Oct 30, 2008. Obama reports in his autobiography that he refused to go back to Indonesia to attend the international school there, preferring instead to remain in Hawaii and live with his. Obama then reports that an exception was “a poet named Frank who lived in a dilapidated house in a run-down section of Waikiki.”.

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Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden. In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady treesand a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes.

Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens. When the garden is discove Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden. In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady treesand a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens. When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers.

But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself. As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive.

But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding. This answer contains spoilers [ It was basically a useless 'twist' - Maya didn't freak out when she woke up in the Garden because Sophia had already told her a bit about it while It was basically a useless 'twist' - Maya didn't freak out when she woke up in the Garden because Sophia had already told her a bit about it while drunk (not everything, just enough so Maya knew where she was) after the dinner where The Gardener and son saw Maya and creeped her out. Then of course she was taken, and didn't want to be connected to Sophia, the only Butterfly to escape, while in The Garden or while the FBI was questioning her so Sophia would be able to stay out of the spotlight and continue to get clean and get her daughters back.

Hopefully that's clear and I also understood it correctly! I honestly didn't care for that little bit since it didn't really add anything to the story. At night the Garden was a place of shadows and moonlight, where you could more clearly hear all the illusions that went into making it what it was. Was a book I knew nothing about. I haven't been highly anticipating it for months and it only made it on to my 'to read' shelf a few days ago.

But it popped up in my GR feed and everything about it called to me. It exuded a dark creepiness that drew me in. It promised a story of beauty and horror. And my instincts were right - At night the Garden was a place of shadows and moonlight, where you could more clearly hear all the illusions that went into making it what it was. Was a book I knew nothing about.

I haven't been highly anticipating it for months and it only made it on to my 'to read' shelf a few days ago. But it popped up in my GR feed and everything about it called to me.

It exuded a dark creepiness that drew me in. It promised a story of beauty and horror. And my instincts were right - I was enthralled from page one. Oh, where to start with this book. It's set in the present with two FBI agents trying to uncover the truth behind the crime scene they have just discovered. What they know is that they have found 'The Garden', a prison where the psychopath known as 'The Gardener' has kept young women trapped for decades. He calls them 'Butterflies', tattooing wings on their backs before renaming them, raping them and letting his violent son terrorize them.

Yes, they know this. We know this. But it is the witness they are interviewing - known only as Maya - who really knows what it was like behind the garden walls.

The horrors that occurred. The truth behind what happens to the girls when they turn twenty-one. And maybe, just maybe, she knows something more. As she recounts her tale of life as a captive, it becomes clear that she is hiding something, and the agents begin to question what part Maya played in these crimes. During the day there was conversation and movement, sometimes games or songs, and it masked the sound of the pipes feeding water and nutrients through the beds, of the fans that circulated the air.

At night, the creature that was the Garden peeled back its synthetic skin to show the skeleton beneath. It is a chilling, terrifying thriller, and yet it is so beautifully told. The perfect balance of ugliness and beauty. And Maya is the perfect narrator. Mysterious, cynical, sympathetic. Full of secrets that keep us reading, but likable enough for us to be pulled along for the ride on an emotional level too. The author doesn't shy away from grotesque details, but it is so well-written, each character so well-crafted, that it never feels gratuitous or deliberately sensational.

But, perhaps the thing that makes stand out so much from other thrillers that contain tension, mystery and psychopaths, is the relationship between the young women. The intricate friendships and different personalities. There are no throwaway characters and the author portrays each victim as an important individual in her own right. I don’t think I know what that kind of love is. I’ve seen it in a few others, but for myself?

Maybe I’m just not capable of it.” “I can’t decide if that’s sad or safe.” “I can’t think of any reason it can’t be both.” The depth of the characterization is fascinating. The straight-talking, spirited Bliss who never knows when to shut her mouth. Zara the bitch who is mean to everyone and yet still claims our affection in the end. Lyonette who is the mother hen to the other girls. And aging Lorraine who is so far gone that she craves love and approval from the Gardener. All of them complex, layered and thought-provoking. Is somehow both a horrifying thriller and the tale of the friendships and rivalries between young women.

It's a strange combination that leaves the reader with a bittersweet aftertaste. I doubt I will ever forget it. .

This is the stupidest goddamn book. If you can suspend every inch of disbelief in your body and go into The Butterfly Garden accepting that it's in some kind of alternate fantasy world where women lack free will of any kind then maybe it's an okay book. Let's take a brief quiz to see how you'd do! You wake up in a garden prison constructed by a madman who kidnapped you and is going to kill you on your 21st birthday. Do you (a) try to escape or (b) passively accept your fate and go make ~best frie This is the stupidest goddamn book.

If you can suspend every inch of disbelief in your body and go into The Butterfly Garden accepting that it's in some kind of alternate fantasy world where women lack free will of any kind then maybe it's an okay book. Let's take a brief quiz to see how you'd do! You wake up in a garden prison constructed by a madman who kidnapped you and is going to kill you on your 21st birthday. Do you (a) try to escape or (b) passively accept your fate and go make ~best friends~ with your fellow captives.

You realize that your captor is middle-aged, never brings any weapons into the Garden, and is outnumbered 21 to 1 by young, strong women. Do you (a) organize the girls and fight back or (b) throw tea parties and perform plays for him. Your captor provides you with tools that could be used as weapons--scissors and sculpting tools. Do you (a) attack him with them or (b) use them for your super cute embroidery.

You are a Butterfly who has escaped from the Garden. Do you (a) immediately go to the police and free your fellow Butterflies from rape, torture, and certain death or (b) just go back to your normal-ass life. You are the Gardener. Your son is a deranged psychopath. You are convinced you 'love' your Butterflies and never want to hurt them. Your son wants to torture them to death, and you do not approve of this.

Do you (a) prevent him from visiting your Garden or (b) build him a fucking torture playroom. Your husband builds a giant fucking greenhouse in your backyard, is gone for several hours a day doing god knows what in there, seems to need an endless supply of formaldehyde and resin, and is obviously cheating on you. Do you (a) get the fuck into this mystery garden and find out wtf is going on or (b) just ignore it and live your stupid rich life. You are a nice, normal kid. Your brother is a psychopath. You find out that your dad is kidnapping, raping, torturing and murdering very young girls, and your brother is in on it. Do you (a) go to the police immediately or (b) preserve your family name and just chill with these poor victims like it's a giant sleepover.

You are a girl in the garden. The Gardener's nice, normal son somehow gets into your prison. Do you (a) immediately tell him what is happening and beg for help or (b) willingly sleep with him and then play some sweet piano tunes together.

You're a detective who has been tipped off to kidnapped girls possibly being in a strange, giant greenhouse on some secretive rich dude's property. Do you (a) do everything you can to investigate this or (b) look around for 5 minutes, shrug, and give up. If you picked (a) then congratulations, you're a real human! If you picked even one (b) you might want to consider that you are possibly a character in this stupid-ass book who has the intelligence of a concussed donkey.

Seriously, literally everything in this book is stupid. Nothing makes sense. Not ONE GIRL out of OVER A HUNDRED ever tried to fight back against the Gardener. They all, like, get Stockholm Syndrome in 2 fucking days?? They're so stupid not one of them tries to do anything about their situation? It makes literally no sense. The characters are thinly constructed and tropey.

The plot is full of so many holes it's practically swiss cheese. The 'twist' actually made me laugh out loud it's so bad. It's going for shock value but ends up being a stupid head-stratcher instead of an 'oh my god I can't believe the author came up with something this twisted!!!!' Type scenario that they obviously want. It's not disturbing.

It's not upsetting. It's fucking stupid and I really, really hated it. [arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review]. I feel confident stating that this book will not be for everyone; I even feel fairly confident that this book won’t be for most people. It is dark, graphic, twisted, and touches on almost every taboo subject I can think of. Not since I read Karin Slaughter’s last year has a book disturbed me so completely.So why in the world would anyone want to read this book might you ask? This was the most uniquely crafted story I think I have ever read.

Honestly, if I had based my review on the I feel confident stating that this book will not be for everyone; I even feel fairly confident that this book won’t be for most people. It is dark, graphic, twisted, and touches on almost every taboo subject I can think of. Not since I read Karin Slaughter’s last year has a book disturbed me so completely.So why in the world would anyone want to read this book might you ask? This was the most uniquely crafted story I think I have ever read.

