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A review by toryhallelujah
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde
3.0
2.5 stars. I had high hopes for this one, but they just weren't realized. William (the Olde England character) was such a sad sack right from the get-go, and didn't get any less pitiful as time went on. "Woe is meeeee" blah blah. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and DO something. George (modern-day) was also irritating, with his pigheadedness and inability to see that his son had lost interest long ago. "Oh, I'm also going to tease him mercilessly at every opportunity and then get offended when he gets pissed off." Plus his impotent breakdowns at the end just reeked of bathos. Finally, Tao, our link to future China: I knew what had happened as soon as they found her son, so then the whole rest of her story arc was just spent twiddling my thumbs, waiting for her to figure out what I already knew, and the way the stories all linked up at the end was anticlimactic.
Despite being a drastic warning to SAVE THE BEES, this book didn't actually offer any helpful suggestions as to what we can do! Is it just meant to be a warning? Just to draw attention to the plight? Because I think we know about the plight already -- I want steps to take to help out.
Stylistically, I don't know if it was a result of the translation from Norwegian, but the comma-spliced sentences the whole way through was not my favorite thing. I thought at first that maybe it was going to be Tao's signature style, but it resurfaced in every storyline. I rounded up to 3 instead of down to 2 stars on my rating to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Despite being a drastic warning to SAVE THE BEES, this book didn't actually offer any helpful suggestions as to what we can do! Is it just meant to be a warning? Just to draw attention to the plight? Because I think we know about the plight already -- I want steps to take to help out.
Stylistically, I don't know if it was a result of the translation from Norwegian, but the comma-spliced sentences the whole way through was not my favorite thing. I thought at first that maybe it was going to be Tao's signature style, but it resurfaced in every storyline. I rounded up to 3 instead of down to 2 stars on my rating to give it the benefit of the doubt.