The Bees by Laline Paull

The Hunger Games meets The Handmaid’s Tale? … ok, you got me.

Flora 717 is a sanitation worker bee. Her caste is considered the lowest of the low. Their responsibilities are limited to cleaning the hive of dirt, grime, and the bodies of fellow dead bees. There is an exception to this particular Flora 717, though. Although she is much larger and, in the eyes of the other bees, a lot uglier than most caste members, she has traits that no other sanitation worker has displayed before. This Flora can astonishingly produce flow, which is when bees have the ability to produce honey to feed the babies in the nursery. This action is primarily found within one specific caste because they are the nursery workers tending to the young. But somehow a sanitation worker has managed to join their ranks and as we follow Flora on her puzzling journey, we find that she is capable of doing so much more.

This novel was fascinating. At first, I was completely skeptical as it was categorized as a dystopian novel. I mean… they’re bees! It seemed absurd and in some places, it WAS absurd. Paull made a smart move in choosing a hive as the center of her story. There are plenty of aspects that land this book into the dystopian genre: for instance, the bees believe the Queen is the ultimate ruler. She is their religion. Only the Queen may breed. It is their duty to accept, obey, and serve.

Before you go into this book, I would suggest refreshing your knowledge on honey bees, particularly bee reproduction and how the hive is set up. It was a complete learning experience for me as sometimes it was hard to discern fact from fiction — believe me when I say I have A LOT of ‘did-you-knows’ now! Also, the book boasts more violence than you would think. You kept on surprising me, Laline Paull.

♥♥♥♥

Your Daily Dose of Comics!

I dived back into the comic book world after participating in a readathon called the Genrethon where you have to try to read at least 3 books and 3 genres within the week.

I started off with Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson.

This pilot volume is about 16-year-old Kamala Khan from Jersey City, who one day gets equipped with superhuman powers. She has no idea why or how, but she does know that now her life is anything but ordinary.

I gave Ms. Marvel ♥♥ because while I do like the fact that there is a diverse superhero on the scene, I found the plot to be lackluster. It definitely exhibits the makings of a pilot novel in that you get a basic understanding of Kamala’s relationship with parents and friends and who Kamala is as a person, but there wasn’t anything really binding me to the story. For that matter, I find it less compelling for me to pick up future volumes.

Next, I read two comics within the same series: Lumberjanes Vol. 1 (Beware the Kitten Holy) and Vol. 2 (Friendship to the Max) by Noelle Stevenson.

Unlike Ms. Marvel, I found these two to be a whole lot of fun. It follows the misadventures of a group of five girls at a summer camp. Diversity is also well represented in this series; there are characters of varying ethnicities as well as LGBTQ.

The artwork is vibrant and somehow reminds me of Scott Pilgrim.

 

I also love how at the end of comics the artists allow you to get a glimpse into the different character sketches. This was one of the many takes of Lumberjanes found at the end of one volume (apologies on poor picture quality :p)

I awarded each volume of Lumberjanes ♥♥♥

Finally, I caught up on Kazu Kibuishi’s The Amulet by reading volumes 5 and 6. Of course, stupid me forgot to take pictures of the books and of the gorgeous, meticulously detailed artwork within so I will make do by linking to Kazu’s website where he shares bits and pieces of his work. Both volumes were ♥♥♥♥ a piece. They’re worthy of all my praises.