<i>The Butterfly Garden</i> was one of the best books I'd read in the past couple of years. It seemed like a standalone novel at the time, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that it was actually the start of a trilogy. I was very excited to read this, the second book in the trilogy.

This book was quite good. It didn't quite match the heights of the last one, and there were a couple more flaws in this one than the last, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of the 5 that I gave the first.

We spend some more time with the FBI agents in this one, which is a good idea bc I think as a trilogy, the agents would be the biggest connector for all 3 books. In the first, the time we did spend was largely focused on Vic with a little bit of Eddison's backstory. In this one, Eddison is the FBI agent whose viewpoint we see the most. Which makes me wonder if the third book will focus on Ramirez bc she's the agent we've seen the least although there have been hints of her own backstory which sounds interesting.

A couple of the butterflies from the last book, Inara & Bliss, are in this one. While they were good characters in the previous book (Inara especially since she was the main character) and it was nice to get updates on how they (and their captors) were doing and also still see the two girls interacting with the agents, it also felt a little forced. It felt a little bit like they were wedged into the story, and it also took some time away from Priya's story which was interesting in its own right.

As for the new serial killer case and our new main character, Priya, both were great. The killer and murders described in this book were just as creepy and unsettling as the last. We get even shorter descriptions of the victims besides Priya's sister, but again Hutchison does a fantastic job of making a character feel whole and real in their description in sometimes just a span of a few paragraphs. I did wind up guessing who the killer was not long after they were introduced, but that's ok. This book is more about Priya and her mind, less so about whodunnit. Also it meant it wasn't out of left field. The ending was pretty good too. Oh and it was also really cool to have the main character be Indian. I don't see that many books with Asian protagonists, especially in books that aren't in large part about being Asian.

I look forward to reading book #3 when it comes out!

Thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Dot Hutchison for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. :o)

Brilliant book, just as good as the butterfly garden. I would highly recommend this book and author to others

The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison is book #2 in the Collector Trilogy following on the heels of book #1, The Butterfly Garden. The characters from the first book in this series have stayed with me ever since I finished reading The Butterfly Garden and I was extremely curious to see how book #2 would play out. Luckily it doesn't disappoint. This story features Priya and her mom who are grieving the loss of Priya's sister. She was killed by a serial killer who appears to focus his unwanted attention on teen girls. The FBI agents that we all know and love from The Butterfly Garden are repeat characters along with a couple of the Butterflies from book #1. This is a dark mystery that will have you staying up late so that you can finish it all in one sitting. I am looking forward to seeing what Hutchison has in store for us with book #3. Read and enjoy!

I was not a huge fan of the author's first book in the trilogy, but I still wanted to read the next. It is still not my favorite series, but I will continue to read these to see what happens, and to provide an honest review to those who follow me online.

Many moons ago the main character's sister was murdered. Since then she and her mother move for her mom's job, all while trying to find out who the killer is after all this time. When they move for the most recent job, they learn the killer is at their doorstep. They are leaving gifts of flowers to let their presence be known, and try and strike fear in their hearts. These women do not play around. They have a to make a choice. Let the FBI do their work, or take matters into their own hands.

While this may be a predictable book, I found it interesting. That is why the three stars. I liked it, but did not love it, and this was a predictable book that I did not love. I will still recommend it to others, but it was not my favorite I have read this year.

I loved the Butterfly Garden. I found it a page turner and really liked the characters.

I'm not sure what is going on with the books I am reading this year. I am having a hard time finishing them, and I imagine it is partially do to how the world is. I also feel like I am reading the same book over and over again. I should branch out. Back to this book, I couldn't get into it. There was nothing in the beginning to grab me, so I gave up. Life is too short to try to finish a book that you don't find interesting. I will be interested in seeing where this series goes.

