A review by aburnss
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

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

3.5

The Bee Sting is a book that explores complex family dynamics and the deep flaws that lurk beneath the surface of a seemingly normal family. With that being said, this was a book with a plot that was a bit outside of my comfort zone. I need to stop picking up books with major
rape
plot lines. Other major themes included
alcoholism, closeted affairs, blackmail, and grooming / near pedophilia
to name some of the more sinister hidden secrets. While these major issues were well written they made me dislike almost every character for their values and behaviors. 

The writing structure of the book was interesting. We follow the perspective of each family member (daughter, son, mother, father) for a long dedicated section of the book and then switch between all characters as their stories converge and the plot thickens. This style was well done and created depth with each character, although I'll admit I forgot much of Cass's story by the time we circled back to her since the book is so long. 

I also appreciated the way that the narrative style changed with each character, especially Imelda's sections written without any punctuation. I would consider this a stylistically clever novel.

With that being said, there were several elements of the book that pulled me out of it and left me dissatisfied. Due to the major flaws in all the characters, I didn't find myself rooting for any of them. They all make disgusting and horrible choices and while they can be understood by the backstories of the characters I still didn't like the characters as people. Additionally, it felt like the book was trying too hard to be progressive with
two family members being gay and too many graphic sex scenes for my preference
. I wouldn't necessarily mind that in itself, but
the sexuality of those characters
ended up being the driving point of their entire storylines which felt tedious. 

One of the best parts of the book was the ending. The way that the narratives start
switching between characters in paragraphs rather than chapters
as things come to a head had me on the edge of my seat and I loved that the book ended with a
slightly open-ended conclusion of not knowing if Dickie mistakenly shoots the kids, but all the foreshadowing of the novel leading one to conclude that is more than likely what happens
. The way that the characters own flaws and decisions catch up to them was
satisfying rather than tragic to me as their series of horrible decisions left a poor taste in my mouth. The way that Imelda finally chooses against her affair by remembering that her and Dickie are together in life for the kids right before Dickie mistakenly shoots the kids thinking they were his blackmailer was brilliant. Especially as we simultaneously learn that her affair partner was likely just killed. The two most innocent characters dying for the grave mistakes of their parents was impactful.


I may think back on this book in the future for the amazing conclusion, but I really didn't enjoy reading it for the majority of the story. If you don't mind reading books where key elements of the plot revolve around
the character's sexuality
and you don't mind
graphic sex / rape scenes
then you might enjoy the morally grey (dark grey?) characters and the payoff in the final ~15% of the book.
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