Reviews

The Bees by Laline Paull

ktrex's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

dendrodev's review

informative fast-paced

2.75

Pretty weird book!

protoman21's review

3.0

Well, I was looking for something different, and I certainly got that. It started out interesting enough, but the longer it went on, the more I stopped caring. I think partly because there was only really the one character and although some of the details of the working of the hive was interesting, there was far too much detail that felt made up and not scientific. I certainly applaud Paull for trying something new, but I'm afraid I can't recommend this to anyone.

betseyboo's review

3.0

I thought the concept behind this novel was great, but it failed in different ways for me even though it did give me a very different perspective on bees.

shinyscout's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

piazelda's review

adventurous challenging inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

roseteareads's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Handmaids Tale meets Watership Down is a more apt comparison. Paull pretty much takes the hierarchal structure and life cycle of a bee to create a story that reads like a engaging dystopian novel. I love the elements of worldbuilding that she incorporates with how hives IRL actually function. 

drsurgeonguy's review

5.0

Gosh I hate that "X meets Y!" tagline...

It's like a book that Don Bluth would've made a movie of, and the ending made me cry.

it's not very realistic to bees, is the main criticism I hear and just... I mean, bees don't talk, and sometimes facts need to be sidelined for the sake of the story.

One of the best stand-a-lone books I've read in years.

hkaube's review

4.0

Interesting all the way through but it wasn't until about half way through that I really started to get invested in the characters and story. Still, it was like no other story I've read before and for that alone, it was well worth it! 

jewelleryjen's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5