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angelic712's review
3.0
An interesting tale about growing up and deciding for yourself instead of blindly following what you are taught. I enjoyed the book and it’s premise and the characters were mostly interesting but there was just something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on which left the book a little flat to me.
2frangipani2's review
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-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? No
4.0
alwroteabook's review
5.0
In a fit of whimsy, I hereby announce I will give everyone five stars, but the reviews may not reflect it.
My latest review for SPFBO8 is up on Booknest.eu - https://booknest.eu/reviews/spfbo/2456-queen-of-the-warrior-bees-natural-forces-1-by-jean-gill
My latest review for SPFBO8 is up on Booknest.eu - https://booknest.eu/reviews/spfbo/2456-queen-of-the-warrior-bees-natural-forces-1-by-jean-gill
malena_t's review
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
annelouise's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
geoffnelder's review against another edition
5.0
I have a long affinity with bees dating back to the 1960s when a pal and I were attacked by a swarm while canoeing along the River Severn near Tewkesbury. I retain some of the sting bumps on my neck. I forgive them, indeed I think instead of venom they injected me with apimania – an obsessive love of bees. So much so that I named a spacecraft Apoidea (a taxonomic group within the Hymenoptera containing bees) manned by a feisty astronaut in my first scifi novel, EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEE.
QUEEN OF THE WARRIOR BEES is quite different although the author’s admiration for our buzzing insects is evident. As is her love of sensory show. The young protagonist, Mielitta (Miel is French for honey) has conflicts with both men and bees, but resolution arrives when she escapes into the mysterious Forest. She discovers a bee symbol on her thigh and a concerning shape-shifting experience means she can be both human and bee. Fascinating to live through as a reader the scents, and sounds, vibrations and wiggle-dances! Mielitta “saw smells…in colours and book-words”. Love that. Also like the metaphors eg “you’re lighting a fire under the wrong chimney”
This novel takes you “through a door into the library where books come to life” and stimulates those imaginative cells eager to read something different, rich and rewarding. Jean Gill, “the stones be with you.”
QUEEN OF THE WARRIOR BEES is quite different although the author’s admiration for our buzzing insects is evident. As is her love of sensory show. The young protagonist, Mielitta (Miel is French for honey) has conflicts with both men and bees, but resolution arrives when she escapes into the mysterious Forest. She discovers a bee symbol on her thigh and a concerning shape-shifting experience means she can be both human and bee. Fascinating to live through as a reader the scents, and sounds, vibrations and wiggle-dances! Mielitta “saw smells…in colours and book-words”. Love that. Also like the metaphors eg “you’re lighting a fire under the wrong chimney”
This novel takes you “through a door into the library where books come to life” and stimulates those imaginative cells eager to read something different, rich and rewarding. Jean Gill, “the stones be with you.”
carabellacullen's review
4.0
Queen of the Warrior Bees (Natural Forces Book 1) by Jean Gill
4 Stars !!!!
One of the greatest joys in a readers life is finding new authors and new series.
In this book I have found both. This book was a nice breath of fresh air . I found the characters were very well presented and I felt as though I was there amongst them. The author draws you right into the book. I didn’t want to put the book down
I found myself relating to Mielitta the way she felt like a freak. I found the authors style to really draw me into the book more I like how it wasn’t predictable. I found it quite well written and the author draws out the intrigue around Mielitta just enough to keep you at the edge of your seat. I like how she was actually special and that she doesn’t have to fight the citadel alone . I will definitely be reading more from this author and series in the future.
4 Stars !!!!
One of the greatest joys in a readers life is finding new authors and new series.
In this book I have found both. This book was a nice breath of fresh air . I found the characters were very well presented and I felt as though I was there amongst them. The author draws you right into the book. I didn’t want to put the book down
I found myself relating to Mielitta the way she felt like a freak. I found the authors style to really draw me into the book more I like how it wasn’t predictable. I found it quite well written and the author draws out the intrigue around Mielitta just enough to keep you at the edge of your seat. I like how she was actually special and that she doesn’t have to fight the citadel alone . I will definitely be reading more from this author and series in the future.
roxsannel's review
5.0
Mielitta is an eighteen year old girl, she is a servant in the Citadel of Perfection and she is despised by everyone around her and as hard as she tries to be invisible, there are ones who torment her relentlessly, but there are also those who ignore her as if she was never friends with them in the first place, this has led her to a life of loneliness and the only solace she finds is in the archery classes she runs with the children and the skill she has built up in it over the years. She also enjoys reading in the library when she has done her servants work, she is able to absorb the information like a sponge and this has led to a fascination with the Forest outside the Citadel, but whenever she tries to ask about it, she is tongue tied, she also suspects that the Maturity Test which she is not ready to take stops the adults from talking about it as well. Life in the Citadel is bland for Mielitta, just like the food and water they consume, the greylight which changes depending on the time of day and the building materials used to build her home.
When she wakes up on her eighteenth birthday, she receives a mysterious gift with a small phial of liquid and a riddle contained inside, the riddle makes no sense to her, but the liquid is full of scents and she is enthralled by them, but she is shocked to find that when she wears it, nobody around her can smell it. When she is given the task of taking refreshments to the Council Chamber, she discovers that something has happened in the outer defences and that the Forest beyond is gaining strength and preparing to attack Perfection, but when the conversation turns to the Forest and it’s dangers, Mielitta is wondering if the loss she has felt all her life is Nature, then something happens which shocks her to the core and she gains knowledge of how to access it, but as they declare that her mind has to be wiped of this knowledge, she quickly has to store it away somewhere they cannot get to it, but she can.
