A serial killer called the Gardener captures young women, tattoos intricately detailed butterfly wings on their backs, gives them new names, keeps them in a secluded, secured location with a lovely garden and their own personal rooms. He clothes them, feeds them, rapes them and on their 21st birthdays, does something completely horrific to them.

The only other person who knows of this place of horrors is his son, Avery. Avery is allowed access to the girls and may come and go as he pleases. He is not kind to the girls at all, and enjoys causing pain and torturing them. This is a disturbing story told from the point of view of one of the surviving girls as she reveals to two FBI agents all that happened from beginning to end. Maya's depictions are not overly graphic despite all she had to endure, but explained in a matter of fact manner.

The biggest issue that I had with this book was being unable to understand why none of the girls attempted to escape. Not a real attempt outside of trying to peek at the door's security code. It is explained that they were afraid that if they failed and were caught, the Gardener would murder them sooner. Each of the girls seemed to be resigned to their fates, and even when they were taken off to be killed, they were terrified, but never put up much of a struggle.

I cannot imagine knowing that a psychotic man was taking me off to end my life and not fight tooth and nail! Not once did he use any sort of weapon. If they were going to die anyway, why not die fighting? Not only did the Gardener come to the garden alone, he was an older man and grossly outnumbered by the girls. I felt that the girls had so so many options and opportunities, but didn't even try.

They had a cave they could talk privately and devise a plan of action, they had access to the kitchen, they had trinkets and things given to them by the Gardener, surely they could have used something as a weapon. One girl was even granted a pair of scissors which had only been used for embroidery and to cut the hair off another woman for the sake of revenge.

There was a woman who had gained the Gardener's trust to the point where he did not kill her, instead he stopped visiting her bed, and even allowed her to come and go as she pleased. This woman was loyal to the Gardener and not once so much as considered going to the police to save the rest of the girls! In fact, she envied the girls and wanted the Gardener to love her.

The book, for me, had a satisfying ending. The twists and turns were interesting and despite the frustration of all the wasted opportunities to escape (many of which I am not even discussing in this review due to spoilers), kept me invested. Due to the subject matter, I would not recommend this book to everyone. It is a story that will stay with you long after you've finished reading it.

-Shey

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

He's accurately named the "Gardener", as in his possession is a most enchanting garden, with its own collection of delicate butterflies. He cares for them; feeds them, grooms them, even mourns them when they perish, but he's also the reason they expire, for he is their captor. Taken from their lives and branded as property, the young women must endure their time as a beloved butterfly.

(WARNING: This review contains minor spoilers.)

Well, at least I more or less knew what I was getting into, as it was abundantly clear from the synopsis that this book would be chock-full of disturbing content. I mean, there was obviously going to be sexual abuse, right? However I can’t say that preparing myself for the inevitable made it any easier when it came around - the discomfort I experienced during some scenes was fierce, but I think it was worth it overall. I really enjoyed the format of the plot; the interview process and the accounts of certain events that took place within the garden. It was much of a beautiful nightmare; I say beautiful because the garden itself was a green thumb’s paradise. The writing clearly did well in expressing how exquisite the surrounding flora was - I would absolutely adore living somewhere like that, only of my own free will, of course. The darkness that lurked behind its exterior brought up the topic of ugly secrets hiding behind attractive fronts, which I believe can apply to a lot in today's world.

I found Maya to be extremely difficult to comprehend at times, and even like in some instances. Sure, I understood her hardships in life and the resulting effects on her mental state, but emotionally detached characters are generally harder for me to relate to. Her behaviour didn’t make much sense, even with the inclusion of the lacklustre twist at the end. I mean, you’d have to be a machine to just accept the fate of suddenly being a prisoner, and Maya was the definition of the perfect captive. This leads me to my biggest gripe that I couldn’t ignore about this book - the complete lack of self-preservation. The women were young and fit, and they never considered working together to overpower their much older captor? They even had access to a multitude of items that could have been used as weapons, such as sculpting tools and the likes. It does bother me when I need to question the plausibility of a story, as it’s the authors job to sufficiently build up a believable, consistent narrative. My suspension of disbelief can only go so far.

It's because of the absurdity of the characters that I didn't particularly favour any of them. Sure, one or two were likeable enough, just like the clear-cut villains were dislikeable, but none made their way into my heart. It was too bad, to say the least, that there was this constant barrier of doubt and incredibility that I couldn't bypass.

I need to mention the ending, or specifically, the attempt at a last minute revelation. I’m an enormous fan of plot twists, of those moments that force me to rethink, or surprise me to a large degree, but not every book needs one. In fact, I believe that, in this case, it was shoehorned in as a poor effort to try and explain Maya’s bizarre behaviour. In no way, shape, or form did it thrill or even interest me, and I considered it having little value. I won't outright state the details, but it was the wrong direction for the story.

This review reads significantly more negative than what my final rating displays. I think I should be clear that I was gripped, and it was difficult to tear me away from Hutchison’s grim tale despite the issues I had. I'm fond of dark fiction that touches upon horror aspects, and this really did tick a lot of boxes in that regard; there were many taboo themes, and the writing made it simple enough to become quickly absorbed. Perhaps it would have even been a top read, had some aspects been a little more logical.

In conclusion: It was remarkably entertaining, offering a twisted account of one man's obsession with beauty. Not for the faint of heart, as depictions of abuse were plentiful throughout. I had my problems with believability, and whilst I couldn't exactly dismiss those issues, I found it only right that I rated accordingly. Am I going to read further into the series? I can honestly say that it doesn't appeal, as I've glanced over numerous reviews that state it's more police / investigation work, and I'm not into that sort of thing.

