Hive
Author: A.J. Betts
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Release date: 26th June 2018
Pages: 259 pages
R.R.P: $16.99
All I can tell you is what I remember, in the words that I have.
Hayley tends to her bees and follows the rules in the only world she has ever known.
Until she witnesses the impossible: a drip from the ceiling.
A drip? It doesn't make sense.
Yet she hears it, catches it. Tastes it.
Curiosity is a hook.
What starts as a drip leads to a lie, a death, a boy, a beast, and too many awful questions.
My Review
Thoughts on the book: Hive is the first book in A.J. Betts new dystopian duology where a group of people are living in a hexagonal space where everyone works together to make their world work. Here they maintain and produce their own food, plants, animals and electricity and everything runs in sync, this is the way it has always work for generations and generations. Everyone has their own place within the hive and here no one ever gets 'sick, well they aren't supposed to anyway. Hayley however seems to be an exception. She seems to always get a pain in her temple and she can't tell anyone about it because if you are constantly sick like this you tend to end up either disappearing or go in for treatment which tends to have you coming out worse off then when you went in. The only person who knows about Hayley's pain is her friend Celia.
A massive thank you to Pan MacMillan for sending me a copy of Hive and allowing me to review and interview A.J. Betts. I feel very privileged that Iwas given this chance. I must admit that when I first recieved Hive I thought it was about a bee Hive where people coexisted with the bees and they were all around the same size, how far from the truth was I. I eagerly started Hive and wasn't able to put it down. From the very start the world building had me sucked in, demanding to know more about this complex yet intriguing Hive network that A.J. Betts had created. It was also very refreshing because it's not really a plotline that I have read before and I was thrown many surprises throughout the book. I must admit that I got a real cult like feel from the world as well, I think mainly because they were all so secluded and everything had to be done right and everyone has to follow set rules for it to all work. I found the Hive community to be really interesting especially when they discover some thing new like when the octopus came up in the net and their whole way of how they live their lives. They don't really get told what is happening unless it's necessary and things aren't as straight forward like in our world. For instance their view of marriage is that they reproduce and then basically don't spend anymore time with each other and they both never know who their child actually is. This would kill me if it happened to me and I know I could never live the life that they are living.
I adored reading about Hayley and the Hive world and can't wait for book 2 to come out next year but I must say who in their right mind likes leaving readers on cliffhangers like the one in Hive? Well that would be A.J. Betts it seems. Bring on 2019.
Rating: 4/5
Interview with A.J. Betts
Congratulations on your new novel Hive it is such a different read from anything I have read before. Where did you come up with the idea?
Thanks Jessica! The idea came to me back in 2005 because of something I observed: a drip of water falling from the ceiling of an underground tunnel. I knew the drip had come from the rain outside, but it made me think how strange it would be if I couldn’t explain it. The setting for the story became an underwater city in which people don’t know what is on the other side of their walls and ceilings. I kept developing this setting and ideas until 2012, when I committed myself to writing the story.
Hayley is such a strong independent and inquisitive character from any others in the book. Is she based on anyone?
Hayley – like all of my characters – is built out of my own DNA. I take elements of my own personality (in this case curiosity, wonder and determination) and emphasise them. I’d like to think I would be as brave as Hayley in her situation!
Hive is the first book in this two book series. Did you always plan to make it a duology and can you give us a hint as to what will happen to Hayley in book 2?
The story was initially written as a trilogy, but by the time I reached book three, I felt the pace was beginning to lag, and the ideas were running out. (Don’t you think this often happens with the third book of a trilogy?!) Based on a reader’s feedback, I set about rewriting the whole story as a single book. This meant cutting out chapters, worldbuilding and backstory, until it was down to one-third of its original length. But then, after reading it afresh, I realised the story was too rushed and no longer made any sense! So I went back to the drawing board and started again, letting the story unfold as it needed to. This time, it fell neatly into two books: ‘under’ the ocean, then ‘above’. (Is this enough of a hint as to what happens in book two?? I feel like I shouldn’t say any more!)
What a cliffhanger you have left us on. Do you think cliffhangers are an integral part of a series to keep readers interested in future books?
It is certainly a cliffhanger! It felt like the perfect moment to pause the story, separating the two books. Book two, Rogue, picks up directly from that moment. I hope the readers don’t get too annoyed at me for ending it there, but are instead motivated to keep reading the story when Rogue is released next year.
Finally what we all want to really know what are some of your favourite books that you love and who are some authors that you highly recommend?
I don’t have any favourite books as they each leave with me with a different memory or feeling. Australian readers are lucky to have such rich pickings to choose from. Local authors – including Fiona Wood, Vikki Wakefield, Cath Crowley - are writing terrific stories for teenagers. I also recommend books by John Marsden, Alice Pung, and Markus Zusak.
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