Rating: 
Summary: heart warming book -
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. It was lent to me by a co-worker, but it is definitely a book I would buy for my library and give to my daughter, maybe when she turns 15 or so.
It brought to mind another author which I enjoyed for some of the same reasons as this one - strong, women characters, with men playing a secondary role. Meredith Tax - Rivington Street. Rivington Street is the first of two (or three?) books. I enjoyed those books very much too. - Strong women - leading character roles.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing extraordinary
Review: This was a good book, however there are many good books out there. There wasn't anything about this particular book that made it stand out from any other feel good story. In some places the wording was very lyrical and ejoyable to read.
However the story itself is nothing original: Setting-The South. Main Character-Young white girl with an abusive parent(s) Plot-She manages to stumble upon the one person who seems to care about her. Most likely this person is a) a woman and b) black. Or in this case it is several women.
If you were really into this sort of story I would suggest reading "Before Women had Wings", or "Ellen Foster". Kidd's book basically follows the plotline of these two books, and I think these are a little bit better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: The Secret IS.....
Review: Sue Monk Kidd wrote a bee-autiful story of a fourteen year old girl, Lily, in "The Secret Life of Bees." Lily is in distress over the death of her mother. She was so young when she lost her mother, and her memories were fuzzy. But she had pictured how wonderful her mother was, so different from the father that she runs away from.
In Triburon, South Carolina, Lily lives with three beekeeping sisters: June, May, and August. People in the south found it odd for a white teenager to live with three black women and racism was at its' peak. In spite of that, and maybe because of that, Lily was able to recognize the most valuable lessons in life. She learns a whole new way of life, a whole new culture - different from her own, but inviting.
With the help of August, Lily learns that the search for her lost mother is pointless, for all of our mothers (or, care takers) lie within ourselves.
I recommend this book to everyone who loves to read, and especially to those who deal with issues of who and where their parents are.
Rating:
Summary: cheesy
Review: The best part of the book is learning about bees.
A bit too much like watching the Titantic movie - which drove me nuts - if you like mainstream, you'll like this. I only finished reading it because my mother gave it to me.
Rating:
Summary: My review of The Secret Life of Bees
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. The Secret Life Of Bees is a wonderfully written book with memorable characters and an interesting historical setting. The novel is set in the state of South Carolina in 1964 which coincided with the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The main character is a young white teenage girl named Lily Owens who goes on a search to learn about the mother she lost at the age of 4. Lily blames herself for accidently shooting her mother and blames herself for her death. Lily begins this quest by looking a picture that belonged to her mother of a black Madonna with a name of a town in South Carolina on the back of it. Lily spends the summer with three black sisters who are in the business of making honey. Each of these characters have such distinct character traits that I enjoyed. I found that I possess a few of these traits myself. I loved the strong gentle character August who becomes a mother figure to Lily. May is the stoic often depressed sister. June is the sister who is afraid to let love come into her life. Zach Taylor is a young black teenager who is thrown in jail after standing by his friend after an incident with a group of white men. It is also interesting that Zach is Lily's friend and love interest in this book, because in the early 1960's inter racial relationships were not easily accepted. I absolutely loved the character of Rosaleen who is Lily's housekeeper. She is a strong proud black female character who makes no apologies for her actions. Rosaleen is on her way to register herself to vote at the beginning of the novel. She is confronted and taunted by 3 white men. She then spits on their shoes in response to their behavior She is subsequently beaten by them and thrown in jail. This is just one of the great examples of how unjust life was really like during the early 60's in the South for black people. The Secret Life of Bees is a novel of fiction. However, it is set in a context that is very real and relevant though. The relations between people of different races will always be an important one. The Secret Life of Bees is a novel with memorable, complex characters. I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, Predictable, and Racist
Review: I was disappointed by Sue Monk Kidd's novel. While it started out interesting and even exciting, it soon devolved into a dull, predictable tale that seemed a cut and paste of other, better written coming of age stories. Additionally, the author fetishizes black women throughout the novel in ways that manage to be both trite and offensive. It's racist in a "mystical negro" way, not a "let's join the Klan" way (see Toni Morrison's essays about the portrayals of African Americans in film for an articulate and complete discussion of this issue). In 'Bees' there is the shockingly unnuanced 'mammy' character of Rosaleen, written about as a simple-minded and unpredictable, yet also nurturing and uncritical of the white girl who employs and 'rescues' her. The story is rife with boring and contrived lessons about the earth, nature, and life that four black women teach Lily. One would think that the black folks in this book had nothing better to do than sit around and teach white people how to be happy and connected to the earth in the 1960s American South. Racism is portrayed as a few crazy and hate filled hicks attacking black people who are trying to vote. It is that. But it's also so much more subtle and pervasive than that, and Kidd let's Lily (and the mostly white readers of the book) completely off the hook. The real kicker for me was that August, the most 'magical' black woman in the novel, and ironically the one with the closest chance at being a black character with her own agency, unchained by Kidd's racist portrayals, in the end explains that the reason she loves Lily is because August was Lily's mother's nanny/mammy, and she loves Lily "just like" she loved her mother. In other words, as her servant, her mammy. . . and how much of a leap is it to as a slave to a master? I was frankly shocked at how problematic this novel was. If you are at all aware of how racism functions in the world, or if you are someone who prefers original and interesting writing, I suggest you stop exploring this book --save yourself an irritating read.
Rating:
Summary: Simplistic, Unimaginative, Uninteresting
Review: I found this book to be simplistically and pedantically written. The storytelling was certainly underdeveloped and almost trite. I not only would not recommend this book, I would tell others NOT to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read
Review: Read this book a couple of months ago. Good read. Don't agree with those who say it's one of the best books ever, but I do recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Soul searching story told with grace and clarity.........
Review: The Secret Life of Bees is a beautifully rendered story of a young girl's attempt to find a loving, safe haven and to piece together her life in order to find her place in the world. Lily is a 14 yr. old girl who lives alone with her father on a peach farm. Her mother was accidentally shot and killed when Lily was very young. Lily's father is unloving and demanding of Lily, punishing her for perceived infractions of his rules. The near lynching of Lily's beloved Rosaleen, the woman who has helped raise her and teach her about love is a pivotal moment in Lily's life. She takes this, and uses it to run away to the only place she can find any link to her dead mother's past, Tiburon, South Carolina. She and Rosaleen show up looking for a future, for answers, for peace and acceptance. As the story unfolds itself, the lessons learned about what love and friendship really mean, and the fact that no matter what your past or present holds , each person possesses the keys to their own life. This was a soul searching story told with grace and clarity.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I Have Ever Read!
Review: This book was perhaps the best book I have ever read, or at least the best novel I have read in a long, LONG time. When compared to some of my other favorites like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Rebecca, and Pride and Prejudice, it beats them hands down. This book was ten times better than Divine Secrets of the Yia-Yia Sisterhood. It just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. From beginning to end, this book is a masterpiece that needs to be read by everyone! I love this book and strongly recommend it to anyone, any age!
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