RaveRumpusAndrey Kurkov has built a gripping story and universe ... Grey Bees shows him to be a master storyteller at the top of his game ... Kurkov handles the book’s solemn argument—how war destroys everyone’s lives—with a light touch and gently ironic humor that comes through beautifully in Boris Dralyuk’s translation, which alternates lush lyricism with wry humor ... Kurkov’s prose throughout the novel is characterized by a compelling, meandering quality that shows us the shape of Sergeyich’s thought patterns ... Again and again, the most ostensibly simple exchanges in the book telescope to reveal moments of unexpected historical depth.