Honestly, if I had based my review on the first 25% of the book it would have been a 5 STAR read for me, no brainer. It completely sucked me in and gripped me; as much as I wanted to put this book down at times, I just couldn’t. I would recommend taking a long, hard look at how sensitive a human being you are before picking this one up, but if this type of dark book is your read, I think you’ll be highly impressed. “They had gone unto wars, trusting to the mild-eyed stars, nightly, from their azure towers, to keep watch above the flowers’” – “The Valley of Unrest” by Edgar Allan Poe Like I stated earlier, the format in which this book is told is one of it’s strongest attributes. Here we have a former captive and victim of The Butterfly Garden in the care of the FBI.

We know that somehow The Garden has been raided and emptied; some of the “butterflies” are dead and some are recovering in the hospital. What we don’t know is how our characters were brought to that point, which is told in three separate acts. There are breaks that allow for the jumping back and forth in time; at times we are in the present while “Maya” is talking with the agents in charge and there are also times where she has gone back to memories that she is relaying to bring us up to speed on what these poor girls have gone through. The time jumps and POV changes were not difficult to follow at all and only added intrigue into the story; many times in a strange, twisted way it left me craving more.

“Yet if hope has flown away in a night, or in a day, or in none, is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” – “A Dream Within a Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe I feel Like I could write a 10 page review on this book, but it would be too spoilery and ruin everything for the reader. This is one of those books (gosh, do I only read books like this? I feel like I have this sentence somewhere in every review!) that you don’t want to know all the twists and dark surprises ahead of time; a good bit of the books appeal is in the grotesque shock. Part of the reason I didn’t give this a full 5 stars was due to the fact that I felt the first 25% of the book was punch after punch of nasty, scary, twisted, disturbing revelation about The Garden, and after that it just sort of tapered off. Sure, it held my attention throughout the entire book, but it felt to me as though it would have been more effective to have spaced out some of that terrifying content in a more even pace. There was an extremely disturbing account nearing the end involving a child which is a major trigger for lots of people, so there’s your fair warning.

I definitely felt the author did a fine job of developing her characters; I felt apprehensive once I’d finished the book because I was worried about leaving these characters behind, almost like they wouldn’t be ok on their own without my watching over them to recover from The Garden, which I think is remarkable for a book under 300 pages. It felt so odd to be reading a book about abuse, kidnapping, and murder where I felt so disgusted but also intrigued by the bond these girls had with each other and how, while horribly wronged in most ways, these girls seemed treated as princesses in others. It really made me sit back and think about how many similar scenarios there have been in real life kidnapping/abuse cases. The other reason that I didn’t give this 5 STARS was the ending. Dear God, you gave me this whole fantastic book and ended it like that? I completely respect that the author was trying to whip out an unexpected twist at the end, but it just didn’t make sense.

I kept scratching my head at her explanation of some things and it was like drinking a fine, expensive wine with a burger from McDonald’s. Other than that, this book was severely addicting and definitely more shocking than most I’ve read, which really says a lot because I read a lot of twisted crap. If you feel you can stomach it, this book is definitely recommended! I’m interested to see where this author goes with her next story. * I received my copy via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I finally finished reading this book.

I thought it would never ever ever end. First things first. The author does create an original story with a one-of-a-kind world-building and type of narration. I’ll let that sink in, because it’s true and not to be overlooked. The beginning and ending are extremely thrilling.

This author sure knows how to wrap up a story. I was especially happy to have all of my questions (or so) answered. We still don’t know what w Hallelujah!

I finally finished reading this book. I thought it would never ever ever end. First things first. The author does create an original story with a one-of-a-kind world-building and type of narration. I’ll let that sink in, because it’s true and not to be overlooked.

The beginning and ending are extremely thrilling. This author sure knows how to wrap up a story. I was especially happy to have all of my questions (or so) answered. We still don’t know what will happen with some characters, but we can just assume, and that’s okay-ish with me.

My problem was with everything in between the beginning and ending. You have no idea how painfully slow this book is. Who said this was a thriller? I want names.

There is little that will thrill you except for, like I said, the beginning with its multiple revelations and ending for similar reasons. But you know what really happens in this book? We get to know people.

Girl after girl. I’m probably shaking my brain out of its resting place wondering why the hell did the author not provide a glossary with the names.

After a while of getting to know kidnapped girl after kidnapped girl, 1) I didn’t care about them anymore and 2) I lost track of who was supposed to be who (except for the main ones). The thing is, I didn’t care about personally knowing kidnapped girls! I didn’t care about why they died or why they lived! I just wanted them all to get the hell out of that monstrous place! I guess you could say that I didn’t like the execution. And I’m sorry but Desmond never warmed up to me, so I don’t see how he could have warmed up to Maya.

Anyway, my rant is over. I wish I had known this was going to be so slow and uneventful (unless you call getting to know person after person eventful) and repetitive. I never would have read this if I had known. Just ugh. . Suppose you woke up and wasn't at home?

You are in a very strange new place. You are disoriented from being drugged and then a girl with a huge butterfly tattoo on her back tells you that this is your new home. A garden that is overseen by The Gardener.

The Gardener has chosen you to be one of his 'Butterflies.' Before we go farther let's discuss what exactly that means. The Gardener is a sick, sick man. He captures women and brings them to this garden so that he has his own little weird harem. H Suppose you woke up and wasn't at home? You are in a very strange new place. You are disoriented from being drugged and then a girl with a huge butterfly tattoo on her back tells you that this is your new home.

A garden that is overseen by The Gardener. The Gardener has chosen you to be one of his 'Butterflies.' Before we go farther let's discuss what exactly that means.

The Gardener is a sick, sick man. He captures women and brings them to this garden so that he has his own little weird harem. He rapes them whenever he feels like it, tattoos their backs as another way of making them his, oh and as an added bonus? If they piss him off, get pregnant, turn the age 21 or any other multitude of sins.he kills them and places them is a resin case so that he can still admire his butterfly collection.

Now the FBI has came in and stomped his little dream life. The story is told by one of the 'Butterflies' as she is being interrogated about the whole shebang. The girl Maya grew up pretty rough so the FBI agents aren't exactly sure how much truth they are getting from her especially as she seems to like provoking one of them. She does tell her story though and this part of the book is fascinating. Her voice tells her story even before the garden and I became attached to her character. The author makes you become attached to all of these girls and their stories.

Even my cold heart hurt at some of their fates. Then the Gardener's two sons get involved with play time. One is a nutjob and one is a bit more sensitive. I thought they both were jerks and had a hard time finding any belief in the good one especially after the way he wanted to be daddy's boy. Daddy is a turd.

There is soooo much to discuss in this book but I don't want to spoil. It's very readable since I've been book slumping and haven't wanted to read a thing for weeks.

I finished this in almost one sitting. There were some things that just didn't add up. I usually don't post any spoilers for books intentionally but this one is driving me batty. I wanted to give this sucker all five stars just because it made my dark heart beat faster.but some funky stuff happened. Don't hit the spoiler thingie if you are going to whine about me spoiling. I never really figured it out. Was it a big box?

Rain didn't hit their faces and at one point she said he could just gas them all? I just didn't get a good picture of the place in my head. And THEN she throws in the fact that she climbed a tree and could see him in another garden with his family? I am confused. The whole tattooing thing. Did he have any training to do these elaborate tattoos? Was he just winging it in his rich guy spare time?

The fact that sometimes there were over twenty girls in the garden. Uh.one gardener.twenty girls? Why didn't they gang up on his bum and kick his balls into the next millennium? That stupid ending. I was fine with Sophia coming for Maya.

That made sense. I got all happy fluttery with the fact that she did have someone who cared something about her.but then she sorta knew about the garden because Sophia had been there?

Oh for pete's sake! That didn't need to be added in there. It made the whole thing fall to crap. ] I want people to read this one and discuss.because I'm frustrated and have some blue balls! (That does NOT mean I want trolls to come here and tell me how stupid I am.) Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review. Check out more of my reviews at Whew! This was one of the creepiest stories that I've read in a long time.

It was just so damn sick that I can't wrap my mind around it. This one was disturbing and bizarre, but I loved it! This story is told from the POV of Maya, a young woman that has just been rescued from a serial killer, and the FBI agents that are interrogating her. Maya refuses to be rushed as she recounts her tale, to the utter frustration of the agents.

