Little Bee Book Review
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
For about the first 1/3 of this book I had no idea where this story was going. I was introduced to Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee in England, and Sarah, a British woman, whose paths had crossed on a beach in Nigeria. It took quite a bit of time for Chris Cleave to share the details of their first meeting. I was completely sucked into their story during the middle 1/3 of the book. Their meeting, the aftershocks, and their reunion was heart wrenching. However, the remaining 1/3 of the book fell flat for me. There was melodrama where melodrama didn’t exist, there was angst and threats which were sudden and out of place. The ending was completely deflating. I ended up feeling irritated with the loose ends and the authors use of imagery to wrap it up. While I understand his desire to depict a “real” ending, I don’t feel like the ending offered anything to the reader. This book is okay, but will not end up on my favorites list.
Casa Beebe 