Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Last Beekeeper, by Julie Carrick Dalton {ends 4/10}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“Look at this fucking place.” Ian gestured to the greenhouse. “We produce tons of food. But the people in the camps are starving to death. Why are we even doing this?”

“Because we don’t have a better option,” Gino said.

A tattered banner reading A GRATEFUL NATION THANKS YOU! fluttered above the expanse of double doors leading into a two-story glass atrium with a security check, and two corridors: one leading to the offices, the other to the greenhouses. A community bulletin board overflowed with flyers advertising items to trade. Employees were forbidden from advertising items for cash sale, so they bartered. Vegetables for a mattress. Haircuts for a bike chain.

Missing posters, some brand-new and others worn, dotted the board. An ad for haircuts in exchange for dried beans covers the face of a young woman who had gone missing weeks earlier. Sasha recognized her face from the greenhouse where Halle worked.

We’ve already been told how much devastation would result if the bees went extinct, but this book really looks at a world without the bees.

Official synopsis:

It’s been more than a decade since the world has come undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with one goal in mind―find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated. There, Sasha is confronted with a group of squatters who have claimed the quiet, idyllic farm as their own. While she initially feels threatened, the group soon becomes her newfound family, offering what she hasn't felt since her father was imprisoned: security and hope. Maybe it's time to forget the family secrets buried on the farm and focus on her future.

But just as she settles into her new life, Sasha witnesses the impossible. She sees a honey bee, presumed extinct. People who claim to see bees are ridiculed and silenced for reasons Sasha doesn't understand, but she can't shake the feeling that this impossible bee is connected to her father's missing research. Fighting to uncover the truth could shatter Sasha's fragile security and threaten the lives of her newfound family―or it could save them all.

Sasha wants to solve the mystery of what her father was hiding and why he chose to go to prison and leave her alone. But maybe even more, she wants to feel a part of a loving family again. Her family started out as her and her parents―sturdy and dependable. Then her mother died. And then her father chose to protect the bees instead of her, and since she was only 11 years old or so at the time, she’s not sure why the only parent left to her would choose to leave her alone.

After more than 10 years, most of it in state care, Sasha has returned to her family home to find an odd assortment of four squatters. While her first reaction isn’t positive, she grows to care about these people and hope that they’ll continue to include her even if they find out the truth about who she really is. Eventually, of course, the truth will come out, and Sasha isn’t sure which version of her life needs to be saved and protected.

For a young adult to choose between saving their dreams or attempting to save the world, the story is sure to be an emotional one. This book was beautifully written and fully deserving of 5 out of 5 stars. It could be recommended to those who enjoy family dramas and dystopian tales. 

{click here to purchase on Amazon}

Becki Bayley likes being warm and cozy, and enjoys listening to music, petting cats, and munching on appetizers while reading. Check out her other book reviews at her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Last Beekeeper!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Monday, April 10th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Last Beekeeper, by Julie Carrick Dalton