This is the second book in The Collector series and really should be read that way. Also I would highly recommend reading the first book because it was phenomenal. I did enjoy this book. This book was not on the same level are the Butterfly Garden but was still good. It was great to see that this one was more Eddison and less Vic but with the Quantico Three all there. It was also great to see Bliss and Inara in this book and how they are coping and how the other Butterflies were doing. I loved Priya and her mother such strong and powerful women. This book is about a different Serial Killer that the FBI has been hunting for years now. We follow Priya, her mother and Eddison in this book. I can't wait for the next book to come out.

It has been a while and many books since my reading of the first book of this series. It took a few chapters in before the previous tale was more concrete in my mind. But that is irrelevant because that knowledge was not required to feel for the recurring characters. You feel the empathy anew. The different girls in the different scenario's as well as their coping mechanism makes you admire them above all the other emotions that go along with such a harrowing tale.

The story is in its entirety, very dark and definitely for someone more comfortable with dealing with this genre. Each person described during the telling of the tale is very deep and is more than just one facet of a human being. They display all levels of intelligence as well as emotions.

The FBI trio who had been interrogating the 'butterflies' in the last book are now trying to beat a serial killer before his yearly season of hunting. They are emotionally involved in this search because they have developed a familial relation with one of the previous victim's family. On a side note, it is the first book I have come across ( at least in the recent past) where an Indian American/British family is depicted in a way that I being Indian myself, understand. There is nothing over the top about the people and I warmed up to them.
The strength of the women and the interdependence of people working with such troubling situations was very absorbing. Though the book is not for the faint of heart, I would definitely recommend it to others who can stomach Psychological thrillers of this sort.

After reading The Butterfly Garden, I was expecting this book to wow me. There didn't seem to be enough depth to the characters. Some of the dialog was confusing. It seem like it was written in a rush. The story was interesting, I just wish it was fleshed out a little better.

I've read The Butterfly Garden last year and since then it has been on my favorites list, it's an exceptional and creepy book that will leave you in shock and with a lot of mixed feelings, it's one of those crimes and mysteries books that is much more than just that, will keep you on the edge of your seat without doubts, but this isn't its review but it's the Roses of May review, which is the second book of what I believe will be a trilogy, anyway wanted to clarify how much I've loved and I still love the first book as this was what I was encouraged to read this second one.


I can say that since I found out that there was a second part, long before there was even a cover for it, I was dying to read this book, and now that I had the chance, I was looking for the same experience I had with TBG, I wanted feel all those emotions that I had felt before, I wanted it to be amazing, unique and above all I expected that dark touch that the writer so well knew how to give.


Finally I can say that the experience with this book has been very different from what I expected, it has been a book written in a way that catches you and you can not stop reading, and that is great, I've loved that, But I still have something missing, I think my expectations were high and somehow that has influenced, it was entertaining and mysterious,but today I can say with certainty that I think both books work well, but not as part of the same series, but rather as books completely independent, like stand-alones . This is , of course, from my point of view, because although I know that both books are connected due to the appearance of some characters, really doesn't continue to the first one, nor focuses on our butterflies, but that focuses on the FBI detectives who are now behind another serial killer of young girls, and although it has been super interesting, I couldn't connect with any character deeply and that made me think that I was reading a completely diferent book from what I intended to read.

Summing up didn't live up to my expectations but it's still a great book and it holds up well by itself

The plot is very interesting, the murders and the narration have made me feel chills and that has been my favorite things of the book.

I understood that I was beginning to feel weird for me when I expected things to happen and that stuff never happened, lol. It sounds like a complete madness but reading the first book you know you can expect anything, and I was like "Where's my creepy twist in the plot?", I haven't had my dose of adrenaline and emotion here, I would have liked to be surprised but I will not fail to recommend it, Dotch's writing style is one of the most incredible I've ever seen, and I'm sure I'll continue to follow her future works

The Roses of May is more of a loose companion novel than a sequel, though it follows the events of The Butterfly Garden. The main focus is Priya, sister of one of the butterflies. She and her mother move every few months in search of a fresh start. The FBI agents from the butterfly case maintain a relationship with Priya enlisting her help in finding a serial killer who may have a connection to Priya. There are POV sections from the killer's perspective that are more than fascinating. The character development is excellent. And bonus for the very diverse cast. It may not have been necessary to read the first book, though this one will add incredible insight to TBG. Readers of crime novels should definitely check The Roses of May out today!

