I read this odd little book in one sitting. It drew me in, enveloped me, confused me and compelled me. It was odd. It follows a six year old girl, Cheobawn, who chose wrongly at her Choosing Day ceremony and is given a black bead to wear around her neck for life, a symbol of her lack of psychic powers. Lakey crafts an innovative, peculiar world; humans live in Domes and outside is the wilderness. Only packs may venture outside and each pack must contain an Ear, a woman with psychic skills who can sense danger and see into the future.

Cheobawn has highly attuned senses, but because of her bead and her age no pack will take her. Tam is a slightly older youth, perhaps eight, who agrees to take her on because her friend Megan, a charming girl with strong powers, won't leave Cheobawn behind. Under Cheobawn's guidance, they venture out of the dome and into danger. Can she manipulate the threads of the future to bring them safely home?

I felt like I was missing something when I read this. Is this a novella set in an already established world? There's terminology thrown left and right that I didn't understand (until I finished the book and saw the glossary in the back) and it's confusing. But the story is odd and compelling (indeed, oddly compelling) and Cheobawn is a great narrator considering my hesitancy to read from the perspective of a six-year-old. This book is original and dynamic and unlike anything I have ever read.

Black bead was a very strange book for me. I honestly DNF at about 65% which I know... I should have just kept going. I was just rather confused through it all and I felt as if I was thrown into a story that has already been told knowing nothing of the beginning. I do plan on trying to finish this book.

Black Bead can be described as a young adult, science fiction story. It introduces readers to a new society of humans, some of which have psionic abilities, living on a planet with alien beasts. This first installment focuses on a young girl named Cheobawn and her first adventure into the world outside of the safety of the Home Dome with a pack. I felt like I was missing a lot of explanation of why this world was the way it was and was very lost with some of the terminology. There was a glossary in the back of the book that did answer some of my questions, but I didn't see this until I had finished reading the story. I had a really hard time following the story and understanding what was going on. I think the story would have read better if some of the information in the glossary and in the blurb was provided in the actual story.

Although this is written for teenagers and not a teenager myself this was a thoroughly entertaining story.
Enjoyable for teenagers and adults.

This book was reviewed for Wayward Press via Netgalley

Lakey’s Black Bead will snatch you up, racing headlong behind Cheobawn and her Pack on their harrowing First Foray. Cheobawn, and her protector Megan, are the newest members Tam’s recently forged pack. He wants Megan, as only females can be the Ear for a Pack, picking up the noise in the ambient to warn of dangers, and in creating elaborate mental maps. Megan will only agree if Cheobawn is allowed to as well. Unfortunately, Cheobawn is a Black Bead, considered chaotic and unlucky. Tests are given at age three, to determine what colour bead a person will wear, delineating the society into a random, arbitrary caste system based upon this criteria. Indeed, children who gain a Black Bead are usually shunned, and oft outright killed, in order to stave off their supposed bad luck.

Tam decides to accept Cheobawn into his Pack. She is the better Ear of the two girls. Their very first foray illustrates Cheobawn’s chaotic luck. She lead them to a wondrous place, a sheltered glade, just in time for the first flight of baby glasslizards (I want one). Rather than foraging, the group loiters in the glade, falling asleep and missing when they should have started back home. And thus did Cheobawn's luck change. The Pack begins a headlong flight back home, with their powerful Ear in lead. Will they make it back to safety in time? If they do, will the people Cheobawn wish to call friend turn against her too?

The themes of synchronicity, and interconnectedness, run a vivid vein of silver through the story. The glasslizard incident triggered, in a manner, all of the following incidents after it, both good and bad. I follow a spiritual path that involves rune work, and see these energies inherent in all things. I also see people as being primarily tied to one rune collective above all others. Cheobawn is a perthroi. She is very tuned to the Perthro, or probability, inherent in all things. She followed this to get home, tweaking the probabilities when she could. This made me very excited. I haven't found many Perthro oriented characters in books.

I think Cheobawn's people need to recognise the value of Chaos. I think most people in reality do as well. Cheobawn would be blessed of Loki. Chaos beckons necessary change, and all destruction leads to new growth. It's also completely impartial. The nature of Bear Under the Mountain supports this within the story. There are great lessons here about cooperation, and the valuable insights that could be lost if you discount one person (or class of people) because of arbitrary class distinctions.

📚📚📚📚📚 Highly recommended

This story was interesting, but really fast. There is really no exposition in the story, so I had to go back and read the summary again. I would have liked some setup before reading and further explanation of how the covens were separated and what tribes there were. Also I spent a great deal of time wondering if time passed the same on their planet as it did ours. 6 and 10 years old seemed very young for the actions of these characters, so it helped me to imagine their age multiplied by two. I think this should have included a prologue to clear up details and appeal to more science fiction readers, but it's still a pleasant read.

Aside from those details, the story was good. It was written well and the characters were well-rounded. I did enjoy that this story was short because I'm looking for an adventure story to use next year for a novel study. I also enjoyed that a character with a clear disadvantage was still "picked first for the team," albeit because of someone who was close to her refusing to join, but it ended up giving the whole pack the skills needed. I also enjoyed the use of sign language and the power of teamwork.

I do look forward to presenting this as an option for a close reading for my high schoolers. The pacing was easy to keep up with and the scenery and adventure was beautifully aching.