I forced myself to get the 50% mark of this book before I allowed myself to give up. The main character, Greta, is. so unlikeable. She is miserable and has zero positive relationships in her life. She treats her best friend horribly.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

There is something so fantastic about falling in love with a book that has an unlikable and, at times unpleasant, protagonist. A person that you find yourself rooting for even as she treats the people around her badly. That was exactly what I found in THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT and I loved every chapter.

Greta Oto is a wonderfully flawed character who prefers the company of butterflies—or any bug actually—to real people. She’s a scientist first in all situations because science she understands; love and friendship not so much. When Greta’s twin brother suffers a brain aneurysm, she must abandon her PhD research project in Costa Rica and return to her small midwestern town to help him. By returning home, Greta must deal not only with the change in Danny, but also confront many of the reasons (and people) that made her want to leave in the first place.

Mans McKenny does a great job of weaving Greta’s family history with the current timeline to give the reader a much better understanding of why Greta is the way she is. And while there were times where I found myself wanting to give Greta a talking to, I always understood why she acted the way she did and, as a result, found myself so much more invested in her journey.

With crisp writing full of wit and insight, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT is a highly enjoyable read that I encourage you to pick up when it releases on December 8. I know I, for one, am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

Big thanks to Alcove Press for the advance reading copy.

The Butterfly Effect's description was what drew me to the book, but I ended up disappointed. On the positive side, I found all the entomology trivia interesting and the overall academic "nerdiness" of the book appealed to me. However, that wasn't enough to overcome the fact that I failed to connect with the main character, Greta, and the book is her POV. Is she meant to be Neurodiverse / Autism spectrum, and therefore challenged by social skills and lacking empathy to take in other people's perspectives and emotions, or is she just naturally unsympathetic, rude, and selfish? To call her merely "introverted" is misleading. I didn't like the character and I had little empathy for the way her life was unfolding throughout the book. An example would be when her twin in in a coma after his aneurysm and she's more irritated by her own plight than empathetic to his - that's what led me think she's possibly on the spectrum, but the author never made it clear enough, so I just didn't like her. It is well written and has good pacing, but it was a challenge for me to want to keep reading with how little I connected to the main character. This one was a DNF for me at 40%.

I loved the idea of insects and awkward people combined. The detailed bits about bug study set it apart from a lot of other rom-coms I've read. I feel like we've seen the prickly oddball heroine a lot lately but the science twist made it seem fresh. I felt like some of the dialogue was clunky but perhaps that was on purpose?

The Butterfly Effect by Rachel Mans McKenny a discovery of a four-star read. I had hoped this would be amazing, as it looked like it was going that way, and it was very good, but it did miss something, I don’t know if I missed something but I didn’t get Greta Oto on all levels I wondered if I missed something, or we were supposed to pick up on some sort if disability, or she was secretly a hottie who appears like a nerd, I just felt like I missed something, the rest of the story was so well done, I just felt a little lost with that. I did feel for Greta and Daniel though, as myself and my brother are far apart but I know I would drop anything for him, and the story had that feeling for me most of the time, I needed to know what was going to happen next. I would recommend this story and do recommend that you pick it up as its mostly an amazing story and I will definitely be picking up more from this author.

I received this Advance Review Copy from Netgalley and Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press!!

Review

The Butterfly Effect by Rachel Mans McKenny is a story of a passionate Entomologist who loves Butterflies over humans. She is such an anti-social and never lets people near her. She is forced to return home from her research in Costa Rica because of her twin brother’s health issues whereas her heart yearns to be back at Costa Rica doing her research. So that’s how the story of The Butterfly Effect commence.

The idea and the basic plot-line of the story was really good and solid but the way in which the author had proceeded with the story was extremely poor and problematic. First of the all, character development of the protagonist Greta was agonizingly irritating. Even though her being an anti-social, the author could’ve given her some compassionate and innocent shade to her, at least on her personal space or thoughts. Basically Greta’s character was extremely selfish, judgmental and egoistic. All she cared about was her PhD and research, she didn’t even love her twin selflessly. Her behavior was very emotionally brutal towards others.

The author could’ve made her slightly likable so that the readers would be able to relate and empathize with her but that’s not to be. Because of this poor character development nothing in the book felt good or likable. Except for the lead character Greta, every other character in the book felt reasonable and good enough to be read about. But obviously they all lacked depth and that’s not a very good thing.

