The Butterfly Garden - Dot Hutchison REVIEW 📖

“Other people got to look at a birthday and say, "Yay! One year older!" We met our birthdays with "Fuck. One year less."

Dot Hutchison’s The Butterfly Garden takes readers into a uniquely twisted and disturbing world. The story, told through flashbacks, follows Maya as she recounts her harrowing experience in the Butterfly Garden during a police interrogation. From the outset, the concept is unsettling—young women are kidnapped, tattooed to resemble butterflies, and held captive by a brutal man known as the Gardener. It’s a heavy and dark narrative that, much like a car wreck, compels you to keep watching despite the horrors.

Initially, I was captivated by the story. The imagery Hutchison creates is breathtaking, painting vivid pictures of the garden and the eerie beauty that belies the sinister undertones. Her writing is undeniably beautiful, which makes the darkness of the plot even more jarring.

However, as the story progressed, my engagement began to wane. Maya’s nonchalant demeanor during her recounting of the events made it difficult to connect emotionally with her and the other characters. While the reader eventually learns the reason behind her detachment, it left me feeling similarly numb, unable to fully feel the impact of the tragedy unfolding.

The pace is quite slow, and by the time the story reached its conclusion, I found the ending lacking the explosiveness a plot this intense seemed to promise. It felt anticlimactic, leaving me somewhat disappointed after the buildup.

Overall, The Butterfly Garden is a beautifully written but deeply disturbing novel. Hutchison’s ability to craft such vivid scenes is commendable, but the story’s heavy themes and the emotionally detached protagonist may not be for everyone. Despite its initial allure, the story’s pacing and anticlimactic ending left me wanting more.