I was a little surprised that I enjoyed this one. It is pretty rare for me to like a book I have to read for English class. I really did enjoy it though.
There were a few moments that dragged on a little bit, but over all the story was engaging and interesting.
I enjoyed the sisterhood aspect. Most books focus on the romance, not the friendships.
I highly recommend reading this book. ( )

The story begins in Sylvan, South Carolina, in 1964, at the height of racial tensions as blacks are finally legalized to vote. Lily Owens, 14 years old, is played by Dakota Fanning who does an outsounding job in her performance in the movie. (She is who I pictured while reading this book, which did not stray much from the movie at all, so may have had big part in high star rating...I'm not sure now. I LOVED THE MOVIE!) Her parents had a brutal marriage that drove her mom into great depression and she left her with her abusive father for three months when she was only 4 years old. When she recovered enough to care for Lily, she returned to take her away with her to Tiburon. But, when her mother returned and her father began throwing her around again and screaming and hollering, her mother grabbed the gun. T-Ray knocked it out of her hand where it fell to the floor. Lily picked it up and accidentally shot and killed her mother. After 14 years of abuse, Lily and her black nanny ran away to Tiburon, a town written on back of the little black virgin Mary wooden statue she had found in the attic that once belonged to her mother.

This is a coming of age story about Lily trying to find peace and her place in life. The secret lives of bees parallel her own life full of secrets as she finds refuge with the three black Boatwright sisters, August, June, and May, in the big pink pepto-bismol honey house in Tiburon. This divine intervention of God, led her to this house which she later learned, August, the oldest of the sisters, had been her own mother's nanny growing up.

Sue Monk Kidd is one of those unusually gifted writers, and I will be looking into reading more from her.
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THE MOVIE -
The Secret Life of Bees (2008) - One of my favorite movies of all time. Dakota Fanning does an outstanding job as Lily. In fact, she had me bawling when she has a breakdown as she approaches the black virgin Mary statue and places her hand over the red heart. The book did not draw this emotion from me. Queen Latifa, who I usually don't like as an actress, was perfect for her part as August, full of patience, independent, calm, loving, and nonjudgemental...a caregiver to anyone in need. Alicia Keyes played June. Just a super great cast of actors and actresses.

( )

What a wonderful read - colorful, interesting, compelling and moving. Highly recommend to any reader. ( )

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a unique, historical fiction that will take you back in time and allow you to learn about bees.

This book was weird for me. I would go a few chapters and be totally immersed and obsessed with it, and then a few more chapters I'd be bored, sad or just uninterested. I'm not sure why either. Sue's writing is lovely and can transport you away. I feel like the problem with this book is that it's a bit of a coming of age story mixed with historical fiction mixed with a potential YA romance. There were times the book drifted away from a story of a girl learning about her past and herself to a bit of a wannabe romance. That little part stood out to me because it felt like it didn't belong. It took me out of the story.

I really wanted to read a historical fiction book and people kept talking about it, so I grabbed this one. I also heard it was a movie so I figured, read the book first? Why not?

The best parts about this book tends to be about the bees or May, June and August. I was intrigued by their characters and was really hurt by some of the endings for them. Those women were unique and had an interesting story to tell. There's a part of me that wanted the girl's tale and the women's tales separate. There was just too much going on and too many stories that needed to be told.

I think this book is going to be really niche for some readers. Some people will love it and some people will absolutely hate it. There is charm there, but you need to like certain forms of writing to really dig it. I like fast paced books with lots of meaning and not as much random. This book didn't fit my normal read. I'm glad I read it because I do think it was a good story with lots of cool parts, but it just wasn't a good fit for me! Hopefully the next reader who picks up my copy will enjoy it!

Two out of five stars. ( )

Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: "A great story of women, and their amazing capabilities. Lots of fastinating bee information thrown in as a bonus! " 2023 note - I still remember the scene of the abusive father making his daughter (the heroine) kneel on uncooked grits as punishment, and how much I enjoyed learning about bees. ( )