Ratings68
Average rating3.9
This book will always be special to me because it's the first book from NetGalley that I requested for and was approved, after many rejections. Having said that, this book was twisted and hard to put down. I loved it.
From the messed up scene of an escape, the FBI found themselves questioning a victim, the unflappable Maya, about where she and a disturbingly large number of tattooed girls escaped from. She told them about the Butterfly Garden and their role as “butterfies” for a man they only knew as The Gardener.
As Maya slowly unfolds the story, we learned about the Gardener's perfect fantasy world, where he “collected” beautiful young women in the prime of their beauty (16-21), tattooed different types of butterfly wings on their back, gave them a new name, and raped them whenever he wanted. On their 21st birthday, he kills them. What he does with their bodies after is deliciously fucked up. While the Gardener is portrayed as fatherly, he has no qualms about moving their deaths up if they disappoint him in any way.
The writing is an easy read and drags you along. The characters are compelling and well-developed. I enjoy the almost-cold and unflinching Maya, and the handful of Butterflies whom she interacted with in the garden, but I'm still rather staggered by the number of captives there. Her relationship with the Gardener is also fascinating.
Enjoyed this tremendously. One of my rare 5-stars.
Another I heard of in Monster, She Wrote and... Oh man, this was so good and awful. The Gardner was almost too fucked up for me, but I loved the narrator. The way it all came together at the end was really well done. And even the fucked-up-edness was really well done and vivid, just a bit much at times. I'm not sure I'll read more of the series, but if I do, they're sure to be well done.
Captivating!
I've never read anything like this. It's absolutely captivating and I'll be thinking about this story for a long time.
Disturbing and engaging. Not 100% a fan of the ending.. the “twist” seemed a little far fetched to make complete sense.
Chris takes you on a fast and thrilling ride! Every time I put this book down I didn't want to. Alas other responsibilities forced me to. I loved the back and forth between the past and present. It was a very nice touch. Sam is a badass! There's no other way of saying it. There were twist and turns I didn't see coming. I can't wait for the next in the series!
I am thinking of writing a review that will make people understand how much I loved this book but I am still in the process of trying to wrap my head around what happened in it.
Ill try to list them ;
The things these girls had to go through in the garden and the author portrayed how even though some of them escaped how the aftermath is probably just as hard as being in the garden. Because of how much trauma these girls went through.
I loved how each chapter(part) with the detectives was intertwined with a part of them in the garden.
I am going to stop there coz if u haven't read the book yet its best to go in as blind as possible:) But do search up the tws for this because it might be a lot to handle
This was really disturbing, and I failed to understand a lot of the characters motivations and actions.
The Butterfly Garden tells the horrific tale of the Gardener and his kidnap victims. He collects butterflies, but not just any kind of butterfly; they must be young, beautiful and female.Bizarre is the best way to put this story I felt like i was reading a script for a fantastic episode of criminal minds. Maya's retelling of her time in captivity is descriptive and horrifying but it is so well written you have to keep reading .
I will start this review by stating that this book is dark and disturbing, so you have to like that if you are going to read it. Fortunately for me, I do enjoy an unsettling story, so this book is right up my alley. It is a beautifully written nightmare that will be one of the most memorable reads of the year for me.
The Butterfly Garden is the first book in The Collector series by Dot Hutchison. The story starts with the FBI interviewing a young woman named Maya, who has been rescued from captivity along with several other women. They were kidnapped and collected by “The Gardener” and kept as butterflies in his “garden.” Maya proceeds to tell the story of how she was captured, what happened to her and the other girls in the garden, and how they were saved.
This story is told from two perspectives, FBI agent Victor Hanoverian and Maya. Victor's sections give us insight into how Maya is perceived by others while Maya's sections reveal the horrors through which she lived and their impact on her. I find Maya to be a very captivating narrator during her sections of the book. Maya's story is not for the faint of heart. She is a damaged young woman before entering the garden, and her treatment there is horrifying. It is important to know going into this book that there is sexual assault in the book. It is amazing that Maya has not broken by the time she leaves captivity. As the reader can see as the book begins, Maya has come out of her ordeal strong and remarkably stable. She is able to calmly tell of the atrocities she and the other girls faced while in the garden. This calmness casts suspicion on her involvement in the crimes committed and creates some suspense in the plot.
The writing is often lyrical and beautiful. It is a stark contrast with the horrific details in the plot, and I find this juxtaposition appealing. The author is very good at lulling the reader into a sense of calm even in the midst of a nightmare situation. There were moments when I found myself wondering at the beauty of the garden and the butterfly wings even though I knew they were a prison. That manipulation as a writer takes some skill. She even had me questioning my feelings about some of the captors.
The one drawback to the story for me is the ending. There is a “twist” added at the end that I feel is unnecessary, and it somewhat detracts from my appreciation of the story.
While the story moves a bit slow at some points, I found it overall to be an engaging read. I would recommend it to readers that like their stories dark and twisty, but beautifully written.