Here Is The Beehive by Sarah Crossan is a beautifully written tale of hidden love, loss and grief. The unusual writing style added charm and emotion to the story.

Just the most beautiful book. An extraordinary look at an affair, cut short by the death of one of the partners. This book perfectly conveys the sense of loss (although how much did they ever really "have" each other?) and loneliness and grief. I want to read it again, but must more slowly.

Such an unusually written book. Short sentences and short paragraphs, I initially thought there was a typesetting problem. But this is the way the book is written and the author successfully manages to condense all of the information into just a few lines.

Lawyer Ana meets Connor when she writes his will. They bump into each other a few weeks later (when he’s with his wife Rebecca)...then again, a contrived (by Ana) meeting. This is the start of their affair.

Told from Ana’s perspective in a non-linear narrative, you can feel her pain and heartache when she learns that Connor has died. She blames herself, so many ‘if only’s’, but also berates him for not leaving his wife.

This book has been so cleverly written, I am staggered that so much has been portrayed in so few words. To be able to feel Ana’s building frustration with Connor where it starts as an exciting love affair and turns into a relationship of fighting and bad feeling, it’s excellent.

A real surprise for me, I didn’t think I’d like it and I LOVED it. I rate it 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to the author and publishers Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for an ARC in exchange for an independent review.

This is a novel in verse about Ana. She is married and has been having an affair with Connor for three years. Connor is also married and when he tragically dies Ana is faced with Connor’s wife due to her work as a solicitor. This is a novel that explores the complexities of having an affair and the toll it takes on everyone’s life, but more so the heartbreak of losing the person you love but you not being able to openly grieve because he was never yours. This is a beautifully written book but I found it difficult to connect with. I think reading about grief at the moment is hard and this book captures Ana’s feelings so well that at times I had to look away. This is my issue though and not at all an issue with the book. This is one I would like to re-read at another time because I’m sure it’s one I’ll love. The writing is stunning and I would absolutely recommend it if you feel you’re in the right headspace to read it.

Here is the beehive is a story about love, loss, grief and heartache.
Thus is the first book I have read by this author, which us told in verse, which I found was rather hard to follow. It starts with the loss if her lover and moves back and forwards from the past to the present day.
The story was a fairly quick read but not one I would recommend unless you are a fan if this author.
I would like to say that I find the cover us gorgeous.

Ana is a solicitor and one day the wife of her client rings to inform that her client has passed away. Her blood runs cold, the woman on the phone is the wife of the man Ana loves. Multiple things go through Ana's mind, has the wife found out? Why is she lying? It's not true? Sadly though it is true.

Ana now grieves for a man no one knows she knew, let alone loved, and she can't tell anyone, it's a secret she has to live with, with many unanswered questions.

This verse novel is flutters backwards and forwards in time as we learn Ana and Connor's love before and after his death. It's raw, painful, sad and angry. I didn't find any of the main characters that likeable, but I think that was the point. In her grief Ana is manipulative and in the past both of them played games with each other and with their lives. It's a powerful story, very different to my usual reads.

I reviewed this titles as part of my What I Read in August video on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/wwtPnuDv2ps

It has also featured in a book haul video.

I've read all of the authors YA books and loved them. This was a different kettle of fish. Yes it's aimed at adults. It's well written, was easy to read but I found the subject matter really depressing. It was too negative for me.

Here is the Beehive is yet another incredible Sarah Crossan novel written in verse, although this one is her first written for adults. The story tells the tale of an affair that tragically ends with one dying, so the one left behind must grieve with no real outlet because no one can know the relationship even happened. Crossan's writing is so powerful and evokes such emotion from the reader. If you haven't yet read a novel by this author, do yourself a favor and read them all. Here is the Beehive is the most mature of the bunch being the only adult novel, but they all follow important topics. Highly recommended!

Here is The Beehive is the book about Ana. Her married lover passes away, but as they have kept their affair a secret, her grief has no real outlet and she struggles to deal with her emotions. This book details the events that follow her lover’s passing, and it does so in glorious verse. The language is my favourite thing about this book, it really amplifies the raw emotions of the main character. It also makes it a very quick read, and I sped through this in a few days. There are some issues with the book; there is a lot of moving between timelines, with little indication of what time is being described. This makes it quite difficult to follow at times. My other issue is that as much as I feel for the main character, and appreciate the moral quandaries being raised, I never feel truly invested in the story, and there’s no real take away message. This book has certainly made me want to read other books by Sarah Crossan!

