Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

230 reviews

ratgirlreads_'s review

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dark sad tense medium-paced

4.5


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minervawigham's review against another edition

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

4.5


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thatbookmarkbabe's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a tough one because this story really pulled me in and I read it in basically one sitting. I found myself just wanting to know what transpired to get to the point of Maya sitting with the detectives.

The pros:
-reminded me of Criminal Minds
-pulls you in and keeps you hooked
-the different characters really show people's different responses to trauma and a difficult situation, and I really grew to love the main butterflies depicted in the book

But i had a few issues with it that were hard to ignore, which I'll sum up in just a few points:
-this book forces you to suspend disbelief... like a lot
-the plot twist at the end was just laughable and unnecessary
-there was such a disconnect from the horrible elements that felt almost clinical. I didn't feel as much horror, terror, fear, panic, emotion, etc that you would expect based on some of the things that were described, and while i am not a fan of gratuitous violence for violence sake, it could have benefitted from more emotional and vivid descriptions of these events. The Gardener didn't feel as scary to me because I felt i was told he should be scary rather than shown
-the detectives felt like a rather unnecessary plot device
-I wish there were more stakes. Maybe if the events were told as they were unfolding, it would have felt that way 
we already know the girls are freed and the abusive son is dead within the first 25% of the book, and there are like... 0 attempts at escape which i find terribly unbelievable considering there were 20-30 girls there at any given time being subjected to rape and torture and murder.
 

Overall I didn't hate the book for its flaws as many seem to. I still was hooked and reeled in, but it had the potential to be a 5 star read, if it weren't for the points described above.

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katies_chapters's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0


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thebiblioboo'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? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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superstitiou_sreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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hayleemcelray's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0


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jasminewolfe's review against another edition

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

4.5

This is a very challenging read since it touches on some very traumatic themes and actions. I found that they way the author unfolds the story and utilizes the unique voice of the main character to be an admirable way to speak on such difficult things.

It's easy for me to be turned off from any story which involves female pain because so often it is done for shock factor or as a means to push forth a man's storyline or character development. However, the reality is that women experience a myriad of trauma due to their gender, and to avoid ever writing about wouldn't serve us either.

Dot Hutchison does a wonderful job of creating complex characters who are flawed and beautiful, and through their eyes we are able to digest the horrors of this book alongside the triumphs. So, while the plot might be one hindering on the suffering of girls, the lesson we learn is about love, family and sisterhood.

I loved this book.

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francescamolina's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.0


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ericaburns1's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Kept me hooked with so many new pieces of the puzzle being revealed page by page. Complicated narrator (Maya) that you learn to like.
The twist of Sophia being the escaped butterfly feels so last minute and not necessary. Also to drop the fact one of Sophia’s daughter’s biological father is the gardener and then end the book, with the sequels covering totally different cases, felt unfinished.

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