Review: The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell

The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell

Publisher: Harper 

Pages: 336 

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon  

Goodreads:  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.

Marnie and her little sister Nelly are on their own now. Only they know what happened to their parents, Izzy and Gene, and they aren't telling. While life in Glasgow's Hazlehurst housing estate isn't grand, they do have each other. Besides, it's only one year until Marnie will be considered an adult and can legally take care of them both.


Kritters Thoughts:  Quite an interesting book and definitely different from most of what I read, this book centers around two sisters who are burying their parents and at the young ages of 15 and 12 are trying to keep up the appearances to avoid being separated.  Their inquisitive neighbor enters the picture and provides another voice to the book with his own issues that he is trying to live with.  

This one was a quirky one.  There are two young girls, sisters, who literally buried their parents and each are trying to hold the "fort" down, so they can stay together.  Unfortunately, I don't always enjoy a book that is narrated by a younger voice, and this was one of those where I didn't completely love the voice she brought to the book.  I did enjoy Nelly, the younger sister and her eccentric ways!  The neighbor is dealing with loss as well and through taking care of the girls, I think he finds healing that he wouldn't have felt through any other way.  

After reading this book, I had such mixed feelings about it.  I loved the different voices that kept the story moving along, but in all the book was on the bland side.  I didn't feel like there was a lot of happenings in the book.  I think if you are a reader who loves to read books set abroad, you would definitely love this one.  Also, if you enjoy your characters to be of a younger age and voice, then this one would be perfect for you.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2012 Challenge: 86 out of 25

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The tour schedule: 

Wednesday, January 2nd: Sweet Tidbits

Friday, January 4th: Literary Feline

Monday, January 7th: Mrs. Q: Book Addict

Tuesday, January 8th: Tiffany’s Bookshelf

Wednesday, January 9th: Broken Teepee

Thursday, January 10th: Sweet Southern Home

Monday, January 14th: A Patchwork of Books

Thursday, January 17th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, January 21st: Unabridged Chick

Tuesday, January 22nd: JulzReads

Wednesday, January 23rd: a novel toybox

Thursday, January 24th: A Reader of Fictions

Thursday, January 24th: Reflections of a Bookaholic

Monday, January 28th: A Bookworm’s World

Tuesday, January 29th: My Bookshelf

Wednesday, January 30th: Silver’s Reviews