The Last Beekeeper

+2 stars for: MY BABY GINO I LOVE HIM UGH, favorite character by FAR. always made me giggle and smile when he had a speaking line and his loyalty and support??? unmatched! the reveal of his backstory made him just that much more enjoyable. love love loved him!

+ 2 stars for: being able to viscerally feel, taste and HEAR this book. i've was so enraptured by the language used to describe sasha's feelings and environments and the way she experiences honey. WHEW it was just so great.

+1 star for: being a love letter to our pollinators. everytime farming was described in this book i wanted to pack myself up and flee to the countryside to be a beekeeper.

-1 star for: “don't blame the bees, blame the machine” being SO on the nose! everything that happens in this book is explained and foreshadowed ad nauseam. it ended up becoming repetitive and so so so predictable. at around the halfway mark when the action started to ramp up this book was sitting at a 4 star but then it slowly teetered into 3 star territory because of how stale it got. the mystery and flowery (ha) language couldn't lift the weight of the overall plot so i was a bit disappointed by the end.

-1 star for: making a character with my name be annoying and gullible LMFAO. sasha was such a blank protagonist that on multiple occasions i wish we could have gotten to live in someone else's head.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton is a captivating novel that explores the beauty and fragility of our world. With a stunning cover, this book tells a story of Sasha Severn, who returns to her childhood home with the goal of finding her father's hidden research. Along the way, she encounters a group of squatters who quickly become her newfound family, offering hope and security in a world that has come undone.

Dalton expertly weaves together themes of truth versus power, forgiveness and redemption, and the triumph of hope in the face of despair. The found family aspect was heartwarming and made me fall in love with the characters even more. The setting was beautifully described, transporting me into Sasha's world.

What I loved most about this book was how relevant it felt in today's world. Although it is set in a dystopian future where bees are presumed extinct, it serves as a reminder to cherish our environment and all its inhabitants.

Overall, The Last Beekeeper was an enjoyable read with beautiful writing and well-developed characters. Even if you're not usually a fan of dystopian stories (like myself), I would highly recommend giving this one a chance.

ARC Via NetGalley