Josh
A tough book to rate. It's extremely well written, with a unique voice and a compelling story. But it's deeply unpleasant to read.
Very dense and very weird. A challenging read with big ideas, explored in a unique way.
Started off really strong, and I was very invested in the main character. But some of the later sections dragged, and I was relieved to finish it by the end.
The book was effective at what it was trying to be - a tense portrait of a deeply unlikeable mess of a character, who grifts her way into people's lives and then sabotages them. It was generally well-written and a fast read.
But perhaps because it was so effective, I really did not enjoy reading it. I had to physically put it down at times to get away from the tension.
Time travel and the grandfather paradox are well-worn tropes, but it's rare for a story to gracefully handle this many overlapping timelines.
The ending was a bit of a let-down, but the ride was a lot of fun.
This seems like a book you'd either love or give up on.
The Bee Sting has some of the best character development I've ever read - each section gives you surprising insight into the family members and shows how the their individual context, personality, and voice impact their interpretation of events.
At the same time, it's a slow read, even factoring in that it's a long book. The toughest part to read (but still genuinely interesting) is a section told in stream of consciousness with no punctuation. Even as the tension rises, events unfold painfully slowly. And the ending....oof.
But if you're willing to take your time and can accept the book's flaws, the good aspects of the book are so strong that I still feel like this warrants 4.75 stars.