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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
It’s been three months since I read The Bees by Laline Paull and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s been awhile since I’ve fallen hard for a novel. After staying up late into the wee hours binge reading it, I couldn’t even fall asleep. The Bees is a dystopian novel toted by the publisher as “The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games.” I’m not a big fan of describing a novel with another novel (or in this case, two), but now looking back, I think the description is apt.
Who knew that a novel entirely about the caste system of a beehive would draw me so completely? Flora is a sanitation worker, the lowest caste of her beehive. She and her sisters are deemed as dirty because they do jobs no other bees want. Even though Flora was born into her job, she is not like other bees. She is curious about everything, including the jobs her other sisters have. Her love and worship of the queen, who spreads her love daily through a release of pheromones, keeps her loyal to the hives.
However, she struggles between following the rules and following her heart to do more, be more, and mean more than just a sanitation worker. Her desire to become more than her caste can destroy her hive and life as she knows it.
Read the rest of the review here: http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/review-bees-laline-paull/
Who knew that a novel entirely about the caste system of a beehive would draw me so completely? Flora is a sanitation worker, the lowest caste of her beehive. She and her sisters are deemed as dirty because they do jobs no other bees want. Even though Flora was born into her job, she is not like other bees. She is curious about everything, including the jobs her other sisters have. Her love and worship of the queen, who spreads her love daily through a release of pheromones, keeps her loyal to the hives.
However, she struggles between following the rules and following her heart to do more, be more, and mean more than just a sanitation worker. Her desire to become more than her caste can destroy her hive and life as she knows it.
Read the rest of the review here: http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/review-bees-laline-paull/
It’s been three months since I read The Bees by Laline Paull and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s been awhile since I’ve fallen hard for a novel. After staying up late into the wee hours binge reading it, I couldn’t even fall asleep. The Bees is a dystopian novel toted by the publisher as “The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games.” I’m not a big fan of describing a novel with another novel (or in this case, two), but now looking back, I think the description is apt.
Who knew that a novel entirely about the caste system of a beehive would draw me so completely? Flora is a sanitation worker, the lowest caste of her beehive. She and her sisters are deemed as dirty because they do jobs no other bees want. Even though Flora was born into her job, she is not like other bees. She is curious about everything, including the jobs her other sisters have. Her love and worship of the queen, who spreads her love daily through a release of pheromones, keeps her loyal to the hives.
However, she struggles between following the rules and following her heart to do more, be more, and mean more than just a sanitation worker. Her desire to become more than her caste can destroy her hive and life as she knows it.
Read the rest of the review here: http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/review-bees-laline-paull/
Who knew that a novel entirely about the caste system of a beehive would draw me so completely? Flora is a sanitation worker, the lowest caste of her beehive. She and her sisters are deemed as dirty because they do jobs no other bees want. Even though Flora was born into her job, she is not like other bees. She is curious about everything, including the jobs her other sisters have. Her love and worship of the queen, who spreads her love daily through a release of pheromones, keeps her loyal to the hives.
However, she struggles between following the rules and following her heart to do more, be more, and mean more than just a sanitation worker. Her desire to become more than her caste can destroy her hive and life as she knows it.
Read the rest of the review here: http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/review-bees-laline-paull/
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
didnt really enjoy it, a stretch too far for me, and kind of pointless. I know im in the minority but this one wasnt for me
This took me a while to read, in comparison with the other books I have recently been storming through. I've read books from animal viewpoints and the like before, but there was always a lot more fantasy and anthropomorphism than in this.
Flora-717 and her kind were distinctly insect, and very alien as a result. Thanks to my Mum I know a fair bit about bees, so I was constantly scanning this for slipups, just through habit- most of it actually seemed to stand up to scrutiny however, which I was pleased about. There was, of course, some artistic licence, although it mostly seemed to fit.
How can you make a story about a bee colony in a hive? I found myself wondering this more than once, as the story seemed to stagnate at various points, and only the desire to actually read, rather than find out the story, kept me going at the pace that I was. There were parts that were repetitive and slow, and didn't seem to connect. There were no characters to really respond to, apart from perhaps Linden, who by the end, I couldn't quite work out my feelings towards; a spoiled brat, the underdog, an unpleasant drone, a hero? Who knows. Personality and character was distinctly lacking; it worked for a while, here and there, adding to the alien of the colony, but I found myself disengaging fairly often due to a lack of interest in any sort of character development.
Very different, but not sure I'd hurry to read it or anything similar again.
Flora-717 and her kind were distinctly insect, and very alien as a result. Thanks to my Mum I know a fair bit about bees, so I was constantly scanning this for slipups, just through habit- most of it actually seemed to stand up to scrutiny however, which I was pleased about. There was, of course, some artistic licence, although it mostly seemed to fit.
How can you make a story about a bee colony in a hive? I found myself wondering this more than once, as the story seemed to stagnate at various points, and only the desire to actually read, rather than find out the story, kept me going at the pace that I was. There were parts that were repetitive and slow, and didn't seem to connect. There were no characters to really respond to, apart from perhaps Linden, who by the end, I couldn't quite work out my feelings towards; a spoiled brat, the underdog, an unpleasant drone, a hero? Who knows. Personality and character was distinctly lacking; it worked for a while, here and there, adding to the alien of the colony, but I found myself disengaging fairly often due to a lack of interest in any sort of character development.
Very different, but not sure I'd hurry to read it or anything similar again.
This story is so well written. Unlike anything else I've read before, it was really unique. I loved the story and felt myself understanding the cult-like culture of the hive. There were intensely graphic moments that I found disturbing at first but reminded myself it was the natural order of animals. Highly recommend this book
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was very strange to read because it was about bees. Now I know I knew the book was about bees before I read it, but that didn’t stop it being a strange read.
I think I would have benefitted from knowing more facts about bees before reading - such as bees can reproduce asexually. At times the language used and the writing confused me, and I didn’t always understand what was happening.
It was a fascinating read, I learned a lot about bees… I also now feel pretty guilty about enjoying honey.
I think I would have benefitted from knowing more facts about bees before reading - such as bees can reproduce asexually. At times the language used and the writing confused me, and I didn’t always understand what was happening.
It was a fascinating read, I learned a lot about bees… I also now feel pretty guilty about enjoying honey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
This book was surprisingly amazing. I kept hearing this was literally about a bee, and I was very skeptical. I'm awed at how the author was able to make bees so relatable without the story coming off too childish. The writing was so good I was invested in this story right away. Now having finished it has revealed just how fascinating the little creatures are.
This was one heck of a ride! It takes until around the 50% mark to really pick up action-wise, but the first 50% focuses on introducing you to the structure of the hive and the different groups of bees and their functions. It has strong dystopian vibes, and half the time I was trying to decide which things were really bee things, and which things the author made up for the sake of the story. It was super weird at times, and really just a fascinating read, I definitely need to research bees now.