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sylphus's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
frankie_vega's review against another edition
3.0
This story was full of color and liveliness… but it wasn’t finished. I wanted to know more about francie and her journey. Who are the people in black suits???
jennicajackson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
The opening chapter of this book gripped me right away. In that chapter, 8-year old Francie's mother has a psychotic episode and is taken away. Francie is temporarily left in the care of her babysitter until transportation can be arranged to her aunt's house in California. While at the babysitter's place, Francie becomes enthralled by a lamp with a butterfly shade. Francie finds a dead butterfly exactly matching the ones from the lampshade floating in her cup of water and gulps it down before the sitter can spot it. And so begins Francie's story.
The story flits and floats backwarrds and forwards in time from current day when Francie is an adult with a thriving Ebay business to back when she was a child staying with the sitter and the times in between. Francie questions her own mental health while she still tries to unwind what happened in her childhood. The writing was lovely but for me there was almost too much floating that the story couldn't quite settle with me. I am a long time Aimee Bender fan so I am always thrilled to read anything by her. This was worth the read to me but isn't my favorite of her books.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
The opening chapter of this book gripped me right away. In that chapter, 8-year old Francie's mother has a psychotic episode and is taken away. Francie is temporarily left in the care of her babysitter until transportation can be arranged to her aunt's house in California. While at the babysitter's place, Francie becomes enthralled by a lamp with a butterfly shade. Francie finds a dead butterfly exactly matching the ones from the lampshade floating in her cup of water and gulps it down before the sitter can spot it. And so begins Francie's story.
The story flits and floats backwarrds and forwards in time from current day when Francie is an adult with a thriving Ebay business to back when she was a child staying with the sitter and the times in between. Francie questions her own mental health while she still tries to unwind what happened in her childhood. The writing was lovely but for me there was almost too much floating that the story couldn't quite settle with me. I am a long time Aimee Bender fan so I am always thrilled to read anything by her. This was worth the read to me but isn't my favorite of her books.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
bethanyybradshaw's review against another edition
2.0
francie is taken away, at only 8, to live with her aunt and uncle after her mother is sent to the hospital due to a psychotic episode. years later, she recounts the strong memories that surface as a result of her life. she tries to make sense of the dead butterfly, beetle, and rose that appeared in her youth and have a constant hold on her today.
i don’t have too much to say other than that i was bored. the plot never really went anywhere and i was actually confused a bit of the time. i appreciated what the author was trying to do but it just didn’t work for me. wouldn’t reread and likely wouldn’t recommend.
i don’t have too much to say other than that i was bored. the plot never really went anywhere and i was actually confused a bit of the time. i appreciated what the author was trying to do but it just didn’t work for me. wouldn’t reread and likely wouldn’t recommend.
tj_k's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
m_elissa_m's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sekulig's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5