Take a photo of a barcode or cover
hannahgrene's review against another edition
Readable but annoying, especially in the middle class entirely female focused on their kids mums set up.
bristoni74's review against another edition
3.0
Mean Girls for mums! Set in a primary school and follows a year in the politics and power struggles between the mum's at the school gate, p&c, etc.....enjoyable but didn't quite hit the mark.
chelseaz's review against another edition
1.0
The Hive- what a great title for a book about women's relationships and social structures within society. I picked this one up on a whim and it's been sitting on the TBR shelf catching my eye due to the cover... We all know what they say about judging a book by it's cover.
The first 70 pages- What is that?
The structure is seriously lacking. The minutes from the meetings- I can't even bring myself to dissect, they would have been better left alluded to than provided.
This novel presents multiple shifting POV's , that to begin with you aren't entirely clear how they all connect together. This in itself was not the problem, I'm happy to switch between as many different characters as you can throw at me and many of my favourite books provide multiple perspectives and unreliable narrators, no, the problem here was the execution. It just wasn't done well, I'm sorry.
I haven't researched this book but was it a debut? Was it rushed for publication? I just can't fathom how this got past editors and a publication house in this formatting.
As the novel progressed and characters became more developed I felt like the author Gill Hornby seemed to find a better footing, and there were moments where I thought YES this is what this book should be. I liked the title, the cover, I liked the idea and I was even particularly fond of one of the characters (her story I'd love to read as long as it's nothing like the rest of this book), but that's where it ended for me in terms of the elements of this book that I loved. I'd love to know how the author feels about this work now in retrospect.
The light and fluffy ending did nothing for me in regards to the issues presented sparingly within this book which included grief, depression, divorce, suicide, social standing and status, power, community, body shaming and bullying just to name a few. Too much of everything and not enough of anything. On to the next read.
The first 70 pages- What is that?
The structure is seriously lacking. The minutes from the meetings- I can't even bring myself to dissect, they would have been better left alluded to than provided.
This novel presents multiple shifting POV's , that to begin with you aren't entirely clear how they all connect together. This in itself was not the problem, I'm happy to switch between as many different characters as you can throw at me and many of my favourite books provide multiple perspectives and unreliable narrators, no, the problem here was the execution. It just wasn't done well, I'm sorry.
I haven't researched this book but was it a debut? Was it rushed for publication? I just can't fathom how this got past editors and a publication house in this formatting.
As the novel progressed and characters became more developed I felt like the author Gill Hornby seemed to find a better footing, and there were moments where I thought YES this is what this book should be. I liked the title, the cover, I liked the idea and I was even particularly fond of one of the characters (her story I'd love to read as long as it's nothing like the rest of this book), but that's where it ended for me in terms of the elements of this book that I loved. I'd love to know how the author feels about this work now in retrospect.
The light and fluffy ending did nothing for me in regards to the issues presented sparingly within this book which included grief, depression, divorce, suicide, social standing and status, power, community, body shaming and bullying just to name a few. Too much of everything and not enough of anything. On to the next read.
debumere's review against another edition
1.0
I think it was too soon to read this after 'Where'd you go, Bernadette?' Dialogue bored me. Storyline bored me. I'm sure it's a good read for some but I need books that captivate me and are full of detail etc.
Can see it being made into a British film.
I won't be watching it.
Can see it being made into a British film.
I won't be watching it.
meghanmarion's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book as part of Goodreads First Reads.
This concept behind this book was very interesting to say the least. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it at first with all the catty behavior the characters were displaying. But as I progressed through the book I began to like most of the characters and found the story to be more true to real life than I had expected. The end of the book felt rushed, but still a good ending. FYI: there's a lot of British slang in the book which can be a bit trying at time, but it gets easier understanding it as you go along.
This concept behind this book was very interesting to say the least. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it at first with all the catty behavior the characters were displaying. But as I progressed through the book I began to like most of the characters and found the story to be more true to real life than I had expected. The end of the book felt rushed, but still a good ending. FYI: there's a lot of British slang in the book which can be a bit trying at time, but it gets easier understanding it as you go along.
photoskunk's review against another edition
2.0
I typically don't have too much trouble with British novels but the British references and slang in this one frequently left me completely lost much of the time. I liked the book fine but didn't love it - it's basically the British PTA mom version of Mean Girls. I do think the author depicted female friendships fairly accurately.
mandi_m's review against another edition
4.0
Scary mums waiting outside the playground and behaving worse than their kids - this is novel has humour, pathos and women behaving badly.
katscradle's review against another edition
3.0
Basically Desperate Housewives or similar soap operas as a book but without any arc of suspense. If you like to gossip about what your neighbour was wearing on Thursday this easy-read novel will be perfect for you.
PS.: Not to be a wlw on main but...
Rachel + Melissa and Georgie + Jo are endgame. I can't change the facts, guys, but they're definitely gay.
PS.: Not to be a wlw on main but...
Rachel + Melissa and Georgie + Jo are endgame. I can't change the facts, guys, but they're definitely gay.
evelum's review against another edition
3.0
Entertaining, but I wasn't a fan of the ending, personally.
m0_x13's review against another edition
3.0
Started off to a rough start, however I'm glad this was an example of a book I was going to shelve for another week...month...year (basically until I had nothing else to read), but decided 'eh, I have nothing else to read while I sit on the toilet' and continued on reading, hoping that it got better because, well, it did. My only real complain is just one I sadly encounter often: anti-climatic ending, but it was worth the 50 cent bargain bin deal at the thrift store.