Secondly, the book was filled with a lot of scientific terminologies – the physiology of butterflies and ants. We get that the protagonist is an entomologist and she is crazy about it but the leaning on those parts way too much felt supernumerary. These unnecessary details could’ve been thoughtlessly avoided and as resultant the book would’ve been much more readable and enjoyable.

Even the narrative style and the writing style of the author wasn’t that good. So, basically reading this book was excruciatingly painful. There was no depth and there was no emotional connect, there was no proper justification in the book. And there was this Ex-boyfriend character of Greta, called Brandon, this character seemed completely useless. In fact his character had a lot of potential to play this plot changing capacity but he wasn’t used properly by the author yet again.

Though the book was fat and big, it failed to exhibit why Greta was behaving the way she was, why she hated her mother, why she was repulsive of human relationship and things like that at greater extent. It was all said way too hastily. The book spoke about all the trivial and unnecessary things in detail whereas failed to talk about the most crucial of things.

On the whole, the plot-line of the book was really nice and it had the potential to make a very good story if at all the author had included some depth and emotional content to it. The bad writing style and bad processing of the story made the book quite excruciating and unreadable.

My Views

I read the blurb and looked at this beautiful cover filled with lot of butterflies and I was immediately drawn towards this book. I thought it was going to be an interesting read but I so did not like it.

For a book to work for me, I should be able to relate to the characters and situations and be emotionally connected to it but this didn’t happen with this book. And that’s the first reason why I didn’t like this book.

I was completely disappointed with everything about this book except for the basic plot-line. I really thought I would love it but my bad!!

My rating for this book would be 1.5 out of 5 stars

This book didn’t work for me, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like it. Read the blurb and if you are interested, give it a chance.

Happy Reading Folks!!

~ Meenu

I was sucked into The Butterfly Effect by Rachel Mans McKenny from the start. While some books take a while to draw you in, with this one I was fully immerse in the story on page one and loved it! McKenny writes such real, three dimensional characters. While Greta could be prickly at times, I really wanted to see her succeed and enjoyed seeing where McKenny would lead the story. Unlike other romcoms, The Butterfly Effect dives into family relationships and illness with grace and grit. I think this would make a wonderful book club book. It is fun, witty, sharp and insightful and full of meat that would make for a great discussion. I can't wait to read more from McKenny and hope she's already working on her next book!

This was a cute story. A little bit of romance, family drama and humor mixed together. I especially liked the relationship between Greta and her twin brother, Danny.
I also liked how the author explored the characters relationship with their mother.l; I think it added a nice flair to the story.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.

What an interesting story! I liked how Greta tries to treat the real world the way she treats science; with logic and with reasoning. Her love for butterflies was truly interesting to read about! However, the love story does seem to be a little unrealistic, because it felt like throughout most of the story, she was in love with Brandon, but then out of nowhere she started to gather feelings for Max. But, other than that, all the other issues of not being able to trust, struggling with brain injuries, and attending therapies, were all very well written. I will recommend this booK!

This book was super good. It was super original and I flew through it. It didn't feel like anything I've read in the past. Can't wait to read more from the author!!

This book really was Eleanor Oliphant meets The Cactus. It introduces you to a character that is not your typical person which is good because it lets you experience the story from the view or someone different and also because it acknowledges these difference. The main character of course seemed rigid but that’s what made her endearing.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. Unfortunately, it was not as great of a match as I had hoped. The description was interesting and pulled me in but after two attempts to read it I just couldn't find the interest. I wasn't connecting to the characters and couldn't quite hang on long enough to see how it ended. I am also not loosing sleep not knowing if Greta ever got back to Costa Rica. I'm sure there are others who can relate and appreciate all of the Star Trek references, I'm just not among them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. I was immediately impressed with the amount of scientific detail and research the author clearly took into learning about butterflies and insects. This is worth the read although I didn’t love or relate to the main character I did still find parts of it enjoyable.

