I’ve read a couple of Sarah Crossan’s YA verse novels and have always found them to be devastating, powerful stories. So I was very intrigued when I heard that she had written an adult book and super excited when I was approved for it on NetGalley.

Ana Kelly is an estate lawyer who takes calls informing her of deaths every day but her world is rocked, when Rebecca Taylor, the wife of the man she has been having an affair with makes that fateful phone call. Suddenly, Ana is alone and secretly grieving and she seeks solace in her love rival.

Ana and Connor’s romance seems to have been reckless and passionate. Their spark was very intense and I could tell that they each found something in each other that was missing in their respective marriages. However, I knew, as well as they did, that they were never going to last. It’s rare that lovers come out as the winners of extra-marital affairs and despite knowing that Connor’s death was that full stop, their love never really had much staying power anyway.

Crossan is great at writing romance and I think the lyrical rhythm of her verse format lends itself well to it. The brevity of her writing means that she is also a master of metaphor and imagery. I think this has always been my favourite thing about her books and one reason why they always have such a powerful impact.

I didn’t like Ana at all and I had very little sympathy for her. It’s testament to Crossan’s writing that I kept reading and wanted to know how things resolved because it definitely wasn’t because I cared an ounce for Ana. She was incredibly self-obsessed and dishonest, which is perhaps obvious for a mistress, but there wasn’t anything to her character to redeem her even slightly. Even when she talks about her college days and how she always felt overshadowed by her outgoing best friend Tanya, I still didn’t get those pangs of relatability or understanding that I normally do for ‘underdogs’. Her misogyny shone through in the sections where she was willing Connor to say something bad about Rebecca just so that she could feel like the ‘alpha female’ of the terrible situation. She also seemed to have a bit of a superiority complex but that actually made her a believable typical lawyer!

Although she is madly in love with him, Ana begins to see how much more Connor got from their situation. The idea that the man in a heterosexual relationship always benefits more than the woman, whether they’re monogamous or not, is a message that seemed to linger in the background of the story. Every young woman who dates men would do well to remember this, especially if they ever find themselves as someone’s mistress.

If you’re going into Here Is The Beehive as a fan of Crossan’s YA books, you need to be prepared for something a little different. It didn’t hit me as hard as One or Toffee did and I think this may have been something to do with the fact that her YA characters always have a natural vulnerability and therefore likeability to them. That’s missing from this book. However, I can see it landing better with women who are perhaps unhappily married or those who are in love with someone who they can’t rightfully have. It has been compared to Sally Rooney’s books but to be honest, I’m not sure I fully agree with. The forbidden, unstable love is there but Rooney’s characters tend to be much more understandably unlikeable than Ana is.

This is unlike any other book I have read before. I won't lie, initially I found it difficult to fully get into the writing format/style but after a while it started to flow a little easier. I still think I prefer normal writing with paragraphs, chapters and no random line breaks but this new style (similar to poetry) seems to be becoming more popular and the traditional, conventional ways of writing are being questioned.
The story itself is really intense and full of strong emotions. Very quickly you bear witness to Ana's feelings and you become immersed in this loss she is experiencing and difficult time that she is going through.
At times the story reminded me of Blood Orange; it centres around infidelity, a dangerous obsession, lack of fulfillment and lust. Sometimes I find that these emotions can nearly be suffocating for the reader due to their intensity and on a personal note, I find I get very frustrated with characters that exhibit these emotions. They come across as ungrateful, selfish and self centered but maybe that's the old Irish Catholic guilt that is deeply embedded in me and my lack of fondness of infidelity comes through (even when I know the story is fiction). On the flip side, this is a clear indication of how strong the writing is; if the author succeeds in having the reader feel these strong and difficult emotions alongside the protagonist and awakening frustration within the reader (be it towards the protagonist or something else), they've done a pretty good job. Awakening raw emotion like that in someone isn't an easy task!
I think this book will be ideal for many readers; it isn't very long, the plot (though intense) is simple and easy to follow and there aren't too many characters for you to get lost and confused (nothing worse when you are trying to remember who is who half way through a book).
A huge thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to review the book before its publication and I look forward to seeing that else Crossan has in store.

