This is going to be a fun review to write for just one reason:

This is my favourite book of all time!!

HB bought it for me for one of my birthdays a few years back. He told me he was going to be home early from work to cook me a birthday dinner.

Then he dropped the bomb that he was too busy at work to leave early and I’d need to take care of dinner. I was a little bummed out about it, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Turned out, he actually went to a bookstore to find me a few new books and this was one of them.

At first, I was a little skeptical as it’s not a genre I’m a big fan of, but when I started reading the book, my perspective changed completely and I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.

Also the cover of this book is stunning. This is the cover of the other edition: Oh My Word! I would buy it just to put in on display.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan {Book review} #bookreview

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Plot:

Meridia grows up in a house where she is lonely, and starved of affection by both of her parents. A father that belittles her every day and a mother that hardly acknowledges her existence. The house holds secrets that no one is willing to share. Then there is the mysterious mists that visit the home each morning and evening, staircases that change, ghosts in mirrors that fight to be seen.

Mediria falls in love with Daniel, a naive and caring boy, at the age of 16, and finally sees happiness in her future as they soon marry. She soon discovers that her new family has dark sectors of their own; her mother-in-law, Eva, is a source of pure conflict with the power to conjure up bees to enrage and manipulate others. Two sister-in-laws that have been raised to despise each other. Meridia finds herself fighting for her new life and control with Eva, as Eva threatens to break all that Meridia and Daniel are fighting to build.

While Meridia’s strong independent spirit and will helped her survive her childhood and the mists, her battle against Eva’s bees isn’t easy and there can only be one woman walking out of it.

Soon, secrets about her new family start to spill out, and Meridia has to make hard choices about her new life and who she will involve in it going forward. Decisions she makes soon start revealing the secrets from her old family home; why the house isn’t like any other, and why the mist is a frequent visitor.

A fable of a woman whose determination is driven by love, hope and courage to fight for her future, against the mists and the bees.

My Opinion: Positive Thoughts

The descriptions used in this book are powerful and really engulf you by giving you a good idea about the settings, the surroundings, even the smells during that part of the book, and it feels like you’re really there.

The emotions of the characters were also brought well to the surface, and I felt every part of each one. I can’t tell you how many times I swore at certain characters, felt a slight hatred towards Eva and often wanted to give Daniel a few kicks in the behind. Just shows how good Erick Setiawan portrayed the characters in his novel if you, as the reader, felt the emotions they are feeling. I’ll admit, I did get overly invested with the characters.

While it’s tricky to put a specific genre on the novel, as it’s a mix of many, there was a romance aspect to it, but it was a ‘breath of fresh air’ romance, not the ‘I want to puke in hands’ kind.

The magic mixed with all the metaphors added a beautiful twist to the writing, and no cliches were present.

My Opinion: Negative Thoughts

I’m just going to skip over this section completely as I seriously have absolutely nothing bad to say about this book. Emphasis on ‘favourite‘.

Overview:

If you have to put it into a genre class, I would say it’s mix of a fable and a fairytale for adults. It’s not a book you should rush through, it’s one that you need to read for the details to properly soak everything in, or else you miss out on a lot of crucial parts to the story.

Think metaphor deciphering.

The main themes of the novel revolve around love, loss and betrayal.

What I really enjoyed about the book is that even though it’s a fairytale, many of the issues addressed in the book are based on realities: financial struggles, infertility, caring for ill relatives, and the hardships of marriage and meddling.

My Rating:

The book has a rating of 3.76 out of 5 on GoodReads.

Which made me a shed a small inner tear because I believe this book deserves so much more recognition.

It got a 5 out of 5 from me, before I enjoyed it thoroughly, and it’s one of my prized possessions. As in, this isn’t a book I’ll ever lend out out of fear of it being damaged.

Book review: Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan #bookreview

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Have you read Of Bees and Mist?

You can purchase it here.

Do you have a book you want reviewed?
Send me an email: sincerelyyoursannie@gmail.com