"How can we know which days will be the turning points? So long as we live, we gamble...you thought you had forever to make mistakes and make amends...while gorging on life".

Solicitor Ana Kelly was mourning the death of her paramour, Connor Mooney, who had suddenly died in an auto accident. Ana and Connor had recently argued. Now Ana can no longer apologize or make amends. She cannot openly grieve. "I was so grateful...and felt lucky that all my wrongdoing was unknown". Ana was slowly starting to unravel...weight loss, lack of focus at work and the development of obsessions and compulsions.

This novel of a toxic love is written in verse, the ruminations of Ana, starting from Connor's death. "Even my attendance at the funeral you would have judged a transgression-making myself real, getting too close to those you did everything to protect". Ana is obsessed. She intends to learn everything there is to know about Connor. To this end, she explores social media looking for photos and correspondence. She befriends Connor's wife, Rebecca. Three years prior, Ana had drafted Connor's will, the beginning of their "hook-up". As executor of Connor's will, Ana has motive and opportunity to sort through Connor's paperwork and documents. He has painted Rebecca as cold and controlling...a doomed marriage he is unable to leave. How does one weigh Rebecca's pain versus Ana's pain? Ana plans to be ever so helpful to Rebecca.

"Here Is the Beehive" by Sarah Crossan is a novel written in poetic form that describes the havoc and destructive forces of a love affair. The main protagonists, Ana, Connor and Rebecca are well crafted and believable. I did not find either Ana or Connor to be likable. I fully expected to pan this tome, however, Crossan's understated, subtle writing pulled me in as witness to the illicit affair of the heart. Ana's grief and guilt was palpable and all consuming. An uncomfortable, well written novel.

Thank you Little, Brown and Company and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful book. The prose, the story, the characters, the pacing, the tone-- all of it.

I suspect many people won't enjoy the narrator, Ana, but I LOVE unlikable characters, and she felt believable to me. I also thought the structure was so, so clever, the way the author made you think about Ana at first as a stereotypical mistress, but you slowly come to find out she has a husband and then find out she also has young kids. Your perspectives and assumptions about her are constantly challenged, and I loved that. The ending was great as well, not trying to be too overly dramatic, but still managing to be impactful. Super solid book.

Thank you to @Little, Brown and Company and @net galley for the eARC of Here is the Beehive written by Sarah Crossan. This book is written in verse which was a pleasant surprise for me. I love books written in verse This is a short read about Ana and Connor who are having an extramarital affair. The affair lasts well into three years. Ana is the executor for Connor's will. The book is told from the POV of Ana who wasn't the most endearing of women Both Ana and Connor are keeping their affair a secret Throughout the book, Ana shares her emotions and feelings about Connor as well as her marriage. She also befriends Connor's wife. The book ends as Connor is killed in an accident leaving Ana to process and work through her grief. Will she expose her secret so that she can heal and if so will she expose it to Connor's wife or to her husband?

This is a unique read that probably isn't going to be for everyone but I did enjoy it! I'm giving Here is the Beehive 3.5 starts. It releases in the United States on 11/17/2020.

I wasn’t expecting a novel in verse, so flew through this pretty quickly. I normally don’t mind a narrative in which I hate the main character, but this one seemed to really grind on me. Not my favorite but compelling enough to finish.

Dnf. I could not connect with the characters or plot! Someone suggested that an audiobook might be better. I think that’s why I couldn’t find my flow with reading.

A different side of extramarital affairs. The scorned wife versus the younger mistress. Is the man in this triangle in love with his wife or his mistress. Is Ana a wife who’s lost affection for her husband, or is she bored with him? Have the idiosyncrasies that weed once attractive, now annoying? Is Connor really in a loveless marriage, or is he a scoundrel? Crossan creates a taut story of love, loss, and grief that exposes the frailty of enduring love.

Intriguing premise. A lawyer begins an affair with a married client who comes to her for a will. The affair lasts 3 years, their last heated conversation moments before he dies in an accident. The wife contacts her about the will and the develop a relationship...mainly based on the lawyer wanting to find out more about his other life and any trace of her he may have left behind. The lawyer is honestly a bit unhinged in my opinion. A fast read centered on her mind and musings.. Thank you Netgalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.

Direct and stark, poetic in structure, Here is the Beehive is carefully and impressively composed. Because Crossan is writing in verse, her words seem to have special weight and meaning, without being overwrought - an important factor in this story about grief and loss. It may be a short read, but it is layered in such a way that plot points and emotional details are revealed continuously throughout the story. I felt captured, but never weighed down, by this sympathetic portrait of the pain, confusion and messiness associated with wanting to be loved.

Crossan has written several well-received young adult books, but this is her first for an adult audience. I am not a YA reader, and so I doubt I will pick those up, but I would certainly read another adult release.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

This is another it’s not you, it’s me. I wish I’d known this was told in verse cuz I am not a fan. I think the story is compelling but the writing style is just not my fave.

Sarah Crossan's debut novel for adults did not disappoint. A novel about grief, love and lies; the book begins with Ana and Conor who have been having an affair for three years. We observe the affair through Ana’s eyes. The devastating effects of betrayal is palpable.

It took me a few beats to get into this novel -- the rhythm, the carefully chosen words, the brevity of each scene -- but once I clicked with it, I couldn't put it down. Gorgeous, refreshing, different, engrossing. A painfully honest glimpse at an affair and the emotional detritus it leaves in its wake.

Wow...all I can is wow. This is the first adult book I read in verse and when I heard that Sarah Crossan's next book was going to be told in poetry verses, I didn't think it could work. But Crossan manages it with her unique writing style and beautiful choice of words that turns this into one breathtaking narrative. Just by reading the synopsis, you wouldn't think that you would have sympathy for the main character. But with the emotional connection that was oozing from the pages, a reader would have a hard time sympathizing with Ana. It shows that there were deeper reasons why Ana did what she did and you may entirely agree with her actions, the result is that you have empathy for her and judging people beforehand may get in the way of that.

Novels in verse are not something that is just for YA novels and this bold step that Crossan shows that the adult narrative can be just as compelling and engaging as a story written in prose format. Please, please give this one a chance!

ok so like <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1059068978">THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING</a> by janice galloway is an inimitable masterpiece. so. it's a real bummer someone tried to imitate it.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Sarah Crossan for providing me with an ARC of the novel Here Is the Beehive!

What a peculiar but enjoyable read! Wow. I loved the story line and characters in this novel. Also, the fact that it was written in prose was very attractive to me; this allows for you to have a quick read. But in the case of this title, it’s a heavy topic that you end up wanting more of. A great journey into the impact that infidelity can have on all of those involved.

Thank you again to those named above for the chance to read and review this novel!

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for providing this review copy.

Here is the Beehive shares the story of Ana and the grief she tries hard to manage following the death of her secret lover, Connor. Ana’s story moves around past, present and future and tells of the hardships, grief, indecision and impact infidelity can have on all of the people directly and indirectly involved. A melancholic read.

A woman has been having a clandestine long-term affair with a married man. He dies suddenly, and because she helped him draw up his will initially, she is contacted by his widow. She grows to like the widow and grapples with her secret. The story is told both in present tense as she grieves the loss, and past tense as she recalls their dates. Unfortunately, the characters were not developed and I did not grow to care about them. The story is written in prose form and is a quick read. For so few words and such a heavy topic, I wanted more.

The style of writing is simply too weird for me. I really couldn’t hone into it.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC, but not for me.