The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

What an utterly compelling book.

The Butterfly Garden tells the haunting story of a serial killer who kidnaps women and keeps them in a secret garden. This book is written beautifully, with most of the narration being told from the point of view of Maya, one of the kidnapped women who has recently been freed. I absolutely adored Maya as a character-she had the right amount of personality and numbness to make her really believable. In fact, I absolutely adored this book in general. It's a fairly simple idea but it's executed brilliantly and the world Hutchison creates just draws you in.

Alas, this book isn't perfect. The ending was a bit flat and not really worth the buildup. The part with Sophia having been in the garden was also not needed and didn't really make much sense as soon as you thought about it. However, the characters on the whole were very strong and as a character-driven story, this works beautifully. I would have liked to have had a bit more focus on Lorraine however. I found her fascinating as an idea but she doesn't get enough actual interactions nor character exploration which is a huge shame. She does feel like a wasted opportunity.

My only other niggle is with the order of the narration. The Garden stuff gets pushed aside to explore Maya's past at the start of the book and honestly, this didn't work for me. I was interested mostly in the Garden at the start and so was frustrated to have to wait so long to get to that part. It would have read better to have her past a little bit later on, once the general premise had been introduced. I also kept wondering why the police were more interested in her than the Garden itself. It didn't really make sense and again, it took away from the atmosphere a little.

On the whole, I really love how this story plays out. It isn't gory, it doesn't glamorise the violence but instead it gives a pretty accurate portrayal of a deeply twisted situation. Maya's straightforward descriptions of the terrible events really help give the impression that she's been through trauma, and it further cements her strong characterization. Definitely worth a read if the blurb intrigues you, though be prepared for a potentially disappointing ending.

Overall Rating:

Follow Me by Angela Clarke

This book has got some nerve.

For 330 pages I stuck with this book. It's not that it's not good or well-written, far from it-I actually enjoyed it a fair bit. It's just that it felt long to read and not much new was happening. It definitely dragged a lot but I was hoping the ending would make it all worthwhile. I should have been smarter.

Not only was the ending not worth it, it royally pissed me off. It ripped off Agatha Christie! Not only that, but the author pointed it out themselves in the same way a comedian might point out how unfunny they are. Newsflash-it doesn't make it okay. It just points out how blatantly unoriginal you are being. Also having someone on the inside do the crime? I've only started reading modern crime recently and I'm already sick of this cliche.

Of course, this book has many other flaws for me to pick at. The weird subplot between Nas and Freddie that never ends up amounting to anything. The total lack of suspects which means the crime element is limited to police investigation, incidentally my least favourite part of the crime genre. Speaking of the police, how can anyone be this unaware of Twitter? The police are presented as total idiots throughout and it's basically an excuse to justify the main character being a part of the plot.

This is lazy writing without any effort. I was going to give it kudos for at least having interesting characters and a reasonably compelling narrative voice but it's not worth it after the total ripoff of an ending. Do yourself a favour and just read Christie-she did it much better.

Overall Rating:

.5

Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

This book is extremely well done. I don't necessarily mean well-written, although it is that too. But seriously, how many authors could make a book like this work? How many could make a character who regularly sleeps with other people's boyfriends into not only a likeable, but a sympathetic one?

Mercedes is one of the most complex and compelling characters I've ever seen in YA fiction. I totally got what was going on inside her head at any given moment which is very impressive considering she spends most of the book making the wrong choice. Even though the plot is fairly predictable, there are plenty of new elements to stop it feeling samey. I must admit, I didn't care much for Faye. Something about her was...off. I didn't get her the same way I got the other characters. Angela's boyfriend also gets demonized to a ridiculous degree, although I am glad they didn't make it a rape thing.

Having said that, this book is a weird one and I can get why people might not like it. I've seen a lot of arguments as to whether this book is sex-positive or not and honestly, I don't really know the answer. Angela is not portrayed as wrong for wanting to wait until marriage and Mercedes does enjoy sex when she's doing it for the right reasons. Ultimately I'd say it is more sex-positive and definitely more frank about sex than many other YA novels and I can only see that as a good thing. It's maybe not the portrayal of someone who enjoys sex and so has a lot of it that some people wanted to see, but it's complex and I'm not sure that's what the author really wanted to do anyway. I always put story before messages and this one has a story that I very much enjoyed. I would highly recommend giving it a try if the blurb intrigues you.

Overall Rating:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I don't think I like this book.

I say 'think' because admittedly, I'm not entirely sure. I really wanted to like it, or maybe I felt like I should. Ultimately though I have to be honest and I feel Brave New World falls flat in what it's trying to do.

