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!
Rating:
Summary: Can't keep a "Secret..."
Review: I discovered this book through a co-worker. She lent it to me in exchange for lending her a copy of "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham. When she gave me the book, I had never heard of it, although the author's name did sound vaguely familiar. (I discovered later that Sue Monk Kidd used to be a regular contributor to "Guidepost" magazine, which my mother subscribed to when I was growing up.) I wasn't particularly enthused by the book - until I opened it up and started to read. I was instantly hooked, and I read it using every spare moment I had until I finished it. The novel is not "chick-lit" as some have described it; rather, it is a universal and timeless story. I am a 34 year old male and was touched again & again by Kidd's choice of phrasing and by her powerful narrative. This book made me fall in love with reading again.
Rating: 
Summary: Not THAT great
Review: I had heard that this was a wonderful book. It was an "ok" read but not on my list of "must reads". There just weren't enough things going on.When the book ended - I was still waiting on it to begin...
Rating:
Summary: At last a Non-Sappy "chick" book
Review: I usually can't stand female bonding books, but this one is different. Without giving too much away, the book centers on Lily, a young girl being raised by her emotionally withdrawn and often abusive father on a peach farm in the south in the sixties. Lily is an outcast, whose only real friend is the black housekeeper who has been looking after her since her mother died. The bees that Lily finds flying around her bedroom and a racially motivated incident inspire Lily to embark on a journey to discover the truth about what happened to her mother. The journey takes Lily to a honey farm, and sisters August, June and May, who become Lily's family, giving her the love and strength she needs to confront her past while teaching her to care for the fierce but delicate bees in August's care. This novel is beautifully crafted, skillfully using technical information about bees and honey-making as a metaphor for Lily's search for the truth. Although there is an undercurrent of the racial tensions that were so prominent in the south during the sixties, the story here is really about family and what it means to belong and to accept. It's rare to find coming of age type stories with female protagonists, and this one has five, along with a wonderful mix of the male characters who round out Lily's world. As I read it, I found myself admiring Kidd's skill at weaving a good yarn while filling her book with emotion of the non-tear-jerking kind. This is the best first novel I've read in a long time.
Rating: 
Summary: oh paleese!
Review: Although this was a charming story, I found myself saying "oh please" too many times. It was too sappy to be believable. I don't understand how some reviewers would want to follow the characters lives in a sequel. I was glad to have them gone. On another note: I'm reading "The Red Tent", am 1/2 way thru and it is *fantastic*! I don't want it to end! :)
Rating:
Summary: really wonderful
Review: Everyone in my book club loved this novel. We do two books at a time, and this one was paired with THE SONG READER by Lisa Tucker, another great book. Try them both for a lively discussion! Betty Long
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