Paper Butterflies

It's rare for a book to make me emotional. For it to be as disturbing as it is beautiful. But this book took all of my emotions, churned them all up and stamped on them for good measure. It's dark, upsetting and made me feel angry at the injustice and sick to my stomach all at once. For a single book, with quite a simple story, to be that powerful it has to be something special.

Read this when you're in a good place. It's hard hitting. You live the life of June, through her eyes as a child and later as she grows up, as her step-mother physically and emotionally tears her apart. Where her father blindly enjoys his wonderful family life without truly seeing her. And where her step-sister helps the torture continue, not only by assisting her mother but by encouraging school bullies to hurt June too.

I can't express how angry this book made me - more so at June's father for being so ignorant to June's cries for help and suffering, rather than at her disturbing step mother. Whilst what Kathleen did to June included some absolutely abhorrent things, this author does a great job of showing that neglect and abuse runs much deeper than this - how must it feel to ask for help, or tell the truth and have your father disbelieve or discredit you? The frustration at this filled me with up to bursting point - even her teachers failed to advocate for her. It's the kind of book that makes you want to scream at the characters and ask questions of yourself.

The most interesting thing for me about this novel was Megan, June's step sister, and the complexity of her role in June's abuse as a child herself. This was intricate and much more interesting than it appears on the surface - I longed to try to understand her and delve into the domino effect this must have had on her too; complex issues like this kept me reading well into the night. Equally, I liked that such a dark book had areas of light - June finds a boy she connects with and becomes entwined with his family throughout. I became so invested in June and her well being that I felt like I was her - I was totally immersed. And to see those happy moments, and June having a chance to be part of a unit, was sobering.

The plot is interesting considering it's a topic that has been overdone in various ways before; I liked the twists and genuinely didn't see most of it coming! I absolutely recommend this book, but be prepared to lose yourself entirely to June's life for a few hours; it's impossible to let her go without knowing if she made it out okay in the end.

This book was provided to me from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.