Darla Jean Carmichael was the first. Then he saw her with her arm tucked into a man’s arm at the elbow. But he felt her hand didn’t belong there because she was his. She has always been his. He is furious and heartbroken. Then she laughs with him and that is yours also. The laugh had always soothed, teased away the rage that was always close to the surface. Then he sees sees Darla and the man kiss. Then he wants to know how Darla would let herself be tarnished. Darla is now worthless like all the other floozies in the world. But he loves Darla enough to save her even from herself.Then he walks in the church and knows he doesn’t have much time before the preacher is back. She is the first but she won’t be the last. Years later Victor/Vic is the Supervisory Special Agent in charge.Vic had been with the Bureau for thirty years. Three and one half months after they had rescues the surviving girls from the burning Garden that Mercedes- who is a teammate and friend- is still using the Butterfly names - the names the victims were given by their captor. Special Agent Brandon Edison looked at the two photos sitting atop his file cabinet. One was of him and his sister on a long ago Halloween one of the last times Brandone saw his sister before she got taken off the street on the way home from school. She was only eight years old then. It had been twenty years. Priya and her mother move every few months. But then the flowers started appearing and they are afraid. Priya is struggling to cope with her sister’s death, her father's abandonment , and wanting revenge. Priya is friends with Edison and Vic since her sister had been killed five years ago. The Spring Killer only kills once a year in May. The killer has done this for the last seventeen years. The killer also kills his victims in a church and he leaves the girls naked with flowers around their body’s. He believes he is following God’s orders to kill all impure girls.
I gave this story a three as I had mixed feelings. I did feel this book had a good plot. I liked the action and suspense and twists and turns. But the killer became obvious. Some of the things in this book were just unrealistic for me. I loved
Being in the serial killer's mind and seeing his justifications for his killings. But this book did frustrate and confuse me at times. So I enjoyed this at times and at others not so much.

I loved the Butterfly Garden and was excited to read the sequel. It did not disappoint. I enjoyed the connection between the two stories. Held my interest and made me crave for more. Looking forward to the 3rd installment.

I was a bit disappointed in this one. I had high hopes as I throughly enjoyed TBG- Unfortunately this one did not live up to the hype. The beginning was amazing though. Honestly, it started of soo good and creepy and just enough to suck me in. Then it got slow and very boring. It wasnt until much later at about 60% that it picked up, and thats pretty late too. Idk how or why I continued when I normally quit by then. by this time the suspense had built and i was on my toes finally i thought, but just as fast i figured out the killer and down it went, Maybe I expected too much? not sure but overall it was okay.

I couldn't work out why I was so confused by the plot, then I realised this was the second book in a trilogy. Some books from a series stand on their own, but this one really did feel like I was thrown in at the deep end. It took me until about 60% (on my kindle) to sort it out in my head.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I wish I had started at the beginning of the series then I might have loved it.

"And he realizes that no, he doesn't have to be here. There's no Bureau requirement, no order, no generally agreed guideline, nothing official that mandates his presence at the funeral of a girl who killed herself because the seams where she broke the first time were too fragile to stitch together a second time."

It's hard enough on the agents when the butterflies start falling apart, but suicides of girls who can't seem to fit back in outside of the Garden are only half of the heartache that Eddison has to face down now. While the girls await their day in court with the Gardener, another killer is at large: the Spring Killer, who kills one teen every spring, and has done so for 17 years without exposing himself. His only marker is the flowers that he leaves around each girl's lifeless body.

Eddison may not have a younger sister in blood anymore, but he's got Priya, a spunky London transplant whose older sister Chavi was one of the Spring Killer's victims 5 years prior. Though Priya and her mother have moved across the country to Colorado to escape their past, something is looming on the horizon that has Eddison terrified. These women are the only family he's got left, and he'll be damned to lose them.

