You should definitely read this book. Even if you don’t like it or don’t think you’ll like it, it deserves to be read. It is unique, interesting, quirky, and oh so clever and you won’t appreciate that until you’ve read it.

I’ve read several reviews of The Bees that say they went into this book not wanting to read it or finding the concept of bees off-putting. I was the opposite; as soon as I read the blurb I was desperate to read this. The story follows the life of the bee Flora 717, who is the ugly duckling of the hive, and she travels through different positions of hive, battling wasps, collecting pollen and discovering secrets about the Queen bee. Flora is a remarkable character, she is rebellious but also more kind and honest than most of her kin.

It was a little predictable in plot but this was completely overshadowed by the clever-ness of the writing. Hats off to Laline Paull for not only creating a whole world inside a bee hive, with the most specific details and consciousnesses, but for keeping it up for the entire novel. It is written in such a way that it personifies the bees to be like humans and I found myself in parts forgetting they were bees, but in others she slams you back into the realisation of what is going on. There were parts that described certain bee rituals that felt so uncomfortable and grotesque

Fundamentally this book will make you question what you knew about bees, how much of it could actually be true and how you treat bees from now on. It is genius and crafted wonderfully and I defy anyone to read this and look at bees in the same way again.

The Shore

I found this really powerful to read. Each chapter told the story of a different woman on the collection of islands and her point of view of her life, family and men. There was a lot of harrowing accounts of abuse, domestic, verbal and sexual, from a range of women and ages. Each deserved to be told, and interwove together with the connection of the islands. However, I found it ended up reading more like a collection of short stories than a novel. As each new chapter began, it took me a while to adjust to the new voice - and they varied vastly - and I found myself engaged with more over others. I would've liked more of a focus on the young girls' story which opened and concluded the book or fewer stories and have a bigger spotlight on them.
Nevertheless, this book opened up to the stories of these women who go through mis-treatment and abuse nearly every day and it is just a seamless part of their lives and I think these are the things that should be shouted about.

How To Be Both

I started reading this a couple of days before the Baileys Prize award was announced. I have so much love for this book. I will admit that it took me quite a while to really get into the story, but from the outset, the publication of this book is remarkable. Two versions of the book have been published, one with story 1 first and story 2 second, and the other is alternated. From a publishing stand point this is incredible. It means the story shifts depending which way round it is read. My experience of reading it could be completely different from someone else's. Whenever I found other people had read it, my first question was always, which version did you read? It fascinates me and I can't help but wonder what my reaction would've been if I'd read the alternate version.

My copy had the Renaissance story first, which I found to be quite disorientating at first, being told from the point of view of a 'spirit' of a painter, looking down at her work and following George and her family while reminiscing on the past. It felt like the story then unfolded completely, and the theme of how to be both, became apparent. How can something be there if you can't see it? Does it still make it true? Can someone be a female if they've spent their whole life being male on the outside? It made me evaluate my philosophy and also fascination with Renaissance painting. Having George's modern day story as the second half, I felt, really benefited my reading, as I got more of a conclusive ending.

Ali Smith plays wonderfully with structure, style and formatting and I think without that, this book may not have had quite the same reception as it has done. She goes ahead and proves how eaxctly it can be both, and how every story has two sides and I think she whole-heartedly deserved to win the Baileys Prize for Women's Fiction.




Next on the List:

The Paying Guests

A God in Every Stone