The story alt Check out more of my reviews at Whew! This was one of the creepiest stories that I've read in a long time. It was just so damn sick that I can't wrap my mind around it. This one was disturbing and bizarre, but I loved it! This story is told from the POV of Maya, a young woman that has just been rescued from a serial killer, and the FBI agents that are interrogating her. Maya refuses to be rushed as she recounts her tale, to the utter frustration of the agents.

The story alternates between the past and present, as Maya provides the horrifying details of her abduction and captivity. While this type of storytelling, with frequent flashbacks, often seems disruptive and disjointed to me, it really worked for this story. In fact, I'm not sure that I would've enjoyed the story if it hadn't been broken up between the past and present. Too much time in the garden all at once might have been too much to handle. Regardless, I think that the way this story was told, gradually revealing the secrets of the garden, was brilliant.

Maya, along with several other girls, lived for years in captivity. They were abducted by a man they refer to only as 'The Gardener' and kept as living 'butterflies' in a fully enclosed 'garden'.

The Gardener is, not surprisingly, one very sick individual. He repeatedly rapes the girls and eventually murders them, preserving their bodies in glass cases.

Yet, he has convinced himself that he has 'saved' these girls and that he has somehow honored them in death. As if The Gardener weren't enough to handle, he has two sons.

Avery, is feared by all of the girls. He is sadistic and cruel, taking pleasure in the suffering of the butterflies. Like his father, he is one sick individual.

The younger son is less violent, but disturbed in his own way. While Avery relishes the taboo activities that take place in the garden, his younger brother struggles with the brutal reality. Despite the dark nature of this story, I did not find the abuse to be incredibly graphic or detailed. It is clear that the girls are repeatedly raped and abused, but most of the details are left to readers' imagination. Believe me, the details of the abuse are not required. More effort was put into describing the aftermath of the abuse, describing the physical effects of the abuse rather than the actual incidents, giving a pretty clear picture of what transpired.

Since most of the girls are taken as teenagers, child abuse is clearly a prevalent theme. Toward the end of the book there is one particularly disturbing account of abuse that is especially difficult to read.

If these are topics that you cannot handle, then you might want to reconsider reading this book. Although the scenario painted in this book is possible, it is very implausible. This is the type of story where you have to be willing to overlook some of the details that are highly unlikely.

I questioned many things, as I listened to Maya's account of her captivity. For example, there are around 20 girls between 16 and 21 years of age. Yet, they never try to fight back or gang up on any of the 3 guys, even though they are usually alone and unarmed.

Okay, maybe they're just so damn broken and conditioned that they wouldn't even try. Then there's the fact that the police search the grounds at one point, but never even go into this huge 'garden' within a garden. How exactly do you make a structure with 20+ bedrooms and an indoor atrium with water features completely disappear?

I don't buy it. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that it was a bit too convenient for me. I didn't think that the 'connection' made was necessary at all. It was just one more thing that was too hard to swallow for me.

That being said, I very much enjoyed this story. It was dark, disturbing and creepy as hell.

It kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish, waiting to see how Maya and the others came to be rescued as I took in the horrifying account of their time in captivity. It was fascinating and brilliantly told. I listened to the Audible version of the book and the narration was pretty good. I liked the female narrator more than the male narrator, but since his parts were fewer it was not a big factor for me. Overall, it was a great book. The Gardener likes to collect butterflies for his collection.

This book left me speechless! One of my favourite reads of 2016 so far and a book I will never ever forget reading.

The synopsis just sucked me in and from reading the very first paragraph I knew my choice to delve into this novel was a good one. Time just flew by and I lost track of my life as I read this exceptional novel. This one got me on so many levels. I can't rave enough.

Let's have a taste of what pulled me in: Near an isolate The Gardener likes to collect butterflies for his collection. This book left me speechless! One of my favourite reads of 2016 so far and a book I will never ever forget reading. The synopsis just sucked me in and from reading the very first paragraph I knew my choice to delve into this novel was a good one. Time just flew by and I lost track of my life as I read this exceptional novel. This one got me on so many levels.

I can't rave enough. Let's have a taste of what pulled me in: Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden. In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady treesand a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes.

Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens. When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers.

But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself. As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding. Maya is one of The Gardener's collected butterflies, young women 'collected' and kept by him to admire, touch and 'love'. None of that in a healthy way.

Nope, not at all. Each woman is chosen for her beauty and receives her 'wings' after joining the other butterflies.

He tattoos huge wings on the back of each young woman, each one a different type of butterfly, each woman given a new name. What happens to these women will break your heart into a million pieces, a trillion pieces. I felt SO many emotions reading this book and found the plot absolutely fascinating yet disturbing at the same time. The Gardener has been honing his collecting skills for a very long time. When May wakes up in The Garden it's not long before she takes on a role of helping and caring for the other girls/butterflies, especially his newly collected ones who are of course totally horrified when they realise the situation they find themselves in. Captive, free to roam but within The Gardeners limitations.

He truly believes he loves and cares for his specimens. He wants to look at them forever. The book cleverly switches timeline between Maya's story IN the garden and her telling the FBI her story and the story of the other butterflies. So the synopsis does alert you that Maya obviously finds her way out, but we don't know how.

I kind of wished that the freedom element of the book was a surprise twist but can see why the book was written as it was. It has some quite disturbing scenes in it, but it utterly fascinating and the pace is consistent, ensuring you don't have a moment of boredom. You will be drawn in to the story before you know it.

The book has some strong characters and quite a lot of them as we get to know the other butterflies, what is done really well is that you don't lose track of any character despite their being a few. Each is done with clarity and each I will remember as a distinct individual in fiction. This book absolutely must be made into a movie, it would be utterly spectacular! This one gets 5 stars from me and goes straight to my long-list for my Top Reads of 2016 and will be a hot contender. I can't recommend this one enough.

Go grab it readers! Beautifully disturbing. I received a copy of this novel thanks to the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a professional and honest book review, many thanks. Thanks for reading my review! For more of my book reviews, plenty of awesome books to win, author interviews and features come over to join me for book fun at: To follow me on Twitter: To enquire about joining my reviewers team: Finally to enquire about my book publicity services. This book is featured as this week's pick for Throwback Thursday @ The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison is a captivating thriller. The collector a.k.a.

“The Gardner” begins collecting girls and tattooing them with beautiful designs. His plan is to keep them until they reach a certain age and then make them permanent fixtures in his garden for all to see. The girls know their fate, but it’s a mystery exactly how and when it will come about. Maya is one of This book is featured as this week's pick for Throwback Thursday @ The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison is a captivating thriller.

The collector a.k.a. “The Gardner” begins collecting girls and tattooing them with beautiful designs. His plan is to keep them until they reach a certain age and then make them permanent fixtures in his garden for all to see.

The girls know their fate, but it’s a mystery exactly how and when it will come about. Maya is one of those girls, and the brave one. The Gardener sees something special in her and it might be more than he can handle as she devises a plan of her own. I liked the characters and felt they had good development. Maya is tough and the main character throughout the story as she’s interrogated by the FBI while giving her side of the story.

The Gardener isn’t completely understood, but what serial killer is? Here we have a man who’s living a separate life in his fantasy garden, and it works. When reading the book, I had flashbacks to some of my favorites like The Silence of the Lambs and Kiss The Girls. I wasn’t sure if I liked the format of the writing, but still remained fairly fascinated with the story.

I found it difficult to read at times and even nightmarish, especially when Keely comes into the picture. It’s definitely not a book everyone will enjoy as it contains rape, kidnapping, and other sick and twisted events, although it seemed that some details were spared and it wasn’t overly gory. There were many twists and turns and it didn’t feel predictable at all.

There is a weird twist toward the end, but unfortunately, the ending was too abrupt and I wasn’t thoroughly satisfied with it. I still give this one 5-stars for captivation and a unique story. This is one of my favorites for 2016. For more than a year now I've been making little pictures for my reviews, and this is the first time it doesn't feel right, especially if using a butterfly. Thinking about letting my mind wander around that particular insect makes me sick, if I'm completely honest.

I'd rather not express my thoughts that way because it would feel a little like corrupting myself. Those who read know. The only art I can think of is a huge, covering splash of black paint, for some reason. I'm s For more than a year now I've been making little pictures for my reviews, and this is the first time it doesn't feel right, especially if using a butterfly. Thinking about letting my mind wander around that particular insect makes me sick, if I'm completely honest. I'd rather not express my thoughts that way because it would feel a little like corrupting myself.

