You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
sunday_evening 's review for:
Hour of the Bees
by Lindsay Eagar
Read back in March so excuse possible small inaccuracies.
Hour of the Bees had a lot of great things in it, but you can tell it’s a debut novel. The prose was extremely well-written and rich in poetic imagery, which I live and breath for. The pacing felt a little slow sometimes, but it’s still a fairly quick and easy read. Even though it’s a middle grade book, Carol still felt relatable and all the characters worked their way into my heart. I listened to the audiobook, which really brought Serge’s stories to life.
I’m not going to nitpick too much, since it is a middle grade book, but I’d say from about 50-75% through the book, the the plot kind of got away from me. The story felt really bogged down all of a sudden, and it felt like nothing was happening. But the last quarter of the book picks up and gets back on track. The ending felt satisfying, but bittersweet. It’s not going to shatter your soul or anything, but a tear or two will probably be shed. There are a few plot holes, but again, not going to nitpick.
Not to get on a tangent at the end here, but Carol’s dad actually low-key sucks. When he left Serge alone with Carol and Alta, and then shouted at Carol after she lost Serge and he ruined Carol’s dad’s cement job. Like I’m sorry, you really thought nothing would happen when you left a DEMENTIA-ADDLED old man alone with a TWELVE YEAR OLD????? What??????? And I know he said Alta was in charge, and but A. Alta’s 16, and still a child and B. He couldn’t have actually thought that Alta would do anything to help Carol, right??? He knows how irresponsible Alta is. And him blowing up at Carol for losing her grandpa when she’s very clearly upset about it and was actively trying to find him, when again, she’s TWELVE YEARS OLD is so uncalled for and completely out of line. And he never apologizes, which just put salt into the wound. Other than that, I enjoyed this book and it was a decent debut novel.
Hour of the Bees had a lot of great things in it, but you can tell it’s a debut novel. The prose was extremely well-written and rich in poetic imagery, which I live and breath for. The pacing felt a little slow sometimes, but it’s still a fairly quick and easy read. Even though it’s a middle grade book, Carol still felt relatable and all the characters worked their way into my heart. I listened to the audiobook, which really brought Serge’s stories to life.
I’m not going to nitpick too much, since it is a middle grade book, but I’d say from about 50-75% through the book, the the plot kind of got away from me. The story felt really bogged down all of a sudden, and it felt like nothing was happening. But the last quarter of the book picks up and gets back on track. The ending felt satisfying, but bittersweet. It’s not going to shatter your soul or anything, but a tear or two will probably be shed. There are a few plot holes, but again, not going to nitpick.
Not to get on a tangent at the end here, but Carol’s dad actually low-key sucks. When he left Serge alone with Carol and Alta, and then shouted at Carol after she lost Serge and he ruined Carol’s dad’s cement job. Like I’m sorry, you really thought nothing would happen when you left a DEMENTIA-ADDLED old man alone with a TWELVE YEAR OLD????? What??????? And I know he said Alta was in charge, and but A. Alta’s 16, and still a child and B. He couldn’t have actually thought that Alta would do anything to help Carol, right??? He knows how irresponsible Alta is. And him blowing up at Carol for losing her grandpa when she’s very clearly upset about it and was actively trying to find him, when again, she’s TWELVE YEARS OLD is so uncalled for and completely out of line. And he never apologizes, which just put salt into the wound. Other than that, I enjoyed this book and it was a decent debut novel.