Genre: Mystery & Thriller/ Dystopian World
TW: Death of family member/Foster Care
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[4/5]
Spice: None
Review written by: M
*Thank you NetGalley & Tor Publishing Group for this e-Arc in exchange for an honest review*
 
Plot:
Sasha was left orphaned by her father’s incarceration leaving her to wonder why his research, as the Last Beekeeper, had been more important to protect than his own daughter. 10 years later, and all the bees thought to be extinct, she finds herself back at her childhood home searching for her father’s hidden research, but instead finds a group of squatters.  Initially feeling threatened by them, she comes to view them less as threat, and more as the newfound family she always dreamed of.
 
As she walks around her childhood home, Sasha believes her mind is playing tricks on her when she sees a honeybee. She knows better than to say anything to anyone, since everyone who has ever mentioned seeing a bee mysteriously disappears. Fighting to uncover the truth, Sasha's must decide if the truth will threaten the lives of her newfound family, or it could save them all.
 
Thoughts:
This was a slow burn, slow paced book but a very interesting read, since it was based on a dystopian world that is not far-fetched. As of now many species of bees are endangered and it brings to light a cruel and eye-opening reality of what our future may look like if bees are to go extinct.
 
This book had various twists and turns, keeping your guessing about who was on the MC’s side and who would betray her in an instant. The development of the book and the dual timeline was enticing. Although, I did feel the book did have quite a bit of repetition and maybe did not need to be quite as long.
 
If you are a fan of the found family trope, then you should give this book a read since it is the core at which this book revolves around. I would have liked more depth between the interactions of the MC and her newfound family, maybe more about the past and character development of the secondary characters. Overall this was a very interesting read and I enjoyed the storyline very much!

I was peer pressured into requesting a copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher was "kind" enough to approve that request. In their defense, they didn't know there was peer pressure at play. This is my honest review.

Although this book is dystopian, it feels very realistic. It's not hard to imagine the world ending up like it's portrayed in this book with the track we are currently on. We are destroying our planet, and the species that provide behind the scenes help in feeding us. The story is told alternating between the story's present and the past from the perspective of Sasha, and takes place almost entirely on her family's farm. There are a lot of little mysteries within the story where Sasha is trying to figure things out, especially surrounding what happened when she was 11 before her father went to jail, that I think were supposed to make me want to keep reading, but eventually just annoyed me because I just wanted the answers already, although that's also how Sasha felt, so I guess I was pretty solidly in her shoes on that.

This book did make me kind of want to become a prepper, and like learn how to can food and garden, because if our society collapses like it's portrayed in this book, I would be absolutely screwed. I do not have skills that would help me survive post-collapse, and this book makes those skills seem so normal, because Sasha has all of them, because her dad was a prepper. Because of his job he saw the writing on the wall and knew what was coming so he prepared and taught his daughter. This isn't a case where it felt weird that the main character happened to have all the skills they needed to survive.

I wish I'd felt more invested in this story overall, but getting annoyed about not getting answers to the mysteries pulled me out of the story and made it more of a challenge to want to read. And for that reason, I'm rating this book 3.29 out of 5 stars.

We’ve already been told how much devastation would result if the bees went extinct, but this book really looks at a world without the bees.

Sasha wants to solve the mystery of what her father was hiding and why he chose to go to prison and leave her alone. But maybe even more, she wants to feel a part of a loving family again. Her family started out as her and her parents―sturdy and dependable. Then her mother died. And then her father chose to protect the bees instead of her, and since she was only 11 years old or so at the time, she’s not sure why the only parent left to her would choose to leave her alone.

After more than 10 years, most of it in state care, Sasha has returned to her family home to find an odd assortment of four squatters. While her first reaction isn’t positive, she grows to care about these people and hope that they’ll continue to include her even if they find out the truth about who she really is. Eventually, of course, the truth will come out, and Sasha isn’t sure which version of her life needs to be saved and protected.

For a young adult to choose between saving their dreams or attempting to save the world, the story is sure to be an emotional one. This book was beautifully written and fully deserving of 5 out of 5 stars. It could be recommended to those who enjoy family dramas and dystopian tales.

The Last Beekeeper
Author Julie Carrick Dalton

Thank you so much, @forgereads, for me Dalton's latest! I was excited to read this one because I really enjoyed her debut, Waiting for the Night Song.

