Reviews

The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai

kybrz's review against another edition

4.0

A fantastic modern-day fable. Told from several POV but focusing primarily on Sidi, a hermetic beekeeper, and his girls (the aforementioned bees). Manai conflates the drama surrounding an individual beehive with the greater drama taking over his country. Post-Arab Spring, a religious sect trying to sway an upcoming election through charity and gifts creates an unintended rising in fundamentalism in tandem with releasing an infestation of murder hornets. The book is a brief and thought-provoking look at a country extremely similar to the author's native Tunisia.

mighty_lizard_queen's review

2.0

Boring and heavy handed; the handful of attempts of humor weren’t funny (fart jokes? really?) and felt out of place from the rest of the narrative

annetjeberg's review

4.0

Set in a fictional Arabic country, but so much truth to it. I really enjoyed The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai.

Wonderful story, and so much that is so closely tied to reality...

amylynn79's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

zellm's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked this book. I liked the allegories here, and found the beekeeping parts to be the most interesting thing in the whole book. I think although the symbolism is pretty obvious here, it is well done and provides a great image. Really well done.

alex2023's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

acanca9's review against another edition

reflective

4.5

kmdooley's review

4.0

GLT Reading Challenge 2021, #4 - A book translated from another language, #5 - A book related to Africa, #32 - A book set in the opposite hemisphere you live in, #39 - A book related to an Arab country

Read Harder Challenge 2021, #3 - a non-European novel in translation

debmed's review

adventurous informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

sandyyeahyeah's review

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0