stephen_coulon 's review for:

The Bees by Laline Paull

1.0

---

It's a story set in a beehive in which all the characters are bees. Watership Down with bees rather than rabbits? Sadly no, and it illustrates just how difficult was Richard Adams' achievement with his 1972 classic about anthropomorphized bunnies. A novel needs relatable characters, an intriguing plot, and at least some familiarity in setting and context to provide an engaging story. The problem lies in drawing the boundaries between human nature and animal nature in a manner capable of exploring the otherness of animal life whilst retaining narrative human intrigue. In Watership Down, Adams tells a very human story of overcoming danger via community bonds, but he equally evokes an illuminating vision of what life might feel like for rabbitkind. Here is where Paull fails with The Bees. The setting is fascinating and seemingly well-researched; Paull presumably did her homework to nail down the objective facts concerning bee life and behavior. Yet, the story she tells is just boilerplate YA dystopian banality. What’s worse is that the life of a hive-mind species is perhaps the single worst place to apply this over-told fantasy template. Presumably bees, of all species, as eusocial insects do not suffer individualist angst under the tyranny of forced servitude in an oppressive society. The result: this book is Hunger Games but everyone’s running around in bee costumes.