I love immersive stories that I can learn something from, those with found family, and especially ones with special father daughter relationships, and The Last Beekeeper had it all! It also gave me some Light Pirate vibes, and I loved that dystopian/ speculative fiction/ climate change disaster novel, too.

The honeybees are presumed extinct, food availability is virtually non- existent, Sasha's father has been imprisoned and then sent to a medical facility, and Sasha has been surviving on her own since the day the authorities took him away. After a decade, she decides to return to her childhood home on the farm to search for her father's hidden research - the research of the infamous Last Beekeeper.

But when Sasha returns to the farm, she is met with three others who have claimed the farmhouse as their own. Nervous to share her identity, she eases into a comfortable lifestyle of shared responsibilities with these interesting newfound friends and may have a chance at feeling secure and like she belongs somewhere once again. And what a wonderful cast of characters these friends are! But Sasha knows that she must eventually share her true identity before they find out on their own...

Meanwhile, some have claimed to see honeybees, and then they mysteriously go missing. Until one day, Sasha herself sees a honeybee! She has so many unanswered questions that she suspects are tied to her father's missing research, but how? What follows is Sasha's search for the truth, her fight to prove herself and to belong, and the beautiful connections she makes with nature, her past, and her relationship with her father.

For those who love to immerse themselves in an intelligent story of hope, forgiveness, and love, The Last Beekeeper is a unique and fascinating novel to add to your tbr today!

4.5 stars!

Many thanks to my friends at @forgebooks and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies of this book.

Sasha’s father chose prison (and the bees?) over her when she was just eleven. Now as an adult, she must return to her childhood home to try and make sense of what happened all those years ago. But when she arrives, the home is full of squatters, and Sasha must learn to fit in without raising suspicion.

Speculative fiction dealing with the impact humans have on the planet fascinates me. While science clearly proves that our environment is ever-changing, the varied fictitious interpretations of how that could unfold captivates and terrifies.

In Dalton’s The Last Beekeeper, we are introduced to a world without pollinators. A world on the precipice of collapse. It’s a premise that I was quickly drawn into yet fearful of.

Found family is one of my very favorite tropes. That deep-seated desire for connection. Love given by choice. So watching Sasha and her roommates ease into a rhythm and come to rely on each other seemed natural and heartwarming.

But unfortunately, I felt like that storyline sidetracked the one of the bees. With too much going on, the plot became overwhelmed and stalled.

I was most interested in the mystery behind the bees and the way that impacted society. Yet it wasn’t fully fleshed out. The secrets. The outrage. It all felt swept aside.

And because of that, I didn’t feel as deeply impacted by the potential devastation of civilization and a world without pollinators.

Flooding. Blizzards. Late-season hurricanes. These are all signs of the coming climate crisis, but the more ominous signs are easier to miss. When was the last time you saw a swarm of bees hovering around a public garbage can? I used to see them all the time at my son’s summer baseball games in the 2000s. In the past several years, though, baseball has been a bee-free event. What will happen if the last of the bees disappear?

In her second novel, The Last Beekeeper, author and journalist Julie Carrick Dalton has given us a glimpse of that world through the eyes of a woman whose father was blamed for killing off the last beehive. Part conspiracy thriller, part literary fiction, part dystopian, Dalton creates the most realistic post-apocalyptic fictional world I’ve ever read. And while her protagonist remains hopeful, sometimes works like this make it hard for readers to be.

For the complete review, click on the link below.

It's not often that I am stunned at the sheer beauty of a novel, the ability to take my breath away. The Last Beekeeper did just that. Wow, Julie Dalton. As a true country girl with a deep love of nature, a world without pollinators scares me to my very core, and The Last Beekeeper does a phenomenal job of not only imaging how we might get there, but also what life might look like. From that description alone, I know it sounds like this might be a depressing read, but the beauty in not only selfless acts, but friendship shines through in a bright, heartwarming, hopeful way. This is one of those books that I will be telling my friends about and sharing with everyone.

The Last Beekeeper is a very relatable piece of speculative fiction that I enjoyed very much.

The concept here - the extinction of bees due to climate change and the government working against scientists’ advice with heavy-handed action - is very easy to believe. Even the fallout and the resulting world - poverty, hunger, government decision to focus on feeding the upper echelons and silencing the hopeful and anyone who could make a real difference - is not very farfetched. It makes this dystopian setting feel incredibly possible and easy to be swept up in.

