coming back for another discussion. I have a monthly mystery and thriller newsletter if you read those and a weekly email that updates on what I’m reading and reviewing. You can subscribe here!
I thought there would be a slip of the delusionary revelation associated with mad honey, the real hallucinogenic from Nepal, but I’ve been reading too much poetry.
It is an ignorant police procedural.
And an ignorant trans journal.
The trans woman is in high school, her boyfriend doesn’t notice her sculpted [edited: body parts] (there’s honey in reference to intimate play/scars ? The need for moisture preparation or lack of periods? He draws her nude.
I’m interested in her mom Ava… giving a little boy hormone therapy before puberty onset, what state did they have to flee from? Why did Lily attempt suicide? Trans regret?
I hadn’t thought about the title, so thanks for pointing that out! As for Asher, idk, I feel like teenage boys can be dense. And I assumed Lily’s distress was from the bullying.
Oh, yes. She had, and they had sex. And there was a reference when helping with the honey hives when lily’s fingers were sticky … so apparently really close intimacy. Did he not notice scars? The scars even thin would be there. I’ve seen plastic surgery on women for a tummy tuck to capture the silhouette, but at a water park, the bikini gets wet and the scar tissue body can’t be unseen.
She’d had a boyfriend who’d talked about her status, and she was bullied. With her affirmation mother and meds, and rejection of her father who supposedly abused her, though he talked to her boyfriend and agreed to come see her, sounded like the rejection was from her and her mother. She got overreactionary when she saw her boyfriend surprised her with her dad?
She’d just told him she’d lied about him being dead. And he looked him up and surprised her, in love.
Cite girl notwithstanding, a lot of lies and subterfuge.
There’d have been a better book if they’d ever had a bounce talk with actual adults and young adults, even juveniles/teenagers allowed to ask all the questions.
It’s just social experimental shallow, lacking depth and detail.
They’re not caught up or ignored the trans regret, the major lawsuits.