Those who read know. The only art I can think of is a huge, covering splash of black paint, for some reason. I'm sure psychologists would have things to say about that, but then, I am not one of those.

Perhaps I would be more equipped to review this unforgettable novel if I was, but somehow I doubt that it would change a single thing. I sure don't regret being speechless, because I would feel uncomfortable with myself if I was not. I'm sure you would love for me to make some kind of sense, though? Is a disturbing, dark, unforgettable novel that you won't be able to put down until the very end, whose sick atmosphere will grab you instantly and attach you to its characters whether you like it or not.

Once I turned the first page, I knew that I couldn't rest until I learned everything Maya had to say, even if it meant going through a fucking nightmare. Is not the kind of novels where Stockholm syndrome is praised and called love.

It seems baffling to me that I have to point that, but we can't ignore the ridiculous amount of these love stories now can we? Do not fear, is definitely not a love story (and again, a statement whose need baffles me, given the subject handled). Although I would be lying if I told you that it was an easy journey to take, I don't regret exploring this twisted and gruesome story one second.

Perhaps it's the complex and true-to-life characterization. Perhaps it's the never-ending suspense. Perhaps it's the compelling writing, part poetic and part trivial.

Really, though? Despite the complaints I could have considering the believability, it's how deeply it affected me, because in this news-saturated world, I believe that we need books that don't let us indifferent. How could it?

Trigger warning: Rape & Violence. For more of my reviews, please visit. I found myself engrossed by the writing and story in the beginning. I needed to know what happened to these girls called “butterflies.” I needed to know how they finally got away. I needed to know how they came to be in the garden. I’m a sucker for an excellent thriller. This one had the makings of one filled with originality and horror.

The creepiness finds its way deep under your skin tearing through to your soul. Unfortunately it didn’t stay quite as exciting as I hoped through the middle and I found myself engrossed by the writing and story in the beginning.

I needed to know what happened to these girls called “butterflies.” I needed to know how they finally got away. I needed to know how they came to be in the garden. I’m a sucker for an excellent thriller. This one had the makings of one filled with originality and horror. The creepiness finds its way deep under your skin tearing through to your soul.

Unfortunately it didn’t stay quite as exciting as I hoped through the middle and had the most disappointing ending I’ve read in some time. That shouldn’t take away from the author’s ability to craft an original idea that immediately captivates.until it just doesn't anymore. The story starts with the FBI trying to piece together what happened in what is know as the Garden to the girls knows as “butterflies.” They were held captive by a man they called the Gardener. Sick and twisted things were done to these girls including permanently marking them with giant wings. I don’t want to give away all the details, but there is rape and a psycho son. The Butterfly Garden is a disturbing display of love for the Gardener. We alternate between present day with the perspective of an FBI agent as the FBI attempts interviewing Maya and Maya’s perspective as she tells her story to the agents.

I really enjoyed this format. It helped to add suspense, intrigue, and kept just enough mystery until each twist was revealed. It allowed me to question Maya as a narrator, never quite knowing whether to believe every word she was saying. The problem is I didn’t exactly care about everything Maya had to say. Sometimes she went on these tangents about the most random things or people and I just couldn’t bring myself to care.

She wasn’t saying anything substantial. In a way I get how this is where a lot of the excellent characterization came from, but honestly I just wanted her to shut up. I was bored and in need of Maya moving the f on. Oh.but the ending is what bothered me more than anything. I thought it lacked the explosiveness a story like this deserved. The twist that is supposed to shock and awe only had me thinking how much it made zero sense. Hits on stockholm syndrome in a way I’ve never seen before.

It wasn’t exactly enough. 'But my wings couldn’t move and I couldn’t fly, I couldn’t even cry. All that was left to me was the terror and the agony and the sorrow.' This was like totally fucked up! HOLD UP A SECOND! THIS IS YA?!? I NEED SOMETHING FUNNY AND CUTE NOW!!

Not very long ago was the craziest book i knew of. I couldn't even imagine any other book being able to beat the creepiness of that story. Then came, and Joe just blew my mind. But these two books are rainbows 'But my wings couldn’t move and I couldn’t fly, I couldn’t even cry. All that was left to me was the terror and the agony and the sorrow.' This was like totally fucked up!

HOLD UP A SECOND! THIS IS YA?!? I NEED SOMETHING FUNNY AND CUTE NOW!! Not very long ago was the craziest book i knew of. I couldn't even imagine any other book being able to beat the creepiness of that story. Then came, and Joe just blew my mind. But these two books are rainbows and adorableness compared The Butterfly Garden.

The thing with CitD and 'You' is, Joe and Caleb are sociopaths. I feel for them.

As fucked up as it is, i'm on their side. They are my guilty pleasure. This book on the other hand is just plain wrong. There were some scenes that left me feeling physically dirty.

They made my skin crawl! I can't even decide weather i hate this book or absolutely love it. It was so captivating i can't bring myself to give it anything less than 4 stars.

I am not going to do a detailed review, it's better if you go into it knowing as little as possible. _____________________ _____________________ Updates: Let me paint you a picture: So, these two love birds were being cute/having fun/doin it and all that crap. The girl looks up and sees his brother standing in the doorway, jerking himself!!

Both brothers start arguing, still in that same position. Then, daddy decides to join the part as well. I don't know if this book is starting to get to me or what, but i find this hilarious!! I was crying. Literally, tears! ARE YOU FUCKING TELLING ME ALL THESE GIRLS CAN'T TAKE DOWN ONE ASSHOLE?! I am only 20% in and i'm already feeling sick to my stomach.

Ugh, someone kill him already. Just because all my favorite people love it so much. I have no idea what to expect but it's free on Kindle Unlimited, so why not?:D.

Captive in the Dark is one book i never recommend to anyone, I can't tell how people would react to it. I see you weren't a fan. I pro Captive in the Dark is one book i never recommend to anyone, I can't tell how people would react to it.

I see you weren't a fan. I promise you 'You' is nothing like it.

I actually found You kind of funny in a really strange way. Butterfly Garden, on the other hand, reminded me of CitD a bit.

But don't worry, it's nowhere as crazy. Awww thank you! I missed seeing you around here. Updated 06 mar. Once or twice a year, if I am lucky, a get to read a book that really touches some inner part of me. The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison is such a book. I had not heard of Dot Hutchison before picking up The Butterfly Garden.

Now I want to read every word she has ever written, and every word she is going to write in the future. Once I started reading, I could not put it down. Despite the beautiful title, the subject matter is quite dark, horrific in places. And yet Hutchison writes with an ironi Once or twice a year, if I am lucky, a get to read a book that really touches some inner part of me. The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison is such a book.

I had not heard of Dot Hutchison before picking up The Butterfly Garden. Now I want to read every word she has ever written, and every word she is going to write in the future.

Once I started reading, I could not put it down. Despite the beautiful title, the subject matter is quite dark, horrific in places. And yet Hutchison writes with an ironic humour that had me smiling and even laughing out loud. She has also had me in tears at the terrible things we humans do to each other in the name of love; and at how negligent we can be, especially towards children. The story is told from an interesting perspective. The garden, where young women are held and tattooed to resemble butterflies, has already been discovered when we start this journey, and the survivors are all hospitalised except for one, Maya. She is being questioned by FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison.

Their questions and her answers take her back over her time there. The Butterfly Garden is an outstanding read and is currently at the top of my ten best reads of the year. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing a digital ARC of The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

What did I just read? So dark, disturbing, and torturing. At the same time, even though I was horrified with it, it was my kind of book. It dealt with all kinds of different feelings and emotions, that I still have after reading this book.

I could never forget this book. It kept me up all night long turning the pages. Before picking this up I give you a huge warning but it is so fantastic! It is not for everyone. If you haven't read it yet, you need to read it A.S.A.P! What did I just read?

So dark, disturbing, and torturing. At the same time, even though I was horrified with it, it was my kind of book. It dealt with all kinds of different feelings and emotions, that I still have after reading this book. I could never forget this book. It kept me up all night long turning the pages. Before picking this up I give you a huge warning but it is so fantastic! It is not for everyone.

If you haven't read it yet, you need to read it A.S.A.P! It is not for the faint of heart. Definitely not! I devoured this book. Even though it was so disturbing, the character development was done so well. The author is so brilliant and her prose is just written beautifully.