The bee extinction and resultant environmental catastrophe are ever-present in both the past and present timelines. Sasha is trying to come to grips with her history and what her (and her father’s) actions may have done to affect the bees and their own small family. In her present, Sasha is lonely and wary after so many years of being judged and isolated as the last beekeeper’s daughter. She wants answers and to reclaim or create a sense of family that has been missing since before her father was imprisoned.

While The Last Beekeeper can be overly sentimental at times, it was a compelling narrative that was difficult to put down; I read it in one sitting without any awareness of time passing. I appreciated the open-ended conclusion, the focus on family, and the importance of hope. Sasha has an interesting story that I think many would enjoy.

I received a complimentary copy from Tor publishers and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The Last Beekeper is perfect for fans of Where The Crawdad Sings and follows Sasha who returns to her childhood home to find something her father left behind. There she encounters squatters who at first unnerve but becomes her found family. The book is a reminder that family can be made and family meets you where you need them the most. The Last Beekeeper is a perfect blend of fiction and the right dose of hope, family and self-discovery.

THANK YOU NetGalley and Tor/Forge for the opportunity to read and review this one. It's a near-apocalyptic speculative fiction novel detailing a world in which all pollinators (namely bees) have gone extinct, causing an environmental crisis and food shortage. Sasha Severn, the daughter of the infamous "Last Beekeeper," who was arrested and incarcerated for hiding his research about the last living hives of bees, has returned to her childhood home YEARS later with the hope of uncovering her father's hidden research. On the way, she finds a new family, a new love, and a new discovery that could launch a conspiracy, put her loved ones and herself in danger, and maybe save the crisis-ridden world.

This one was outside of my comfort zone for sure, but I REALLY enjoyed it. It was so intriguing and a bit terrifying in the sense that this is a crisis that I could realistically see happening in the real world's near future if we're not more cautious about how we care for our planet. This novel was a wake-up call, in a sense. I loved Sasha as a character, and I loved the back-and-forth switching timelines between her as a child, and her as an adult in real time. I love me a good found family trope, and Sasha's discovery of the squatters-turned-friends at her home hit the nail on the head. Ian, Gino, and Halle were wonderful. I almost want a spin-off or sequel giving us more of Halle's story with finding Beatrix. The book was left on enough of a cliffhanger that I'm curious about how the ending could continue. It was resolved enough, however, for this to be a standalone.

Overall I really this one. Perfect for fans of The Light Pirate and similar novels.

Fascinating story, interesting characters, loved it. Some pieces that didn't quite follow through but overall highly recommend. Couldn't put it down.

The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton
Published Mar 7, 2023

It's been over ten years since The Great Collapse. Honeybees are officially extinct; and the last beekeeper is locked away in prison. Sasha hasn't visited her father in years, but his parole hearing is coming up soon. She's decided to return to her childhood home to uncover important research her father hid before he was arrested. When she arrives, she's greeted by a group of squatters, fiercely protective of "their home." Scorned as the daughter of The Last Beekeeper, Sasha must guard her heart and her secrets until she finds what she's looking for.

The story alternates between Sasha, age 11, and Sasha in the present, age 22. With an engaging storyline, revealing secrets, and intriguing characters, I was quickly drawn into The Last Beekeeper. It's scary contemplating a future devoid of natural pollinators. However what people (and the government) will do during food scarcity is even more frightening.

I found myself rooting for Sasha and her father. I fell in love with her childhood memories of her home, her mother, and even her father before everything went wrong. This book is such a wonderful story of redemption, forgiveness, found family, and holding onto hope in the midst of hopelessness. Learning to trust, daring to love, and believing in a better future, Sasha and her "family" will win your heart.

Wow!! This book was amazing!! I hardly ever take a break from reading but with this book. I never stopped. I read this book straight through and it took me 5 hours to finish. This book was that good. It’s definitely a reread for me and I will pick up a copy for myself

I have to be honest in saying I absolutely loved this one until the ending. I wanted more public outrage and consequences for those responsible for the misinformation and deceit. But even in saying that- this story pulled me in and I couldn’t put this book down. I’m a little obsessed with bees and I love nature in books so I knew I’d love this one. Add in grief, guilt, self-doubt and found family and you have a winner in my eyes. If you love the emerging genre of climate destruction- this one is for you! Definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group / Forge Books for the ARC to read and review.

