Title: The Bees

Author: Laline Paull

Publisher: Ecco 2014

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 340

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR; COYER

The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.

Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive’s survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw but her courage and strength are an asset. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect pollen. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers mysteries about the hive that are both profound and ominous.

But when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all—daring to challenge the Queen’s fertility—enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, her society—and lead her to unthinkable deeds.

A strange novel with an interesting premise that didn’t quite land for me. I was intrigued by a novel written from the perspective of a bee. We get to glimpse the inner workings of the hive. Once we get into the actual story, I was less committed to the entire novel. The characters didn’t quite come alive for me. I was confused as many turns by the motivations and the overall purpose of the characters. It was hard to connect with the story as written and ultimately I was left wanting more.

Next up on the TBR pile: