A review by eserafina42
The Hive by Barry Lyga, Morgan Baden

4.0

An interesting question: What would happen if internet shaming got out of hand and was then seized upon by the powers that be to be regulated and used as a means of manipulation and control? I enjoyed this book and pretty much raced through it but there were still some things that bothered me. The "insta-love" was only a minor one; the incredible coincidence that everybody the MC needed to help her evade the mob was magically positioned just perfectly to do so was a bit less minor. Also, while I "got" and appreciated the portrayal of a certain person as the president, I feel that it might have been a bit too self-indulgent and risks alienating some of the people who could benefit from the larger message.

My biggest question, however - and to me, this is a huge weakness in the worldbuilding - is, why would the president need more control? Congress and the courts don't appear to even exist in this near-future version of the US, or if they do they're so cowed they're irrelevant. I can't even conceive of a way this extrajudicial "trial, conviction and punishment" procedure would pass muster in even a minimally-functioning constitutional system, and if things have gone that far downhill the extra steps aren't even needed.

However, that's me - and I have been accused of overthinking things. Those issues also did not do much to impede my enjoyment of the story.