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renatasnacks's review against another edition
4.0
This one's going to stick with me. Very thought-provoking.
todayisnot's review against another edition
5.0
Picked this up for the 2019 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge. The characters were incredibly nuanced and the way they unfolded as the story progressed was pretty enthralling.
bookishcat23's review against another edition
3.0
I always enjoy a good book about families and how one event can trigger changes for everyone in the family. This novel is a good example of that. The ending disappointed me though. I think I know what Goldberg was trying to do, the idea that Eliza thinks all the changes are results of her winning a spelling bee and thus she can undo everything by purposely losing, but it proved for an unsatisfying ending. What about the journey that Eliza's success fostered? Her confidence in herself? Her closer relationship with her father? The message seems almost that she must lose those things in an effort to fix her family but you know it will never work.
vanessakm's review against another edition
3.0
Well, you can't say Myla Goldberg isn't original. This is the story of Eliza, a young girl considered unexceptional by her traditional Jewish father and overlooked in favor of her older brother. Until, that is, she develops an unusual talent for spelling. Her father becomes convinced her skill is tied to Jewish mysticism and Eliza soon replaces her brother's place at her father's side as he coaches her for the big spelling bee. The father is so obsessed with the Kabbalah and his daughter that his neglected son and wife seek out unique and questionable alternate routes to fulfillment.
I really liked the first half of the book about this sad, dysfunctional family. I am guessing Goldberg is making an observation about strict and unquestioning religious discipline more often leading to unhappiness and alienation rather than an imagined and hoped for state of enlightenment but I can't say for sure. The second half became too soggy with esoteric mysticism for me and I don't know what to make of the ending. Your mileage may vary.
I really liked the first half of the book about this sad, dysfunctional family. I am guessing Goldberg is making an observation about strict and unquestioning religious discipline more often leading to unhappiness and alienation rather than an imagined and hoped for state of enlightenment but I can't say for sure. The second half became too soggy with esoteric mysticism for me and I don't know what to make of the ending. Your mileage may vary.
kriska_82's review
3.0
One of those books I'm glad I read, but left me shaking my head. This family is so messed up and twisted up in their own junk, that when Eliza comes with this amazing ability, it just gets screwed up and messed up instead of kept in it's pure form. Movie was definitely lacking.
jannie_mtl's review against another edition
5.0
An incredible feat of a first novel. Of a tenth novel for that matter.
This is the story of a family and the secrets held by each of the members. Told over the arc of two seasons of spelling bees, the relationships between the various dyads are very finely drawn. Each family member is experiencing a kind of very personal suffering or angst, and the novel weaves their stories into a sort of coat of many colours.
It is not a sad book per se, but we meet these characters as they struggle to be true to themselves with sometimes unexpected results.
Highly recommended.
This is the story of a family and the secrets held by each of the members. Told over the arc of two seasons of spelling bees, the relationships between the various dyads are very finely drawn. Each family member is experiencing a kind of very personal suffering or angst, and the novel weaves their stories into a sort of coat of many colours.
It is not a sad book per se, but we meet these characters as they struggle to be true to themselves with sometimes unexpected results.
Highly recommended.
calamity3jane's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favorite novels, this story of a family revolves around the search for redemption. Abraham Abulafia's 11th century kabbalistic meditations are applied to a present day attempt to find illumination via spelling bees. An odd and lovely story of search and obsession chronicles a family of seekers as each follows thier particular path.
thrifty_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
Eliza, an average fifth-grader, wins her school spelling bee, to her and every else’s surprise. As she goes on to more serious spelling competitions, her family members begin to question their own choices. Her 16-year-old brother considers converting from Judaism to another religion; her insomniac mother begins making strange trips to other neighborhoods; and her academic father reveals what’s really in all the books in his library. Eliza herself tries to figure out what she wants out of spelling and where she fits in her family.
I hated the narration. A lot. It was third-person omniscient, in present tense throughout, despite the fact that it moves in time. (“ Kaitlin read this book last week, and is thinking, ‘Huh, why does cousin Ali make me read this book?’ Now next Tuesday I am having a snack and thinking about seeing Despicable Me 2 last weekend. I am sitting in the top row, watching the minions…’)
I loved Miriam, the unstable mother, who was the only fully formed and understandable character, despite her mental illness. I found the brother’s story implausible and thought his mind worked more like a child’s. The father was OK but pointless.
I wish this book had been written from the mother’s perspective and touched on every member of the family, but without going into the details of their childhoods. With each character given equal weight, the story became overwrought with each character’s version of “but what does it all mean?” resulting in no cogent story at all. And, seriously, who questions his life because his kid sister can spell ‘neighbor’?
I would give this book 2.5 stars, though I dislike it more now that I've read my own review :-)
I hated the narration. A lot. It was third-person omniscient, in present tense throughout, despite the fact that it moves in time. (“ Kaitlin read this book last week, and is thinking, ‘Huh, why does cousin Ali make me read this book?’ Now next Tuesday I am having a snack and thinking about seeing Despicable Me 2 last weekend. I am sitting in the top row, watching the minions…’)
I loved Miriam, the unstable mother, who was the only fully formed and understandable character, despite her mental illness. I found the brother’s story implausible and thought his mind worked more like a child’s. The father was OK but pointless.
I wish this book had been written from the mother’s perspective and touched on every member of the family, but without going into the details of their childhoods. With each character given equal weight, the story became overwrought with each character’s version of “but what does it all mean?” resulting in no cogent story at all. And, seriously, who questions his life because his kid sister can spell ‘neighbor’?
I would give this book 2.5 stars, though I dislike it more now that I've read my own review :-)
wendel's review
3.0
Do not read Bee Season if you want books to be a comforting blanket. But if you enjoy a little discomfort in a while, and want to experience a dysfunctional family, let Goldberg take you for a ride with the Naumanns.
mgrumet's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5