A modern telling of a tale as old as time.
Two things struck me, upon reading this book.
The first was the fascinating prose in which it is formatted. Strikingly original, yet perfectly fitting.
The second was how rare it is to hear this side of the story.
Further details are unnecessary; buy this book and devour its rich honesty and devastating story.
Highly recommend!

I’ve been a fan of Sarah Crossan for so long and I’m delighted that she’s extending her talents in this new direction. She has a gift for capturing a rich, complex experience with all the associated emotions into just a few lyrical sentences. What others may take paragraphs to convey, she manages in a line or two. I’m endlessly jealous of this talent. In her first novel for adults, we see all the dimensions of a tragic affair and a marriage in decline from the point of view of a woman falling apart. Completely vivid, with the sadness visceral in places. I can’t wait to see what Crossan does next.

Sarah Crossan's freeverse writing style is very engrossing, it's so clever how she can tell a story so succinctly and still create a world of emotions. I've read a few of her children's and young adult books and loved them. This is her first adult novel and the tale of adultery and loss was certainly different to her other books.

Ana has been having an affair with Connor for three years when he dies unexpectedly and she is left grieving but can't let explain to anyone why she is behaving so erratically. I felt sorry for Ana that she has lost someone she loves and also that she had found love in a complex situation that she couldn't find a way to resolve. It gradually emerges that not only she is she sleeping with someone else's husband, she has a husband and children herself. Life and love are complex but I struggled with this storyline at times.

This is beautifully written and emotional at times but Ana and Connor's selfishness frustrated me. I gave this 3 out of 5.

Well, this was certainly a very different book than those I usually read in more ways than one! It deals with the difficult subject of being "the other women" when the person you are having an affair with dies and describes how Ana tries to deal with the situation. Very enlightening - not that I intend to ever be in that position......!.

I nearly didn't finish the story as the style of writing is very different but I am glad that I persevered as it is good to broaden your horizons! It wasn't as long as a lot of stories I have read and I think that helped - not sure if I could have got through a really long book written in this style but I am very pleased that I carried on as I did become involved in the story.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review, which is what I have given. Reading different novels such as this is exactly why I joined!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I've read a fair amount of Sarah Crossan's YA output so was intrigued when I saw she'd released an adult novel. Here is the Beehive is an exploration of the aftermath of an affair following the death of one of the couple. It's a very unique and interesting take which reserves judgement about the morailty of the affair and instead delves into the emotional and psychological effects. I found it quite hard to like the protagonist, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing as female characters shouldn't be inherently likeable. Definitely one to ponder over after you've finished.

This book wasn’t for me. It’s described as written in prose. I am sure that for a select few this will be perfect. I couldn’t finish it. I recognise this was well written but just not in my style.

This is quite beautiful in terms of story; I like the emotion and heart. But I just couldn’t get past the poetic form. I never managed to work out why it was written the way it was and that kept me from being totally immersed.

"Maybe it's a gift, to be lonely and OK."


Okay, wow. This book was a whirlwind of emotions for me. In all aspects, it was unlike anything I've ever read before. This book is emotional and you could even say tragic. I loved that it deals with a "taboo" topic like cheating in a way that is real, in a way that is authentic. Cheating or having an affair is something that most people do not agree with, because it is wrong. I liked that this book delved deeper into what it's like to be the one having an affair.

One thing that I was relieved to find was that cheating was definitely not romanticised. Instead, it is presented in a way that is real. Like all things in life, this situation was complicated. For every high there was a low. For every happy moment, there was one of equal sadness that followed. This book is in the perspective of the person having an affair, we see how Ana and Connor's releationship develops, we see how difficult it is for them both, we see how it affects their relationship with their partners and their children and even other family members. From the beginning, the readers are shown the pain that comes with cheating. I liked that Ana and Connor's affair wasn't presented as a thing of beauty.

