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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
I was not very fond of this book. I should clarify that I read it with the goal of reviewing for my middle school library, it was one of the ones I brought home this summer. I thought it was hard to relate to Eva, the 11 year-old in question and that I knew way too much about some of the other characters. Definitely frank, sometimes uncomfortably so, not a book for younger grades. I think I might have liked it more if I hadn't been thinking of the conversations with the 8th graders at school after they had read it.
I'm putting this one aside right now. I picked it up again last night and tried to read it, but fell asleep sitting straight up! I think that is a sign my brain was not engaged. It is a decent story, but not what I want.
A thoughtful serious book about the most serious form of bipolar disorder. Eva, an eleven-year old girl and her single mother Mim move into a rural area, leaving their New York City life behind. About half of the story is their city life and half rural, so a stark contrast.
Jewish Mim and her Catholic husband had married quickly and Eva had joined the world shortly thereafter. They barely knew one another really. There was love though. When her husband has a serious breakdown though, things are never the same and readers are taken through the phases of his breaking down and the coping skills required of those around him. Religion, ethnicity, and dysfunctional parenting are all on the table.
In their rural home, they must start over in a hundred ways. Eva is left alone and discovers a farm near by with a man who keeps bees and this sparks an interest in Eva that blossoms. Burl has problems, too. Just about every character mentioned does. Slowly, in a highly protracted manner, the truth emerges to Eva about her father's demise, and to Mim who realizes Eva's bad behavior is a result of hidden truths.
This is a sad story about mental health that offers a glimpse into the life that family member live with when someone in their tribe is afflicted. Well written. A tad too gloomy.
Jewish Mim and her Catholic husband had married quickly and Eva had joined the world shortly thereafter. They barely knew one another really. There was love though. When her husband has a serious breakdown though, things are never the same and readers are taken through the phases of his breaking down and the coping skills required of those around him. Religion, ethnicity, and dysfunctional parenting are all on the table.
In their rural home, they must start over in a hundred ways. Eva is left alone and discovers a farm near by with a man who keeps bees and this sparks an interest in Eva that blossoms. Burl has problems, too. Just about every character mentioned does. Slowly, in a highly protracted manner, the truth emerges to Eva about her father's demise, and to Mim who realizes Eva's bad behavior is a result of hidden truths.
This is a sad story about mental health that offers a glimpse into the life that family member live with when someone in their tribe is afflicted. Well written. A tad too gloomy.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
THE HONEY THIEF by Elizabeth Graver
Oh this was incredibly heavy and heartbreaking.
As a trigger warning, the story deals with mental illness (bipolar disorder), depression, anxiety and how these affect the relationships between husband/wife, mother/child, friends and family. Then there’s the added stressors of dysfunctional parenting, poor communication, opposing religious beliefs and meddling in-laws - it’s A LOT.
I can’t say I enjoyed reading this as it is not a happy, feel good story. However, I do appreciate the raw and honest way the author conveyed the complex and harsh realities of living with someone with a mental health condition while caring for a child and themselves.
The end left me feeling underwhelmed and frustrated due to the lack of any significant resolutions or meaningful character arcs/progress. There were too many things left unsaid and left to the imagination. I did learn a lot about bees and honey so there’s that.
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️
Oh this was incredibly heavy and heartbreaking.
As a trigger warning, the story deals with mental illness (bipolar disorder), depression, anxiety and how these affect the relationships between husband/wife, mother/child, friends and family. Then there’s the added stressors of dysfunctional parenting, poor communication, opposing religious beliefs and meddling in-laws - it’s A LOT.
I can’t say I enjoyed reading this as it is not a happy, feel good story. However, I do appreciate the raw and honest way the author conveyed the complex and harsh realities of living with someone with a mental health condition while caring for a child and themselves.
The end left me feeling underwhelmed and frustrated due to the lack of any significant resolutions or meaningful character arcs/progress. There were too many things left unsaid and left to the imagination. I did learn a lot about bees and honey so there’s that.
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️
This book hit home in a lot of ways. My daughter and I have been alone since she was 7. Her father is bi-polar, but he didn't kill himself. Elizabeth Graver could have been in our house recording some of the fights my husband and I had and the manic episodes we endured. She was incredibly adept at writing these scenes and making them real. For me, the book brought back memories and old feelings of worry about my own child. Reading those scenes left me somewhat unsettled but knowing things have a way of working out, both in fiction and the real world helps. I recommend this book. It was touching and sweet in some places and gritty and real in others, just like life.
Good writing (as Elizabeth Graver always does), but I kept thinking that I would like it more if I were also a mother with a daughter verging on adolescence/loss of innocence/etc.
I liked "Unraveling" a lot more.
I liked "Unraveling" a lot more.
started off promisingly, a widow decides to move out of New York City in order to make a better life for her young daughter. the neighborhood they're living in is changing (crime, drugs) and so is 11 year old Eva who has begun shoplifting and acting out. Miriam, the mom, thinks a move to upstate NY is the way to change the course of their lives. life, as we know, isn't as simple as that.
it's summer so school is out, Miriam doesn't have the money to send Eva to camp, there are no other children nearby so Eva is isolated with only an elderly sitter for company. one day while riding her bike Eva discovers a simple roadside "stand" offering honey for sale. there's no one around, the honor system cash box is there, the jarred honey looks so pretty...
we meet Burl the beekeeper who befriends lonely Eva. Burl teaches Eva about the bees, and how he's trying to save his colony from the diseases that are killing it...
ok, so i liked the story up until this point when it took on a darker turn.
everyone in the story was "damaged" or hurt or needed help in some way and honestly i found the theme depressing. poor Eva was obsessed with the possibility that she'd lose her mother, Miriam obsesses over the death of her husband who was a suicide brought on by his bi-polar disease and also if Eva would be genetically at risk of bi-polar disease, Burl was hung up on his "lost love" and having been inadequate in his father's eyes for not becoming an attorney and opting for a quite life on the farm...
then.... there's an accident which brings the three of them together. meh.
i did find the bee keeping information interesting. the hard look at mental health issues was unsettling, to put it mildly, but well rendered, i thought.
it's summer so school is out, Miriam doesn't have the money to send Eva to camp, there are no other children nearby so Eva is isolated with only an elderly sitter for company. one day while riding her bike Eva discovers a simple roadside "stand" offering honey for sale. there's no one around, the honor system cash box is there, the jarred honey looks so pretty...
we meet Burl the beekeeper who befriends lonely Eva. Burl teaches Eva about the bees, and how he's trying to save his colony from the diseases that are killing it...
ok, so i liked the story up until this point when it took on a darker turn.
everyone in the story was "damaged" or hurt or needed help in some way and honestly i found the theme depressing. poor Eva was obsessed with the possibility that she'd lose her mother, Miriam obsesses over the death of her husband who was a suicide brought on by his bi-polar disease and also if Eva would be genetically at risk of bi-polar disease, Burl was hung up on his "lost love" and having been inadequate in his father's eyes for not becoming an attorney and opting for a quite life on the farm...
then.... there's an accident which brings the three of them together. meh.
i did find the bee keeping information interesting. the hard look at mental health issues was unsettling, to put it mildly, but well rendered, i thought.
I thought I'd enjoy this one more then I did! I was laboring under the impression it was going to be similar to "The Secret Life of Bees" and it just wasn't. The characters were pretty one dimensional and the ending was abrupt to say the least!
This book was okay. The writing was good, lots of descriptive phrases; however, I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I felt like there could have been more to the ending. I guess the author decided to leave it open to the reader's imagination to tie up the ends and finish each character's story.