Book: Little BeeAuthor: Chris Cleave
My rating: 2.5 stars
(Sorry to those who loved it, it just didn't pull me in that deep.)
Brief synposis:
We don't want to tell you what happens in this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. nevertheless, you need to know enough to buy it, so we will just say this:
This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again - the story starts there ...
Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds.
My Review:
I really wanted to love this book because I'd heard many good things about it. It was even a "make" book at Borders for awhile, one where we as booksellers were encouraged to introduce it to customers as "book they'll love."
In the end, I liked it. I didn't love it. The start was slow and I got caught up a bit early on in some of the dialetec of the conversation between the refugee women. It's a personal issue and one I feel like I should be able to read past, but it made the reading a bit frustrating for me in the beginning. I couldn't quite latch on to Little Bee's character.
In the end, after Little Bee met Sarah and it showed how their friendship developed, the story opened up for me. They really did have a profound impact on each other and I like to think that each made the other a better person.
It's a good read. I'd recommend it, but not to everyone. At its core, its about relationships and the imperfections in all of us. It does take some unexpected turns along the way, and that's part of what makes it special. I don't know that I wanted a longer book (in fact, I know I did not), but I maybe could have used more depth to the characters to believe they are as redeemable as they are.
So, 2.5 stars is what I can give it. It's good, but for me, not great, as much as I wanted it to be.
Here's a few book reviews I found online that are far more profound than mine:
Have you written a review on Little Bee? Please share a link below!
This is an after thought comment on my own post. I talked about this book a bit with some friends today and I think I'd have liked it more had I read it for a book club and been able to discuss the characters and their impact on each other with others. That may have helped me work them out a bit more. I could maybe work it up to a 3 star book had I had someone to talk it through with because in describing it to a friend today, I felt like I sounded like I liked it more than I did yesterday. :)
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