Reviews

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

shannonohannessian's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

The Bee Sting is an intergenerational saga of a dysfunctional family. Paul Murray takes his time carefully crafting the story, each new bit of information building on the last and changing what we thought we knew. We get to hear the perspectives of all four family members, past and present, as the story spirals deeper and deeper.

I absolutely adored this story and the characters. It has been so long since I was this invested in a book. I could not stop reading. I put off reading this for so long because of the length, but Murray makes nearly 700 pages feel too short. The Bee Sting is absolutely a new favorite.

katiehartsreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

readingonmountains's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

corytak's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

cynthiaelyseeh's review against another edition

Go to review page

This just didn’t interest me enough for me to read nearly 700 pages, particularly since I was about to embark on about 200 pages of a stream of consciousness from Imelda with no punctuation. I just didn’t like it enough to wade through that. 

katymorsony's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

yzma_into_it's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

vici_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

marzipan714's review against another edition

Go to review page

no because why are you not using quotations when people are having conversations? wild.

oryx27's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Floored!