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A review by booksandbenzac
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde
3.0
I really appreciate the amount of research that the author put into this book. The overall message is very relevant in this day and age. However, I think the concept wasn't executed in the best possible way. I didn't quite feel the emotions that Maja Lunde tried to convey. It was pretty bland, at least in my opinion. The plot could've been structurized better; the author attempted to surprise the readers with some unexpected revelations but I just am not into what she did.
One thing I liked though is the advocacy, but even the advocacy felt lacking; In the part where the author was asked with: "What is something that readers can do to help combat Colony Collapse Disorder? What do you recommend people do if they’d like to help?"
She simply answered: "Keep bees. Plant bee-friendly flowers. And try to live as sustainable and green as you can." I was like... that's it? That's your advise? I mean, she didn't even go into details. No charity orgs for bees were linked. Her advise is very general which she could've expounded into a much concise and more concrete action on how to actually contribute in saving the bees.
Regardless, I learned a lot from this book. I liked the backstory of William - "Behind every great inventor are always a dozen crestfallen guys who were just a bit too late. And Savage was one of them. So there were neither riches nor honor for him or his family."
Also, I liked the dynamics between Tom and George, although I wish the author utilized Tom's inner battle between pursuing his dream in writing and continuing his father's bee farm better. If that was elaborated, the book would have been more striking.
One thing I liked though is the advocacy, but even the advocacy felt lacking; In the part where the author was asked with: "What is something that readers can do to help combat Colony Collapse Disorder? What do you recommend people do if they’d like to help?"
She simply answered: "Keep bees. Plant bee-friendly flowers. And try to live as sustainable and green as you can." I was like... that's it? That's your advise? I mean, she didn't even go into details. No charity orgs for bees were linked. Her advise is very general which she could've expounded into a much concise and more concrete action on how to actually contribute in saving the bees.
Regardless, I learned a lot from this book. I liked the backstory of William - "Behind every great inventor are always a dozen crestfallen guys who were just a bit too late. And Savage was one of them. So there were neither riches nor honor for him or his family."
Also, I liked the dynamics between Tom and George, although I wish the author utilized Tom's inner battle between pursuing his dream in writing and continuing his father's bee farm better. If that was elaborated, the book would have been more striking.