{"id":130742,"date":"2020-09-21T12:16:54","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T01:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=130742"},"modified":"2020-10-14T15:19:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T04:19:09","slug":"review-honeybee-by-craig-silvey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2020\/09\/21\/review-honeybee-by-craig-silvey\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Honeybee by Craig Silvey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Honeybee<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

TW: Readers should be advised that this review contains references to suicide and gender dysphoria.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers who fell in love with Trent Dalton\u2019s Eli Bell need to introduce themselves to Craig Silvey\u2019s Sam Watson, the protagonist of his new novel Honeybee<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. It\u2019s a heartbreaking, uplifting and vividly told new story that is unequivocally Australian and bound to be one of the must-read books of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Craig<\/a>

Craig Silvey (Photo by Daniel James Grant).<\/p><\/div>\n

It begins on a highway overpass late at night near Fremantle, where fourteen-year-old Sam has climbed the rail and is calmly looking at the road below. Next to Sam, an old man called Vic smokes his last cigarette. Because of their chance meeting, neither will die that night and soon after Vic and Sam both resolve to save the other and an unlikely friendship is forged.<\/p>\n\n\n

You\u2019ll learn what brings both characters together that night in a painful and moving story of poverty, abuse, crime, isolation, gender, identity and grief. There will be tears of sorrow but there will also be tears of joy. In addition to a vulnerable mother and a dangerous stepfather, Sam will encounter some wonderful and unlikely allies who will inspire a failed bank robbery, an incredible drag night, some world class cookery and a ride on one of the most badass motorcycles ever produced. In the moments you can keep your eyes dry, you\u2019ll have a heck of a lot of fun reading this novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through it all is Sam\u2019s journey to discover their true self. A story to which Silvey, a cisgendered author, has committed years of crafting in order to tell with respect and integrity. The result speaks for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is so much that will captivate and move you in Honeybee<\/em>. I hope it finds its way into the hands of as many readers as Silvey\u2019s smash hit Jasper Jones<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. A book this good is a rare and magical thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—Honeybee<\/a><\/em> by Craig Silvey (Allen & Unwin) is out on the 29th of September.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re struggling with issues around gender identity or sexual orientation, call Q Life on 1800 184 527 or visit qlife.org.au<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 24\/7 crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This book is part of Booktoberfest<\/a>, the festival of new books!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Booktoberfest<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“A book this good is a rare and magical thing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":126153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[6678],"tags":[715,723,11903,1436,1974,11478,10217,4484],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Honeybee-Social.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130742"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132014,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130742\/revisions\/132014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}