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manoushp109's review against another edition
my library loan expired and i didn’t care enough to renew it
kamckim's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. The story was original, and the way the characters came together was very satisfying. There is a lot of realism and gang life going on in the book, so those concerned about language and graphic portrayal of violence may wan to beware. However, none of it is gratuitous. Rather, it adds to the setting of what a lot of inner city and first generation American kids deal with on a daily basis. Another book that can truly help you get into another person's skin and consider things from his or her point of view, just as the characters Azael and Lexi do in the story. The ending is beautiful.
misssusan's review
3.0
this is not the kind of story i was looking to read today but i still dug it enough to read it all the way through so you go perez, another win for you
so here's the set up: azael wakes up in juvi. he can't remember exactly how he got there - he was in a fight with his boys maybe? - and the set up is weird as heck, they're not even giving him his one phone call. instead he's told to secretly observe this girl lexi in another cell. meanwhile the narrative jumps back and forth from this (current) to the past, filling in details of azael's life and how he ended up where he is. it worked for me. azael's got a strong voice and the more you learn about him and lexi the more you care. these kids got handed the poor end of the box when it came to choices but this book's ultimately pretty hopeful that they still did have choices. 3 stars
so here's the set up: azael wakes up in juvi. he can't remember exactly how he got there - he was in a fight with his boys maybe? - and the set up is weird as heck, they're not even giving him his one phone call. instead he's told to secretly observe this girl lexi in another cell. meanwhile the narrative jumps back and forth from this (current) to the past, filling in details of azael's life and how he ended up where he is. it worked for me. azael's got a strong voice and the more you learn about him and lexi the more you care. these kids got handed the poor end of the box when it came to choices but this book's ultimately pretty hopeful that they still did have choices. 3 stars
dani005's review against another edition
5.0
THE ENDING?!? WTF. By the last chapter or so... I knew what was happening, and I didn't want to accept it anymore than Azael wanted too.
The suspense in this book was masterfully interwoven into the interchanging scenes from Azael's present and past. This idea of time running out only made me ask more questions. I was in the same boat as Azael. All we knew was that he had to make a decision but we knew nothing about what this decision was except that it somehow correlated with this other girl who is locked up with him. Somehow, these two unlikely people are connected by an event in their pasts, and Azael seems to be the only one who can't remember and the girl doesn't want to talk about it.
It creates this feeling of panic for Azael as people start to disappear from the cells around him, as people "move on" but he doesn't know where. This book had me up untill six in the morning just so that I could find out what happened, and what was going to happen to these two characters.
This wasn't a book based on action. It had a couple great fight scenes, after all its dealing with gangs, but this book was more than just about rumbles between gangs. This was a book built off characterization. Liza and Azael are two really messed up characters who've had shitty lives that just results in one shitty move to another. these kids don't have a lot to live for in life, and not a lot of people rooting for them to excel. As humans, so many of our actions are based off of the feedback we get from both those we do care about and even those we don't care about at all. But when everyone is in the same shitty situation as you, and the only feeling of unity you can achieve with these peers is to join them in a gang... it makes it hard to choose to live a straight life. For Azael, this is his reality. He's only got his brother. His sister moved away, his mother died and his father's gone. HIm and his brother turn to their friends, turn to a gang even if it means risking their lives in rumbles. With a life based off of aggression and violence, it makes it hard to choose the compassionate action, the one where no one gets hurt. For both Liza and Azael, so many of these choices based off of aggression have led up to this moment. Its at this point that a decision has to be made that will dictate their lives from now on. A decision that could be founded out of the hurt and pain of the past or founded in the hope for the future.
For them, it becomes a choice between the knife and the butterfly, no matter how hard that choice might be.
The suspense in this book was masterfully interwoven into the interchanging scenes from Azael's present and past. This idea of time running out only made me ask more questions. I was in the same boat as Azael. All we knew was that he had to make a decision but we knew nothing about what this decision was except that it somehow correlated with this other girl who is locked up with him. Somehow, these two unlikely people are connected by an event in their pasts, and Azael seems to be the only one who can't remember and the girl doesn't want to talk about it.
It creates this feeling of panic for Azael as people start to disappear from the cells around him, as people "move on" but he doesn't know where. This book had me up untill six in the morning just so that I could find out what happened, and what was going to happen to these two characters.
