Queen of the Warrior Bees by Jean Gill

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44641405-queen-of-the-warrior-bees" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Queen of the Warrior Bees (Natural Forces #1)" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553704477i/44641405._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44641405-queen-of-the-warrior-bees">Queen of the Warrior Bees</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4619468.Jean_Gill">Jean Gill</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2871164425">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This very original book focuses on Mielitta, an eighteen year old girl long past the age of her maturity test, but never accepted and still considered a child. Her friends have all become adults in the ceremony and now ignore her. In a society based on conformity and perfection, she is considered a freak. "The Forest", which is anything outside the community's protective, sterile bubble, is considered evil and brings on allergy, killing many people. Mielitta overhears a password to the door that leads outside and discovers that the forest isn't evil and may actually be the savior of her people. With the power of her bee colony, she must convince the mages that outside isn't the enemy, their idea of perfection is.<br />This book was a little hard to get into, especially the bee politics when she becomes their queen for awhile, but overall I liked the story. The underlying story was a bit like the Handmaid's Tale with the overpowering of female mages, sexual harassment, and "forging" to the mindset of the community through brainwashing during the maturity ceremony. A very good lesson for young adults to be independent and unique and to think and make decisions for themselves.
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