Greta is a scientist working on her PHD. She is doing research on butterflies in Costa Rica when she gets a call that immediately has her returning home. Her twin brother, Daniel, is in the hospital and his fiance Meg is helping take care of him. Greta finds it difficult to get along with Meg as she temporarily stays at their home and can't wait to find a workplace so she can earn money and get out of this living arrangement. Reluctantly, she takes a job with her ex-boyfriend who also works with butterflies. Things take a slightly worse turn when her brother gets more sick and her estranged mother shows up out of the blue. This social awkward and logical introvert must deal with the issues at hand in her life as well as the relationships with those around her.

It was very difficult for me to like Greta. Her introvert and socially awkward personality was not so much of a problem as her attitude towards others and I just couldn't find anything in her character that would make me want to root for her. The description of this book sounded great. It was looked at as a girl version of A Man Called Ove (which was a wonderful read btw) but it fell lower than that expectation for me. What a bummer 🙁
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I liked The Butterfly Effect because the positive to liking and understanding insects more than people is rather intriguing. What you see is what you get when a butterfly lands on your finger; if he wants to be someplace else, he simply flies away. So there's no 'does he/doesn't he' relationship going on.

I also liked that Greta was not initially likable. Also, there's the whole twin thing. I find the relationship between twins fascinating in an almost sacred way.

Well-written and entertaining, I highly recommend this book.

This book had me at "a feminist version of A Man Called Ove." I love a book about a loveably grumpy character who finds fulfillment, and this book didn't disappoint.

I enjoyed this book, the story of Greta who is a scientist currently doing a PhD . She was in Costa Rica undertaking research in a rainforest, but was called back because her twin brother had had a brain haemorrhage . This threw her plans into disarray, though she did find the way to complete alternative research.
It has to be said that Greta is an antisocial person and both she and her brother had an unconventional childhood. Their father has passed away and their mother is estranged, though she is back in her brother Danny's life again. Greta narrates the book and seems unable to see a situation from any other viewpoint than her own. It sounds as though she is egotistical, but during the book she comes to more self-awareness and to terms with some of her past which gives her more insight in relationships with others. An interesting read, certainly, though I found myself sometimes thinking "why did you do that ?"
I wanted to read something different and this book certainly fitted the brief .Not the easiest read, but worth the effort
Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

The Butterfly Effect is a story about the year in the life of Greta Oto. She is working on her Ph.D. when she is called back home from in field studies because her twin brother has suffered an aneurysm. It's a story of how she comes to terms with her relationships both in her past and present. As you can tell by the title, there is an emphasis on etymology, especially with regards to butterflies, so it is not surprising that this is a story of metamorphosis.

Greta is not a happy person. Her childhood has left her emotionally stunted. She was an outsider because of her intelligence and interests, and she never learned how to develop relationships beyond the one she nursed with her twin brother, Dan, which ultimately fell apart when he became romantically involved with Meg. Her relationship with her ex-boyfriend fell apart when she assumed that his taking a one year position to advance his career meant that he was breaking up with her. Her relationship with her mother ceased to exist when her mother left when Greta and Dan were 15. Her office mate and best friend, Max, starts to fade into the background mostly because he's going through something, but she never takes the time to ask.

Greta is not a likable person, and unfortunately, that didn't change much for me throughout the book. Even though she experienced personal growth and opened herself up more the book didn't do the greatest job of showing it on a relatable level. Greta basically skated through doing the minimal amount required. She was rude, abrupt, and given her investigative nature, I was surprised she wasn't more interested in the why of things beyond science, and her personal life suffered for it. Her linear thought process was extremely frustrating.

The best part of the story was her relationship with her brother and his girlfriend, Meg. Dan's recovery, anger issues, and how he dealt with his losses was more satisfying to me than any of the other subplots.

You cannot classify this book as a romance. Greta was the main character and although she did end the book having a boyfriend, there was never any build-up of tension that needed to be satisfied to achieve a HEA. You actually spend the bulk of the book wondering who the actual love interest is supposed to be. Is it a second chance romance or is it a friends to lovers? Well.....when they did finally get together it was mentioned after the fact. He shows up as her date to a dinner and the fact that they are in a relationship is implied. Not a romance. Don't expect it to be one.

I thought this book was good, but it didn't hit me in the feels. I did go into it thinking there would be more of a romance angle but it was more of personal growth, managing expectations, and how reactions when things don't go as expected. A good book, just not a button pusher for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free advanced copy of this book.

Greta, the main character, was a bit of a challenge to relate to but overall, an interesting, sweet story.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.