Okay, my first reason is probably the most 'controversial' but honestly, I don't see the future world as being all that bad. Obviously it is bad in comparison to the real world, I'm not an idiot. But in comparison to other dystopias? Everyone is happy and those who aren't get sent somewhere else to be with a whole bunch of other people like them. Not killed, not brainwashed or imprisoned. Just sent away to live their lives how they please. Again obviously, the constant drugging, biological manipulation of the lower classes and lack of art or science are all terrible things. I do not want to live in this world by any means but I think the sex part is what is supposed to be so awful about it and honestly, that makes the book come across as dated and diminishes its impact.

My second issue is with the characters. In the entire book, the only characters I kind of liked were Lenina, Linda and Helmholtz. Bernard was okay but I could not stand John at all. I think my dislike of John is one of the reasons I can't quite see this as a terrible world. He was so pretentious and utterly joyless that, when presented as the alternative, he doesn't make a very good argument for it. It also makes it harder for me to agree with any of his arguments, no matter how valid they are. His treatment of Lenina is appalling and I did not find him particularly sympathetic. The crush angle also seemed repetitive to me as Bernard's crush on Lenina and John's crush were pretty similar in terms of how they fit into the plot and both played the same purpose narratively.

However, the thing I disliked the most was how unsubtle this book was. Characters literally have long discussions about the theme of the book and it feels like the author is whacking you in the face with it. I do not like books which are purely a vessel for a certain message and while this book was too well-written and developed to be just that, it came dangerously close.

Honestly though, there were a lot of good things about this book. I think I like projecting my own interpretation of the story more than I like the actual story itself. Like John-the whole part where he pleads for the right to be unhappy feels like it should be really meaningful and in my head now, it is. But when I was reading it, I felt nothing but weariness. I think this book has a lot to say but its execution lets it down, which is weird because it is well-written. Something is missing but I'm not sure what. For the first time ever, I'm not going to rate this book because I honestly have no idea what to rate it on. My review probably sounds a lot more negative than I feel and this book will certainly stick with me if nothing else.

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

'But it wasn't like you had to really search for the philosophy. It was pretty straightfoward, I thought.'

^ That quote up there pretty much summarises Perks perfectly. I knew I was not going to love this book, purely from the kind of book it is. I was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed it more than expected. Perks is one of those 'life lesson' books, complete with the usual detached and 'intelligent' protagonist who somehow knows very little about actual life and yet gets to have all these experiences.

'The thing is, I didn't know what it said even if it said it very well.'

Perks has exactly the opposite problem of that. There is no way in hell you could miss the (admittedly good) messages in this book, mainly because they are all just stated by the narrator with no finesse or attempt to show and not tell. Every single one is presented as something really profound that the main character has discovered and must share with you. Newsflash-this book has nothing very meaningful to add in terms of messages. Sure, it makes several good points but it's nothing we don't all know from a) our own life experiences and b) much better media. Having the narrator announce basic life lessons as though they're something new and deep is just annoying at best.

Ah yes, the narrator. I do not buy Charlie as a super intelligent person. I genuinely thought he was 12 for most of the book and was shocked to find out he was 15/16. I know intelligence takes many forms and presumably his detached, childlike style of narration was a deliberate choice by the author but I'm sorry, it doesn't work for me. He knows so little about everything it seems and apart from reading apparently advanced books (Is To Kill a Mockingbird really that advanced/hard to understand?), his intelligence is not depicted at all. It makes his teacher just seem naive for singling him out.

Those two issues aside, Perks is mostly a hipster dream. For me, a book needs strong character voices in order for me to truly love it and that just didn't happen here. I found it interesting and I didn't hate it but it covers so many traumatic issues without actually covering them properly. They're plot devices to be dismissed a few pages after they happen, nothing more. In the end, Perks didn't disappoint me but probably only because I expected so little.

Overall Score:

.5

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

MILD-ISH SPOILERS

Gonna be honest, I thought this was a book. Nevermind. I'm not one to turn down a good short story, especially not when it's as engaging as this. Quite different from her usual work in a good way. I'm getting a bit sick of the whole 'evil woman' thing, if only because it makes her work predictable.

This story had such potential. I was mildly shocked by the first line and drawn in soon after. I just wish, wish, wish it had ended at the first twist. That was good, that was clever, that was something I could get behind. Instead Flynn tries to go one step too far but then somehow takes the step back and then it just kind of ends in a really unsatisfying way. I get what she was going for and sure, the ending makes sense I suppose. Maybe I'm just too fond of my more horrific short stories.