This wasn't a book based on action. It had a couple great fight scenes, after all its dealing with gangs, but this book was more than just about rumbles between gangs. This was a book built off characterization. Liza and Azael are two really messed up characters who've had shitty lives that just results in one shitty move to another. these kids don't have a lot to live for in life, and not a lot of people rooting for them to excel. As humans, so many of our actions are based off of the feedback we get from both those we do care about and even those we don't care about at all. But when everyone is in the same shitty situation as you, and the only feeling of unity you can achieve with these peers is to join them in a gang... it makes it hard to choose to live a straight life. For Azael, this is his reality. He's only got his brother. His sister moved away, his mother died and his father's gone. HIm and his brother turn to their friends, turn to a gang even if it means risking their lives in rumbles. With a life based off of aggression and violence, it makes it hard to choose the compassionate action, the one where no one gets hurt. For both Liza and Azael, so many of these choices based off of aggression have led up to this moment. Its at this point that a decision has to be made that will dictate their lives from now on. A decision that could be founded out of the hurt and pain of the past or founded in the hope for the future.
For them, it becomes a choice between the knife and the butterfly, no matter how hard that choice might be.
jeanwk's review against another edition
3.0
Ending was interesting, but the story did not keep me connected.
clarkco's review against another edition
4.0
The characters aren't very likable, but the story itself is well done.
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
2.0
2.5.
Not my kind of book at all, but once I got into it, I liked it more than I thought I would. The end was a twist I didn't see coming (maybe I would have, though, had I been invested earlier on).
That said, I have to give Perez so much credit for writing these kinds of stories -- about the hardened kids, the city kids, the kids who are dealing not only with life at home but all of the baggage that comes with being Latino -- because these are stories we need more of. There is a huge readership for this book and I hope it finds those readers.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/02/knife-and-butterfly-by-ashley-hope.html
Not my kind of book at all, but once I got into it, I liked it more than I thought I would. The end was a twist I didn't see coming (maybe I would have, though, had I been invested earlier on).
That said, I have to give Perez so much credit for writing these kinds of stories -- about the hardened kids, the city kids, the kids who are dealing not only with life at home but all of the baggage that comes with being Latino -- because these are stories we need more of. There is a huge readership for this book and I hope it finds those readers.
Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/02/knife-and-butterfly-by-ashley-hope.html
foreveryoungadult's review against another edition
Graded By: Erin
Cover Story: Simple And Spot-on
BFF Charm: Nay/Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Straight Up
Bonus Factors: Gang Life, H-town's Many Facets, Kickass Gram Award
Relationship Status: Thinking About Marrying Into The Family
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Simple And Spot-on
BFF Charm: Nay/Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Straight Up
Bonus Factors: Gang Life, H-town's Many Facets, Kickass Gram Award
Relationship Status: Thinking About Marrying Into The Family
Read the full book report here.
swirlnswing's review against another edition
4.0
This review will also be available at Mostly ReadingYA.
===
This is not a book I would have picked up to read on my own. It’s nothing personal: it just doesn’t fall into my preferred genres (paranormal/sci fi/fantasy). But, when I received this ARC, I found myself interested for a short list of reasons. First, the title is a juxtaposition that is kind of lovely in my brain. THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY. Danger and delicacy. Violence and peace. It evoked curiosity, to be sure. Second, the description on the back of the ARC – “the knife cut, but somehow it also connected” – made me want to know what happened to make that so. And third, though it took reading the introduction the book to learn this, the protagonist lives in a poor area of Houston, Texas. Being from Texas myself, I wondered how well Ms. Perez would handle that, both in dialect and setting.
The story is primarily narrated from the point of view of Azael, a poor kid in Houston who is a member of MS-13, one of the largest, most dangerous gangs present in the United States and other Latin countries. He’s young – still in high school – and spends his time tagging the walls of his city, getting high, fighting rival gangs, and trying to look out for himself and his brother, orphans because of an unfortunate mix of immigration laws and the death of their mother.
He’s an interesting kid, to be sure. Simmering just beneath his slang and profanity lies what is very clearly an intelligent mind. (For the record, Perez does a killer job with the dialect – having spent a large amount of time in Houston as a child, I could actually “hear” Israel’s voice in my mind.) He’s methodical, logical in an extreme, save for the loyalty he shows his gang, which brings him trouble at every turn. The fight mentioned in the synopsis occurs just before Chapter 1 begins.
THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY opens with Azael locked in a sort of solitary confinement. He learns that his “job” is to watch a girl – a girl he has never met in his life – as she goes about her business in her cell, which is more of a bedroom than anything, much more comfortable than the place in which Az is confined. When he attempts to get information out of the two gentlemen he sees somewhat regularly regarding why he’s being held – one that brings food and the other who is a caseworker, or so it seems – all he can gather is that something went down, he’s in trouble for some reason that is wrapped up in Lexi, and that he can’t leave until he remembers.
