Tea with a Drop of Honey - The Hive - ★★★★

AUTHORS: The Hive

GENRE: Anthology

PUBLICATION DATE: October 28, 2020

RATING: 4 stars.

"Tea with a Drop of Honey" is a collection of 28 stories of love, hope and inspiration. Like the tagline itself says, these are "Stories to Soothe You". With 28 skillful raconteurs contributing to this book, the writing seemed as impressive as always.

The book cover provides you a glimpse of some of the old-world charm you can expect, but the stories don't restrict themselves to what the cover indicates. I was pleasantly surprised by the vast range covered by the tales. I somehow had this picture of the book being an Indian fiction version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. But the stories are an eclectic motley, ranging in themes from family to friendship, lockdowns to holidays, romance to breakups, reality to fantasy, archaic times to postmodern scenarios. In that sense, it went far beyond what I had expected from this collection. First time ever that I enjoyed Tea more than Chicken Soup! 😝

As I always say, in any anthology, all the stories are never equally good. So as long as at least 75% of the stories make for a entertaining read, you have got your money's worth. At the same time, the stories must meet the purpose for which they have been written. A thriller must thrill, a horror story must scare. This book was supposed to be heartwarming, so I gauged the stories mainly on this factor.

I kept a diligent count of how many met my criteria. Of the 28 stories, I found a whopping 14 stories that truly warmed the cockles of my heart with their atypical storyline and also matched the theme of the book perfectly. An additional 11 stories were very well-written and enjoyable to read. So overall, 25 really great stories: paisa vasool deal if you ask me! 25 out of 28 is 89%, or rounded up, 4.5 stars.

There are a couple of stories where the twists seem forced. But overall, this anthology still charms and soothes and inspires and makes the reader smile at the end. The purpose of the book is met successfully!

Oh, but the book has one more motive beyond offering you moving stories. The Hive has committed 50% of all proceeds from the sales of ‘Tea With A Drop Of Honey’ towards the upkeep of Prani - The Pet Sanctuary, home to over 700 rescued birds and animals. This is one more reason for you to buy this ebook and support a worthy cause.

This anthology is apt for this autumnal season, with the right amount of warmth to invigorate your mind and heart, just like tea with a drop of honey would do. Indulge in it with your favourite beverage in hand. ☕