There's not really much else I can say about this. If it hadn't carried on the way it did, I would have given it a much higher rating. It's still wonderfully written and very engaging so I can't fault it too much but yeah, ultimately it disappointed me.

Overall Score:

Girl Online by Zoe Suggs

Expect my choice of books to get a whole lot more diverse because I have joined a book club. Hence why Girl Online is the book I'll be talking about today.

Okay, so reading this wasn't my choice which isn't a great place to start from to be fair. But hey, I was optimistic. I've been known to read and occasionally enjoy my share of crappy YA books. Why should this one be any different?

Oh dear god, this book is a sugary wonderland of tween fantasy. I can never eat more than one marshmallow at a time because it hurts my teeth and this book was like someone had stuffed a hundred in my mouth at once. There is no substance whatsoever in this. The author is so terrified of conflict that any drama introduced before the last few pages is immediately solved, just in case the readers start to worry that things might not be perfect after all.

Let me make one thing clear-I am a hopeless romantic. The key being 'hopeless'. Everything is just a little too perfect here. Like I said, it's a tween fantasy sold in a shiny pastel package. The main character (whose name I have already forgotten) manages to solve her anxiety, get the guy, gain self-esteem and become a fairly famous blogger all in just over a week. It's a shame because the conflict at the end could have been interesting but not when the story has been so irritatingly perfect so far. Also it felt like the story completely changed plots when she went to America. I guess it was on purpose but it was still a bit odd somehow. Not sure why.

I'll give this 2.5 stars because a) I appreciate I'm not the target audience and b) the writing is okay and the characters are at least semi-interesting (or different from each other). Maybe I'm being too kind but if you're not allergic to fluffy, soulless marshmallows like me, you might actually find something to enjoy here.

Overall Score:

.5

Dying for Christmas by Tammy Cohen

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

'Misery meets Gone Girl'. Now how could I resist that?

Now to be fair, that's not an entirely inaccurate description of the book. You just have to add the words 'without good writing or any original thought' onto the end of it.

Dying for Christmas is a book I came across by chance and I was instantly intrigued by the blurb. Sadly I can't say this book was worth the read. It's split into two parts, with the first part being the whole Misery kidnap thing and the second half bringing the Gone Girl 'twist'. By which I mean it literally copies exactly what Gone Girl did-a vengeful blonde who dyes her hair red and fakes her own death to spite her husband. Only this time there's another girl as well.

This book is baffling in the way it doesn't make sense. If you're not paying much attention, nothing will really seem wrong with it. But important details just get skirted over. At one point, Dominic tortures Jessica by giving her a tattoo except we're never told what the tattoo is of. At all. She just refers to it as a generic tattoo at all times. The other torture methods are also really weird. Jessica is horrified by being made to eat 5 croissants...is that really so bad? 5? Sure, it's not something you'd do by choice but it's hardly the worst thing ever to happen.

Dominic is freaking hilarious as a villain. He fails in all the ways Annie Wilkes succeeded. Dominic's thing is he is a massive narcissist which unfortunately means he spells out every single detail of what he's doing and his motivations as though everyone reading the book is a moron. I was so bored and uninterested in everything he said. Annie Wilkes was scary because she didn't tell Paul anything about herself really-he stumbled across it. The first part is just pages upon pages of Dominic screaming things at Jessica, proclaiming how evil and scary he is. Can this be excused by the fact Jessica made it all up? Not in my eyes.

That's another thing-the book doesn't really explain exactly what really did happen. Like the tattoo, details are strangely sparse. The second part of the book infuriated me massively because it was a) ripped straight from Gone Girl and b) not much actually happened in it. There were so many huge coincidences that I couldn't buy the plot anymore, not that it was all that easy to swallow in the first place.

Finally, the ending...what was that? What does it mean? I guess it means that Kim let Jess go (because apparently going back to her family meant she couldn't reveal the truth for some reason) and Dominic has now become one of the voices in Jess's head but still. It's such a rushed and clichéd ending (again, ripped straight from Misery) that it sealed the deal for me. The only reason this gets two stars instead of one is that I found myself strangely compelled to keep reading it. It's not badly written in terms of style, just in terms of plot and missed details. But yeah, don't read this book. Just read Misery and Gone Girl instead (and I'm not even that fond of Gone Girl)

Overall Score:

Misery by Stephen King

SPOILERS

I am going to start this review by saying I am 100% biased towards this book and I am not ashamed of it.

