Lisa O’ Donnell did not disappoint with The Death of Bees. This story of two girls struggling to survive under morbidly unfortunate circumstances keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The books main character Marnie and Nelly struggle to stay together and provide for themselves after their mother shoot their father, and later, hangs herself. The girls choose to keep these deaths a secret as the dynamic duo buries the bodies in the backyard and attempt to continue on with life as normal. The book introduces several entertaining characters such as Lennie, the sex offender who lives next door and ends up being a detrimental figure in the girl’s survival. The Twists and turns throughout the novel provide a whirlwind of emotions to connect the reader to the plot.

O’Donnell uses a variety of tactics to allow the reader to follow the storyline clearly and truly relate to the characters involved. The novel switches perspectives from Marnie, Nelly and Lennie. Before a perspective reader is deterred by this shift in character, he or she should know that this shift only adds to the precision of the story line. Each character is distinctly identified, may it be Marnie and her shockingly crude language or Lennie and his fatherly protectiveness. O’ Donnell guides the reader to each change in setting smoothly so that the book is easy to follow and a pleasure to read.

I personally enjoyed the raw emotion and examples of human nature that this book illustrated. O’ Donnell shines light on the seriousness of domestic abuse and the affects it can have on the minors involved. After the death of their parents, the girls seemed to be more concerned about their well-being than the absence of their parents demonstrating how poorly they were treated. Throughout the book the girls also have vivid memories and hate for the deceased that is parallel to kids living in broken homes in the real world. The Death of Bees is an excellent example of how there are children all across the world having to provide for themselves in order to survive. I think Lisa O’ Donnell did a great thing by writing an entertaining novel to raise awareness of these issues in our everyday world, making this novel a must read.