This one's going towards the top of the list. I ate this book up! I didn't intend to read it in one day but I just did not want to put it down. It was so captivating.

Set in the near future where bees have gone extinct, the government is rationing out food and setting up hand pollenation sites to try to stave off mass starvation. It's a strange time in which people who report bee sightings regularly go missing and are deemed to suffer from hallucinations.

The daughter of the last beekeeper carries a secret, one that she's helped keep ever since her father was sent to jail eleven years ago, and she's finally ready to return home to dig up his hidden research. When she arrives, however, Sasha's surprised to find her old farmhouse populated by a group of four untrusting squatters. Desperate to hide her identify, but just as desperate to understand her father's (and her own) role in what became known as The Great Collapse, Sasha slowly wins them over and soon finds herself with much more than she bargained for - a new family and something she hasn't felt in a very long time... hope... not just for herself but for the world's future.

Don't let this one pass you by. It's going to captivate you too. I promise.

Sasha returns to her childhood home after a decade in foster care. She discovers squatters living there, but rather than reveal her backstory and risk eviction, she covers up her past to fit in. Through two timelines (Sasha at 11, Sasha at 22), the full story is revealed: about her father going to prison for illegally keeping bees, the research she thinks is still hidden on the property, and a bit of government conspiracy (of course). I enjoyed the dynamics of Sasha’s found family and watching their relationships grow; it reminded me of THE LIKENESS (Tana French). The story moves along nicely, the bee science and mysticism were well done, and I liked getting to know the characters while uncovering some mysteries.

I got STATION ELEVEN, A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES, and ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES vibes from this one. If you like speculative fiction, especially dystopian/post-apocalyptic stories with themes of resiliency and redemption, I recommend it.

Thanks, NetGalley, Forge Books, and Julie Carrick Dalton, for a Digital Review Copy of THE LAST BEEKEEPER. US Publication: 7 Feb 23

This book stole my heart.

The Last Beekepeeris the story of Sasha, the daughter of the world’s last known beekeeper. The story takes place in the future, after we terrible humans have killed all of the pollinators with the use of pesticides and GMOs. The story takes place a decade or so after the last of the bees, the last of all of the pollinators, have died. Without pollinators, the food system collapsed. People starved; died.

Sasha’s father was keeping bees illegally, and due to an extremely unfortunate event, was discovered and put on trial and sent to prison, leaving 11-year old Sasha to live first with her uncle, and then in a group home. Fast forward, Sasha has aged out of the system and has returned home to the farmhouse her grandparents built, which had been seized by the government upon her fathers imprisonment and has been empty and neglected all the years she’s been gone.

It’s at her old home that Sasha finds a group of squatters who reluctantly let her stay for a week, which turns into a month, and so on. All the while, Sasha keeps her true identity a secret. She’s only gone home to find the research she knowsher father has hidden somewhere on the property. If her new found-family finds out who she is, she fears they’ll turn on her and kick her out. She’s spent her whole life being hated for being the daughter of the Last Beekeeper.

This book gave me a whole range of feels from sadness to optimism to anger to joy. Overall though, this book gave me a sense of peace and calm. The world Sasha lives in is depressing and difficult, but at the same time, she’s living the simple life. She’s tending her garden to feed her and her friends, she’s riding a bike to get around. It just sounds… peaceful. Plus, Sasha’s connection to the bees throughout her childhood is beautiful. I’m terrified of bees, but this book has made me respect them just a little more.

Chapters alternate between Sasha as a 20-something, and Sasha as a child. Slowly we learn what led to her fathers imprisonment. And the other secrets he’s harboring.

This is a beautiful book. I would absolutely read this again and will recommend it to everyone.

The Last Beekeeper is on it’s way to being my top read of 2023, and the year has barely started!

