The Last Beekeeper
- Julie Carrick Dalton
- Albany, WA
- February 25, 2023
GOODREADS BOOK BLURB:
It’s been more than a decade since the world has come undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with one goal in mind—find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated. There, Sasha is confronted with a group of squatters who have claimed the quiet, idyllic farm as their own. While she initially feels threatened, the group soon becomes her newfound family, offering what she hasn’t felt since her father was imprisoned: security and hope. Maybe it’s time to forget the family secrets buried on the farm and focus on her future.
But just as she settles into her new life, Sasha witnesses the impossible. She sees a honey bee, presumed extinct. People who claim to see bees are ridiculed and silenced for reasons Sasha doesn’t understand, but she can’t shake the feeling that this impossible bee is connected to her father’s missing research. Fighting to uncover the truth could shatter Sasha’s fragile security and threaten the lives of her newfound family—or it could save them all.
But just as she settles into her new life, Sasha witnesses the impossible. She sees a honey bee, presumed extinct. People who claim to see bees are ridiculed and silenced for reasons Sasha doesn’t understand, but she can’t shake the feeling that this impossible bee is connected to her father’s missing research. Fighting to uncover the truth could shatter Sasha’s fragile security and threaten the lives of her newfound family—or it could save them all.
GENRES:
FIRST WORDS:
My bees will survive, Sasha promised herself as she crouched in the dirt watching them die.
MY REVIEW:
* Thanks to NetGalley and Forge Books for an eARC of this book. The following review is my honest reflection on the text provided. *
solid, good read:
☆☆☆☆☆ 4/5
The Last Beekeeper is a very relatable piece of speculative fiction that I enjoyed very much.
The concept here – the extinction of bees due to climate change and the government working against scientists’ advice with heavy-handed action – is very easy to believe. Even the fallout and the resulting world – poverty, hunger, government decision to focus on feeding the upper echelons and silencing the hopeful and anyone who could make a real difference – is not very farfetched. It makes this dystopian setting feel incredibly possible and easy to be swept up in.
The bee extinction and resultant environmental catastrophe are ever-present in both the past and present timelines. Sasha is trying to come to grips with her history and what her (and her father’s) actions may have done to affect the bees and their own small family. In her present, Sasha is lonely and wary after so many years of being judged and isolated as the last beekeeper’s daughter. She wants answers and to reclaim or create a sense of family that has been missing since before her father was imprisoned.
While The Last Beekeeper can be overly sentimental at times, it was a compelling narrative that was difficult to put down; I read it in one sitting without any awareness of time passing. I appreciated the open-ended conclusion, the focus on family, and the importance of hope. Sasha has an interesting story that I think many would enjoy.
The concept here – the extinction of bees due to climate change and the government working against scientists’ advice with heavy-handed action – is very easy to believe. Even the fallout and the resulting world – poverty, hunger, government decision to focus on feeding the upper echelons and silencing the hopeful and anyone who could make a real difference – is not very farfetched. It makes this dystopian setting feel incredibly possible and easy to be swept up in.
The bee extinction and resultant environmental catastrophe are ever-present in both the past and present timelines. Sasha is trying to come to grips with her history and what her (and her father’s) actions may have done to affect the bees and their own small family. In her present, Sasha is lonely and wary after so many years of being judged and isolated as the last beekeeper’s daughter. She wants answers and to reclaim or create a sense of family that has been missing since before her father was imprisoned.
While The Last Beekeeper can be overly sentimental at times, it was a compelling narrative that was difficult to put down; I read it in one sitting without any awareness of time passing. I appreciated the open-ended conclusion, the focus on family, and the importance of hope. Sasha has an interesting story that I think many would enjoy.
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