Mixed feeling about this book; it started off great and in places I loved it but I found myself skimming other places to get back to the action.
The book starts off really witty but loses its humour as the story gets deeper.
Heartbreaking, at times I had tears in my eyes.
I love the concept and it had all the makings of a great read but I can't put my finger on why it just missed the spot

Hard pass.

The premise was excellent… the first chapter enticing - I really expected this book to be a top read for the month. Sadly, it was terrible.

Poorly written, awful characters who were self-obsessed and boring, plus a really weak story. It just wasn’t believable at all. They all deserved to die.

I’m still agog at the unnecessary adjectives and the immature writing style. The author feels the need to describe everything in minute detail - particularly to show how sophisticated and rich everyone is. Not many 20-somethings drink beautifully garnished drinks out of crystal glasses at home whilst wearing Gucci trousers…

The idea was there but it was not well-executed at all. The ending was utterly ridiculous… and then the ending after that even worse! The girls did not come across as smart enough to orchestrate any of it, and while they were supposedly BFFs, most of the time they seemed to hate each other. They didn’t deserve their perverted happily ever after at all!

Disappointingly dire.

This book is so engrossing from beginning to end that it only took me two days to finish it. I'm excited to see what Scarlett Brade has in store for us in the future

This book has a great concept which holds a lot of promise and grit but reads a little like a first or second draft.

Charlotte has been dating Lincoln, a famous professional boxer, for three months. After telling her that they have a future together and that he is going to propose to her, she falls pregnant. She decides to keep the baby however Lincoln starts to shrink away from Charlotte after she tells him. After a horrific accident, Lincoln breaks up with Charlotte and moves onto a new woman. Charlotte spirals into a deep depression and begins to plot her revenge. After murdering Lincoln's fiancee and kidnapping Lincoln, she goes live on Instagram and makes the public decide whether he should live or die.

The one thing that comes to mind here is that it's very reminiscent of the themes in Black Mirror. There was the potential to provide a clever commentary on our modern materialistic society but instead what we got was a superficial thriller that reminded me of a high budget Netflix film - entertaining enough but lacking in substance. Charlotte was unrelatable and therefore unlikable as a character, and I found her reasons for wanting to exact revenge incredibly frivolous. Whilst her 'accident' was absolutely terrible, she continued to make excuses for someone who so obviously hated her. Whilst I can understand that many people do end up thinking and acting like this due to their (hopefully ex) partner gaslighting them, I found Charlotte's rationale to be inconsistent.

Generally speaking, if you want an easy thriller read with a different premise to the usual, I would recommend this. However, I do think the story needs tidying up before release.

Truly unlikable, unbelievable and miserable. I found this story really grim and weirdly, quite cheesy. It came across like a bad made for TV drama. Revenge stories are usually very interesting to me, but I really didn't like any of the characters. I found the epilogues were really unneccesary and took all nuance away from the book. I wish I'd enjoyed it, but sorry that I didn't.

I really really wanted to enjoy this more than I actually did.. the whole write up looked and sounded like it should have been an absolute blockbuster, but to me it fell short. It was quite chaotic with so much going on in each of the characters lives that I struggled to keep up at points, it got a bit unbelievable towards the end and the twist wasn’t such a surprise..
I’m sorry it’s not a more positive review but unfortunately not one for me

Based off on the description I was expecting some action in an Instagram live feed. However the live feed only makes about 2% before we jump back a year in time to get explained over the majority of the book on how we ended up in said live feed. Completely different from what I expected from the books description I was left with a more or less domestic thriller with even though well developed but absolutely unlikeable and unrelateable characters.
The writing itself is enjoyable the story itself however was just not for me and it all just felt superficial and at times the main characters just left me stunned about how stupid someone can be.
In addition everything just felt very predictable.
As much as I liked the idea of this book and it could have been easily a 5star read I sadly can't give it more than 3stars.

This was very well written and the characterisation was spot on - Brade is a brilliant new talent. I really enjoyed this novel because I don't usually read thrillers. The beginning and ending was in line with what one would expect in a thriller but the rest of the novel felt like a women's fiction/commercial novel. Not in a negative way at all but the thriller-esque hype marketing didn't do it any favours, which is a huge shame.

My thanks for the arc! I loved this book. It was super fast paced and every chapter ended with me on the edge of my seat, so much so that I went to bed really late wanting to read more and more of this! I loved how it opened with the main part of the books plot, and then allowed us to see how it all unravelled to get to that point, Overall a win for me!

Explosive beginning, decent ending.
It was the bit in the middle I didn't really get on with.
It all felt a bit shallow.
Not a likeable character in there either.
Didn't live up to my expectations unfortunately.

Well this was definitely a lot! of just everything lol. Once you get into this book then you won't be getting out again until you've got to that last page I'm not sure how realistic it is but hey, it's fiction so it doesn't have to be! There is a lot of trauma and drama which seems a tad far fetched but the way in which the characters handle the issues was actually quite realistic and relatable and that was one jf the main selling points for me. These may not be the right decisions but in all honesty, cab you say you wouldn't be tempted? I loved the strong characters and that unbreakable friendship they shared. Again, that probably wasn't supposed to be the point but it was still something that stood out to me. It has plenty twists and turns and I thought it was quite a unique story line aswell so I really enjoyed the fact I had no idea where it was going to go. Well written characters and a whole host of drama really.

