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jenbsbooks 's review for:

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin
4.5

I liked this one a lot. It was one that I found myself wanting to get back to when I had to put it down. While it's listed as a national best-seller and was a "reader's choice" book at my local library, I don't know that I'd heard much buzz (ha ha ... bees!) about it. I picked up a physical copy at a library sale, and saw it had high ratings. I was able to borrow the audio and Kindle copy from the library, and I went primarily with the audio. 

The chapter headings were all bee related ... Orientation Flight, Twelve Queens, Foraging, Scent Fanning, Hive Sting, Scouting, Drone Live, etc ... while some reflect what happens within that chapter, it isn't as revealing(memory nudging) as some chapter headings might be.  Each chapter also started out with a little factoid about bees. They were interesting. I'm trying to remember if "Mad Honey" had a similar setup? 

3rd person/Past tense ... single narrator in audio.  We meet Jake in the first chapter, Alice in the second, Harry in the third. The rotation doesn't stay even or equal (Harry doesn't get as many chapters). All three characters were appealing, even though they were all imperfect and struggling. 

Things bogged down a bit in the final third ... while I appreciate the messages (pesticides, etc.) it got a little preachy and heavy handed, which just reduced the pleasure of the book some. 

There weren't discussion questions included in the book, but I found some online
https://earlibrary.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=71695235
There was an author's note (some additional background) that I appreciated too. I feel like this SHOULD be included in the book. I always like extras like these.

ProFanity x30