When I picked up Mistress of Bees, I expected a playful romp through a world of magic and mischief, and that’s exactly what I got, but with a lot more teeth than I anticipated. The book follows Lady Maris Goselin, a foul-mouthed, bee-wielding, sharp-witted sorceress who narrates her own adventures with a mix of biting humor, lustful candor, and raw honesty. Through her eyes, we stumble into necromantic disasters, awkward entanglements with past lovers, dangerous pacts, and more than one horrifying monster fight. It’s a collection of linked tales, each brimming with irreverence, peril, and a constant tug-of-war between desire, regret, and survival.

What struck me first was the voice. She’s crude, hilarious, sometimes cruel, but always human in a way that feels oddly relatable. I found myself laughing one moment and wincing the next. Author Bernie Mojzes writes her like someone you might meet at a bar, the kind of person who overshares and insults you in the same breath, yet you can’t walk away because the stories are just that good. There’s a rhythm to the prose that pulls you along, rough and jagged at times, almost tender at others, and always with the sense that Maris is whispering in your ear, daring you to judge her.

For all its bawdy humor and sly jokes, there’s a heavy weight behind the stories. Maris is haunted. She’s angry, lonely, bitter, and still carrying scars from every betrayal and every battle. The way she faces down horrors, both monstrous and personal, feels raw and almost painful. I didn’t just read about her struggles, I felt them. And yet, the book never wallows. It snaps back with snark, with sex, with bees buzzing through the chaos. That mix of tragedy and comedy made it unpredictable and addictive.

By the time I finished, I knew this was the sort of book I’d want to recommend to readers who crave fantasy that doesn’t play nice. If you like your adventures messy, your heroes deeply flawed, and your magic tangled up with lust and rage, this is for you. Mistress of Bees is loud, brash, sometimes shocking, and often moving in ways you won’t expect. I’d recommend it to fans of dark fantasy, lovers of irreverent narrators, and anyone who wants a story that feels alive, buzzing, and just a little dangerous.

Pages: 416 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FJGBBR4S