---

4.5 STARS

If you've been following my reviews for a while, you probably already know that The Butterfly Garden, book 1 in The Collector series, was a 5-star read for me; in fact, it was easily one of my top reads of 2016. I was so excited when I got approved for an ARC of this sequel on NetGalley, but this book actually took me a few days to get through (I only note that because the first book was practically a one-sitting read for me). To be totally honest, Dot Hutchison ripped my heart into so many tiny pieces in The Butterfly Garden that I was a little bit terrified to read more of her writing.

That said, I am so glad that I read this, because I really enjoyed it so much. It took a little bit of time to get into, as the beginning did feel a little slow, but once Dot got into the meat of the story, I ate it up. While the first book alternated POVs between Inara's memories and Vic Hanoverian's detective work, this one alternated between Priya's first-person experiences and Eddison's third-person investigations and experiences, as well as brief bouts of second-person thoughts from the killer (which was AMAZING). I love the way Dot seamlessly switches perspectives, and she's mastered each formatting so well, which isn't something just any author can do. I also was kind of ecstatic to see the trio of agents back again, especially with the focus having shifted to Eddison; it made me wonder, will the third and final book in the trilogy come from Ramirez's POV? One can only hope, because I'm kind of in love with her character's sass.

Speaking of character development, Priya was such an enjoyable narrator; she and her mother are Indian, but have moved to the States from London, so there's some really delightful backstory revealed here and there. Her mother, Deshani, is a firey badass who terrifies everyone she meets (except Priya), and she was just so fun to read about. There's a lovely diverse cast in this book, even more so than in the first one, and there are so many wonderful side characters, especially in the cast of grumpy old veterans that Priya befriends.

As far as action goes, it took a while to pick up, but Dot took her time carefully crafting the back story so that, once the action began, I really felt like she just dove in headfirst. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the kind of book with ridiculous new situations and events every other chapter, but she builds up the sense of dread so beautifully that I felt nauseated more than a few times, just out of apprehension for what was going to happen and who the killer would turn out to be. I wasn't shocked by the reveal of the killer, but I honestly don't think we were intended to be taken off-guard; much like in a good horror film, sometimes the best part is learning who the villain is through little crumbs here and there.

The story was lightened up here and there with sweet familial bonding, friendly banter between Eddison and Inara (who makes a solid reappearance, much to my delight), and Priya's memories, but all in all, this was a solid thriller/suspense novel that kept me on the edge of my seat more than a few times. I won't say anything further to avoid spoiling it for you guys, but seriously, if you enjoyed the first book, please pick this one up, because it's SO damn good. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys thrillers and can handle being kept up at night a little bit, pondering the horrors of mankind.

Content warning: this book contains physical and sexual violence, and may be a difficult read for survivors of abuse or anyone with a weak stomach for abuse. Please read at your own risk and keep yourself healthy and happy.

I really liked The Butterfly, as much as you can like a book that is creepy as fuck. This one was a lot different. I didn't mind it, but since it's #2, I thought it would be more of a continuation of #1 and it really wasn't. I liked the fierce females in this book and the FBI agents as family.

Free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I really debated giving this a three or four star rating. I enjoyed it a lot more than the first in the series, [book:The Butterfly Garden|29981261], but it still didn't blow my mind.

I liked the alternating point of view between Eddison and Priya, which allowed me to see the perspective of the victim and the investigative team. This was something I missed in TBG. Also, the mystery was well-written and I appreciated the real-ness of the characters. You know how you are yelling at the stupid girl to NOT GO UP THE STAIRS in horror movies? Yeah, I wasn't doing any of that while reading this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book, from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer, in exchange for my honest opinion. This is my opinion, my view, on how I saw and felt about the book. My opinion is not meant to influence, just inform. Thank you!! As soon as this was released, I purchased it!

I had to read this book, after finishing the first! This was even better! I truly became embroiled in Priya's life! This takes place four months after the events of The Butterfly Garden. It involves the three FBI agents, from the first book and gets much more in depth in their lives, through their relationship with Priya and her mother. Interwoven in this story, is more of Maya and the Butterflies.