I absolutely adored and related to this gorgeous story of grief, secrets, love and betrayal. Written as a stream of consciousness, it was poetic and heart-breaking and beautiful.

Ana and Connor are both married. They are having an intense affair.

Until the day Ana receives a phone call that will devastate her beyond all imagining.

As she reflects on their time together, we feel the pain of loving someone who is not free to love you back as you wish them to. Her deep and consuming insecurity makes it extremely painful to not be the one that's chosen. As they push and pull toward and away from one another, over and over again, I was truly moved by the authentic and brutally honest account of the reality of what it feels like to love someone that's forbidden.

Alone in her grief, she cannot eat or feel joy in anything. She longs for a connection to Connor, and finds herself seeking out his widow. Was Connor's marriage really as bad as he said? Did he ever truly love her? Would she have ever believed him anyway when she is so scarred by her past?

The most heartbreaking moment for me is discovering that the last words Connor and Ana shared were angry ones. Knowing that she hung up the phone to him and ignored his attempts to call her back. Moments before tragedy struck.

This book will make you cry, it will make you feel, it will make you think. And it's not an easy read. But I adored the very last sentences that give just a glimmer of hope, a small chink of light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Actual Rating: high 2 star ⭐⭐
In this we follow a woman named Ana, who is coming to terms with the sudden loss of the man she was having an affair with.

I found this was a bit hit and miss for me, This is the first novel I have read that's been written in verse and I can't say I like it too much, I got very confused at times and missed the intricacies of the story - it felt very disjointed and jumpy, I couldn't really keep up or follow the timelines accurately, that being said becuase it is written in verse, it was a very quick read.

The characters were mediocre, it did get a bit repetitive after a while and a bit boring. I was intrigued to see where the story was going to go, but I was a little disappointed when I got to the end because of the lack of closure, it was very open ended.

Overall I didn't like nor dislike this, it was very middle of the road, not one that's going to stick in my mind for very long though.

Although not a fan of stories told through verse, the reason I requested this book is because of the storyline.

Ana is grieving the death of her lover. Her lover who has a wife and children. How does one grieve the death of someone they aren't supposed to love? She can't grieve loudly & she can't grieve with the others who mourn him.

The verses flit between past and present to build a full picture of Ana, Connor and their love affair. Because of the free form way in which their story is told, some may struggle with the time hopping but I think the author did a great job with making it subtly clear as to when I was reading verses when Connor was alive or when I was reading verses after Connor had died.

Rarely are stories told from the perspective of the other person and so I enjoyed this book for what it was; a look into the life of a tragic secret.

Thank you @netgalley for this arc.

This was such a beautiful, yet tragic read. The lead protagonist reveals an unusual perspective; a widowed mistress makes sense of the world without her lover. This would be slightly easier if she wasn’t also his estate lawyer. This intimate and crucial role clashing with her status as his lover proves for some heartbreaking and alternative perspectives, I felt sympathy for her and surprisingly didn’t feel as much for his wife.

I love Sarah Crossan's writing and was so excited to read her first afult novel. But the characters turned me off instantly and I found the narrator wholely unsympathetic, despite her grief.
It was a quick read, and written in Crossan's distinctive compelling style. But narratively I hated it.

I wouldn't usually pick up a book in verse but I was completely won over by the beautiful cover and further intrigued by the title and blurb.

This tells the story of Ana, whose married lover of 3 years dies suddenly. Ana is married with kids and doesn't have anywhere to turn to share her loss.

Crossan's writing style is so captivating that I found myself completely invested in the story as it ebbed and flowed to it's inevitable end. Ana's character felt so real and although some of her actions and behaviours were questionable, it was hard not to empathise with her throughout.

The story was easily devoured in one reading. Having never read any of Sarah Crossan's YA fiction, I will definitely look it up.

I had to return to this review several weeks after reading the book to upgrade it from 4 to 5 stars (!). There is so much to this story that I have remembered long after many books may be forgotten. It has already made it's way to my re-read pile and I will be recommending it to friends as soon as it is released.

