Author: Kate Ellison
Publisher: Egmont USA
Publication Date: February 14, 2012
Source: Library
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Summary: Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place—possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.
But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"—a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.
As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined—a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.
Review: When I first started The Butterfly Clues I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm happy to say that my expectations for The Butterfly Clues were met because this is such a fantastic book.
One of the things that really made this book great for me was Lo's narration. She has such a unique voice and I absolutely loved Ellison's writing style. It was nothing short of gorgeous. Lo has OCD which makes The Butterfly Clues a little hard to read. I liked how this aspect was handled and, personally, I loved it but I could see how it could annoy some readers. As a character I didn't feel like I really got to know Lo till later in the book because her character in the beginning was definitely a bit rocky.
The two characters that really stood out to me were the dead ones. Oren, Lo's brother, and Sapphire. I felt like I got to know these characters so much better through Lo reminiscing and imagining. Oren and Sapphire just felt so real.
The mystery in this one is fantastic! It's hard to guess exactly who committed Sapphire's murder. The Butterfly Clues is my favorite sort of mystery. It involves actual clues and detective work. It's not a book where the character just stumbles onto something and then the mystery is solved. Ellison did a great job with this aspect of the story.
The Butterfly Clues is more of a dark book but it easily won my heart with its mystery and the writing.
Rating:
6 comments:
Mystery, great writing, and fabulous characters....I'm sold. I haven't heard of this book before so thanks for bring it onto my radar.
What a great review! I had this on Netgalley a while back, but I didn't read it in time before it expired haha I'm hoping to review it soon now that I have a hard copy. I'm glad to see you really enjoyed it!
Fab review :) I'm your newest follower!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed this one Katie, I just got it and I've been really looking forward to it. Love that the mystery is complex and interesting, and that the main characters don't just stumble upon things and solve it by accident:)
I loved this one! The mystery was especially hard to figure out. I never saw it coming. Wonderful review!
I gave up on this one pretty early because I couldn't get a handle on Lo--I knew she was extremely OCD but that seemed to be all she was. Good to hear she was more than just her OCD and that the mystery was worth reading.
This sounds really good I used to see a lot of reviews pop up and had me super curious then I sort of forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me! :D I love the sound of Lo he seems like a compelling protagonist to a great story! Great review! :)
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