Review of Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda, translated by Philip Gabriel

*Honeybees and Distant Thunder* by Riku Onda, translated by Philip Gabriel (2023). Published by Pegasus Books.

I have something to admit. If you’re a long-time reader of this blog when it comes to my book reviews, you’ve probably already noticed this, but I have a deep love and appreciation for translated literature.

So whenever I go into my library and spot a name that I can distinguish as probably not the standard white American, I tend to grab the book immediately and read what’s on the book jacket.

I’ve found so many great books this way from Black, African, Asian, and even Eastern European writers. Translated literature is harder to find at my local library, but I cherish it whenever I can spot it.

I found a copy of Honeybees and Distant Thunder doing exactly this. I was in the new section of my library picking up books since I’ve been getting through books really quickly in the summer of 2023. I saw a name that I presumed was Japanese, and it was Riku Onda.

I grabbed the book and opened to the cover, and was absolutely fascinated by the premise. Professional musicians? Discussions about artistry? A competition? Count me in. So I read it across three days, since this book was a bit longer.

Onwards with the review!

At one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world, prodigies clash and discover more about themselves and music.

Honeybees and Distant Thunder tells multiple stories at once, as there isn’t a singular protagonist throughout. First we have Jin, who lives in France with his father, a bee expert who travels around a lot. They don’t even own a piano, but as it turns out, Jin was mentored by a beloved piano master who recently passed away.

He’s brought into a preliminary round for the prestigious piano competition held in Japan. At first, the judges don’t know how to react to his playing, as it’s unlike anything they’ve seen before. It’s obvious he’s a genius, despite having rarely touched a piano outside of his time with the Maestro, but he ends up passing and going to Tokyo.

Then there’s Aya. A former child prodigy who quit piano after her mother’s death, she’s now twenty and rediscovering the love she once had for piano. She is enlisted by her musical college to apply for the competition, and does just that.

It becomes an interesting thing for the media and people around her to see how she might come back, but Aya is determined to do things her own way. She’s pitted against a Juilliard student, Masaru, who is Peruvian, French, and Japanese.

Sparks also fly between them, but this isn’t a romance novel, so tough luck on that. Masaru has come into the competition as an early favorite, as he’s also considered a prodigy and his mentor is one of the judges.

He’s also a more traditional piano player, which puts him at an advantage later on in the novel. We also have an older gentleman, Akashi, whose married with kids. He gave up his dream of becoming a professional piano player but sees her chance to come back with a splash. And he does just that, but then he sees how good these whipper snappers are.

Upon the first round performances, it becomes immediately apparent who is a genius. And that’s Masaru, Aya, and Jin. Jin unnerves everyone from the get-go because he acts like he’s doing whatever he wants, but he ends up doing just that. He doesn’t actually know or care for the rules, but he’s a genius.

Aya and Jin strike up a friendship after this round because of how she ends remembering him because he broke into her school to play the piano. He then follows her to her practice room and they play together, which completely changes the meaning of music for her. She sees it as an artistic expression and conversation now, which seals her fate in the competition but grows her as a musician.

Akashi is cut after the second round, but he ends up winning awards at the end of the book. He provides the commentary of an older man who knows and loves good piano playing when he hears it, and he also serves as the bridge of being an Aya fan when she was younger.

He is the observer after round two for the three prodigies, who will ultimately place in the top positions. This is a character driven novel all about their growth as artists and finding a sense of comradeship in each other, as being a genius is a lonely thing when you’re by yourself.

Overall Thoughts

The novel is split into each round, and the way the music is described is lyrical, almost poetic. Onda drops you into a completely different world that the characters are creating with their performances, as they often are playing similar pieces and have different interpretations of what the pieces mean.

I think this format works really well, but it drags at certain points. Round 1 is incredibly longer than the other rounds, and we don’t get the full scope of the romance aspects. That’s fine, but feel like it’s alluded by the mentors Masaru and Aya will date and it will end horribly.

This isn’t a novel for everyone, too. I think this is a novel where you have to become invested in the characters and what it’s trying to say in order to keep going. I think that if you don’t end up invested, this is a painful read and you’re going to stop reading pretty early on.

There plot itself is very straightforward and predictable about halfway through the second round, and some of the surprises for the characters aren’t surprises for the readers. This was such a sensory experience, though, and I loved it.

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