The descriptions are so beautiful. This book has the perfect blend of beauty and ugliness. I just loved the writing style. The book starts out with FBI Agents interviewing a survivor, a butterfly set free from captivity. The young girl is named Maya.

She is one of the butterflies and is a survivor from a serial kidnapper/rapist/serial killer. As Maya is telling her story, the FBI Agents learn more about the man known as the Gardener, who kidnaps young women and tattoos butterfly wings on their backs before raping them and keeping them captive in his garden. I am not going to give any more of the plot. You are just going to have to pick it up and read it. Like I said earlier the characters are done so well. The Gardener is just pure evil. I just hated him.

The Gardener has a couple of sons and one of them is worse than the Gardener. He is just too creepy. Maya is one of the captive butterflies and I loved her the best.

She was very mysterious, sarcastic, brave, strong and smart. I recommend this series to all those who love a dark disturbing fantastic thriller.

The Butterfly Garden is a chillingly brilliant concept. Major kudos to the author. Where is an editor when you need one?!

On the surface, this is a gripping tale of survival. I understand why so many people are finding it riveting. But it didn't work for me. I realize this will be a wildly unpopular review but I'm going to try to spell out the reasons why I found it impossible to immerse myself in the story.

First of all, I don't usually read psych-thrillers. I'm more comfortable with tech-t The Butterfly Garden is a chillingly brilliant concept.

Major kudos to the author. Where is an editor when you need one?! On the surface, this is a gripping tale of survival. I understand why so many people are finding it riveting.

But it didn't work for me. I realize this will be a wildly unpopular review but I'm going to try to spell out the reasons why I found it impossible to immerse myself in the story. First of all, I don't usually read psych-thrillers. I'm more comfortable with tech-thrillers and medical-thrillers. I think it's because with psych-thrillers we are expected to believe these are real people experiencing things in our current, real world.

So, you tell me.in the real world, given 20 young, healthy women between the ages of 16 & 21 against 1 middle-aged man, can you think of a single reason why they couldn't overpower him? The reason given in the story is 'fear'. Fear of death, because he will kill anyone caught trying to escape. HOWEVER, he will kill them [when they turn 21 ANYWAYS. ] So they stay and wait for death, [and are repeatedly raped by their captor as well as physically abused by his son.

] Again my friends, picture a large group of 16-21 year old women. Not in my world. Our heroine stays [there for TWO YEARS without fighting back. She simply recites poetry while he rapes her. ]I wish you could see my face right now. Disbelief is putting it mildly.

I almost put the book aside at 30%.at 65%.and at 85%. Did I struggle through it? But it was a buddy read, so with the help of another reader (thank you Ela!) I was able to vent while reading and continue on. I did make a comment to my buddy readers that most male authors would never portray a woman as being so pathetically weak. It makes me wonder if the author is a misogynist. Except, wait.I believe the author is female.

Can females be misogynist? I don't know. However, there is more I had a problem with.

The 2nd MC, the psychopath. No excuse or reason or even hint was given for his behavior. If you're going to give me a character that is a vicious psychopath, I need to see him as a vicious psychopath. Our Gardner was consistently and thoroughly portrayed as a loving, fatherly/husbandly figure who cared for his girls' well-being; strict but kind. Never-mind that he killed them if they misbehaved.

Even that was done with care and compassion. Ummmmm - GIVE ME A HINT THAT HE'S A CRAZY FUCK. I had to constantly remind myself that he was the 'bad guy'.

Readers need a 'tell', a hint of some sort that there is something not quite right with the character. If the character is written as a loving father figure, then that's all we have to go. When his actions don't match his portrayal, it's jarring, inconsistent and too bizarre to be believable. Speaking of unbelievable, let me introduce you to Desmond, the psycho's second son. Finally, finally, finally we get to the end of this back and forth between past and present (did I mention that's the setting of the story?

She's sitting in an interrogation room with a couple of FBI agents telling her story.) The ending not only fell flat - it fell flat on it's face and flattened its nose. Have you ever lit a firecracker that turns out to be a dud? Here you are, expecting a loud bang and you get a 'pffft'.

I was EXHAUSTED after I finished this book. Major thanks to Ela and our other buddy readers because I would have never made it through the story without the group support.

I'm giving two stars instead of one because it was strangely compelling. I kept reading in the hopes that something would change and make it all come together for me. 09/28/17: This book is currently $1.99 for Kindle (and so is the sequel!) Huge thank yous to the author and publisher for putting this book up on Netgalley.

It's probably one of the best books I've received for review from that site this year. I'm rather desperate to get my hands on A WOUNDED NAME now.

Authors who excel at doom and gloom are so few and far between But Hutchison does. Oh, boy, she does. I would be very surprised if Hutchison n 09/28/17: This book is currently $1.99 for Kindle (and so is the sequel!) Huge thank yous to the author and publisher for putting this book up on Netgalley. It's probably one of the best books I've received for review from that site this year. I'm rather desperate to get my hands on A WOUNDED NAME now. Authors who excel at doom and gloom are so few and far between But Hutchison does.

Oh, boy, she does. I would be very surprised if Hutchison never read John Fowles's THE COLLECTOR - the parallels are numerous. Both are about obsessive men who compare women to butterflies and see them as sexual fetish objects to be owned and collected. Both are about women held captive who are desperate to escape. That said, I am not implying that THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN is derivative in the slightest.

It is possible to be influenced by other work(s) and still make your story your own - something Hutchison does with great skill. Honestly, it reads like Gillian Flynn decided to rewrite THE COLLECTOR as a dysfunctional harem in the style of James Patterson's Alex Cross books, and it's darned good. Maya was taken from the Garden. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are interviewing her to find out about the other girls and also about the man who called himself the Gardener. As the interview unwinds, we are left with bits and pieces of the story. The Gardener kidnaps young women and tattoos butterfly wings on their backs. He keeps them locked away in a glass harem, until they turn twenty-one-years of age.

All the girls are marked with death the moment they come into his 'care.' Maya had a dysfunctional childhood that forced her to become street smart at a young age. She knows how to read people and how to manipulative people, and she's not above using either of these skills in order to help escape. But as she gets to know the women she's trapped with the walls come down, and she finds herself more emotionally involved than she ever wanted to be - especially when some of her friends end up dying.

The writing in THE BUTTERFLY is gorgeous. The pacing is also really good. I found myself reading large chunks of this at a time without getting bored, which is often a good indicator of how good the author is at spinning out tension. I also loved the gritty realism in this book. One of the reasons I love Gillian Flynn's work, for example, is because she isn't afraid to write flawed female heroines or anti-heroines. Hutchison is much the same - she's damaged and can be a little cruel herself, which I appreciated, because given what she's gone through, why shouldn't she be? I also really liked how The Gardener wasn't a stereotypical villain.

He had moments of kindness, and even though he murdered and did terrible things to his Butterflies.it was chilling, because you could tell that he didn't think he was doing anything wrong. He really believed what he was doing was love. His sons, Avery and Desmond, were also interesting characters - Desmond, especially. Anyone looking for a good psychological thriller/mystery will do well to read THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN.

It's clearly influenced by a lot of great writers, but does an amazing job standing on its own two feet. Would love to see a movie version of this book one day! Think of the costumes! Due to a VERY slow day at work, I started and finished this book in one day! It was captivating, brilliant, and nauseating.

I loved the writing, and the story felt so original. Kudos to the author.

Why did I knock off a star? One big reason: I didn't like the ending. It all seemed too wrapped up, and the 'surprise' just felt unnecessary. It didn't add anything for me other than a confused, 'seriously?' After everything, THAT was the secret she'd been holding back from the police? Eh, not Due to a VERY slow day at work, I started and finished this book in one day! It was captivating, brilliant, and nauseating.

I loved the writing, and the story felt so original. Kudos to the author. Why did I knock off a star? One big reason: I didn't like the ending. It all seemed too wrapped up, and the 'surprise' just felt unnecessary.

It didn't add anything for me other than a confused, 'seriously?' After everything, THAT was the secret she'd been holding back from the police? Eh, not for me.

But the rest of the book is so good and so worth reading. I love the sorta-split POV, how it bounces seamlessly between past and present.

While the main character was a little unbelievable at times, the author did a great job of crafting her backstory and habits so that any doubts I had at the beginning became more plausible. I'm not sure why this is categorized as an adult thriller (yes, the content is super graphic, but the writing and POV felt YA to me). SO all in all, 4 stars and a recommendation from me. This book was my kindle first May pick and it's very disturbing. *TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE* --->EXCERPTEXCERPT. Alright ladies and gents listen up.

