Our everyday world is wrapped in illusions and there is no one to blame for. Life is running too fast and although we are equipped with high-end tools, our brain simply cannot catch with the speed. Thus, we are exposed to fast food stories, with an artificial - yet addictive - taste while forgetting the real flavours.
The Hive by Scarlett Brade targets far from any other thrillers I´ve read before. As its medium is my beloved volatile social media. Charlotte Godwin is running an Instagram live, announcing (live, obviously) that she just killed the new girlfriend of her ex. Now, it is about time to take care of the ex himself, Lincoln Jackson, a famous boxing champion whom she met after he got in touch with her via Instagram. And it is not as easy as it looks because the viewers - and we, as readers too - are invited to decide Lincoln´s fate, based on the step-by-step revelations she is sharing about him. A reality show anyone can do. Only that the price costs a life.
I didn´t know before that there is a specific gender of thriller called ´revenge thriller´, but before acknowledging the literary classifications, The Hive actually is going far beyond any limits, literary boxes and taboos. We may be shocked and this is rightly so, and I´m sure that it will take some time until I will be as shocked by a thriller take. But it is definitely worth for the complexity of human landscape as well as for the mental suspense we are constantly undergoing from the very beginning of the book.
I particularly enjoyed the creativity of the story, with new takes and twists added at the right moment. For instance, by including her best friends as part of the audience, there is a different level of moral take which is how far solidarity and particularly sisterhood should go.
The Hive is a book that will stay with me for a long time for both the subject and the courageous narrative take. Imagination has no limits and so is the strength to explore topics that one may think about but never dare to write about. Revenge may survive on its own terms though.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own
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