The BeesThe Bees
Score Modern
What it's about
Flora 717, born into the lowest class of her hive and fit only to clean, has talents unusual for her kind, and her rise to the Queen's inner sanctum disturbs the colony's order and makes powerful enemies.
Why it's worth reading
It was a finalist for the Women's Prize for Fiction.
You'll love it if you liked
Watership Down
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Memory PoliceGood to know
It's told from inside a beehive.
By the numbers
- Readers5 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics25 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller19 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz3 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #489 of the 504 fantasy books we rank
- #1617 of the 1,647 modern books we rank
- #3012 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Adventurous, Gripping, Thought-provoking
If you like this, read next
Gideon the Ninth
All Systems Red
Promises in Death
Innocent in Death
The Blind Assassin
Jade CityExplore the best-of lists
All 47 best-of lists →
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked
Modern booksTop 25 · 1,647 ranked
Books of the 2010sTop 25 · 751 ranked
Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 ranked
Science fiction booksTop 25 · 333 rankedQuick answers
Is The Bees worth reading?
Yes. It was a finalist for the Women's Prize for Fiction. It ranks #3,012 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 52.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Bees about?
Flora 717, born into the lowest class of her hive and fit only to clean, has talents unusual for her kind, and her rise to the Queen's inner sanctum disturbs the colony's order and makes powerful enemies.
How long does it take to read The Bees?
About 6 hours (243 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Bees?
If you liked it, try Watership Down by Richard Adams, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood or The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa.