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Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

67 reviews

sarahald's review

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challenging dark sad tense

5.0

I really wasn’t sure going in about this book—I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle how disturbing it was, especially after having had such a strong reaction to PRETTY GIRLS—but wow, it ended up being fantastic. Inara was an amazing character and I loved how the whole time, you were wondering just how reliable she was. 
 
I don’t always enjoy when books move between the past and the present but it was done so well in THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN. The way the story moved between the interview in the present and Inara’s account of the story in the past was seamless and kept me on the edge of my seat. And I appreciated how the author didn’t just spend the whole story building only to leave all the action at the end. Unlike so many thrillers I’ve read lately, the pacing was fantastic and the ending didn’t feel rushed and actually gave a sense of closure. 
 
This book is not for everyone and there are lots of trigger warnings. I appreciated, however, that the author never made it feel exploitative, and that the story was ultimately more about the characters themselves than the truly awful things that were done to them (or, in the case of the perpetrators, the awful things they did). 
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erikalaceyreads's review

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dark mysterious sad 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

“𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈.”

Have you ever sat down to write a review and literally didn’t know what to say? Yup, that’s me with this book. The reason being is that I don’t want to give anything away so I can’t really give a detailed review. This book had me engaged from the first page to the last and honestly  I am glad it is a series because I need more!!
 
This book is broken into 3 different parts and does not have chapters. The book is mainly told over the course of a police interview between Maya and FBI Special Agent Victor Hanoverian. At times Maya is just talking with the FBI agent and at other times she recalls memories from the past that shows the reader just what she has gone through. The POVs and timelines were easy to follow and the switch was done flawlessly. Victor and Maya’s POVs flowed very nicely together. I think the author did a great job developing the characters. I really loved the main character but was overall interested in ALL of the characters and their strength (side note – fuck Lorraine). I absolutely LOVED this book. It is not for the faint hearted as it is super fucked up. The reason I am only giving this 4.5 stars is because I wanted more from the ending and I am really hoping book 2 provides some more closure since this is a series!

“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒆𝒅.”
 
⚠️TW: kidnapping, rape, sexual assault, captivity, death, child abuse, emotional abuse, torture, violence, suicide attempts⚠️
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nikkibisbee's review

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challenging 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? Yes

5.0

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kaabtik's review

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dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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carissa230's review

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challenging dark emotional fast-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

5.0

 Maya is living as a butterfly in a garden. The gardener is a man that cares for the garden and the butterflies. After years in the garden Maya is free. The FBI is questioning her, it's clear that she is hiding something. The question is how involved was Maya in the garden? Did she help to lure the girls there, or is there something else that she is hiding?

As the story slowly unfolds it is clear that these girls have been through some horrible events. They have been part of and witnessed things that most can't even imagine. 
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ashlyreadsevrythg's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

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kaitbeth's review

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challenging 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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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