Friday, September 19, 2014

The Bees by Laline Paull

2 Stars
 
The best thing to come out of reading this book is finding the following:



This book is really about a beehive – where the bees have been anthropomorphized and talk and shit. Amazing that that bit of info seems to be a spoiler for some. Heck, that was the whole reason I wanted to read it - an unusual premise is a quick sell for me. What wasn’t a quick sell? The story of Flora 717 (a/k/a the horniest bee in the hive) and her unyielding desire to birth a little larvae of her own even though she was born a simple sanitation bee rather than a queen. It reminded me a bit of Agnes of God, which I know is completely whack-a-doo and more than a little on the creepy side, but the entire hive atmosphere seemed very much like a nunnery to me – especially the “Accept, Obey and Serve” mantra all the female bees must follow.

Before I get inundated with the “I didn’t get it” or “maybe I’m too stupid to be reading a literary wonder such as this” comments, I’m going to tell you to save your breath. There’s a good chance that I just didn’t get it, or that I’m stupid for books like this. However, I feel there is a stronger chance that this book was seriously overhyped/overrated and in reality just pretty much sucked.

I’d still totally read another book about bees, though. The .gifs, they are aplenty : )







 
 

2 comments:

  1. Oh, no! I was so looking forward to reading this, as the premise sounds awesome! But 2 stars? Now I don't know...
    Thanks for a fun review with fabulous GIFs though (as always) :)

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  2. Thanks for the nice words. I was really looking forward to this one, and so disappointed that I didn't enjoy it : ( Maybe it will be better for you????

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