What a dark and beautiful mind f**k! This book was truly disturbing and graphic and let me tell you definitely NOT for your average thriller lover. Firstly, let me just say I will never look at a butterfly the same way again.

This was such a uniquely crafted novel! It completely sucked me in and I could NOT put it down. I devoured this like a triple cinnamon cupcake from Sprinkles (my obsession).

The novel starts off with a former captive WOW. Alright ladies and gents listen up. What a dark and beautiful mind f**k! This book was truly disturbing and graphic and let me tell you definitely NOT for your average thriller lover. Firstly, let me just say I will never look at a butterfly the same way again. This was such a uniquely crafted novel! It completely sucked me in and I could NOT put it down.

I devoured this like a triple cinnamon cupcake from Sprinkles (my obsession). The novel starts off with a former captive 'butterfly' in the care of the FBI. The FBI has raided this so-called Butterfly Garden and has more women recovering in the hospital and some that are dead. But, I was wondering. Wtf is a butterfly?

The story is told from the former butterfly's point of view ('Maya') switching from past to present. As the reader, you are placed into being 'beautifully' branded as a butterfly living in a 'garden' with your master known as The Gardener.

This book is sick, twisted, and creepy as hell. These women are help captive and are brutally raped, murdered, and treated JUST like butterflies my friends. This I have to say was extremely brilliant on Dot Huchinson's part.

Man, I almost felt wrong to think the writing was beautiful. The ONLY minor issue I had with this book was the ending. The book was a 4 course delicious meal and then I wasn't given my piece of dessert. The author tried to do a final twist at the end but I'm sorry Dot it just didn't flow. Overall, strong 4 stars for this one!! 'What choices are you making, Desmond?'

'I don't think I'm making any choices right now.' 'Then you're automatically making the wrong ones.

[.] Not making a choice is a choice. Neutrality is a concept, not a fact. No one actually gets to live their lives that way.' Imagine the following scenario: You are living your normal life; as complicated and difficult as it may be, at least you are living your life in freedom. Until one day everything changes for you; someone kidnaps you; and you wake up 'What choices are you making, Desmond?'

'I don't think I'm making any choices right now.' 'Then you're automatically making the wrong ones. [.] Not making a choice is a choice. Neutrality is a concept, not a fact. No one actually gets to live their lives that way.' Imagine the following scenario: You are living your normal life; as complicated and difficult as it may be, at least you are living your life in freedom.

Until one day everything changes for you; someone kidnaps you; and you wake up in a huge mansion with a beautiful garden among several other girls and women and the only thing they can tell you is that you will not get out of this house alive. This scenario alone certainly provides a lot of food for scary thoughts, doesn't it? Dot Hutchison decided to use this as a premise to her novel and achieved a lot of success with it. Solidworks 2005 Torrent Crack Code. She touches many interesting subjects within her novel and embeds them inside a captivating story which, to my knowledge, has never been told before in such an original way. Trying to understand why that man did anything the way he did was a worthless endeavor. 'The Butterfly Garden' has been one of the literary sensations of 2016, scarcely losing the Best Horror Goodreads Choice Award to Joe Hill's, and if you judge this book from its originality alone, then it deserves all the praise it received so far.

The novel focuses on one long interrogation scene (reminiscent of Stephen King's ) between some FBI agents and a surviving victim of the aforementioned horrors, disrupted by several flashback scenes recounted by Maya, the protagonist, herself from her first-person narrative. Soon we learn more details about the dynamics of the events inside this garden and the horrifying man who is responsible for all this, the so-called Gardener: a man who kidnaps girls at the age of sixteen to rape them, abuse them, have his fun with them, and if they managed to survive that long, to kill them at their twenty-first birthday. 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 decided to apply a narrative device well-known from both H.P. Lovecraft and many horror movies from the 80's: our fear of the unknown.

This concept can be discovered in a general lack of characterizing the Gardener or exploring his motives except for his sociopathic sickness, and it certainly succeeds in causing the effect that even we ourselves never quite know what to expect from the book's villain. All this sounds like a promising premise. I'm not going to delve deeper in what continues to happen in order to avoid spoiling anything for you, but personally I felt like the author left aside many chances of exploring possible dynamics between many of the characters. Instead we were confronted with an overload of characters, as we were introduced to one captivated woman after another, and soon it became almost impossible to keep track of all the names which were thrown into the text, causing a few difficulties to keep up with all the side characters. Throughout the novel, a constant decline of tension occurred, though luckily the author was ultimately able to capture my attention back again.

There were also a number of plot holes - [I had some trouble believing that it was never possible for twenty-five girls to unite against the Gardener and just take him out - and something which bothered me for the entire time was that it was never possible for me to get a clear, vivid picture of the garden. It was described as a beautiful place, but except for it being covered with a glass roof, we never learned if it was supposed to be a dome, a box or something entirely different.

Also, the wife didn't notice anything for thirty years despite living right next to the garden? ] If you've seen enough, you just look older, no matter what the rest of your face looks like. The book is clearly not about the struggle between life and death since we were never allowed to really care about any of the characters; it's rather about what such horrors can do to a human being, and Dot Hutchison delved into this topic by providing a lot of insight on her characters' thoughts and struggles. She included a constant contradiction between the beauties and the horrors of this world - after all, how can it be possible to even imagine that abuse and death occur in a place as peaceful as 'a garden so beautiful it nearly hurt to look at it; [where] brilliant flowers of every conceivable cover bloomed in a riotous profusion of leaves and trees, clouds of butterflies drifting through them'? Butterflies and wings turn into a constant metaphor of balancing the good and evil of this world. At the heart of the Garden, though, was loneliness and the ever-present threat of shattering, and connecting with the others seemed the safer of two evils. Not the lesser, necessarily, but the safer.

I liked this book for most parts (except when it started to drag on and on and on sometime in the middle), and it was the first book for many months which I was able to finish in one sitting since I refused my eyes the right to wander anywhere else but this book. The atmosphere was tense and memorable, though in the end I don't think the book left me as satisfied as I had hoped it to. As you may have noticed, I even started to (over)analyze some of the narrative devices in order to avoid stating my personal opinions about the book. For now I am going to rate it with 3.5 stars, rounding it down to three because as addicting as it was, I still felt kind of empty when I put the book down again, and to be honest, the ending produced a frequent 'what the heck?'

Inside my thoughts. (But senseless surprise twists seem to be something no thriller can live without anymore, so I'm not going to ponder over that. Let's face it, the ending was stupid anyway.) I would still recommend this book to everyone who feels like reading it - if you can stomach the horrors of the book's premise.

It is certainly not for the faint-hearted. But it's worth reading it even if only for the great writing alone - which is why I included some of the more interesting quotes I discovered during my reading experience. 'Right and wrong doesn't mean there's an easy choice.'

This was a decent enough psychological/mystery/horror thriller - that won't be to everyone's liking; due to the subject matter. It starts off with two FBI agents, Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison, interviewing a young woman, Maya/Inara, who was rescued with other girls that were being held captive by a person only known as 'The Gardener.' The story is told in third and first person perspectives. The third person being in the interview room (mainly), and the first person is where she gradual This was a decent enough psychological/mystery/horror thriller - that won't be to everyone's liking; due to the subject matter.

It starts off with two FBI agents, Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison, interviewing a young woman, Maya/Inara, who was rescued with other girls that were being held captive by a person only known as 'The Gardener.' The story is told in third and first person perspectives. The third person being in the interview room (mainly), and the first person is where she gradually tells her backstory of how she ended up becoming a 'butterfly' - which is not fast enough for Eddison. He wants to push the suspect/witness harder - but Hanoverian is more patient than his partner. She does like to wind Eddison up, when an opportunity presents itself, which is fairly often. The Gardener' kidnaps, tattoos and then rapes his victims; once the tattoo (of a butterfly) is complete. Each girl has a different butterfly and namesake: The gardener lives in a mansion, which has an outer garden; but its the inner garden area where the girls are kept; so no-one knows they are there.

The girls' have their own designated rooms and showers; they are fed well, and are given clothing to wear; specifically what 'The Gardener' wants them to wear, of course. And they seem to make the best of the hand they've been dealt; despite knowing their ultimate fate, in which the 'Walls of Glass' is a constant reminder. I'm still trying to eradicate that image from my mind. Anyway, birthdays aren't a time of celebration. Why don't they try to escape? Well, there's only one way in; and the door is key-coded. Plus, self-preservation is a good motivator: they're scared.

