The Bees by Laline Paull

Surprisingly enough, this is a story about bees! I can honestly say that I have never read a book like this. This is not Animal Farm.

Flora 717 is born into the hive as a lowly sanitation worker. But Flora 717 is not like the other floras. She is bigger, and her colour is off, and she can produce royal jelly. Through this book, we follow Flora 717 as she navigates the hive, partakes in  different tasks and shows us the world in a hive.

I was not very engrossed during the first half. I found it a bit rushed, and felt Flora's constant job changing was unrealistic (although necessary to the plot), and it suspended my belief in the story. The second half showed an improvement. The pace slowed a bit and details were given that helped flesh the hive out. Also, more things were happening with the build up to the climax (although some parts were just so repetitive - great if you're a bee; not so great if your IQ is a bit higher and you long for variation).

I have to appreciate how a close look at something non-human can allow us to make judgements on our own society. The prayer for The Mother (which is a clear allusion to The Lord's Prayer) allows an opportunity to question religion. Were the Sages really doing the queens work, or were they there for their own benefit, or perhaps the benefit of the hive? The hierarchy of the bees in the hive is also very similar to those found in ours. It is because of this that I think there is definite value to this book. It allows for multiple opportunities to examine our own world. Perhaps one aspect that could do with some thought is that everything the bees did was for the good of the hive. An area in which their society is superior to ours.

This books has been labelled a dystopian. I disagree. From what I know of bees (which isn't an extraordinary amount) this book gives a rather realistic, albeit anthropomorphised, account of the workings of a hive. There are positives and negatives - although, the negatives could be purely affixed from a human interpretation and not necessarily a bees. Comparisons to The Hunger Games and The Handmaid's Tale are completely unfounded and are going to lead to disappointment.

I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads.