Apparently my library had this book once but then they had to pull it from the shelves since it was irreparably damaged or something but now they replaced it. ( )

This is pretty much the usual unexceptional dystopian young adult book. Character (usually a teenage girl) lives in a limited world and controlling and doesn’t know the outside world exists. She discovers something which leads her to question everything she’s been taught and with the help of a teenage boy (or two) goes on to discover that there’s more to the world than she knew.
The plot is reasonably compelling towards the end, but mostly due to the curiosity factor. The characters aren’t anything special. The world is reasonably original, but the world building isn’t particularly compelling, and the ideas aren’t original at all. It was set in Australia, which is slightly more unusual than America but doesn’t really make it any better. The themes weren’t anything special. There was no politics and not much end of the world themes. There was pretty much no action and not much conflict.
I didn’t enjoy it, but I don’t like this sort of book. People who like young adult dystopian might enjoy it. ( )

I really enjoyed this story, and I really look forward to the next one, Rogue. The character Hayley is curios and clever, and her relationships with her friends, and elders feel authentic. The world Hayley lives in, as it is slowly revealed to you, the reader and also to Hayley is simple on the face of it but also deeply complex. ( )

Hive is the first in a young adult duology by Australian author A.J. Betts. Set in a dystopian future, Hayley's world is made up of hexagonal houses where everyone has a vocation.

Hayley is a gardener and tends the bee hive and plants with her best friend Celia. Grow lights change colour to dictate the passage of time and all 300 inhabitants have a job to do. Each person contributes to the running of the settlement that almost operates like a hive.

Isolated from the rest of the world, governed by God where nobody knows their birth parents, this community also had the feeling of a religious cult.

Hayley is naturally inquisitive and when she notices a drip in an area that is off limits to her, she's desperate for answers. If she's going mad then she'll have a bleak future, but what if something else is going on?

The world building was clever, the writing was evocative and I enjoyed learning about Hayley's settlement and the goings on within the group.

I don't often read YA or dystopian fiction, so it took me a little while to settle into Hayley's world, but reading Hive was a refreshing palate cleanser from my usual eclectic fare.

The next in the duology is Rogue and I'm planning on reading that next.

* Won in a Pan Macmillan giveaway hosted by The Very Hungry Thesaurus on Instagram * ( )

3.5 Stars. The book started very slow and did not grab my attention. I am not sure if I wasn't in the right mood but I somehow could not get my head around the story. I was picturing gigantic bees, the size of cats in my head and then thought talking bees (which btw both are not the case. My imagination somehow went a complete different direction when reading the short synopsis) and that weird me out. I was close for not finishing the book but in the last third of the book it did pick up some Momentum and the story became more interesting. Will I read the second book in the series though? ( )