This was a really unique premise. A near future dystopian where bees are almost extinct and the government is blamed for ignoring all the signs. It shows the devastation that can happen in a world without bees, such as a shortage of food, and people starving. Sasha is "The Last Beekeeper's daughter who spent a few years in the state's juvenile system after her father went to prison for illegal beekeeping and hiding research. He is up for parole, and she heads back to her family farm to dig up the hidden research.  Once she gets there, she finds a group of squatters who have taken up home there. She ends up finding something she feels she never had among these people. A sort of found family. 

I can definitely appreciate this story as the climate change crisis is very real. This one started out strong and I thought it was well written, but yet at times it was slow moving for me. There were times I skimmed to move it along. Unfortunately, I'm in the minority with this one, as so many others are really loving it. 

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. I will post my review on Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon once it publishes!

The Last Beekeeper is a captivating novel that kept me enthralled late into the night. It is a poignant exploration of the fragile beauty of nature and the power of hope and resilience. With its heartfelt narrative, this book left me with a newfound appreciation for the natural world and the strength of the human spirit.

This novel had an interesting premise set in a dystopian near future where bees have become extinct as a result of over farming and pesticides. Sasha, our heroine, is alone in the world after her mother dies and her father is put in prison for keeping the last illegal bees hence ‘the last beekeeper’.
As I started to read this book I was of the impression that I would really enjoy it but unfortunately I found parts became overly repetitive and it ended up being a slog to get to the end.

The Last Beekeeper
Julie Carrick Dalton

What would it be like if all the world’s pollinators went extinct, well Dalton’s latest eerily, scarily and all too relevant speculative/dystopian novel explores just that. Set sometime in the not-too-distant future the world’s agriculture has collapsed due to the extinction of the world’s pollinators leaving the landscape familiar yet alien at the same time. Large farms are replaced by giant glass greenhouses where humans pollinate plants that are only destined for the wealthy. Disease and hunger are rampant as the world tries to survive on crops that don’t need pollination, where the chasm between the haves and have nots is immense and the world’s inhabitants have to get inventive just to stay alive. Told in two timelines Sasha as a child and Sasha as an adult, Julie Carrick Dalton delivers an excellent, terrifyingly addictive storyline and fluid narrative and a cast of first-rate characters starting with the star of the read, Sasha. Sasha starts out as an enigma to readers but chapter after chapter they will see her true self revealed, will laugh, cry and get angry with and for her and cheer her on throughout the book. The other characters especially Sasha’s housemates are also unforgettable as is her friend Bassel. Fans of speculative fiction and alternate history and those who don’t like their novels tied up with a bow at the end will stay up all night to finish this unputdownable novel.

Eleven years ago the last pollinator left on earth, the honeybee officially became extinct because of pollution, pesticides and man’s greed and ignorance, and eleven year old Sasha Severn’s world fell apart when her father, the last beekeeper and government scientist tasked with helping to save them went to jail for illegally keeping a hive sending Sasha into the foster care system. Now an adult Sasha’s had plenty of time to plot and plan what to do when she gets out and that’s to head home. It takes her awhile and when she gets to her childhood farmhouse it’s occupied by squatters, she needs to befriend them, she needs to stay, but she also needs to keep her identity a secret. She needs, in secret, to search for her father’s research hoping it can answer questions she’s asked herself since the day they took her father to prison. Questions like, what really happened to the bees and other pollinators and what if anything did her father have to do with their extinction. But she’s not the only one who wants her father’s research and she’s betrayed by one of the people she was starting to think of as family.

I was excited to receive a galley of this book because I really enjoyed Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton. I was excited to see she had a new book coming out and delighted to receive a copy.

In this book we meet Sasha Butler, daughter of the last Beekeeper. It is a somewhat dystopian novel about the future of world with the extinction of bees. Food insecurity is at an all time high and conspiracy against the government rages. After aging out of a state care home, Sasha returns to her family home with goals of uncovering her father's research and building a family of her own. She joins forces with some others who are squatting in her family's farmhouse.

