The Bees by Lauline Paull

The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut.

Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. Yet Flora has talents that are not typical of her kin. And while mutant bees are usually instantly destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns, before becoming a forager, collecting pollen on the wing. Then she finds her way into the Queen's inner sanctum, where she discovers secrets both sublime and ominous. Enemies roam everywhere, from the fearsome fertility police to the high priestesses who jealously guard the Hive Mind. But Flora cannot help but break the most sacred law of all, and her instinct to serve is overshadowed by a desire, as overwhelming as it is forbidden...

Laline Paull's chilling yet ultimately triumphant novel creates a luminous world both alien and uncannily familiar. Thrilling and imaginative, The Bees is the story of a heroine who changes her destiny and her world.

Review:

I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting to like this one. I read it because it’s going to be my library’s One Book, One Town choice for January 2020. I’m in the process of booking bee programs in January, and I figured I should read the book that’s inspiring all of these programs. I wasn’t expecting to love it because I have never really enjoyed a book written in the perspective of animals. This includes Animal Farm, Watership Down, the Erin Hunter books, the Redwall books, etc. I just struggle to get into them.

This book was no struggle at all. I got sucked into this incredibly unique story. And now I want to research bees and see how much of this is based on truth. It really did have the feel of The Handmaid’s Tale. There’s a definite dystopia vibe going on, and maybe that’s why I got so into the story.

The hive is a giant cult of queen worshipping bees, stuck in their castes and unable to ask questions or think for themselves. Flora is of course unique. But as the story goes on, you realize she isn’t as unique as you think. Others think differently too. The politics, the hierarchy, the worship, and the infrastructure of the hive was just unbelievably interesting. I could not get enough of this world.

The characters were great too. I like that certain bees weren’t just mentioned once for the sake of a plot-line. They come back again and again, making the story flow. I think mostly what appealed to me in this book though was that I never had any idea for what was going to happen. I’ve never read anything like this book before. So, I couldn’t really foresee where things were going. I loved this. I loved being surprised, again and again.

All in all, I can’t say too much without giving serious things away. But, I loved this. I read it quickly and I would love to see what this author comes up with next. I give it a 9/10.