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Summary: Does Not Get Better Than This
Review: Everyone else and their brother has described the plot so I won't waste your time repeating it. All I want to say is that this is a fantastic book. Writing really doesn't get any better. Rikki Lee Travolta comes close with "My Fractured Life" Yann Martell comes close with "Life of Pi" and Mark Haddon also did well with "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" but Sue Monk Kidd is at the top of her game here.
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Summary: A wonderful book to share
Review: A delicous mysterious adventure with a lot of symbolism. Fantastic!
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Summary: The Key to Life
Review: Bang-up book. A writer who is in love with the English language.
A story that will live with you forever. A story of salvation,discovery, joy and sorrow. The sisters hit you over the head with their lives and their story. The parallels to the Life of Bees are extraordinary. A joy to keep forever and re-read.
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Summary: Good on many levels
Review: From start to finish this book presents you with memorable characters and experiences that will sadden you, warm your heart, amuse you, and leave you a different person than when you started your read. With memorable descriptions, Sue Monk Kidd brings her book to life and keeps the reader interested and involved throughout. I don't want to include any spoilers but this book is up there with Barbara Kingsolver, Harper Lee, and other powerful female fiction. It is very worth the read!
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Summary: A southern gothic treasure!
Review: There is Scout in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Lori Jean in ROSEFLOWER CREEK, Ellen in ELLEN FOSTER, and now Lily in THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES. These are books that grab your heart and won't let go. Don't miss any of their journeys!
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Summary: Getting drowned in far too much love and honey
Review: I almost felt that I had been dripped and bathed in honey after finishing this book. The syrupiness, sweetness and triteness is just piled on in all its glory in this story of fourteen year old Lily, and her journey of self-discovery. This novel, bathed in fake sentiment, is just so totally cloying in attitude and tone, and it is probably one of the worst books I've read this year. What I find really insulting is that this kind of material is so popular and gets so much coverage when there is so much better quality literary fiction around - some of which I review - that you can really sink your literary chops into. Most of the characters are terribly staid stereotypes - the nasty, ill educated, violent and intolerant white folks, who feel threatened by integration and the blowsy, colorful, religiously inclined African American women who are full of unconditional love and understanding in the face of adversity. When Rosaleen is brutally beaten at the police station, I found it absolutely unbelievable that not one individual came forward and spoke out at the injustice of this - they may not intervened, but they certainly would not have benignly stood by and let this happen without saying something. I also found it inconceivable that Lily's father was so unbelievably bad, without sufficient explanation. Yes, a part of him blamed Lily for her mother's death, but there was also no capacity for redemption built into his character at all. Monk Kidd writes colourfully and obviously with great passion, but her thematic landscape is in a severe and stark black and white. In all fairness though, The Secret Life of Bees does have some redeeming factors. I thought Monk Kidd did a good job of setting the action against the racial unrest and bourgeoning civil rights era of nineteen sixty four. We really get a sense of the period - the signing of the civil rights act, a young Walter Cronkite on television, and the robotic exploration of the moon, in preparation for the planned moon landing. There's also a nice lyrical quality to Monk Kidd's writing with some expressive and poetic descriptions of South Carolinian countryside, along with T. Ray's peach fields, the pink house and, of course, the bee hives - the whirling clouds of bees, the scent of honey and the bee hum. There are still, however, not enough qualities in this book to recommend it - it's pretty much a contrived, hackneyed, and cliched story which reeks of weakness and mediocrity. Michael
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Summary: The Secret Life of Bees
Review: This is a wonderful story full of meaning and life lessons. I immediately fell into each character and lived through them. I have recommended this book to many and so far everyone has thought is charming, thought provoking, and a take stock of your life story
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Summary: girls only?
Review: This is very well written and I enjoyed it. I was surprised to find out that this is the first book by the author, Sue Monk Kidd. It feels very mature and I look forward to more in the future. I think the book would be even more popular to women and girls. It is that kind of book. I enjoyed it (I already said that) but I think a womanw ould enjoy it even more!
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Summary: A good read, but...
Review: For the most part, this was a completely engrossing novel. While there were sections that I felt as though I were wading through, I could not WAIT to get to the end of the book to unlock the secret of Lily's mother and Tiberon. On a completely superficial level, this is a great book. But don't think too hard. If you suspend your voluntary suspension of disbelief even for a moment, this story of a white girl shacking up with a family of black women in Klan country in 1964 completely falls apart. So, this is a terrific light read; however, it will neither change your life nor fall into the category of the best book you've ever read.
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Summary: An instant favorite!
Review: I could not put this book down and the moment I finished I wanted to flip back to the first page and start all over again! This is a truly beautiful novel.
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