Okay so, Misery. This is the first Stephen King book I ever read and the one which made me love him so it's no wonder I'm biased. However, I tried to read it this time round as critically as possible (I was reading it as part of a book club) and even then, I found myself still loving it. This is pure King at his best-no supernatural elements, no weird things with aliens or monsters, just pure psychological horror and two really good characters. Let's start with those.

Paul is of course the main character. It was pointed out to me that he's a little flat by my book club and I really have to disagree. True, Paul is a typical King self-insert and perhaps the most blatant example there is. But Paul has such a strong voice as the narrator that he comes alive. I don't think anyone could read this and not root for Paul, not feel every ounce of his pain. Speaking of which...

Annie Wilkes. My god. As awful as she is, I LOVE her character. By which I mean, I love how detailed and fleshed out she is. Maybe now we're spoiled by murderers with tragic backstories but she was one of the first and one of the best. Not that she isn't causing all the tragedies herself. One thing that did surprise me upon rereading is just how quickly she turns on the crazy but hey, I like that the plot gets kickstarted instantly. I especially like when she gives up all pretence of letting Paul live and how easily she talks about killing him out of sheer weariness. Annie is horrifying in the best way and every second she's on the page, you can't help but tense up.

I promise I will get onto the negatives in a second but first, more gushing! One thing I thought was particularly done well was Paul's descent into Stockholm syndrome. It was blended so perfectly with his med addiction and his growing love of the book he was writing. It felt completely realistic to me and I loved how Annie also seemed to be aware of it, and how needy it made her despite her cynicism.

Okay, so actual criticisms. I have very few to make (big surprise there). A few of the rambly chapters probably could have been cut without too much being lost. I'm not sure what purpose the loss of Paul's thumb served, especially since it happens off-screen right after the on-screen loss of his foot. I guess it's supposed to highlight how awful she is but really, the foot scene worked better and the thumb felt like an add on that wasn't needed. And that's literally all I can think of right now. I really love this book.

Do I even need to sum up? King's fantastic writing style combined with a tense, sardine can thriller that stars two incredibly in-depth characters. A lot of horror, a lot of food for thought and a lot worth reading.

Overall Score:

.5

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Originally the last of Flynn's books I read (starting with Gone Girl of course) I decided to re-read this one after finding out they were releasing a film about it. I remembered very little about it despite only reading it about a year ago, which wouldn't bode well except that I also remember very little about Sharp Objects and I by far thought that was the strongest of the Flynn books. Anyway, the first time I read this book I felt very little except abrupt disappointment. This time round I was more prepared and I definitely enjoyed it more.

The main problem with Dark Places is it sells itself as a mystery but the conclusion is so unsatisfying and contrived that it doesn't make a very good one. On both read-throughs I was sucked in, keen to learn what really happened to the Day family. It definitely helped to read it again knowing that I wasn't going to be happy with the ending. Instead the book became about the characters, and viewed like this makes it much stronger on the whole.

In terms of Flynn's style, I guess it's quite formulaic. All the female characters are deeply flawed and not that pleasant but honestly, I adored Libby. She's not a nice person but at no point is she expected to be. At the end of her story, she is essentially just as flawed but also on the way to being happier. Female characters are so rarely allowed to be flawed in the first place that it's great to have one where her flaws aren't something she has to change in order to get her happy ending. Instead the plot is about what happened to her and that's much more powerful.

I also loved the character of Krissi, especially with how similar she was to Libby. Patty Day just broke my heart, and her part in everything made much more sense to me the second time around. Diondra...let's just say I forgot about her completely until I read it again which is very bad considering how much she is in the novel. I know I'm not supposed to like her [HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILERS] but like Amy in Gone Girl, her comeuppance is not good enough for me. I also don't really get why Ben lets her kill his sister and in general, Ben as a character troubled me. Am I supposed to see him as redeemable and sympathetic? I really don't.

On the whole, I stand by my statement that this is the second weakest of Flynn's books, with Gone Girl being the weakest in my eyes. However, I do think Gone Girl is the more interesting and enjoyable book the first read-through. The difference is, I would not read Gone Girl again without skipping the first third. Taken as a character story rather than a mystery, Dark Places is brilliantly written and gripping throughout. Heck, even as a mystery it still manages to succeed for most of it. It's just a shame that I certainly didn't buy the conclusion, nor did I think it was a worthy end to the story that proceeded it.

Overall Score:

.5

Favourite Quotes:

'It meant having the blues in a way that annoyed other people. Having the blues aggressively.'

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'I don't have friends but I have people who invite me places.'

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'How could you kill something you cared enough to name?'

~

'And still she'd gotten pregnant three more times, because he didn't like to wear condoms and it was too much trouble to nag.'