The only problem is that Az can’t remember anything.
The novel chronicles his attempt to draw the story out – how is his story tied to Lexi’s? What did he do? Did he do anything? Why didn’t he clean up his life when he had the chance? Why is he being held here for so long, without reason?
To be honest, there are several variables held within the plot of THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY that I absolutely did NOT see coming, including Perez’s twist at the end, which I found to be extremely smart and engaging. But I won’t spoil it, because I found it so satisfying that I believe you, as a reader, deserve the same elements of surprise that I was able to experience. This book is harsh, gritty, and quietly dark. But it’s real.
THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY will be published in February 2012. Don’t miss it!
===
This is not a book I would have picked up to read on my own. It’s nothing personal: it just doesn’t fall into my preferred genres (paranormal/sci fi/fantasy). But, when I received this ARC, I found myself interested for a short list of reasons. First, the title is a juxtaposition that is kind of lovely in my brain. THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY. Danger and delicacy. Violence and peace. It evoked curiosity, to be sure. Second, the description on the back of the ARC – “the knife cut, but somehow it also connected” – made me want to know what happened to make that so. And third, though it took reading the introduction the book to learn this, the protagonist lives in a poor area of Houston, Texas. Being from Texas myself, I wondered how well Ms. Perez would handle that, both in dialect and setting.
The story is primarily narrated from the point of view of Azael, a poor kid in Houston who is a member of MS-13, one of the largest, most dangerous gangs present in the United States and other Latin countries. He’s young – still in high school – and spends his time tagging the walls of his city, getting high, fighting rival gangs, and trying to look out for himself and his brother, orphans because of an unfortunate mix of immigration laws and the death of their mother.
He’s an interesting kid, to be sure. Simmering just beneath his slang and profanity lies what is very clearly an intelligent mind. (For the record, Perez does a killer job with the dialect – having spent a large amount of time in Houston as a child, I could actually “hear” Israel’s voice in my mind.) He’s methodical, logical in an extreme, save for the loyalty he shows his gang, which brings him trouble at every turn. The fight mentioned in the synopsis occurs just before Chapter 1 begins.
THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY opens with Azael locked in a sort of solitary confinement. He learns that his “job” is to watch a girl – a girl he has never met in his life – as she goes about her business in her cell, which is more of a bedroom than anything, much more comfortable than the place in which Az is confined. When he attempts to get information out of the two gentlemen he sees somewhat regularly regarding why he’s being held – one that brings food and the other who is a caseworker, or so it seems – all he can gather is that something went down, he’s in trouble for some reason that is wrapped up in Lexi, and that he can’t leave until he remembers.
The only problem is that Az can’t remember anything.
The novel chronicles his attempt to draw the story out – how is his story tied to Lexi’s? What did he do? Did he do anything? Why didn’t he clean up his life when he had the chance? Why is he being held here for so long, without reason?
To be honest, there are several variables held within the plot of THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY that I absolutely did NOT see coming, including Perez’s twist at the end, which I found to be extremely smart and engaging. But I won’t spoil it, because I found it so satisfying that I believe you, as a reader, deserve the same elements of surprise that I was able to experience. This book is harsh, gritty, and quietly dark. But it’s real.
THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY will be published in February 2012. Don’t miss it!
koby's review against another edition
3.0
Azael wakes up after a gang brawl in juvie. Or at least he thinks it's juvie. But this time, it's different. He has to watch this girl, Lexi, and he doesn't know why - she's in some kind of detention center, too. He figures there must be some kind of connection between him and this girl, but he doesn't know what it is. Piecing together their relation is what keeps the reader going. Well, that and the voices of the narrators.
Azael and Lexi have voices that are both their own and realistic representations of kids in their kind of sitations. This book isn't fake sounding, and it's not full of easy answers. It's also inspired by a true story, which I discovered at the end - pretty neat.
This was a quick, interesting read. It's not a feel-good, but it is an interesting slice of life/big questions kind of book. I could see these being really well-received by kids who don't typically like reading.
I'm bordering on wanting to give it 4 stars, but I'm not quite there yet.
Azael and Lexi have voices that are both their own and realistic representations of kids in their kind of sitations. This book isn't fake sounding, and it's not full of easy answers. It's also inspired by a true story, which I discovered at the end - pretty neat.
This was a quick, interesting read. It's not a feel-good, but it is an interesting slice of life/big questions kind of book. I could see these being really well-received by kids who don't typically like reading.
I'm bordering on wanting to give it 4 stars, but I'm not quite there yet.