I loved this book so much. I borrowed my cousins kindle. I couldn’t put it down. It was so good. The characters were well written

The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton
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Sasha is the daughter of the last beekeeper. Now the bees are extinct and the world is vastly different. She is coming home after being gone for over ten years to find the truth and a family again.
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This book was incredibly amazing. This dystopian world felt so real and raw, I could imagine all of it in my mind. A world without bees, which I don’t even think about everyday, but they are so important!
I wasn’t paying much attention to Sasha’s flashback POVs at first other than to flesh out her character, but they tell SO much of the story! (Pay attention!)
The found family in this story was so wonderful. I wanted more actually. 🥹🥰
The last 35% of the book was so suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat to know whats happens.
All the reveals were fantastic and tell an amazing story between the past and the present.
This book deserved the 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I gave it. I really enjoyed every moment of Sasha and the bees.

I can't stop thinking about this book. The characters of The Last Beekeeper are deeply imprinted upon my mind, and the whole wild situation that they have found themselves in, trying to survive in a world in which all the bees are gone--or are they? Julie Carrick Dalton weaves a cautionary environmental tale into a tapestry of family intrigue, growing up, and finding friendship and love among unlikely people. Sasha is a powerful protagonist and her search for truth will keep you turning page after page. Definitely grab this book asap and put it right on the top of your to-read list. You won't regret it!

This is just one of several books I've read over the past couple of years that reflect tales of environmental and climate disaster. And I seem to be gobbling them up.

The Last Beekeeper is set 10 years after bees have become extinct causing worldwide devastation of the food chain worldwide. Amidst the chaos, Sasha Butler (fka Sasha Severn) returns to her childhood home with one goal in mind—find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated for keeping bees illegally. But when Sasha sees a bee in the woods near her childhood home, her world becomes that much more complicated.

This story seemed quite believable given the current impacts of climate change and chemical disasters. I was sucked in from the very beginning as the story follows dual timelines of Sasha's childhood memories and her present day life. I loved Sasha's character and her growing friendships with her fellow squatters, Gino, Ian and Halle as well as her budding romance with Bassel.

The story offers a bit of speculative fiction, a bit of science fiction and a dystopian narrative along with a little mystery as we learn more about Sasha, her father's determination to protect her, and her found family as the work to save and nurture the bees. I did feel the ending left me a little conflicted. I don't normally mind ambiguous endings, but I wanted a bit more - maybe an epilogue. And I wasn't convinced by Chuck's (Sasha's uncle) story arc. No spoilers, though!

This was more like 4.5⭐️ for me as I really loved everything else about the story.

Four and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton is a book set in a dystopian future after an agricultural crisis has hit the world. This gripping story follows one woman who must make a choice to save the world or save herself.

Story Recap:
Years after the world’s food supply collapsed, Sasha Severn returns to her childhood farm to find the research her father had completed before he became incarcerated.

When Sasha arrives at her family’s farm, she finds a group of squatters who have claimed the farm as their own. At first, she’s terrified, but eventually, she becomes one of them and together they form a family that works together for survival.

But, when Sasha finds the impossible, a bee, she has to decide whether to break up her stability or fight for a better world for everyone.

My Thoughts:
The Last Beekeeper shows us what could happen to the world without pollinators and how our food system could collapse without them. I love that the main character is a courageous young woman with determination and grit. I loved Sasha and sympathized with her fear as well as her tenacity to find her father’s research and find the bees.

The story is set in two timelines. Sasha when she was 11 and working with her father and Sasha at 22, now an adult working to survive. In this case, the timelines were both important. I loved the earlier timeline where I could see the father and daughter working together and I could see their love for each other as Sasha’s father taught her about the bees. And then the later timeline where Sasha has to navigate the world without him and find a way to continue his research and save the world.

Recommendation:
I highly recommend The Last Beekeeper to anyone who enjoys speculative fiction. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is the second novel from this American author, her first one being "Waiting for the Night Song". This new story is set in the near future, after the honey bees have disappeared. Sasha is a young adult whose dad is the infamous 'last beekeeper' who has been imprisoned for a decade. Raised afterwards by her uncle Chuck and then the foster system, she has returned to the farmhouse she spent her first 11 years. There she finds a group of squatters, so she hides her identity and asks to stay. As she becomes more comfortable with the small eclectic group, she finds her self feeling at home again and starts to trust them. One day she sees a bee (long thought totally extinct), but she also knows that people who report sightings seem to disappear. This is a beautiful story about survival, family and hope as well as being a cautionary tale. It has the dystopian feel of a book such as "Station Eleven" with the beautiful nature writing of "Where the Crawdads Sing". I really enjoyed it. 4.5 stars!