The next day she accidentally spills the last of the liquid on herself and the scent is overpowering, bus she soon gets lost in her daily activities and it becomes part of the background and while she is doing this, she uses the time to make a decision about her future and when she goes to visit her father and talk to him about it, her hopes of making it happen are dashed when someone takes the place she wanted, she rushes out to escape the sadness this causes her and instead heads to where she stored the memories, not believing that she would really find them, but when she does and it all comes rushing back to her, she is disturbed by her tormentors. They taunt Mielitta and when she dares to fight back, they proceed to chase her, she heads towards the gate where the memories guide her, she says the words and escapes into the Forest. When she gets out there, she feels, sees and experiences things for the first time and is drawn in deeper as she examines everything she sees, when she comes across a beehive and opens it, she is attacked by the bees within it.
When she wakes up after the ordeal, she sees all the dead bees around her, but when they disappear into an ultraviolet light, she discovers that she can also feel them within herself, however, she just ignores the buzzing and changes to her sight and other senses and returns to the citadel so that she isn’t missed. The next day when she discovers that there is an outline of a bee on her thigh, she also realises that she can hear the bees, she decides that this was her Maturity Test and she devises a plan to take the opportunity to become a woman on the outside to match the woman within her, it is after she has done this that she discovers a plot within the Citadel and the dangers associated with it while she is in the library, she also discovers the ability she has to be called to aid the bees in the hive she now belongs to.
Will Mielitta be able to use her new status and the bees help to foil the plot against the Forest, or will those who want to hurt her and the Forest succeed and wipe out everything outside of the Citadel and keep it in the Perfect state they want? This is a brilliant journey of personal discovery, danger and the wonders of nature which keeps you enthralled as plots are discovered and decisions are made which affect more than just Mielitta.
When she wakes up on her eighteenth birthday, she receives a mysterious gift with a small phial of liquid and a riddle contained inside, the riddle makes no sense to her, but the liquid is full of scents and she is enthralled by them, but she is shocked to find that when she wears it, nobody around her can smell it. When she is given the task of taking refreshments to the Council Chamber, she discovers that something has happened in the outer defences and that the Forest beyond is gaining strength and preparing to attack Perfection, but when the conversation turns to the Forest and it’s dangers, Mielitta is wondering if the loss she has felt all her life is Nature, then something happens which shocks her to the core and she gains knowledge of how to access it, but as they declare that her mind has to be wiped of this knowledge, she quickly has to store it away somewhere they cannot get to it, but she can.
The next day she accidentally spills the last of the liquid on herself and the scent is overpowering, bus she soon gets lost in her daily activities and it becomes part of the background and while she is doing this, she uses the time to make a decision about her future and when she goes to visit her father and talk to him about it, her hopes of making it happen are dashed when someone takes the place she wanted, she rushes out to escape the sadness this causes her and instead heads to where she stored the memories, not believing that she would really find them, but when she does and it all comes rushing back to her, she is disturbed by her tormentors. They taunt Mielitta and when she dares to fight back, they proceed to chase her, she heads towards the gate where the memories guide her, she says the words and escapes into the Forest. When she gets out there, she feels, sees and experiences things for the first time and is drawn in deeper as she examines everything she sees, when she comes across a beehive and opens it, she is attacked by the bees within it.
When she wakes up after the ordeal, she sees all the dead bees around her, but when they disappear into an ultraviolet light, she discovers that she can also feel them within herself, however, she just ignores the buzzing and changes to her sight and other senses and returns to the citadel so that she isn’t missed. The next day when she discovers that there is an outline of a bee on her thigh, she also realises that she can hear the bees, she decides that this was her Maturity Test and she devises a plan to take the opportunity to become a woman on the outside to match the woman within her, it is after she has done this that she discovers a plot within the Citadel and the dangers associated with it while she is in the library, she also discovers the ability she has to be called to aid the bees in the hive she now belongs to.
Will Mielitta be able to use her new status and the bees help to foil the plot against the Forest, or will those who want to hurt her and the Forest succeed and wipe out everything outside of the Citadel and keep it in the Perfect state they want? This is a brilliant journey of personal discovery, danger and the wonders of nature which keeps you enthralled as plots are discovered and decisions are made which affect more than just Mielitta.
katie_83's review
4.0
Queen of the Warrior Bees
By Jean Gill
4 stars
I took a step out of my comfort zone when I decided to give this book a read and overall I enjoyed it. It did take me a little time to get into and there were times when I wasn’t completely sure it was the book for me but I persevered and I’m glad I did. I think there is definitely more to the book than the blurb leads you to believe, the author’s detailed writing was good (however a little too much at times) and the story did have a good pace and flow to it. One of the things I did like about the book was how original and unpredictable it was and I certainly had to think about what I was reading to find the deeper meaning. The main character wasn’t quite what I was expecting and it took me a while to understand her however as the story went on I began to see the direction the author was trying to take her in.
Overall an interesting read and would definitely recommend it to readers who are looking for something a little different to try out.
By Jean Gill
4 stars
I took a step out of my comfort zone when I decided to give this book a read and overall I enjoyed it. It did take me a little time to get into and there were times when I wasn’t completely sure it was the book for me but I persevered and I’m glad I did. I think there is definitely more to the book than the blurb leads you to believe, the author’s detailed writing was good (however a little too much at times) and the story did have a good pace and flow to it. One of the things I did like about the book was how original and unpredictable it was and I certainly had to think about what I was reading to find the deeper meaning. The main character wasn’t quite what I was expecting and it took me a while to understand her however as the story went on I began to see the direction the author was trying to take her in.
Overall an interesting read and would definitely recommend it to readers who are looking for something a little different to try out.