The Honeybee Emeralds

First of all, I have to talk about how unique this book is. The mystery element mixed in with the history made it something so different from other books I've read like this. It reminded me a little bit of The Lost Apothecary, with that kind of vibe, although definitely not as dark.

I have to admit, it did start out a little bit slow for me. I wasn't sure I loved Alice and thought she was beyond a normal level of timid. She's so quiet, so unsure of herself...I wasn't sure if she was entirely realistic. She did come alive for me later in the book, though, so I was really happy to see her get more sure of herself.

This book is told from multiple points of view, and at times it almost seemed like too many. It was a little hard to keep track of what was going on with all the characters: all of their relationships, backstories, and how they related to the honeybee emeralds. This is another thing I figured out better as we got towards the middle of the book.

Beyond those couple things, this book was SO fun. I just flew through it, especially after I hit the half way point. The whole story picked up, I knew the characters better, and I was really into the fun history stuff. I was also really rooting for some of the characters and was excited when good things happened for them.

Read my full review: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/01/review-the-honeybee-emeralds-by-amy-tector/