Honestly I thought this book was a bit boring: it starts with Lily's death, and very quickly Asher is arrested, but we don't see much of any procedural or potential other suspects. The fact that Lily's point of view is told backwards chronologically didn't really do anything for me. She and Asher have a very on and off relationship with a lot of silent treatment episodes, so it was hard to keep track of when in the story we were, and who already knew what information. I was thinking as I was listening: "Picoult usually has some sort of moral or ethical thing in her books, where is that?" and maybe the co-author should have been a hint to me, but the reveal that Lily was trans felt like a penny drop at about 45%. Then it became a huge focus and there are multiple chances for the authors to info-dump, instruct, and educate the reader. Through Lily's point of view, we get to see Asher and get to see their relationship, and she has kept multiple secrets (her being trans, her history, her dad) and how Asher behaves toward her and responds to her telling him her secrets. These reveals happen over the course of their relationship, and at times he is tender and sweet but at other times he scares Lily and/or responds poorly, even early on in the relationship. So I didn't feel that telling her story backward was a useful tool, just a confusing one. I liked the messages surrounding who are you truly? How much of your past is a) relevant, or b) something to share with others? Asher and Lily's relationship was juvenile and a whirlwind, we don't see a lot of development there; they are saying 'I love you' and having sex within a month or so, it was hard to feel one way or the other toward Asher-- I would have liked a little bit more of my emotions being manipulated on his character. I thought it was interesting to have Olivia comparing Asher to his father, and to wonder about her son's capacity towards anger and violence. I really liked when Olivia feels connected to Lily, both have struggled about what to reveal from their pasts, and both have struggled to determine what their history says about who they currently are. Lily's mom really got the short end of the stick throughout the whole book. Her comment: "I was grieving the loss of my son while also rejoicing in my new daughter" reminds me of a similar concept discussed in Outlander with Jenny and her pregnancy. Overall, neither point of view was amazingly tense or fun to read, Lily's point of view being told backwards was dumb, overall I was a little bored. And in the end the reveal [about the actual circumstances of what had happened] was a real let down and annoyed me. The beekeeping facts and elements were fun to learn and read about, but I'm not sure I saw the symbolism or saw a parallel to the narrative? Many reviewers talk about how this book has too many Hot Topics while also praising it for feeling like a Jodi Picoult book, which is confusing to me? Other than the judicial system and trans rights... I guess there was some minimal discussion of race, and some discussion of domestic violence... The issue of trans rights shouldn't be a hot topic or something against people's beliefs, ugh. I agree with some reviewers that there were lecture-y moments, but not that the whole book was a lecture nor 'pushing a social agenda'.