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yellowbinge's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, and War
julierambaeck's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This was such a depressive read. No one was happy for more than a page or two... The last 20 pages were the only that were a little hopeful. I thought the characters were incredibly annoying - mostly the two male main characters. They really thought that the sun revolved around them, plus the way they thought about women, and the people in their life - disgusting. The good things about this book was that it was very readable and the topic and themes were very relevant and interesting, it definitely got me thinking about the environment and the bees.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Abandonment
Minor: Cannibalism
tigertheory's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The true tragedy here is the emotional ineptness of men.
I would’ve probably stopped reading this after ~100 pages if not for the fact that the other book I was reading was worse and I didn’t want to dnf two in a row.
Not a big fan of the style and narration; subtlety doesn’t seem to be Lunde’s strong suit. I hated existing inside all of the MCs heads and was glad when the main plot picked up pace in the second half. Overall, the story of the bees is not what’s interesting here as the whole thing is quite obvious from the start and I could’ve done with less talk about bees, beehives and bee history.
Instead, a closer examination of the family dynamics would’ve been interesting; of the parent's expectations of their children and the allegory that is to be found in how we treat our Mother Earth.
Overall, I’m puzzled why this was everywhere a few years ago – must’ve met the zeitgeist at just the right time.
I would’ve probably stopped reading this after ~100 pages if not for the fact that the other book I was reading was worse and I didn’t want to dnf two in a row.
Not a big fan of the style and narration; subtlety doesn’t seem to be Lunde’s strong suit. I hated existing inside all of the MCs heads and was glad when the main plot picked up pace in the second half. Overall, the story of the bees is not what’s interesting here as the whole thing is quite obvious from the start and I could’ve done with less talk about bees, beehives and bee history.
Instead, a closer examination of the family dynamics would’ve been interesting; of the parent's expectations of their children and the allegory that is to be found in how we treat our Mother Earth.
Overall, I’m puzzled why this was everywhere a few years ago – must’ve met the zeitgeist at just the right time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
Minor: War
marleen02's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Abandonment
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