The Gardener is bad enough, but he's not the only threat; there's another. The captives seem to have 'Stockholm Syndrome' - but they've been conditioned to behave; except for one, who does have 'Stockholm Syndrome - and she's the cook-nurse.

When a girl dies, another will take her place, when 'The Gardener' goes hunting for a replacement. In Summation: It's an interesting story, which is a bit of a slow burn; mainly because Hanoverian doesn't push Maya/Inara too hard, I guess. The switching from the third to the first person narratives took a bit of getting used to, as it happens often. And there was a surprise at the end I didn't see coming. I'll definitely be checking the sequel 'The Roses of May' out, sometime. Find all of my reviews at: I actually heard about The Butterfly Garden from one of my real life friends (I know I know shocking to hear I have friends, but have no fear there’s only like three of them). Per usual I was late for the party and ended up FIFTY-SECOND on the waiting list.

Thank Jeebus I don’t age in dog years! Fastforward six months and I finally got it. The story is about a woman named Maya, a survivor that has been pulled out of a place known to her Find all of my reviews at: I actually heard about The Butterfly Garden from one of my real life friends (I know I know shocking to hear I have friends, but have no fear there’s only like three of them). Per usual I was late for the party and ended up FIFTY-SECOND on the waiting list. Thank Jeebus I don’t age in dog years! Fastforward six months and I finally got it.

The story is about a woman named Maya, a survivor that has been pulled out of a place known to her as “The Garden.” Maya is one of many who were kidnapped by a real charmer they call “The Gardner”..... The Gardner chooses girls he sees as perfect specimens.

First, as beautiful butterflies.... And when they get too old he preserves them. Mitchell’s reaction to all of the above.... The Gardner also has a couple of sons. One who is even more delightful than his father.... And one who has just learned of their hobby. The remainder of the story does the wibbly wobbly from past to present as Maya reveals all of the details of her (and the other girls’) lives in The Garden to two FBI agents.

There are two approaches to this book. We’ll call Option #1 the “Ron 2.0” reaction.... Option #2 is that you take reality and.... Fair warning that this sucker is 000% unrealistic. The Garden would have had to have been about the size of my hometown in order to hold all of the.... Errrrrrr, components. The Gardner also must have been a genius because shiz was like super high tech...

Even though he’d been active in his “hobby” for a loooooooong time. There were a crapton of girls living together, but none of them ever thought to get stabby on his old ass.

And then there was that ending.... All of that build up for it to end up pooping the bed????? Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, with all those flaws The Butterfly Garden was an extremely readable story. I know it’s a little late now that summer is over (blame the library for not recognizing how important I am and bumping me straight to the top of the waiting list), but this would be the perfect beach read for someone who likes the dark and twisty rather than the bumpy grindy.

'Where are we?' 'The Garden.' This book fucked me up. Take a look at me anytime while I was reading The Butterfly Garden and you'd find me like this: with a hand over my gaping mouth, eyes bugging out, and a greenish tint to my face. I'm still here like, what the shit did I just read? Well let me tell you what I just read. A dark, twisted story about girls savaged by a delusional captor who *trigger warning* stamps, rapes, and then kills them (not spoilers).

It's sad, it's sickening, and it's ut 'Where are we?' 'The Garden.' This book fucked me up.

Take a look at me anytime while I was reading The Butterfly Garden and you'd find me like this: with a hand over my gaping mouth, eyes bugging out, and a greenish tint to my face. I'm still here like, what the shit did I just read? Well let me tell you what I just read. A dark, twisted story about girls savaged by a delusional captor who *trigger warning* stamps, rapes, and then kills them (not spoilers). It's sad, it's sickening, and it's utterly.

Despite the horrors that occur, and there's no shortage of them, I couldn't tear my eyes away. The author does an amazing job at storytelling. Not much was sugar-coated and you won't find beautiful, flowery writing here. Instead, you'll find a brutally honest account of the atrocities suffered my these girls. It's still a story, though, and the author knows how to hook you. The narrator is one you can respect. She's resilient and straightforward, a no-bullshit kind of person and yet still one that inspires sympathy and awe.

She's real and that's more than I could ask for. But my wings couldn't move and I couldn't fly, and I couldn't even cry.

All that was left to me was the terror and the agony and the sorrow. It begins right in the center. You don't know anything that happened before the main narrator finds herself at the police station and you don't know anything that'll go on after.

You're just left plunge in and try to fit all the puzzle pieces best you can. Down the the last page, quite literally, the surprises don't end. I'm not sure if this is a story for everyone, and it's not one I would say was pleasurable to read exactly, but if you like dark tales that'll give you high blood pressure, then you've met your match.

Highly addictive and intensely raw, it's a tale I won't be sure to forget anytime soon. I thought how fucking unfair it was that he made us butterflies, of all things. Real butterflies could fly away, out of reach. The Gardener's Butterflies could only ever fall, and that but rarely. This book was one of the best I have read. It had so many twists and turns in it that you couldn't help but keep reading the book! This book was one creepy book!

I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you don't have a good stomach, I wouldn't read this book. Honestly, this is one of the hardest books I've had to review.

You really can't say much without giving away the entire book! The one thing I will say is take notes! You will forget shit. So much is going on in this book at all times. This book was one of the best I have read. It had so many twists and turns in it that you couldn't help but keep reading the book! This book was one creepy book!

I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you don't have a good stomach, I wouldn't read this book. Honestly, this is one of the hardest books I've had to review. You really can't say much without giving away the entire book! The one thing I will say is take notes! You will forget shit.

So much is going on in this book at all times. The end will get you though! Have to read the book! This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, 4 star thriller. Unique, twisted story of a mass kidnapper / rapist / serial killer. Not for everyone!

I was intrigued by the title, -- and all of the buzz that I saw around this book from some of my Goodreads friends. I noticed that the ratings were a bit dispersed -- with some readers awarding 4/5 stars (many of my friends) and others 1/2 stars. I am so glad that I picked up this book because I found it to be a creepy, disturbing, and interesting read.

The premise of the 4 star thriller. Unique, twisted story of a mass kidnapper / rapist / serial killer. Not for everyone! I was intrigued by the title, -- and all of the buzz that I saw around this book from some of my Goodreads friends. I noticed that the ratings were a bit dispersed -- with some readers awarding 4/5 stars (many of my friends) and others 1/2 stars. I am so glad that I picked up this book because I found it to be a creepy, disturbing, and interesting read.

The premise of the story is quite different and the crime in itself horrific. The book is told from the perspective of one of the victims as she is being interviewed by the FBI. The story switches back and forth from prior events to the current day discussion.

The characters were interesting. I would have liked to have had more of a sense of what was driving the killer / rapist.

Also, the ending was a bit too weird and tidily wrapped up -- had to suspend my disbelief. -------------------------------------------- Not Really Spoilers, but Don't Read if You Don't Read the Blurbs!! A man known as 'The Gardener' kidnaps young girls between the ages of 16-18 and brings them to his private 'Butterfly Garden' - where their backs are tattooed with butterfly wings and they are subject to repeated rape and beatings by either the Gardener or his psychopathic son, Avery. There are generally about 20 girls living in this locked-away garden and they band together.

Those girls who can't quickly adapt are killed. Also, when a girl turns 21, she is killed and her body preserved in the garden. --------------------------------------------- Favorite Quote: 'Some people stay broken. Some pick up the pieces and put them back together with all the sharp edges showing.” I recommend this book to readers of thrillers who are open to reading rough and gritty content, including rape and captivity scenes. As mentioned above, this book is NOT for everyone. I found it a compelling read with an interesting plot and would definitely read further works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing in ARC for an unbiased review! I was good at escaping people, not manipulating them. Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars.I've been sitting here with my mouse frozen for a little while now because I have to say, this could have been a five up until the final chapter. I'm joining the ranks of almost every reviewer on the page - the ending reveal is horribly anticlimactic, and I'd argue that element should've been changed.

Yet aside from that one element, I adored this. The primary strength of this book is perhaps its mood; it executes I was good at escaping people, not manipulating them.

