Review to come.

I really wanted to enjoy this book as it’s from a Perth author and I love that fact. This book just really didn’t do it for me.

It reminded me a lot of The Island, but instead of the swoon worthy Ewan McGregor, it had way too many religious references.

I couldn’t go a page or two without there being reference to God and if that’s you’re thing you might enjoy it, but it’s definitely not my thing and I didn’t really enjoy it.

3 stars though as someone else might like it?

I read a book last year (or the year before, or maybe ...) that was about bees. It was fiction - oh yes [b:The Bees|20894952|The Bees|Laline Paull|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1393220900s/20894952.jpg|26457997] - and for a while I thought this book was going to be similar. But it's not. There are bees in it, and they are an important plot point, but the Hive is actually the home that the people dwell in and yes, it is structured in hexagons.

Other reviewers have compared it to another famous novel, but let's not. Let's just look at this for what it is. It's a story about a girl who's afraid she's going mad. In their highly structured society, a person who has frequent headaches is a worry. Hayley's best friend secretly grows a herb that gives some relief, but the only way she finds real respite when her headaches come is to sneak into a deserted corridor (that leads to a sealed-off room that is talked of in tones of alarm). Now though, not only are the headaches getting worse, but she stumbles upon a secret.

I didn't find anything surprising in this book, but then I've been reading science fiction since before this author was born. However, I enjoyed the tension and I really liked Hayley. I'm looking forward to the book that follows this.

Loved this book! Can't wait for the next one.

This was so close to being an excellent book. It just needed another 50 pages or so to develop the plot.

What a strange little book!

Hive is a YA dystopian in the style of Maria V Snyder’s Inside Out or Beth Revis’ Across the Universe. Our characters live happily in a structured, confined environment with no concept of life beyond their walls………..and naturally, that’s all about to change.

This reminded me of why I used to love dystopians! For me it was always less about fighting a tyrannical government and more about the fear, thrill, and wonder of discovering that your world is a lie. In this instance, our beekeeper protagonist has the added struggle of determining whether her world is built on lies or whether she’s actually losing her grip on reality

Her “world” took some tired dystopian/utopian elements and added a fresh lens. We’ve got factions based on job function, structured mating, subsistence farming, fishing, and even organised religion. Apply that to a human beehive environment with authority figures who have a penchant for abusing medicinal herbs and hiding bodies, and you’ve got an exciting world to explore!

Admittedly the writing style in Hive won’t be for everyone. It’s disjointed, strange, and took some conscious effort to get into; it’s a deliberate choice on the part of the author that feels like a language that evolved in isolation.

And while I rooted for our lovely little beekeeper protagonist, I could never fully connect with her. She’s naive, prone to kneejerk reactions, and reads a little younger than her age. Some concessions can be made for her upbringing and story arc, but ultimately I needed a liiiiiittle more fire and consistency from her.

All in all, this was a cute little dystopian and ended on quite the cliffhanger. I’m super keen to pick up the conclusion!

3.5. Hmm. Not sure how I feel about this one. I think I want more - feels ‘unfinished’, like there’s more to be said.