Book Blurb:
Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date: September 4th 2018
Entangled Teen
KEEPER OF THE BEES is a tale of two teens who are both beautiful and beastly, and whose pasts are entangled in surprising and heartbreaking ways.
Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can’t stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people.
He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie doesn’t see a monster when she looks at Dresden.
Essie is fascinated and delighted by his changing features. Risking his own life, he holds back his bees and spares her. What starts out as a simple act of mercy ends up unraveling Dresden’s solitary life and Essie’s tormented one. Their impossible romance might even be powerful enough to unravel a centuries-old curse.
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My Review:
5 Out Of 5 Stars
Genre: Heart-Wrenching, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Teen--
Dresden spends what is now considered his existence traveling behind the harbingers, keeping the bees that live inside him happy as they sting those with darkness in their souls. But when he meets a girl in the park, a girl who actually sees his horror inducing many faces and finds him pretty, he is completely confused with the situation. After years of being ignored and unseen, a girl sees him and wants to befriend him- but his bees want her too. Essie finds the man in the park interesting, with his changing faces and slight buzzing, but he is also a figment of her unhinged mind, of course. But when someone else sees him, she becomes even more confused as to what is real. But there is something more sinister than a man full of bees coming...
"Strawmen are pure mystery, weighed down by secrets. Some say they are wraiths- the blighted shells of ancient sorcerers, and the very ones responsible for turning us into monsters in the first place."
Ok, yes this can be a standalone book but no, it should not be read as a standalone! Yes I am aware that that is a conflicting statement but I highly recommend reading Black Bird of the Gallows first to get a feel for this world. And then read Keeper of the Bees to get everything you thought you knew thrown on it's head! The main characters and plot of this book do not need the companion book to be read, but I really enjoyed the twist in perspectives that Meg used here- the terrible, evil, no good villain is now just a tortured soul seeking redemption and doing what he must to survive under terrible circumstances. When I read this was kinda sorta a Beauty and the Beast thing, I was sold- ok I was sold anyway since I love Meg's writing style, people and plots. But still, Beauty and the Beast-ish! It doesn't hurt that I am in love with the cover too.
The way Meg puts words together is at times like poetry, romantic even, and her descriptions make the most vivid of imagery for me- it is almost as if I could reach out and touch whatever is happening in the book. I loved being in Essie's mind, seeing her giggle bubbles, see her therapist's reptilian tongue or watch the faces transition over Dresdan. It was so interesting to see the struggle between what was real and imaginary and I can only imagine the struggle for those who live like this.Through the pages, I could see and feel the bees buzzing in Dresdan's rib cage, waiting to get out, the anxiety that filled him fighting the pull, the despair and loneliness he was caught in. Everything came alive and that is part of what makes this book so magical- and scary since the Strawmen live in this world too.
I will gladly read what ever fantasy with the subtle romantic flair that Meg likes to drive me crazy with that comes next. This was equal parts wonderful, romantic, heart wrenching and unique and I would not change a single thing. I highly recommend you check out this series and whatever else Meg wants to write, you would be in for a magical, unique ride.
A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.
Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.
What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.
Find out more about the book on Goodreads and read my 5 Star review HERE
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Author Bio:
Meg Kassel is an author of fantasy and speculative books for young adults. A graduate of Parson's School of Design, she’s been creating stories, whether with visuals or words, since childhood. Meg is a New Jersey native who lives in a log house in the Maine woods with her husband and daughter. As a fan of ’80s cartoons, Netflix series, and ancient mythology, she has always been fascinated and inspired by the fantastic, the creepy, and the futuristic. She is the 2016 RWA Golden Heart® winner in YA and a double 2018 RITA® finalist for her debut novel, Black Bird of the Gallows. Website: http://megkassel.com/
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