Queen of the Warrior Bees (Natural Forces Book 1) by Jean Gill – Review by Sarah Oakes

Queen of the Warrior Bees by Jean Gill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great read about order. Mielitta is a young girl who hasn’t reached maturity in a fantasy world where everyone has. She continues her life as a servant despite being dissatisfied with life. One day, she serves wine at a meeting and discovers there is more to this world than she thought with a mysterious Forest nobody is allowed to enter.. Fleeing some bullies, she finds herself there and the wonders of the world are revealed to her. Can she keep it a secret and keep her life?
A great read. Well developed plot with twists and turns. Well developed characters like Mielitta trying her best and wanting more from life. Great cast of supporting characters like the bully Jannlou or the supportive Declsn.
I loved the visual detail throughout the novel like with the forest deep and green and tall trees with the wind for a sense of a magical undiscovered land of wonder. Or the wonderful use of the senses with the smells translating to words with their bright scents and colours so vivid its as if you’re actually thee. Or the water telling its story, revealing the world to us and her in a simple way and beautifully written.
A wonderful example of world building in a fantasy world with its own rules and societies and laws and histories. I loved the mystery around the Forest, making the reader wonder why the rules are there and keeps them reading to find out. I also loved the scenes with the Council, with different magical abilities from many fantasy novels with the hair and the words as something new and exciting. I also loved the use of the bees and her magic, something different to the fantasy genre, fresh and exciting. I also liked the bo and the bottle and the riddle with an air of mystery and magic from the start, wonderfully written in small details. The only issue I would raise is that there were some repetition at the beginning, which could have been reduced. Overall, a great read and I would give it five stars.

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