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A review by amandacole
The Hive by Gill Hornby
2.0
I received this book free from the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Hive is the story of a group of middle-aged mothers of schoolchildren. It's got an ensemble cast, which, if done well, can be very entertaining (think of A Casual Vacancy -- no real single plot, but lots of characters to follow). It has a little bit of drama, albeit quite petty. The characters have a goal. Well, sort of. In theory, it should be something really great.
In reality, though, it has some issues.
First, the characters. When you have an ensemble cast and no real plot, you need really, really good characters. They need to be well-rounded, fully developed, and interesting. No one really cares whether a group of women bickers over who's in charge of which fundraising activities for their kids' school. That shouldn't have been the main thread tying things together, in my opinion. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, and I didn't really care what happened to any of them. They seemed immature, petty, and cliquey, and I wouldn't want to be friends with any of them. Their cult-like following of Bea to the exclusion of others when Bea says so is incredibly frustrating, and I can't understand just why I'm supposed to care about women who can't or won't think for themselves. The more interesting story, in my opinion, would have been Bea's, but we hardly glimpse her side of things. I'd love to know why she's so awful. Is there anything redeeming about her at all? I'm not so sure there is.
Second, the dialogue. All I can really say here is: oh dear. I know that in real life some people go around saying things like "lolz" and "omg" and "btw," but for the most part, that language is confined to text messages, not spoken language. To me, it was disrupting and a bit lazy. Couldn't these women have expressed themselves better, without using tween slang? It was disappointing, and it pulled me out of the narrative of the book to read it. Characters don't need to sound totally stoic, but using these abbreviations isn't necessary to make them sound real.
Third, the writing. It was a bit unpolished. A lot of things were thrown in that probably didn't need to be there. I'm still not sure why the entire quiz from the quiz event shows up in the book. I understand that the characters interacted in between, but I don't think putting every question in the book in all caps was at all useful in moving the narrative forward or in creating a compelling story.
There were a few things I liked. I liked the idea immensely. I'd love to read about what are essentially PTA moms as part of an ensemble cast. I just wish there were more interesting secrets, more facets to their personalities, more depth to their interactions, and more variation in the types of things we see. How many meetings and fundraising events gone awry can we really enjoy in one book? I also liked that the book was split into parts according to the school term. It made a lot of sense to me, and it worked.
Overall, though, I just couldn't stay interested in this book. It was a struggle to keep going because I just couldn't find something I really cared about to keep me reading. I think it could have been very interesting, but it really fell flat. Without a plot, the characters should have been stronger and more unique. It was a good effort, but the execution was only so-so.
The Hive is the story of a group of middle-aged mothers of schoolchildren. It's got an ensemble cast, which, if done well, can be very entertaining (think of A Casual Vacancy -- no real single plot, but lots of characters to follow). It has a little bit of drama, albeit quite petty. The characters have a goal. Well, sort of. In theory, it should be something really great.
In reality, though, it has some issues.
First, the characters. When you have an ensemble cast and no real plot, you need really, really good characters. They need to be well-rounded, fully developed, and interesting. No one really cares whether a group of women bickers over who's in charge of which fundraising activities for their kids' school. That shouldn't have been the main thread tying things together, in my opinion. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, and I didn't really care what happened to any of them. They seemed immature, petty, and cliquey, and I wouldn't want to be friends with any of them. Their cult-like following of Bea to the exclusion of others when Bea says so is incredibly frustrating, and I can't understand just why I'm supposed to care about women who can't or won't think for themselves. The more interesting story, in my opinion, would have been Bea's, but we hardly glimpse her side of things. I'd love to know why she's so awful. Is there anything redeeming about her at all? I'm not so sure there is.
Second, the dialogue. All I can really say here is: oh dear. I know that in real life some people go around saying things like "lolz" and "omg" and "btw," but for the most part, that language is confined to text messages, not spoken language. To me, it was disrupting and a bit lazy. Couldn't these women have expressed themselves better, without using tween slang? It was disappointing, and it pulled me out of the narrative of the book to read it. Characters don't need to sound totally stoic, but using these abbreviations isn't necessary to make them sound real.
Third, the writing. It was a bit unpolished. A lot of things were thrown in that probably didn't need to be there. I'm still not sure why the entire quiz from the quiz event shows up in the book. I understand that the characters interacted in between, but I don't think putting every question in the book in all caps was at all useful in moving the narrative forward or in creating a compelling story.
There were a few things I liked. I liked the idea immensely. I'd love to read about what are essentially PTA moms as part of an ensemble cast. I just wish there were more interesting secrets, more facets to their personalities, more depth to their interactions, and more variation in the types of things we see. How many meetings and fundraising events gone awry can we really enjoy in one book? I also liked that the book was split into parts according to the school term. It made a lot of sense to me, and it worked.
Overall, though, I just couldn't stay interested in this book. It was a struggle to keep going because I just couldn't find something I really cared about to keep me reading. I think it could have been very interesting, but it really fell flat. Without a plot, the characters should have been stronger and more unique. It was a good effort, but the execution was only so-so.