Thank you, for joining me today on this special post. Today as part of the Tales of the Ravenous Reader blog tour stop for KEEPER OF THE BEES by Meg Kassel. I am going to review this amazing book which is the sequel to one of my favorite reads from last year, BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS.
KEEPER OF THE BEES by MEG KASSELL
REVIEW
Once I was approached to read and review KEEPER OF THE BEES, I could swear that I my scream of joy could be heard everywhere. It’s the sequel to one of my very favorite books from last year, BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS and when I finished reading that book I could not wait for the next one and I was not disappointed.
KOTB was everything I could have wanted in a follow up novel and more. Darkly Atmosopheric and well paced, I could not seem to get enough of Dresden and Essie’s story. Witnessing their relationship is both a joy and a pain because of their own personal torment and how they struggle to maintain their impossible romance.
I am usually not a great fan of dark romances but Meg Kassel makes this story work. Yes, it’s dark and it makes you twist, but you are intrigued by it’s story an it’s main characters. You are drawn to them and you want them to succeed as a couple despite understanding how incredibly difficult that process is. Yet, from the moment that Essie faces Dresden you become invested in them. When I read about Dresden in BBOTG I despised him but as that story progressed I only wanted to know more about him and what drove him beyond his inner demons. Now, I only want more, as if the taste of his plight was was an appetizer that leaves me craving.
The concept of this series is wholly original and I like how each character has their own issues of morality that they all face in different ways and how mental illness is portrayed in a delicate and compassionate manner.
KEEPER OF THE BEES is listed as a standalone but I highly recommend reading BLACKBIRD OF THE GALLOWS first. Believe me, you will not be disappointed in this fantastically tender paranormal romance that will totally keep you engaged.
Keeper of the Bees
by Meg Kassel
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date: September 4th 2018
Entangled Teen
Summary:
“Beauty and the beast like you’ve never imagined!” —New York Timesbestselling author Pintip Dunn
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.
EXCERPT
She closes her eyes. Her breath hitches. Then, she does the improbable and throws herself against me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I am paralyzed. Motionless, breathless in my first embrace in a millennium. To be touched… My eyes close as I tremble from head to toe. The pain is glorious, excruciating.
“Thank you,” she breathes against my chest. “You calm my mind. Why is that?”
“I don’t know.” Speech takes an unbearable effort. I’m overwhelmed in every single possible way—destroyed on a level she can’t begin to comprehend. My arms hover, uncertain how to return her embrace and unsure if I should. Unable to push her away. I feel as though I will shatter if I move, but my arms slowly close around her. One of my hands falls on her hair, where her elastic has loosened. The thin band slips from her hair and falls into my hand. My fingers close around it.
OPTION 1:
She closes her eyes. Her breath hitches. Then, she does the improbabl
e and throws herself against
me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I am paralyzed. Motionless, breathless in my first embrace in a mi
llennium. To be touched
…
My eyes
close as I tremble from head to toe. The pain is glorious, exc
ruciating.
“
Thank you,
”
she breathes against my chest.
“
You calm my mind. Why is that?
”
“
I don
’
t know.
”
Speech takes an unbearable effort. I
’
m overwhelmed in every single possible way
—
destroyed on a level she can
’
t begin to comprehend. My arms hover, uncertain how to return
her embrace and
unsure if I should. Unable to push her away. I feel as though I w
ill shatter if I move, but my arms slowly close
around her. One of my hands falls on her hair, where her elastic
has loosened. The thin band slips from her
hair and falls into my hand. My fingers close around it.
OPTION 1:
She closes her eyes. Her breath hitches. Then, she does the improbabl
e and throws herself against
me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I am paralyzed. Motionless, breathless in my first embrace in a mi
llennium. To be touched
…
My eyes
close as I tremble from head to toe. The pain is glorious, exc
ruciating.
“
Thank you,
”
she breathes against my chest.
“
You calm my mind. Why is that?
”
“
I don
’
t know.
”
Speech takes an unbearable effort. I
’
m overwhelmed in every single possible way
—
destroyed on a level she can
’
t begin to comprehend. My arms hover, uncertain how to return
her embrace and
unsure if I should. Unable to push her away. I feel as though I w
ill shatter if I move, but my arms slowly close
around her. One of my hands falls on her hair, where her elastic
has loosened. The thin band slips from her
hair and falls into my hand. My fingers close around it.
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