Genre: Mystery
Target Audience: Young Adult (Girls)
The Butterfly Clues is the story of Penelope “Lo” Marin and her search for the truth about a murdered girl known only by the name of Sapphire. This mystery is not the only thing on Lo’s mind though. A year before the story begins Oren Marin, her brother, died leaving the Marin family a broken mess and Lo to battle her own inner demons. Lo hoards things, steals and has rituals she must perform before completing even the most mundane of tasks. Her social life is at a standstill and school is a chore Lo goes through in a daze. Sapphire’s death leads Lo to a shadow world coexisting with her quiet, “normal” life in Cleveland, Ohio. This community of runaways, criminals and other outsiders is called Neverland. Her guide through Neverland is a mysterious street artist called Flynt. As the story unfolds you realize that the people Lo meets are more deeply intertwined in the mystery than they at first appear.
I liked this book although I must say that it is not a
happy, feel good tale so if that is what you are looking for in a book at this
moment, I’d leave it for a later time. There is a romance subplot which, if
that’s your cup of tea, might be a bright spot in the gloom. The story delivers
you straight into Lo’s head which is filled with self doubt, guilt and shame. The Butterfly Clues is just as much
about Lo’s struggle for control of her life as it is about the mystery of who
killed Sapphire. These themes and the
general tone actually reminded me of Wintergirls
by Laurie Halse Anderson, another good but thoroughly sad book.
4/5 stars
2 comments:
Lovely review. I can't wait to read more of them!! :D
I love how the cover mimics the Rorschach inkblot test. The way you describe this book is reminiscent of Alice Returns, if you've ever played it, in the "using a dark psychological world to sift through the mystery in the real world" vibe.
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