Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

13 reviews

treythethird's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is one of the darkest books I have ever read. It is compelling and well written and so engaging. And … I need an adult. 

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hurricanealicia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

To me this started slow but picked up into part 2 and finished strong. This plot was so weird and dark but has so many beautiful moments too. I liked the representation of chosen family and the depth of the Gardener and his sons and that power dynamic of needing his validation. I know some ppl don’t like the twist at the end but I personally did. I did not enjoy the pov switch from Inara first person to the other pov being just 3rd person. I get they wanted the contrast probably to represent her storytelling from them being in the “interview” but it read weird to me.

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docwinchester93's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

If I could give this book more stars, I would. This book is truly the definition of horrifyingly beautiful, there were moments I had to take a step back and think about what I had just read. I almost felt a sense of stockholm syndrome sweep me up as the book was coming to a close. A powerful book, a message for those who listen and the sanctity of innocence all neatly tucked in black and white.

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spaghettii's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Check the trigger warnings if you have literally anything that you want to avoid reading about

that ending was dumb asf. Like you're telling me her roommate escaped and left all the other girls to die?? Like how would he get custody of her child if he is caught for kidnapping children,,,,
Why was it written as if there was an unreliable narrator when she did not lie a single time??
I also don't get how she would've wanted the dude (Desmen?) to survive when he was complicit for 6 months and had to be convinced by the rape and kidnapping of a 12 year old just to call the police because he didn't want to upset his mom??

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cc_shelflove's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

My many faces while reading this book: 🤢😵‍💫😭😫🥴🤮😳🫨🤬😣😤😪😷😵

A hard book to review and an even harder book to read! Meet the ‘Butterflies’—young girls who were kidnapped by the Gardener and adorned with magnificent butterfly wings on their backs. There is no sugar coating; the girls are brutally raped, killed, and stored for safekeeping. One of the victims, Maya, recounts her captivity to FBI agents following their discovery of the Garden. Will justice be served? This book was seriously fucked up and I don’t know that I can even stomach the next three (!!!) books, but I’m going to try. I must also mention that although the undertones were incredibly dark, Hutchison’s writing was stellar. Damn. That was a lot. 🤕

Buddy read with my best friend for spooky season. 💞

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lucashearn1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Finally a good book for book club! This was super solid and I loved the way everything unfolded. Using the interview to switch back and forth was a cool way to approach that. 

Definitely lots of yuck, icky, gross moments. Very un-comfy at times. I liked the character of Maya/Inara. She’s flawed but was a super interesting journey and character development as time went on. The relationships between the girls felt very real and we got a villain we can detest.

My biggest gripe comes with the last 20ish pages, I did not vibe with that reveal and I feel like it kinda tainted a big portion of the story. All in all an interesting read.

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reeccees's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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devonsonnessa's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was amazing, I couldn’t put it down! The only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars is because I did not like the twist at the end with Inara & Sophia… I thought that was kind of dumb. But otherwise this book was phenomenal! 

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thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

Actual rating: 4.75

Dot Hutchison’s mind?????? This was one of the more disturbing books I’ve ever read, an intricately woven psychological suspense thriller of captivity and control.

I was fascinated by this story, with every terrifying and twisted detail revealed, every piece of the puzzle notched into place then thrown back into the pile of crazy. The writing was very fast-paced and the dual POVs lended well to this kind of storytelling—one from the main character during her days of being held captive, the other from the FBI agent interviewing her in the aftermath of her rescue. There are no “chapters” per se, but none of it ever feels like it’s dragging.

I don’t want to give anything away about the plot and how insane it truly is, but this book definitely gave me serious chills and thought spirals. It reminded me of The OA a lot, as well as “Pretty Girls” by Karin Slaughter, both of which I loved. But overall it’s a very unique story of abduction, delusion and survival. 

I took off a quarter of a star only because there was one element of the ending that seemed a little too coincidental!! 

Only other thing I would say is this book is riddled with graphic, upsetting descriptions and depictions. Pretty much any trigger you can think of is in this book so it’s not for the faint of heart, like at all.

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sourpatch409's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

5.0


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