Okay, you lovely humans. NO spoilers on plot—I promise—but now that so many of you are receiving your copies, can I please gush a little about @SarahCrossan’s use of verse in #HereistheBeehive? Like...a full-on thread‘s worth of gushing? Yeah? Okay. Apologies for the nerdiness...

So...I feel like a lot of novels don’t really allow readers the opportunity to absorb the full impact of the words that have been so painstakingly selected...at least not in the same manner as poetry, where it often feels like every word is saturated with meaning and power.

I’m SUCH a geek for unconventional syntax and structure, and I bow down to any writer (Hi, Sarah Crossan) who understands the function and value of the space that exists between the words, and sees the importance of the gaps and breaks and weighty air.

Crossan uses the space on each page SO beautifully from beginning to end of Beehive, and it feels like the most artful sort of engineering, these hard stops and gentle pauses creating an ebb and flow to move you through the story at varying paces. (See? No spoilers!)

I adore the way some lines feel rhythmically taut (and fraught) as staccato fragments, while others soften, draping gently, with the unfurling of the longer, more nostalgic sentences. The cadence feels authentic and candid, but also poignant and a bit sordid. I am besotted.

Also? I https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤️" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz"> parallel structure, FYI. Guess I need to add some of Crossan’s books to my classroom library so my students can see a writer who uses not only her words but also the surrounding space just beautifully. Cannot WAIT to see what she and Caitríona Balfe do with this story.