This is a collection of short stories from bestselling author Joanne M. Harris and legendary artist Charles Vess. This collection is definitely worth a read. You will find the stories within reminiscent of old folk tales with a bit of a dark side. Illustrations are sprinkled throughout the book and give it a bit of an old school flare.

I want to thank NetGalley, the author and publisher for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

The book seems to be a collection of fairy tales, somewhat related to each others. I only read a few first ones, but decided I wouldn't want to continue. The tales are pretty weird, going onto disgusting, going more on more heavy on the latter. At some point I couldn't read any more of maggots going out through the skin and such as there was nothing to counterweight it - it seemed to be told more for the disgust factor rather than for the story, but I might be wrong here as I did not continue reading.

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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher.</p>
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<p>This book is a maddening mix of beautiful and obnoxiously trite.</p>
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<p>It's a set of very short stories in fairy tale style, some of which form an arc plot and some of which do not. There's a lot of lovely stuff with the intersection of insects and Faerie that gets in very neatly at the sense of the alien in the best Faerie fiction--they're literally not like us if they're a swarm of bees, okay, cool. (I am reminded of Robert Levy's <em>The Glittering World</em>, which is in every way a better book.)</p>
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<p>But the down side of fairy tale locution is that in this case Harris stretches it so that the characterizations have length but no depth, so that when the story returns to previous characters, I had no sense of "oh cool, it's that person"--they remained shallow, mostly heartless archetypes at best, and sketches less charming than their literal illustrations at worst.</p>
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<p>The heavy-handed parables were the worst of it. Interspersed with the whole were messages that Harris apparently just <em>had to</em> get across, in fairy tale language, including such gems as "don't get obsessed with your cell phone." Thanks, Polonius! Without you I would never have thought of such a message! As a full-time genre professional, I can tell you that you do not get bonus points for making your snotty and obvious life advice slightly princessified. At least not from me.</p>
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<p>And then there's the use of Hel, which is a very specific spelling with specific cultural connotation, to just mean...Hell. If you have a <em>lord</em> of it and it's full of the damned, it is not Hel and what are you even doing. Why. It doesn't make you fancy, it's not like spelling your name Jynnyfer where the meaning doesn't change.</p>
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<p>So what to make of this book. Honestly I'm not sure it's worth your time to try. The occasional beautiful image isn't worth all the flaws. Her books are sure to be bestsellers even without your time and attention, because of who she is and the marketing campaign they're given. I haven't read any of the others, but maybe one of them is better. It's probably worth at least giving that a try.</p>
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I really enjoyed this collection of dark and sinister stories. I really hope the author puts out another collection in the future.

this had what I loved from The Gospel of Loki, and this was a great read. The art was done beautifully and I really loved going on this story.

This collection of short stories gave me The Brothers Grimm and old Irish folk tale vibes. I already love old stories about the fae and so I enjoyed the stories in this collection. Like any collection there were stories I enjoyed and a few that I didn't as much. Overall I loved the old fairy tale feel of this collection and found the illustrations interesting and a nice bonus. Anyone who likes short stories about faeries or Brothers Grimm style fairy tales would enjoy this collection.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Gallery Books Gallery/Saga Press and NetGalley

Like the brothers Grimm there is light and darkness in the Honeycomb. I had a pre publication copy so some of the illustrations were still in the pencil, pen and ink stage but still wonderful. The chapters are very short, an ideal distraction from the everyday worlds pressures before light out.

I'm a fan of Joanne Harris' work, specifically her 'Chocolat' series, but unfortunately I did not connect to the stories contained in the 'Honeycomb.' Some were better than others and I'm not exactly sure what type of audience she was writing for? The stories seemed a bit juvenile and others were a little dark. I think writing one singular story about the honeycomb would have been more interesting.

“Dream is a river that runs to the Sea To the Sea, to the Sea Death is a country that longs for the Sun For the Sun, for the Sun.”

Lovely fairytale stories that all link up. Fast paced and a joy to read. It had an old time fairytale feel that you don't get all that often with new books. The drawings in between the pages really brought the whole thing together.

Review of eBook

A collection of short fable-like stories in two books ["Long Ago" and "Far Away"], beginning with the dreamflower and loosely held together by the continuing story of the Lacewing King and the Silken Folk who serve as the guardians of the honeycomb and were the first to bring the nectar of Dream into the Worlds. But, though they are everywhere, the Silken Folk, sometimes called the Faërie, are invisible to the Sightless Folk.

Several characters appear regularly throughout the telling of the tales: The Honeycomb Queen, the Clockwork Princess, the Spider Queen, the Barefoot Princess, the Girl with the Clockwork Tiger, the Harlequin . . . all play a role in the stories that, as they are told, come full circle and remind the reader that there is a power in stories, especially those that the bees used to tell, the tales of long ago and far away.

Ethereal and transcendent, the stories [some dark, some hope-filled, all imaginative], are exquisitely illustrated and are sure to remain with readers long after the final page has been turned.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Gallery Books Gallery/Saga Press and NetGalley
#Honeycomb #NetGalley

A nexus of words from an author I love (Joanne M. Harris) and images from an artist I love (Charles Vess). This book is an otherworldly, mythic experience that reminds us about the beauty of the narrative. Lovely ensemble!