So many people loved this book and while I enjoyed the lyrical story, especially when talking about the bees, it was just an okay read for me. Hassan is a young man who is intelligent, caring, and brave. He wants to make everyone happy as well as support his family. He looks up to his father and wants to follow in his footsteps as a poet and harvester of honey. His mother's eyesight is deteriorating, and he is positive that only the magic healing power of the black honey will stop her from going blind. He needs to find the bees and the beekeeper deep in the forest. The problem is that the governor has made it illegal to enter the forest. Hassan wins a scholarship to attend school in Karachi where he meets the governor’s niece, Maryam, from London and falls in love. More choices for him - follow Maryam to England or find the beekeeper and remain in Pakistan? With conflict brewing in Pakistan, his father missing and his mother's safety at risk what will he choose. It is a story of coming of age and of finding his way in life.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I thought there would be more about what Pakistan was going through, but this was more about Hassan and his relationship with the bees. The author talks about the bees calling him. The soft buzzing of bees, the hexagonal and spiral shapes found throughout nature and being drawn into their world. It is a magical relationship. It was a beautiful descriptive novel that brings the reader into nature. There are many characters to meet, but Hassan is the only one fully developed. I did like learning about the customs in his small village and some of what the political climate and issues were in 1974 Pakistan, but more than anything else, this was a coming of age story. I did a read listen with this book and found myself reading more of the book because it was very slow moving. The narrator, Devesh Kishore, did a wonderful job with the voices, expression and emotion of the story.

Great audiobook, I loved the setting and the atmosphere!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback.

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.co.uk in return for an honest review ***

This is a beautifully written book that in turn is wonderfully narrated as an audiobook. The language conjurs the beauty of the jungle in Harikaya, Pakistan.

Set in 1974 Hassan knows that his time is limited to find the, almost legendary, black bees, their hives and the healing honey inside. He is sure that the healing properties of the honey will save his mother's sight but he must find it before the floods come.

Unfortunately not a book for me as an audiobook. I really tried but unfortunately never really got into it.

I am sure it is a good book as an actual book, not an audio version.

Will probably try to find it to read in the future, because the cover is definitely beautiful and the synopsis is gripping.

A beautiful story told by a man with a wonderful voice!! The story follows Hassan and his need to find a beekeeper who has black bees who lives deep in the woods somewhere remote and unknown. This honey can help his mother who is losing her sight. His father has failed to get this honey so it falls to Hassan. He is offered a scholarship with the town's governor amid turmoil in the political camps. Hassan then discovers this man's niece leaving him having to make a choice... The honey or Maryam, the niece......
I found it very captivating. Devesh Kishaw , the narrator created such a great atmosphere that I would sit and listen as much as I could until the book was finished!. I would highly recommend listening/reading this book. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC book for an honest review

The story has a lot of magical elements and sort of a fairy tale feeling at times as poetry and the bees envelop Hassan'

The narration of this book was excellent and I really enjoyed some aspects of the story. However, in the main, it was not for me, I'm sad to say. The blurb promised so much that did not deliver.

The main story is about a boy who has to decide where his future lies when given the opportunity to leave his hometown permanently. The story is quite convoluted, and this might be a better physical read as it is difficult to flick back to check your understanding on an audio book.

The descriptions of setting were rich and compelling, as were the almost supernatural moments when Hassan links up with the bees. I loved the description of the bees, their hive and how they worked together as one to achieve their aim.

I think the bees were some sort of convoluted metaphor to comment on the structure of society in Pakistan at the time that the book is set (1974) but is was very difficult to follow exactly what was happening at many points in this narrative.

Beautifully written but I felt as if something else should happen. It didn't. Somebody mentioned it was similar to a Khaled Hosseini novel but, I have read all of his books, this one didn't match Khaled's writing abilities.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for an advanced digital copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Set in Pakistan in 1974 this is the story of a son on a mission to find the black bees and their black honey to cure his mothers blindness, driven and determined to do so. Then he meets a girl and life changes, choices are available, aspirations could be realised what to do now? The story of ambition, moral dilemmas, life choices, class and knowing what's right. The narrator had a gentle voice. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

This is such a beautifully crafted book. The descriptions are poetic, the author tell a story, but the writing paints a picture in your mind. The beauty of the bees, nature, relationships and people are laid out through this heartbreaking tale. Love and expectations are played off against each other and honour and duty are explained in actions. Hard choices have to be made, but I think the ending was fitting fit this book. It could have ended as a love story, but the tale and lives of the bees meant too much. A really poetic book.