My thoughts about Scarlett Brade's The Hive, begins on a chaotic, breathless note. The Hive is a commanding story, has an authoritative central character, and has several dominant and thought-provoking moments, which makes it an all-persuasive book. It is a captivating recount from its commencement to conclusion. Scarlett has fashioned enough scenes around the plot that keep the reader on the edge. Besides, fragments of tongue in cheek humour pop up when you least anticipate to liven up the solemn plot. Yet, the storyteller never deviates from the fundamental sombre remise. Her attempt in infusing drama and pace is brilliant. Scarlett Brade's writing shows no pauses. It slams home a shock value that a thriller rightly demands. The story totally grips you and leaves you at a dramatic high. The story of The Hive, begins with the introduction of character Charlotte Goodwin, who looks directly at the camera and reveals a chilling truth to the thousands watching her Instagram live broadcast. She has killed her ex-boyfriend's new partner in cold blood. But she is not finished yet. With bloodied hands she takes a calm sip of tea before continuing. Lincoln Jackson will now make his confession, then the viewers must vote to decide whether he should live or die.The public display sends shockwaves rippling through the online community and the numbers of viewers skyrockets. But as Lincoln's past is revealed, how will he be judged. Bonded by mutual tragedy, Charlotte's three best friends have supported each other through the soaring highs and devastating lows of their lives. Now, in Charlotte's hour of need, her friends also face a choice, whether to help her get away with murder.I would absolutely recommend this debut. I’m giving it a couple of days and then I’m going to do a reread. I want to see what clues I missed along the way. I love a good mystery and a good thriller and this book checked all the boxes. The characters were spectacular, the setting was perfect, and the story was tight. I would like to say a thank you to Author Scarlett Brade, and Publishers Zaffre Books for kindly giving me a chance to read and review this brilliant book, on netgally I've enjoyed reading what a debut. Scarlett Brade's The Hive is one of this years standout debuts of the year. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐💥💥💥💥💥💥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I really enjoyed this book, it was fast paced, gripping and unpredictable. It was well written with well developed characters and a good storyline that was engaing and compelling. I sped throughit and cannot wait for more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books/Zaffre for the eARC copy of this book; all views and opinions discussed here are my own.

I'm including some trigger warnings at the bottom of my review because they are all very spoilery but they need to be in there. VAGUE SPOILERS IN MY REVIEW - PLEASE BE WARY BEFORE READING IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK.

I am really going to try and keep this review short because otherwise it will just turn into a rant and I really do not want to do that but honestly just thinking about this book gets me so angry. I really wanted to love this book because the premise sounds absolutely brilliant and even the start of the book was really engaging but we soon jump back to 1 year before and everything that happens afterwards just unravels for me.

There is so much packed into this story that I actually can't even keep it all straight in my mind. We have four main female characters - all with some sort of disturbing back-story, all with some sort of current issue going on - cheating boyfriend, custody problems, many many crimes - and they all get so convoluted and twisted around each other as the story goes on that it's just hard to keep them straight in your head. Our main character Charlotte is just unlikeable - there are all these references to things she's done in the past to defend her friends - including blackmailing a paedophile and rapist into giving them fake ID's - but I never really got the sense of true friendship between these women because they constantly slate each other and do not believe in one another. Charlotte is just quite tragic as she falls in love with Lincoln after like a week of knowing him. I felt no emotion for her or any of these characters - I mean whichever one was going through the custody issues with her mother was just absolutely awful because she'd make the wise decision to get high and drunk before a court hearing where she's going to be drug tested - but it's fine because one of the other friends will just fake your drug tests.... tell me why i'm rooting for her again?

REDACTED

I wanted to love this book I really did but it just made it too damn hard.

TRIGGER WARNINGS BELOW


TW: off-screen child sexual abuse, substance use, alcohol use, vomiting, abortion, stillborn twin babies, fake burglary, cheating, domestic violence, domestic abuse, gaslighting, custody issues, poison, murder, guns, fake death,

Begins like a Hollywood blockbuster but quickly becomes a badly directed made for TV movie.
A tale of revenge which makes you chose your side quickly and grips you with some heartbreaking details. I got really engrossed but midway the story just becomes sloppy and ends up being so ludicrous and predictable it is almost enraging. Such a good concept unfortunately poorly executed.

The Hive is a gripping feminist debut thriller for anyone who's ever sworn revenge on an ex. I did enjoy this book. I liked the friendship connection between Charlotte and her 3 besties. The storyline was compelling and entertaining although I did guess the twist at the end. Still overall I do recommend you bag yourself a copy of this book. Especially if you like a dark revenge thriller.

Delivers. In Droves..
What a premise #votelive #votedie. Intriguing, compelling, beguiling. Pulling in the reader from the off. Does it deliver? Oh yes, it delivers. In droves. This is a powerful, stand alone, one sit read of the first order. A no holds barred account of one woman’s tragic unravelling played out for the World to see. With a supremely well drawn cast of characters, each with their separate backstory intertwined with protagonist Charlotte, this superb revenge thriller shows just how sweet that revenge can be but also highlights the mental anguish of the tormented and the unbreakable bond of true womanhood. After all, what would you do? Or perhaps, that should be, what would you really like to do? A novel for our times. Bravo!

A read in one sitting revenge thriller would be my tagline for this novel - as in theme that's what it is and I did indeed read it in one sitting. This morning in fact. Couldn't put it down.

The Hive is more than that though. It's also a novel of friendship that has no boundaries, of traumatic loss sparking a devastating obsession and of the power of social media to have a cumulative, negative affect on metal well being.

I loved the characters even as I despaired of their behaviour, there are a lot of emotional layers in The Hive, it is also written in an addictive no holds barred style that I related to.

Really good. Recommended.