I loved this book. I am fascinated by bees and the future of food in this country without bees. I thought the subject matter was well researched. The dystopian world that the author created could be an unfortunate reality if we don't make some changes as a society. The mystery of the last beekeeper, his missing research, the possibility of the existence of bees long thought extinct. I just really enjoyed this book.; Despite it all, this book offers hope.

This beautiful, poignant book is a reminder of where we are headed if we don't stop poisoning the planet and driving up temperatures. The story is told through the lives of ordinary people trying to survive the Great Collapse of worldwide ecosystems following the extinction of honeybees and other major pollinators. As one character asks, "If we won't fight for the beauty that's left, how can we imagine a better future?"

11 years ago Sasha Severn’s father was sent to prison for the dual crime of keeping bees and for releasing genetically altered bees into the wild. In this near future world, the now 22 year old Sasha has spent the last decade of her father’s imprisonment dodging the infamy of being the daughter of “The Last Beekeeper” – the one deemed responsible for the extinction of the bees. As the date nears for her father’s release from prison, she finally decides to face the family history rather than run from it. She journeys home to the family farm hoping to find her father’s long buried research – and answers as to what really happened the day the bees were released. A group of squatters have sent up camp at the farm, and Sasha’s finds herself conflicted between her desire to find the truth about her father, and her longing to be accepted into this found family.

At its core, this is a lesson about saving the bees by offering us a glimpse into a world without them. Rather than being heavy handed and preachy, the author gets her point across through the narrative. The story is told from Sasha’s viewpoint, both in her present day and also through flashbacks from her childhood. The relationship she and her father have with bees is beautiful. Sasha, a violinist, connects with the bees via music, and can feel their vibrations and energies as a musical note. We see how difficult it is to survive day-to-day in a world where the extinction of the bees has not only brought about the collapse of the world’s food supply and environment, but also the economy, job market, social structure, and politics.

This book does a great job of depicting the devastating effects of a world without bees and it was eye opening to see the long reaching impact of such a reality. As someone who enjoys a dystopian story, I was invested in following the fate of the characters as they tried to survive and forge futures for themselves in the harsh new world reality.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forge Books for allowing me this advanced copy.

With the decrease in population of bees every year, this dystopian novel doesn’t seem too far off into the future. As someone who is passionate about bees and spreading information to help their conservation…. I really enjoyed reading this. Especially because with where we are right now in the world. This could be a reasonable future if we don’t do something to change it. Following the Last Beekeepers Daughter shows us someone trying to fix what has been destroyed, come to terms with a role she played in it all, finding a family in the aftermath of her father being imprisoned. I think this was overall a solid story, it could have used a bit more development with characters, but it really was an enjoyable read about a topic that really isn’t so hard to believe.

Not so far fetched What If’s!

A dystopian novel set not too far in the future. Big corporations and governments have finally killed off the bees by ignoring warnings, using response based approaches rather than preventative, neglect, abundant use of pesticides, and finally, experimentation and early release of bees that have not been properly tested that it turns out, don’t save but will destroy!
We follow the last beekeeper’s daughter as she struggles to let go of her part in the destruction of the bees, which in turn has lead to loss of crops, hunger and riots. So many flow on effects!
I sit on my patio sipping my morning coffee, identifying and welcoming the various insects, including bees as they flit around the herb garden. I’m concerned about the loss of insects along the food change. Less flies, less of many of these little creatures. I’ve planted to attract bees.
Sacha Severn was institutionalised when her father was jailed.His reader h hidden. Now Sacha has returned to her family home only to find squatters there. She doesn’t let on who she is. She develops close relationships with the group, a family without blood ties. When one of the Group betrays her trust she’s devastated.
A bleak look at what corporate greed alongside unthinking governments can do, bringing humanity to its knees, by simply allowing bees to be destroyed. A wake-up call!
The hope for redemption does shine through. Let’s hope we can do the same!

A Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

What a book. This will definitely resonate with the LGBTQIA+ community with it's focus on found family and righting the pasts wrongs.

A look at what our world would be like without bees. This is a beautifully written speculative fiction, dystopian story about Sasha, the last beekeeper’s daughter. After her father is sent to jail for withholding research about the destruction of the final bee colony, Sasha is forced to grow up all alone in the world. On her 22nd birthday, she goes back to the family farm to try to find her dad’s research and uncover the truth about the bees. I love the way Julie Carrick Dalton writes. The descriptions in this novel really transport you to each moment Sasha is experiencing. One of my favorite themes is found family, and it is heartening to watch Sasha discover that she is worthy of familial love amidst the chaos of The Collapse.

I went in expecting a SCI-fi thriller. This is a slower burn that had great elements of mystery and betrayal, I would not consider it a thriller but I loved it for what it was! I will definitely pick up Waiting for the Night Song.

Thank you Forge and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This book takes place in an America of the future where pollinators are extinct and pesticides have ruined the land, resulting in food shortages, unemployment, etc. It’s a story of found family and biological family, sacrifices we make for each other and for the greater good, and the audacity of hope.

The Last Beekeeper is an eco-thriller/mystery set in a near future in which bees, among many insects, are going extinct, and the US government has declared all bees federal property. The main character, Alexandra, is the daughter of the 'last beekeeper' - she effectively orphaned herself as a child when her testimony helped send her father to prison for illegal beekeeping. Eleven years later, she has returned under a different name to the farm she grew up on, where she is torn between building a future for herself and trying to make sense of the past.

I loved the premise of this novel, especially Dalton's focus on the role of bees in our world. I also thought Dalton's pacing was excellent; the transition between timelines was smoothly executed and I struggled to put this book down.

This would have been a stronger read for me if the characters had been further developed. I also felt like this book occasionally became overly sentimental for my taste (for instance, I didn't think the part about the violin or the opera was necessary, though I could see it being cinematic if ever adapted). All in all, I felt this was a solid addition to the eco-thriller genre.

Thank you to Tor/Forge Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

Ah, I really love bees. It’s nice to briefly inhabit a world in which all the characters are as obsessed with bees as I am. For them it's out of necessity, but still. Dalton’s writing made me feel like I was a little speck of dust floating in golden sunshine. The way she writes has a songlike element to it, she immerses readers in her rich world, which is so like our own. It’s not difficult to imagine a near future in which bees go extinct and food precarity prevails. And Dalton weaves a realistic narrative, speculating about what that might look like, and how life and love will persevere. This book is beautifully written and has a solid plot, but unfortunately fell a little flat for me. A lot of the emotional weight of The Last Beekeeper rests on the “found family” narrative, and I didn’t feel like the characters had enough depth and pull to really draw the reader in.

Thank you so much to Tor for the advance copy!

A world almost exactly like our own, but advanced to the point where pesticides and fertilizers have killed off all the natural pollinators. This dystopian world is only too easy to imagine with it's food insecurity and millions of people starving. In the midst of this Sasha, the daughter of the last beekeeper, returns to her family's farm to try to find answers to why her father accepted a jail sentence for the destruction of the final bee colony. The family she creates there and the hope she maintains for the future are central to the story.

I stayed up until 2 to finish this in one shot. I was invested quickly

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

I did not expect The Last Beekeeper to affect me the way it did, but this is one powerful story. It will truly make you think about what life could be like without pollinators and make you wonder if this is our future if we continue on the way we are.

The story has a bit of a dystopian vibe (perhaps an all too real one) but is a wonderful mix of family drama, mystery, and relationships. I wanted a little bit more after the ending, but overall, the ending was fantastic.

The Last Beekeeper is not to be missed in 2023. It's an incredible, powerful read that will leave you really thinking about the world's future.

Thank you Tor/Forge Books and NetGalley for the eARC!