Very well written and well developed characters! I will be reading the next book in the series! Thank you for the journey!!

I loved the first book in the series, Butterfly Garden, so I was excited to read this book. I admit I was disappointed with this book. It felt more like a spin-off than a sequel. There are mentions of the Butterfly survivors but the story is not about them or what had happened in the garden. The story centers around a teenage girl named Priya. Five years ago, Priya's older sister was murdered by a serial killer who placed flowers around the body. Now Priya is receiving flowers from an anonymous person. Could it be the person who killed her sister? Priya has some sort of weird relationship with the FBI agents that were assigned to her sister's case. The Quantico Three are the same agents on the Butterfly case. I especially could not figure out Priya's and Eddison's relationship. Little sister? Flirting? It was really uncomfortable.
The story didn't really make sense to me. Mom and daughter were playing a dangerous cat and mouse game but they didn't really have a plan if or when they got caught.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for supplying a copy of Dot Hutchison's "Roses of May" in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second novel in the Collector Trilogy. I'm uncertain as to why it's considered a trilogy because there was very little that really connected it to the first book The Butterfly Garden. The connections are there but only slightly. You do hear from Inara and Bliss (two of the butterflies) and the Quantico 3 are the same detectives from the first novel. Truly, though, it could easily be a standalone novel and, in my opinion, would have been better that way. The story itself is an intriguing one despite some of the unrealistic aspects.

The story picks up with Priya, whose sister had been murdered by a serial killer several years earlier. The killer was never caught and proceeded to kill one girl in a church every spring around the same time. Priya and her mother are about to move out of the country when they begin receiving flowers at their current home. The flowers are a connection to her sister's case and drives the story forward.

This story is not quite as disturbingly dark as The Buterfly Garden. Rather, it's more of a crime/suspense than creepy overall. You get to know about several of the victims in flashbacks, which was really well-done and interesting. Getting inside the killer's mind through the flashbacks did give it some of the creepy feel readers of the first novel would be looking for, despite the identity of the killer being slightly obvious to readers that are very familiar with mysteries. The POV shifts often and can be kind of confusing since there is no real way the reader is told who the story shifts to outside of the killer.

Ms Hutchison did craft some strong female characters and, you could tell, she had meaning behind the story. It's okay to not be okay. It's a great meaning but did go a little heavy-handed since it was repeated several times over. I did like the characters but felt that many of the relationships felt unrealistic and off. The type of attachment that the Quantico 3 had to Priya and her mother was not bordering on unprofessional...it WAS unprofessional. I could write that off a bit, however, because I can see how people may get attached to a family that went through so much pain and the mystery of what actually happened had not yet been solved. What was most off, however, was the mother-daughter relationship. For the only remaining child in a family where the older child had been murdered, Priya's mother let her have unending freedom. Beyond that however, is the behaviors her mother condoned and, even in some ways, encouraged. I'm speaking specifically about the acts toward the end but will not give that detail in order to stay away from spoilers. I also felt that it was unrealistic that the head agent would allow and facilitate for victims from two separate cases to communicate with each other. Oddly enough, the relationships that DID feel realistic and believable were the ones both between the chess playing vets with each other and between them and Priya. They felt protective and "grandfatherly" in the way they interacted with her.
The "difficult" supervisory agent was barely touched upon and did not really make any difference in the case whatsoever. The ending to the story of the butterflies in this novel felt rushed and obligatory. It felt like that was the author trying to put the connection in there to make it seem more like a true triology. There were many times where Hutchison told the readers more than she showed them and her descriptions of the women in the story were quite repetitive. (I lost count of how many times it was mentioned that Priya or her mother had "sharp edges" in some way)

Overall, I think it was a decent read. It did feel more like a YA novel than one marketed toward adults but that doesn't mean it isn't worth reading. I think Hutchison is a talented author and look forward to reading more of her stories as her potential grows. It wasn't a mind-blowing read but it was an interesting one.