The Beast Within

A review of Stung by Bethany Wiggins.

In this heart-racing YA dystopian novel that depicts a future that's not impossible to imagine occurring, honeybees have gone entirely extinct. With their die off, the world begins to collapse. Plants die, animals die, and humans take the initiative to create honeybees in a lab, in order to prevent the annihilation of the human race.

The result may actually be worse.

Fiona Tarsis is the result of the scientists' reckless creation. A beast...at least she's supposed to be. With a the tell-tale tattoo on her hand, she should be an insane, murdering monster. Only she's entirely normal. In a race against time to find the truth, and safety, Fiona allies with a friend from her past, only to discover that the world she's woken up to might not be worth living in after all.

This book was INCREDIBLE! It's been quite a while since I've read anything in the dystopian genre, and this book totally reminded me why I used to enjoy it so much. It's cleverly crafted, haunting, and heart-wrenching. The main character, Fiona, is incredibly courageous, especially considering the fact that she wakes up in a strange and terrifying world, with no idea as to how she got there. She befriends Bowen, someone that she used to know before everything went wrong, and I have to say that he was one of my favorite characters in the whole book.

Stung is, in a way, a retelling of two classic fairytales - Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast. It's reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty because Fiona wakes up out of a 4 year long coma. I saw quite a few similarities between this book and Beauty and the Beast, too. Only in this case...the beast is the beauty!

If you enjoy dystopian reads, I highly recommend this book. It was pretty confusing at first, but the reader discovered the truth alongside Fiona, which actually gave the story more impact overall.

Stung by Bethany Wiggins - 5 out of 5 stars