*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.
Sarah Crossan has been one of my auto-buy authors for the last four years or so now. I love her work, whether that’s verse written or not. I’ve had the chance to review a couple of her books before, but as Here Is The Beehive is her first adult novel, this felt like something a little more special.
I honestly didn’t completely know what to expect from an adult Sarah Crossan novel, especially written in verse. Her writting is honest and true for teenagers and children, so i imaged an adult novel would pack a punch that i wasn’t expecting. You could say that happened at least.
Her writing, as usual, is stunning in Here Is The Beehive. Ever sentence is perfectly crafted, and follows the story perfectly. The weaving of time is honestly delightful to read about, and she crafts her stories with such care and intricacy it leaves you shocked with the characters you thought you already knew.
Sarah’s usual topics follow some kind of trauma to children and teenagers, and how that effects their lives. Here Is The Beehive follows the before an after trauma of an adult woman with a family, great job and a whole bunch of stress. Her life is turned on it’s side when she begins an affair with one of her clients. Completely in secret, and some how manage to be uncaught, the pair join together regularly away from their partners. Once Connor passes, it’s time for Ana to not only pick up the pieces of herself and her life, but find a way to deal with the impact of his family.
The entire novel had an air of sadness about it, and it seemed to have an overall feeling of just, tense. Ana was not the most bubbly of people, she wasn’t the greatest wife, or mother, and seemingly not the most focused on her job. She was a character we’re supposed to dislike, but i found myself warming to her in her grief, in which she was inexplicably human.
One of my favourite parts of this story was the exploration of different people. There were Ana’s friends, family, Connors friends and family, the outsiders which we don’t learn a lot about. But everyone has a different role to play and something to teach us about humanity keeps working no matter the situation. There are some questionable decisions to this novel, but again i think it makes the whole thing seem a lot more real.
The Little Contemporary Corner 