The Butterfly Garden Review

3.5 stars!!! After reading the rave reviews for this book, I was pretty hyped to start reading it. Since, I have been in the mood to read psychological thrillers, I felt this novel would have been right up my alley. But, I guess I'm going to be one of those people who wonders what the hype was all about. Don't get me wrong though, I feel that Dot Hutchison really knows how to weave an interesting story. The premise was really captivating, but I felt that this book lacked something which I'm finding hard to exactly pinpoint and maybe that's the reason why I haven't scored this book higher. Firstly, I'll delve into the aspects of this novel that I did like. I really did like the originality behind the book. The idea of a serial killer called the Gardener that kidnaps girls and makes them into his "butterflies" was a unique concept. I also enjoyed how the story alternated between the FBI interview and Maya's story of what actually happened in "The Garden". I enjoyed the dark atmosphere of the book. The author did give us a glimpse of the atrocities that took place among the captured girls. It was really engaging to see what the victims did to try and survive. For a book with an uncomfortable storyline of rape and murder, I think the author did a fantastic job of showing the raw emotion of the victim. However, there were times when Maya's character did come across as pretty unrelatable and unrealistic. I didn't like the cliched aspect of a girl who loves to read pretentious literature but has absolutely no background to education to make her actually pursue reading as a passion. We are told that she comes from a broken family, but nothing is revealed to show that she has a caring personality. I felt her to be a rather stiff character. I also disliked Des' character. For someone who witnesses the things that happened, he turns out to be pretty wimpish. I guess the only thing that made me like the story remotely was the fact that it's told from an interview perspective. With regards to the ending, it was dramatic but it felt a bit too anti-climatic and I think this book needed a buildup of tension with something more explosive. I felt the ending was very watered down. The author needed to add more elements within the story to make it more interesting and thrilling considering the nature of the book is a mystery/crime thriller. In terms of writing style, the book is a fairly easy read. Although, the story is divided into three parts, I didn't feel as though it was content heavy. The story progresses at a brisk pace but there were parts to Maya's story which I felt were unnecessary or distracting as she always went off at a tangent. I guess I would have preferred a pretty much darker read but I thought the story was enjoyable. I would recommend it but it's an average read. There are definitely books out there that are most heart-thumping and surely to get the blood racing. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.

#darkatmosphere #crime #mystery #thriller #DotHutchison #adult