Reviews with content warning for Child death - The History of Bees

Well, ich will definitiv nicht mehr sein, wenn die Bienen aussterben..
Ich mochte Tao mit großem Abstand am liebsten, George fand ich anstrengend, William war halb-lovable, aber irgendwie ist er auch einfach ein Creep. Generell sind die Beschreibungen der weiblichen Nebencharaktere etwas misogyn..
ansonsten ist das Thema super, der Aufbau ist super und der Plot ist nicht predictable! Ein sweetes buch all in all. Ich fand es so spannend, dass ich mich zurückhalten musste, nicht die Sätze zu überspringen

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pilea's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

The characters, as well as the story felt really flat. Many characters were almost comically stereotypical. *mhem* professor John Smith (???). Perhaps Lunde was making the point that universities breed conformity? George is a carricature of the republican rural american, of course he has communication issues.
And Tao.. well Tao is perhaps the most complex character in this book, and surprisingly her timeline seems the most to favourable to reviewers.
I would've loved to see Lunde write about norwegian life, or something she has intimate knowledge about, instead of trying and failing to create these characters that don't really further the story, nor the points it's trying to make. Oh! there goes Edmund again, oop! another conversation gone horribly wrong with Tom! Like other reviewers have mentioned, this book could've done with a bold cut-down. Perhaps a few more weeks of editing.
Now, i really liked the depictions of parent-children relationships in this book. This is perhaps the most valuable part of this million-hour read. Again, this is a field Lunde should be experienced in, and it shows! It really does.

I may bee to harsh, but 2.5⭐️ seem alright, since i love complex characters more than anything else.

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aurorasgrande's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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thebookfinch's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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literaryelephant's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Unfortunately this ended up being a story I liked more in concept than in execution. It's an impactful tale about the effects of humans on nature, and the possibly very dire consequences of such- specifically related to the mass extinction of bees. It also examines three parent/child relationships. I liked the ending of the book a lot more than the beginning, as it explores how the three threads of the book are connected and what happened with the collapse of the bee population, but the family explorations never quite came together for me or felt particularly engaging.

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