The Butterfly Garden

4.5
This blew me away, I think it was written so beautifully, I liked how everything made sense and lined up together in the end. I like the messed up way the Gradner was written, that he believes that he is the girls' savior and that he takes care of his butterflies even though he kills them and showcase them , I really pictured him as a realist villain and not exaggerated.
I cared for the girls and liked Innara/Maya's reason for wanting to hide something from the FBI which at first I thought that was just for making the book longer.
The portrayal of the kidnapped girls and how they acted and were adjusting to the garden was accurate in my humble opinion. There were stuff that were disturbing and it was fitting to the story. I was really invested in the book and can't wait till I pick up the rest of the books.

Wow! Now I get what all the hype is about, why every single person I know who loves reading thrillers, loves this book! I loved every single second of it even though I am going through a very difficult time in my life right now and it didn't take me long to finish it. The only reason I didn't finish it in one day is because the story itself was so messed up, I needed a little bit of time to process things as they happened and more messed up things were revealed, totally blowing my mind in ways I didn't think was possible.

This novel is about a man, called “The Gardener”, who kidnaps girls and makes them live in his contained “garden”, where he also marks them by tattooing butterfly wings onto their backs and transforming them into his own “butterflies”. This story is probably one of the most, if not the most messed up novel I have ever read and that is because the plot was seriously out of this world. I don't think it's possible to come up with a more twisted, psychologically terrifying plot and being the thriller lover that I am, I was there for it. This book will be going down as one of my favorites of all time and even though I heard that Dot Hutchison's other books in the series aren't as good, I am willing to give all her other books a chance because this one really just grabbed at my soul and permanently left a mark on me, no pun intended.

Further on, the characterization was perfection, in every which way. Most of the girls in the garden, even if they didn't play a major role in the novel itself, came alive through the stories that Maya told the detectives about them. I loved that they all had their various quirks and their intricate, complete personalities and I could imagine myself being one them and in their presence, as messed up as that might be. They weren't merely characters on a page for me, they were real, young girls, full of life and so much to live for, at least before they came to the garden. My heart broke for each and every one of them, even the ones who the least likeable, maybe even more for those.

Finally, Hutchison's writing style is what really brought this whole novel together for me and made me cling to each and every page with shaking breaths. The way she writes, it brings everything to life and it was easy to imagine everything as it was happening, even imagine myself being there, seeing it with my own two eyes. It wasn't overly complicated writing and yet it wasn't oversimplified, so it definitely added to atmosphere and the whole novel itself and was just the cherry on top. I would have read Hutchison's other novels just for her writing, that's how much I enjoyed it.

In conclusion, I can without a doubt say that The Butterfly Garden is for everyone and anyone who wants to be moved by a book in numerous ways. It is gut wrenching, terrifying and at moments beyond eerie but there are so many heartwarming moments in the messed-up chaos and so many great messages that it is definitely worth a read. A book that will change you from the inside-out, The Butterfly Garden is one that will forever be a part of me and will stay with me beyond the reading experience.

5 ⭐'s all the way.

I am writing just after I finished reading this book and I am floored. This book had pulled me in and flowed so well with Dot Hutchison's writing. There being no chapters only made it harder for me to put down since there was no distinct stops besides the three part sections.

I must say that this book was a good intro for me in the realm of darker mystery/thriller/horror types. Because it was told so calmly, when bad, troubling, or horrific things happened it made such an impact on me.

I honestly can't say much without being spoilery. But, I have gasped, guffawed, grasped for any straws of hope, and held back tears as best I could in part three. This is definitely one of the best books I have read this year.

This started off strong - I initially liked the back and forth interview sort of setup between the detectives and Inara, it was like an episode of Law & Order SVU (which I love!).

This started to get a bit samey around the mid-point though and although it was quick enough to get through I just felt a little bored and flat after that.

What would you do?

This is quite an uncomfortable read. Especially for a woman. There is always that fear in the back of our heads of being taken or hurt someway. This book is the ultimate nightmare.

We follow the story told in a very silence of the lambs fashion, of a girl who survived the worst case scenario. Or did she? How long was she enduring this, was she a part of it? Can we believe what she says? And from the beggining, although we know very little about her, we are told to believe. And it's terrifying. Not because it's horror, but because of the real human awful things that she recounts.

Her little descriptions of seemingly every day details in this place, even when she got to strangely settle, to survive the day to day, something always popped up to remind her and us of the stakes here.

And to “survive”, she made questionable choices. We are not meant to like her, or even agree. But in a realistic way, we are to question ourselves if we can judge, and what would we do. Like i said, terribly uncomfortable read. But real somehow. Hard to rate too, because while it wasn't enjoyable, i get it, and it feels like an important read somehow.

I don't rate it five stars, because although i liked the resolution, i did feel the explanation as to why we know little about the MC ended up being rather ludicrous and unnecessary. Other than that, it gripped me from start to finish.