Keeper of the Bees (Black Bird of the Gallows #2) by Meg Kassel

Summary: A tale of two teens who are both beautiful and beastly, and whose pasts are entangled in surprising and heartbreaking ways.

Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can’t stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people.

He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie doesn’t see a monster when she looks at Dresden.

Essie is fascinated and delighted by his changing features. Risking his own life, he holds back his bees and spares her. What starts out as a simple act of mercy ends up unraveling Dresden’s solitary life and Essie’s tormented one. Their impossible romance might even be powerful enough to unravel a centuries-old curse.

Release Date: September 2018
Age Group: YA, Paranormal, Entangled Teen
Source: Review Copy from Publisher
Reviewed By: Nat

Review:

The cover got me. 

                I judged it. 

                      I went in blind. 
                       
                                    🐝'lieve me, it was a fantastic wild card.

Right off, I felt the sweeping romance of a Fear Street Saga by RL Stine... did you just have the feels?! Me too. 

I mean, come on, a small town, a beautiful crazy girl (certifiably nuts), a boy with a changing face and body full of bees AND a freaking straw man straight from your nightmares... It SERIOUSLY takes talent to make all that work.

I have read a lot of paranormal YA and it can feel repetitive but Keeper of the Bees was such a treat-- wonderfully odd, creepy and unique! The writing was engaging, the plot was fast-paced and the characters were so unbelievably interesting. It is sure to be a favorite for fans of paranormal YA.  

It MUST be on your TBR list!

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Now, here is the real kicker-- I had no idea that this was the second in a series. I have a very strict rule that I never read out of order! I didn't discover this little tragedy until I got on Goodreads to snag a picture of the cover! I was like what the WHAT!?! 🤔

Lucky for me KoB can be read as a standalone. THANK GOODNESS. But I will be reading the first, Black Bird of the Gallows, because I got a little taste of that story and wanted to know more. I'm coming for you Reece. 🐦🐝🐦🐝🐦