The Butterfly Garden (The Collector #1) – Dot Hutchison
Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.
In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and 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…
My Review of The Butterfly Garden
(3 / 5)
AARG! Frustrated!! Things were going well, SO WELL and then that ending happened. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?? Couldn’t the author have come up with an ending better than that? Oh man my 5 star read dropped dramatically to 3 in a chapter, seriously. Talk about an anti-climax!
The Gardener has quite a collection of “butterflies”, young women who he has kidnapped and transformed into his winged creatures with intricate tattoos. He does unspeakable things to them and once they are at the peak of their beauty he murders and embalms them, keeping their beauty forever. Once the garden is discovered, Maya is interviewed by the FBI about her experience. They think there is something strange about her. Is she as much of a victim as she says she is?
PISSED OFF is probably my main thoughts right now after finishing this one. I was HOOKED! Couldn’t stop listening to the audio version (despite the male narrator and I’ll get to that in a second), and I was anticipating a great review. I already started my blog post, with 5 stars at the top! AND. THEN…. BUMMER! That bloody ending. What a crappy twist.
What an amazingly atmospheric story! Even though it was dark and dismal and utterly disgusting in some parts, I couldn’t help but be captivated by Maya’s story of the garden. I was able to look past the obvious – 20+ women would easily be able to gang up and physically overpower two psychopaths… But the writing and the atmosphere and the beautiful female narrator had me overwhelmingly captivated by this brutal but beautiful story.
The relationships between the characters were intense and at times so screwed up! But I couldn’t help but enjoy the ride! And the author! Amazing writing! I adored this book up until the final chapter, and then it all went south.
Did I enjoy the narration?
I LOVED the female narrator, Lauren Ezzo. Her narration was EXQUISITE! I absolutely loved her portrayals of all the characters. Especially the male ones. I just loved her! And then we have the male narrator Mel Foster. He portrayed EVERY character with this over dramatised sarcasm. It was tolerable in the male investigators he portrayed, but when it came to Maya, it was like a complete contradiction to how Ezzo portrayed her. She was overly and unnecessarily snarky and it halted the flow of the story. I really didn’t enjoy it. However I was so captivated by the rest of it that I didn’t really mind. Until that ending happened.
Would I Recommend The Butterfly Garden?
Look, I know I am whinging a fair bit in this review, but it is because I was enjoying it so darn much! I absolutely LOVED it! It would have been up for read of the year for me if it didn’t go south right at the end. I felt utterly disappointed, but that was because I was so invested because I loved it so much! So yes, I would recommend this book to any thriller fan, who doesn’t mind a few triggering themes in their reads. However I would warn you about the ending, and hope that you could look past it, unlike I seem to be able to!
I purchased The Butterfly Garden at my own expense at audible.com
If you enjoy The Butterfly Garden, you may enjoy:
0 Comments