Thanks to #netgalley and bloomsburypublishing for an ARC.

A strange kind of book for me; I can't say I enjoyed it all the way through but when I reached the end I look back on it fondly!

This is the story of an extra-marital affair told in a different way. Ana and Connor had been having a fling for three years when he died. Ana is left in limbo; she can't grieve openly as no-one knew about their relationship but it's affecting her and she cannot leave it alone to the extent that she does the unthinkable and reaches out to Rebecca, his widow.

This is a very quick read. I can't say I was very taken with the prose, but it does get the information across in a satisfactory way. I found it easy to sympathise with Ana whilst also being horrified at her actions. Trying to hold everything together without support is not easy - well, let's be honest here; it's hard to get over a sudden death even with the best of support from your nearest and dearest. This all comes across clearly - it's a very cleverly written novel, with maximum revelations for minimal reading. It's a grand story, and many an author would have padded it out into a much longer and possibly softer book and the jury is still out on whether I would pursue the same style of writing again. However, having enjoyed it overall I'm happy to decide on four stars.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

I am a huge fan of Sarah Crossan’s YA books and was therefore a little worried about her first adult offering and whether the rawness of her writing would transfer. I received this book three hours ago and have just devoured it! Telling the story of Ana, a probate solicitor who learns of the death of her married lover, she is a character you normally would despise. However, Crossan’s trademark, beautifully written prose allows the reader to see Ana’s thoughts, fears, shame and instability unravel and I found myself both empathising and being incredibly irritated with her as she looks back over the affair and integrates herself in his family’s life. Desperate to be loved, noticed and acknowledged, Ana’s emotions are clearly felt - even in such few words. Powerful, compelling and exposed - I loved it.

I loved this book, it had me gripped all the way through, with an engaging lead character and a devastating story-line about obsession and the way it drives you to cope when faced with loss. A lifelike portrayal of a character you would normally dislike was at times painful to read and the type of book that could easily relate to real life, I can see this being a bestseller this summer, thought provoking and it left me wandering what would have happened next to the main character.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARE copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book that I have read in verse and found it very strange
It is the story of a married woman’s affair lost because her lover has died and how she morns him and through his wife tried to find out more about his life
For me I felt that it lacked depth as if we were just skirting over the story
I just wanted more depth

Here is the Beehive is a beautifully written book. Told in verse this book explores the thoughts and feelings of a married woman who is mourning the loss of her lover and how difficult she is finding it as she cannot publically grieve for the man she had fallen in love with.

I enjoyed the fact that it was told in this format as I don't tend to gravitate towards them but after reading this one I will definitely be trying to add more into my reading.

I did however find this book hard to read at times due to the changing in timelines. There was no real clarification and left me having to re-read sections and figure out where they fitted into the timeline.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read this book having thoroughly enjoyed her YA novels. This is her first adult novel.
There is so much more to Sarah’s books than just the story. The book is written in prose and the layout of it on the page is so interesting.
I read this novel in one afternoon. It’s an easy book to read and I became totally invested in the story. It’s a powerful book that has stayed with me and left me with lots to think about (Ana’s character and some of her decisions).
A good read that I definitely recommended.

I love and adore everything Sarah writes, and this is no exception. I was swept away in Ana's story, at times rooting for a certain love interest, at others screaming at the top of my lungs for her to walk away.

A story told in verse about a married woman mourning the sudden loss of her lover. It starts at the end of the affair, in death, and focuses on how Ana begins to unravel in her hidden grief and jealousy towards wife Rebecca (I see those Daphne Du Maurier hints!) The whole story oozes bitterness, regret and sometimes even shame. Ana is unable to find a relase for her emotions, and has no one to talk to about her lover other than his best friend – who hates her. This isn’t a nice story about nice people.

Ana has made, and continues to make, some incredibly poor decisions that could affect her future, and as the story progresses we see her becoming more undone – to the point where she starts to question if she even had an affair, and if her lover was even real. Although the reader knows she isn’t a good person, I still couldn’t help feeling connected to her and wallowing with her in grief. I wanted her to find some happiness or reconciliation, or even some justification for her behaviour.