Notable Quote:

Like beauty, desperation and fear were as common as breathing.

© Red Lace 2018

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I was intrigued by the initial concept of this book but I wasn’t all that into it. It was okay, but there were too many things that didn’t work for me, although I may have trouble articulating all of them.

The premise is that the FBI has caught up with a serial killer who has been imprisoning girls, tattooing them with butterfly wings, keeping them around for a while, and preserving them when they die. Maya, one of the survivors, is set up as an uncooperative victim who tells her story to FBI agents, who question how much of her story they should believe because they think she’s not telling them everything.

This isn’t really a novel about FBI agents or a thriller, really. It’s all about Maya, and she’s really not that uncooperative because she talks for pages and pages and pages. The book jumps from the present day (in the present tense, too) to her story (told in the past tense) but after a while her story didn’t seem like she was telling a story. It seemed like what you’d get in a television program where someone is telling a story, then you fade into their flashback and continue to watch the scenes play out rather than actually continue to listen to a story. It was more about Maya’s story than the FBI agents supposedly trying to interrogate her, although some lip service is paid to the device. There was just something off about the whole thing.

Hearing about all the different girls and what they were good at or what their personalities were like got tiresome after a while too. And the whole thing with Desmond strained credulity. Finally, for such a dark book, the ending was super fluffy.

So I don’t recommend it, but I’m sure some people would really like the book.

I read this for the start square (free read) for booklikes-opoly. At 276 pages, this gives me another $3 for my bank, which gives me a balance of $59.

It's 20 minutes past 3 in the morning and I had just finished The Butterfly Garden and I had to because it is really a page-turner. I can't help myself but to finish the book because what was done to make me find out more, it is thanks to Dot Hutchison for doing a fine job in making a reader out of me to continue reading towards such a morning... but where do I start with this book?

The Butterfly Garden is a mystery crime suspense thriller that draws the reader into a world of serial criminals. Firstly, the good stuff.

The book is divided into three roman numeral parts, which I felt I would like to call it The Before, The Garden and The After. Why would this book voted as the second best choice for Goodreads under the category 'Horror' (which I felt, the book isn't really under 'Horror' if you ask me but rather what I said in the second paragraph), it manages to bring that suspenseful feeling of knowing more about a victim, that could be the suspect - Maya, one of the girls that had been held captive in a place called 'The Garden'. Before, she has another name and a life that describes what sort of horrible life she went through until she was kidnapped by 'The Gardener'. She wakes up in a cave that is designed like a garden, with twenty other women, whom were also being held captive as well not their own will by 'The Gardener'. He tattoos Maya a butterfly wings, rapes her as he sees fit but took care of her. So were the other girls that are there. She gets to know each of the girls and know that by the age of 21, once a beauty reaches its maturity, no one ever lives through that age... and like a Butterfly encased on resin, beauty preserves. Do you understand where I am heading with this summary?

So even though the book is divided into three Roman Numerals, the story is told in two scenes - Maya being question by two FBI investigators after being rescued with some other girls and Maya's story before her rescued and what her experience was in the Garden and her life before. This does feels like a method being used and told like Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects. You see, Agent Victor Hanoverian isn't sure if Maya is a victim at all and he needs to know the truth. Interesting enough, the way that the author deliver each page was quite ingenious and had me hook for quite some time. I would have read it in one sitting but there is so much to absorb and to like - especially the description of each character, the Garden, the intentions and goals involved, the sickness of it and to a point the understanding is pretty well-done. To sum it up, I really enjoy it and it has been quite a while I found a book that I enjoy it because it does not really beat around the bush. I mean, yes - Maya did beat around the bush with Victor during interrogation but it was pretty straightforward kind and the exchange of dialogue is challenging. The sick philosophy about Butterflies from the perspective of a serial rapist is well explained of its intentions and why he tattoos them is all cleared and made of. And to read it overall as a book - its a book I held my hands wanting to know more and finally, I just read past my bedtime and now typing out this review means this book is a worthy read.

There are some problems along the way as I read it. For one - the realism of the premise is just unbelievable. I mean - twenty over kidnapped girls in one big cavern garden controlled by The Gardener and one sick older son... any of these kidnap victims can overwhelm them. Maybe the logic behind is that they are very young and afraid but in today's modern world, I do wonder how victims are chosen... especially when one of the victims sort of out on her own loop on the head side. I had to suspend disbelief in order to accept it because it is rather unrealistic. One victim I can truly understand but 20 girls its high maintenance. Secondly, the The Gardener background story, even though it is well explained of its intentions I felt it is rather quite think. The why is explained... its just that the basis of it just don't hold too strong of it. And then... the ending. Well, yes - there is a twist in the ending but rather, I felt the twist is rather weak. I mean, okay I can understand all of that but that twist is just not able to make it deliciously tasty. It just feels like when I ordered my coffee to be hot, it just taste lukewarm. Not that I complained much but that twist wasn't necessary even though it does explain certain parts as its meant to be part of but rather, its not and I would not want to reveal more of it because I do not want to spoil it.

In overall sense, I suspend the realism and get to enjoy the book. Thoroughly it has been a while since I read some thing very good even though there are some parts I do not agree upon. There is no struggle in giving it a four star rating (and not even a 3.5) because its worth that much of a rating. What manages that is how the delivery and flow of the story was written well by Dot Hutchison and since this is the first of the trilogy of The Collector series (not connected to one another), I can say I am looking forward her next book. If she can come up with some thing this good of a suspense mystery, I do not mind waiting for the next one and reads it.