Here Is The Beehive switches from past to present. In the present, Ana is in a very messy, difficult situation. The man she is currently having an affair with has passed away. This book delves into Ana's feelings of grief, loss and remorse. It shows her struggles in having to deal with this death on her own, with no one to rely on or confide in, with no one to comfort her. There's a undertone of despair in this book that never really leaves. It never fades.

Another thing I had to talk about was Ana's character. Because I love what Sarah Crossan has done with this character. I don't think I've read about a character that feels REAL, like Ana does. And don't get me wrong, I don't mean relatable, I mean she feels human. No human is perfect. People make mistakes, Ana makes a lot of them. And I liked that Crossan didn't shy away from adding some negative aspects to Ana's character. Ana is rude and selfish and even manipulative. There is no justifying Ana's actions. Many of us have seen in our everyday lives how damaging affairs can be to marriages, to the parent's relationships with their children. It isn't pretty. But I actually think Ana regrets her decision. Maybe regret is too strong of a word... like I said, it's complicated. Unfortunately, Ana falls in love with Connor. And when Connor dies, she has to cope with the sense of loss that comes after the death of the man she's in love with. When Connor was alive, she had to cope with the constant rejection, the feeling of being second-best, the acknowledgement that Connor may not love her like she loves him. That's rough, even it is her own "fault", it's a very hard situation to be in. I mean, this line portrays it perfectly:

"You’re always so sad, Ana," she replies. "What you don’t realise is that nobody wants that for you. And you shouldn’t want it for yourself."


Ana suffers through true pain when Connor dies, and she has to deal with that grief alone. Although Connor made Ana happier than she's been a long time, he is also the root cause for her heartbreak and sorrow. Their affair is toxic, and Ana is drowning in shame because of it.

The final thing I wanted to mention was that Sarah Crossan's writing style was beautiful in this book. This book doesn't read like the usual novel. It's written almost in verse form. It reads like a poem of sorts. I loved that little touch, I think the fractured sentence structure went perfectly with the broken characters and the devisive plot of this story.

Overall, Here Is The Beehive is a story of regret, shame, a toxic affair, and pure heartbreak and despair that follows from bad decisions and mistakes. This book evoked such a strong feeling of hatred for the characters and I guess that is how you know Crossan wrote this novel well. I highly recommend, although please be wary if you're sensitive to cheating/affairs.

This is not a love story. There is not a hero or heroine nor a traditional happy ever after in sight. Instead, it is a fascinating and insightful exploration of the aftermath of an illicit affair that ends only as a result of one person’s death. About life, grief and dysfunctional relationships. The narrative, which is written solely in verse, totally and thoroughly captured my attention. The poetic pages made the style pacey and will probably allow many to read in one or two sittings which really is very satisfying. I was hooked on the telling as the layers of the story peeled away to reveal the depths of the plot. I probably should not have liked Ana, the main female character but I did. Something about her that made me warm to her. I felt for her. I didn't agree with her actions but I definitely felt sympathy and that is the mark of a great story. 'Here is the Beehive,' takes the reader through the eye of the storm, a bird’s eye view of being the other woman, instrumental and fully immersed in another's life but unable to grieve fully because the relationship is enacted completely behind closed doors. The story explores what would happen if?? What if I had to grieve for someone that I was not supposed to grieve for. How would that feel? How would I be?

'Here is the Beehive,' marks Sarah Crossan's first step into the adult fiction market. Already an award-winning author, Crossan has a unique style that makes her storytelling fresh, compelling and totally inspiring. This particular story and the protagonist at its heart may not be to everyone's reading tastes, no doubt about it BUT I practically inhaled it. I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful, lyrical writing that told me such a sad tale. There's something about the writing of this author, I could not turn away. I could not stop reading despite the terrible decisions and life choices of the main protagonist. A highly anticipated novel of 2020 for me simply because I adore the writing style of this author and I am so happy to say that I was not disappointed at all. A unique and thoroughly well written novel, I wholeheartedly recommend.


Note: Written in verse | An affair drives the story arc | Contemporary Fiction

I love the style of Sarah Crossans' writing, the use of free verse makes her books very readable. I'm a big fan of her young adult books, 'Toffee' and 'One' are particular favourites at my school. I had high hopes for her first adult book, but I just didn’t engage with the characters in the same way and I didn’t have much sympathy for them.