2014 Hub Reading Challenge discussion

Has anyone else read this one yet? I can definitely see the appeal for older teens who are tired of standard YA lit, but I didn't particularly enjoy this book.

I am currently reading it and am not enjoying it much. I find the changing perspectives keep the pacing extremely slow. While Nelly is a strange and intriguing character, her sections do not advance the plot in any way, and have not (so far, I'm just over halfway through) served to really illuminate her character for me despite being in first person. I like Marnie, but again find that the short sections from her perspective are just barely moving the book forward. Oddly, the book is neither character- nor plot-driven: so what is moving it? What is the story? I can see it's possible appeal to older teens looking for a different sort of story - as Jenni mentioned - but I'm not really sure who I would give this book to!

YA? Not! I take issue with books that are considered YA just because the main characters are teens. We have this book cataloged as Adult Fiction (as it should be). The characters in this book are unbelievably under-developed, although I loved the character of Nelly. She's such a little oddball with her 1950's style of thinking in such a harsh, cruel world. I guess I kinda liked this book, but was disappointed the overall development was thin. 2 stars.

I have not read this book, but I wanted to clarify that the Alex Award is for books written for an adult audience that have teen appeal, so The Death of Bees is not considered YA.

Bethany wrote: "I have not read this book, but I wanted to clarify that the Alex Award is for books written for an adult audience that have teen appeal, so The Death of Bees is not considered YA."

Well then that makes WAY more sense!