Sweet story about an unlikely trio coming together and bonding over bees and loneliness. Reminded me a lot of Catherine Ryan Hyde with sweet characters that pull on your heartstrings, but this one had some really interesting info on bees as well.

Characters: 4/5 Writing: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5

A heartwarming story of three lost souls who come together in a small farming community (Hood River, Oregon) to find their place in life — one with purpose and people to care about. Alice Holtzman has worked in the County Planning Office for twenty years but her passion is beekeeping and the dream of one day running her own orchard. Jake Stevenson is eighteen and trapped in a wheelchair after a stupid stunt at a high school party. His proudest achievement? The world’s tallest Mohawk (at 16.5 inches). Other than hair maintenance, however, he is just killing time and soaking in regret. Harry Stokes is a “passenger in his own life” — desperate for a job with a criminal history and a now-condemned trailer as a living space.

I loved the main characters and the manner in which the author describes the way they each find each other and a solid, “feels right” path moving forward. There is a relatively simplistic overlay plot concerning the evil Supragro company that is pushing a toxic pesticide spray that is lethal to bees — and how the community comes together to successfully fight it. The “bad” guys are fairly two-dimensional — stereotypical greedy, powerful, and corrupt men — but I did like the way social media and video was used to expose what was happening. I also very much enjoyed the descriptions of Hood River and rural life.

Garvin's novel is an easy and somewhat predictable read. This is definitely a PC novel with a youngish woman, Alice, whose husband died in a car accident (caused by a drunk driver), leaving her alone in her 40's, which she seems to prefer, until she meets an 18-year-old who had recently ended up paraplegic in an accident, and then a 24-year-old recently homeless young man recently released from jail, that she befriends to live with her to help raise bees. Alice leads a crusade against her neighbors who use pesticides on their orchards that kill her bees, and then the novel wraps up with the boys happily on their way to leading happy lives, which makes Alice happy, and left me feeling like I just watched a Lifetime show. I do wish the copy editors had corrected more errors. It's a feel good novel that involves kiteboarding, skateboarding, ska, bees, death of human, death of bees, reuniting with a dog and family, but not with an angry father, and ends on a happy note.

What a heartfelt, intense, soul crushing, unique story!
Three lost, broken, struggling souls’ paths cross at a bee farm located in rural Oregon.
Their backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, expectations from life couldn’t be so much different.

The author achieved a fantastic job by bringing out different and meticulously well-crafted human portraits to tell this poignant story!

Alice Hoffman, 44, stuck in her job at bee farm, trapped into spiral of unhappiness, slowly suffocating. After sudden death of her husband, her depression grows and she finds herself at very dark place.

Her last panic attack crisis ends with colliding into a young boy who has one of the strangest tallest Mohawk hairstyle. He’s troubled paraplegic teenager but he is surprisingly helpful to handle the truck trouble she gets herself into ( 120 thousand bees are waiting to be transported) Thankfully he becomes her lifesaver and his genuine interest in bees attracts her attention. Maybe she found the best helper to assist her.

And 24 years old Harry couldn’t be surprised more as he finds himself as the employee of the farm. He’s suffering social anxiety and he is so desperate to find a proper job.

Three different people who suffer from different anxiety issues, coming from different backgrounds, fighting with different kind of inner demons come together to work in a bee farm against the nefarious plans of pesticide company to save local honeybee population.

Overall: it’s realistic, moving story with beautifully portraits, inspirational, heartwarming, promising story!
I’m giving my four emotional, buzzing, humming, soul brushing stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for sharing this digital copy of emotional arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I saw this cover and wanted to read. Thankful to receive ARC.

Introduction information from-
The Classic Beekeeper's Manual, L.L. Langstroth, 1878

I loved the bee facts and info
Bees tied to humans and friendships,
second chances and the courage to start again.

Enjoyed this book.

Alice’s life is in a downward spiral, she dislikes her job and her husband has dies, leaving her feeling alone and adrift, even her beloved honeybees aren’t can’t make her happy.. Enter teenager, Jake, a paraplegic with an attitude . For the first time in a long time, Alice feels a flicker of life. Jake is interested in her bees and she wants to rescue him from his terrible home life.Then she hires, Harry, a young man with almost paralyzing shyness, to help around her farm. These three lost souls unite in an effort to save the bees from a pesticide company that will threaten the lives of all the local wildlife. A beautiful, lyrical book

This book is really beautifully written. Garvin's writing almost seems lyrical at moments before dropping quickly back into the realistic mundanity of each character's experiences. Every scene felt weirdly vivid like I was standing there watching it play out like an actor in a dream sequence. I really couldn't put it down, although I must admit there were a few scenes, namely at the beginning of the book, that did drag a bit.