I will say I found the transitions between the present and flashbacks a little hard to get to grips with. There’s no warning as to when we jump back in time, and this could feel a little disorientating and sometimes threw me out of the story as I struggled to get to understand where in Ana’s timeline we were. The ending is also a little abrupt, and has no real conclusion – which in one sense sums up the whole affair and Ana’s thoughts, but I would have liked some kind of closure to wrap the story up.

However, I cannot deny that this is beautifully told with prose that feel very easy to read and conjure up a whole host of emotions. Crossan is a master writer, and I’m anxious to look up her back catalogue of YA novels so I can fully immerse myself in more of her words.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.
Usually, before I write up my review I have noted down my thoughts and rating and have a quick eyeball of other reviews to see if anyone else is on the same page. Having seen a huge list of 5-star reviews and nothing else I think it is safe to say I may have missed something here.

This book is written in verse which makes for a rather interesting reading experience. Even for those unfamiliar with this form of writing, it flows well and fits the narrative well. Ana has been having an affair with Connor for three years until he suddenly dies. She is left to deal with her grief alone as no one knew about the affair. When Connor’s wife Rebecca phones to make arrangements, Ana is forced to confront her grief and look back on the affair.

I feel like I have read so many books lately along this vein where a man dies, and his secret life is exposed. Maybe it’s just coincidence or sign of a weirdly specific literary trope. This is also one of these books about horrible, selfish people who are just shitty people in almost every way. Ana is awful, Connor was awful, Rebecca is mostly ok. I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to feel sorry for Ana, but I most certainly didn’t, and I feel this impacted how invested I was in her story. If this book had been any longer I am not sure I would have finished it because I find these books about terrible people really emotionally draining.

I did like how things about Ana’s life slowly unfolded as the book progressed. I made assumptions about her that turned out to be incorrect and it helped keep my attention despite everything else.

It feels very "worthy" and I’m sure it will receive tons of accolades, but it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable reading experience for me personally.

To say I enjoyed this book is probably incorrect. It’s more of a reading experience.

I loved Sarah Crossan’s YA verse novels so was really excited to receive an advanced copy of her adult verse novel.

This is such a raw and intense book.

When Ana’s lover, Connor, dies she is overwhelmed with a grief that she cannot share.

Ana is not a particularly likeable character. Despite being married with two young children, she is instantly attracted to Connor and before long they are having a passionate affair.

She makes so terrible decisions that put her marriage and career in danger but she is unable to think or act rationally as her passion and grief consume her.

Ana believed Connornwould leave his wife and when she meets Rebecca is shocked to find that the woman she imagined for so long bears no resemblance to the real person.

The verse style adds to the intensity of the emotions throughout this book. At points I had to put it down as there is such a harsh truth and beauty in the words.

This book is not going to be for everyone, but it is haunting and extraordinary.

Thank you Bloomsbury and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

It’s been way too long since I last picked up a Sarah Crossan book. So when I saw this one I just knew I had to read it. Also look at how pretty that cover is!

‘Here is the Beehive’ is Crossan’s first adult fiction novel and it has a slightly different feel to her previous works. I thought the plot based around Ana and Connor’s affair was quite controversial and what stopped me from completely falling in love with this book. However, I think the way it explores how confused and hurt Ana was as well as the effect it was having on the people around her was really thorough. Don’t be fooled, this book isn’t just about the affair, it’s about grief as well which I think is what makes it stand out. As with all of Crossan’s books, I was still drawn in by her verse-style writing. It was exceptionally effective and I also like how each layer of the Ana’s background was slowly revealed in the book.

Overall, I didn’t love it as much as I've loved all of Sarah Crossan’s other books. But I don’t think it’s completely awful either. It was different and kind of dark seeing Ana psychologically spiraling downwards. But I know I’m always going to go back to reading her book no matter what because I think the verse-style writing is incredible.

This is a strange book - the whole book centers around a woman and her affair - it constantly switches between little snippets of thoughts - at times it was hard to keep track.
No real storyline, just a series of thoughts......
An interesting concept - I'm not sure I'd like to read again.