A review by chiming_bells
Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Book club pick: 

About two women who wouldn’t normally be friends going on a journey together to find a golden beetle.  Questions to the author - Why do you make them so 2 dimensional. One is a big lady who was a home economics teacher and had a mid life crisis, the other likes to sleep around in order to get preggers. Why is that 
their sole personality. It’s just boring vs quirky - but she’s not quirky - she’s just boring - It’s not enough

Content wise - You could predict the end without opening the book. I might test this. I might ask my friends what they think happens. it was fine, I shed a tear, and laughed once at the vision of miss benson mounting a  mule sideways. That’s it. 

Gahhh this has made me angry. Why was there no creativity! It was just a report of someone packing for a holiday, and then unpacking once they got there with a bit of friendship and self discovery thrown in. 

The lines that were announced as  “philosophy” really were as  basic as “live, laugh, love”. 

Plus  and possibly worst, I didn’t learn a single thing about insects. Beetle is in the title - give me more bug facts! You can chuck in a few more around the drivel about making friends, I promise. Teach me something!

What a wasted opportunity of a published novel.