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars.I've been sitting here with my mouse frozen for a little while now because I have to say, this could have been a five up until the final chapter. I'm joining the ranks of almost every reviewer on the page - the ending reveal is horribly anticlimactic, and I'd argue that element should've been changed. Yet aside from that one element, I adored this. The primary strength of this book is perhaps its mood; it executes perfect tonal shifts and never falters with its delicious horror. I've listened to a full five hours of this audiobook today and I think that formatting was a major misstep.

The male narrator's character voicing is horrible; his Maya only has one tone, that of annoyance, and lacks the depth she's given in her own swaths of narration. And that's a shame, because I LOVED Maya. She's a very complex character; one who's hard to figure out, and one who's not entirely pure at all times. Or maybe not at all.

In fact, she's quite hard to figure out; empathizing with the other girls one moment, but keeping to herself the next. I did want a bit more out of her in the antihero department, but as a character separated from my expectations, I adored her. At night the Garden was a place of shadows and moonlight, where you could more clearly hear all the illusions that went into making it what it was. The amazing thing about this book is its tone; even in moments where everything is hell, the book manages to keep things rather tonally flat, giving the book its signature creepiness. And while The Butterfly Garden never went the full distance I wanted, I do think this story is suspenseful and Maya's character is quite compelling. It came so close to being one of my new favorite books; just not quite there. I wanted more.

Trigger warnings for abuse, rape, and a lot of generally messed-up content. I'd recommend this as a creepy and character-driven read, although not as a mind-blowing one. . This book had me absolutely mesmerized! Right from the first chapter all the way to the end, I was held captive. The Garden sounded absolutely idyllic except for its purpose. Everything sounded beautiful except for The Gardener.

I really don't want to touch on the plot or the characters. Go into this book ignorant. Don't even read the blurb. Let it seep under your skin, into your heart, and into your mind. I loved the characters, especially the strong main character Maya and the patient Special A This book had me absolutely mesmerized! Right from the first chapter all the way to the end, I was held captive. The Garden sounded absolutely idyllic except for its purpose.

Everything sounded beautiful except for The Gardener. I really don't want to touch on the plot or the characters. Go into this book ignorant.

Don't even read the blurb. Let it seep under your skin, into your heart, and into your mind.

I loved the characters, especially the strong main character Maya and the patient Special Agent in Charge Victor Hanoverian. This book is beautiful, but also quietly disturbing. It's told in a very special manner. I give a HUGE thank you to a Goodreads friend and her urging me to 'get to it soon.' Could not put this down!! I became obsessed with the plight of these 'Butterflies' and the twisted, psychopathic monster they called The Gardener. I just saw that the rights for movie development were purchased-hell yes!

This would make one heck of a box offer thriller. More review to come. So, now that I've had a couple of days to percolate on this book, my rating stands. I found myself thinking about this story more than once over the weekend which says a lot. Some things I do need to point Could not put this down!! I became obsessed with the plight of these 'Butterflies' and the twisted, psychopathic monster they called The Gardener.

I just saw that the rights for movie development were purchased-hell yes! This would make one heck of a box offer thriller. More review to come. So, now that I've had a couple of days to percolate on this book, my rating stands. I found myself thinking about this story more than once over the weekend which says a lot. Some things I do need to point out for those of you yet to read this great tale--while I obviously loved it, it wasn't without it's faults. But as often happens with well written stories, I have a forgiving heart for most things.

For example: -You really need to leave your expectations of reality at the door. There is no way that this 'Garden' could have ever existed for as long as it did without being discovered. But the outside world really wasn't a focal point at all here, which made it work.

The true star of this book was the internal Garden itself, which was it's own little world. -I am not a fan of one element of the ending. [ The whole Sophia thread. While I understand Sophia was her mental lifeline while Maya was captive, I thought that Sophia being the 'escaped' Butterfly just too convenient. I think it would have been better to not have been someone so close to Maya ] I just found it to be completely unnecessary and distracting. (but still not enough to change my rating!!) -While thinking about this book over the weekend, I found myself wondering more and more about The Gardener himself.I now wish there had been a bit more backstory devoted to him at the end of the book, helping me to understand more of what made him tick.

His ability to kidnap, rape, and kill these women yet in his mind be doing it all in the name of love was so well written and intriguing, but I want to know more of how he came to be. (Hint Hint Dot, if you are reading this---Possible prequel?!!) Even with these 'faults', I still rank this as one of my top 10 reads for this year, possibly even top 5.

I truly hope a movie is made of this-I would be first in line to see!! My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN by Dot Hutchison is a compelling read that deals with rape, captivity but an overall tale of strength and survivalin the hands of an EVIL man known as the Gardener. The imagery is vivid and enables you to sense the atmosphere of the beautiful garden and butterflies. But the Gardener is evil and takes teenage girls, until they reach the ripe age of twenty-one when he can preserve them if they last that long! The Gardener tattoo's Different butterfly wings on their back and THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN by Dot Hutchison is a compelling read that deals with rape, captivity but an overall tale of strength and survivalin the hands of an EVIL man known as the Gardener. The imagery is vivid and enables you to sense the atmosphere of the beautiful garden and butterflies. But the Gardener is evil and takes teenage girls, until they reach the ripe age of twenty-one when he can preserve them if they last that long! The Gardener tattoo's Different butterfly wings on their back and makes them wear dresses without the back so he see the wings.

He rapes them they are his prisoners. 'Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden. In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady treesand a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.

When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself. As her story twists and turns, slowly shedding light on life in the Butterfly Garden, Maya reveals old grudges, new saviors, and horrific tales of a man who’d go to any length to hold beauty captive. But the more she shares, the more the agents have to wonder what she’s still hiding. ' FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison lead an investigation after the butterfly garden is discovered and some of the victims rescued alive.

The two detectives are interviewing Maya, the leader, to try piece together what has happened. But Maya doesn’t want to talk and when she does, she speaks with clever response. A large part of the novel is set in the interview room, with the FBI agents firing questions at Maya. What is she hiding?

Just answer the questions! This was a terrifying story of a twisted mind and his obsession with collecting butterflies. A fast readand so different from what I expected. I found the ending slightly rushed and would have liked a different ending. Many thanks to Dot Hutchison, Thomas & Mercer, and Net Galley, for an advanced review copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

When I started this book, I was able to recognize that it wasn't very well written, but the plot was interesting enough to keep me going. However, as the book went on I discovered that the story wasn't actually as well formed as I'd originally presumed. This book felt very sloppy, almost as if it were a first draft that still needed heavy editing. The writing felt amateurish, and the teenage voice wasn't portrayed very well. Anytime Maya was telling her story (the book flips back and forth betwe When I started this book, I was able to recognize that it wasn't very well written, but the plot was interesting enough to keep me going. However, as the book went on I discovered that the story wasn't actually as well formed as I'd originally presumed.

This book felt very sloppy, almost as if it were a first draft that still needed heavy editing. The writing felt amateurish, and the teenage voice wasn't portrayed very well. Anytime Maya was telling her story (the book flips back and forth between her narrative and her conversations with FBI agents) I was constantly cringing at her internal thoughts or the things she'd say. For example: when talking about a stubborn friend she says, 'she was a freaking honey badger when she wanted to be.' Does any person speak like that? Aside from the distracting writing, like I said, the plot did not deliver.

I felt like the book was whipped up in a short amount of time because it didn't feel fully fleshed out, and there was no substance to the entire middle portion of the book at all. Also the big reveal that is hinted at in the synopsis wasn't even good! I was expecting a big twist and I had some theories about what it could be, but in reality it was supremely uninteresting. All in all, not worth the read. If you're looking for a freaky thriller, this is not one I can recommend.

Try or if you want a well-written book about kidnapping. Also, for a more detailed (and hilarious) review by Leah Bayer that fully illustrates why this book is dumb,.

I'm a (mostly) YA writer with a background in theatre, Renaissance Festival living chessboards, and freefalls. I can lose hours at a time Wiki-surfing interesting articles that may or may not have anything to do with my research, and I like to think that St. George regretted killing that dragon for all the rest of his days. A WOUNDED NAME came out in 2013 from Carolrhoda Lab; THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN I'm a (mostly) YA writer with a background in theatre, Renaissance Festival living chessboards, and freefalls.

I can lose hours at a time Wiki-surfing interesting articles that may or may not have anything to do with my research, and I like to think that St. George regretted killing that dragon for all the rest of his days. A WOUNDED NAME came out in 2013 from Carolrhoda Lab; THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN in June 2016 from Thomas & Mercer, and ROSES OF MAY will be following in 2017.