The Death Of Bees - A Review

“Today is Christmas Eve.  Today is my birthday.  

Today I am fifteen.  Today I buried my parents in the backyard.  

Neither of them were beloved.”

So begins...

When you read the opening line of Lisa O’Donnell’s debut novel THE DEATH OF BEES (Harper/HarperCollins Publishers; $25.99; Hardcover; on-sale January 2, 2013), you know you are in for something different.  You quickly learn that the parents buried in the backyard are Izzy and Gene, parents of Marnie and Nelly – two neglectful, selfish, generally heinous adults now moldering beneath loosely planted stalks of lavender. But you do not know how they got there. Not yet. The girls intend to keep the deaths a secret. They know that once word gets out, Social Services will be knocking on their door, ready to separate Marnie from Nelly.  The girls both realize that Nelly, won’t survive, or will just barely, without Marnie looking out for her. 

THE DEATH OF BEES is a novel of voices, ones that will utterly win you over. The narrative is composed of the first-person accounts of Marnie, Nelly, and Lennie.  Marnie is a brilliant, young cynic, who, despite her promise, has been swallowed up by a world of drinking, teen sex, and general irresponsibility. Nelly is the charmingly odd duck of the narrative.  She is a twelve-year-old violin prodigy, proper to the point of being off-putting, who speaks like the Queen of England.  And Lennie provides a sober and wise adult perspective to the proceedings, but we also sense the depths of his life’s sadness and its regret. Together these voices tell the story of each other, of what young people are capable of on their own, of what young people continue to absolutely need from adults in spite of their seeming independence.  And, although the girls’ circumstances are grim from the beginning, there is much comic relief throughout, provided by delightfully sharp dialogue and a motley cast of secondary characters.

The 411 by Maria:

I was taken in by the first three sentences. WOW...what a way to draw in your audience it was exactly as my English teacher in the 5th grade had taught me to start a story. Riveting and kept you wanting to read.

The story of two sisters wanting to stay in their home long after their parents died was enjoyable. The short chapters giving each of the characters time and voice to tell their story made it interesting and I didn't have to guess at what the other characters may have been thinking as the author sometimes took their chapter back a step or two so we could read everything. LOVED That!

With that being said. I have mixed feelings about the book. While I was eager in the beginning I kept waiting for the feeling to continue. The girls are young and alone, a neighbor helps them keep their secret but the course of the book took it to a different place with one girl being extremely promiscuous, doing drugs and drinking and their broken and feeling alone. I didn't feel connected to the characters at all and eventually it was just a book I needed to finish but did love the premise. There were so many great things about the book that I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars if I were rating because it was interesting and I love hearing from all the characters.