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A review by love_at_first_trope
Butterfly Kisses by Alexandria Mae
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Firstly, I am incredibly thankful to the author and Love Notes PR for this advanced copy of Butterfly Kisses.
Despite my gratitude, I unfortunately can't give this book a positive review. It took me two separate attempts to read, and I had anticipated DNF-ing it, but I chose to complete it to review the eARC.
While I really enjoyed Luke's character for the majority of the writing, I think the book really leaned into the idea of him being a 'golden retriever boyfriend,' which eventually enveloped his whole personality. So much so that I couldn't connect to the previous dating trauma he later discussed as his character just didn't seem developed enough to have those sort of emotions.
In complete contrast, Audrie's only personality traits were being tired, sad, and treated awfully by her family. I would like to preface this by saying that there were clearly traumatic family relationships here, and the character should be largely dominated by these feelings, given the persistence of her family's actions. However, her familial interactions completely took over from Audrie as a character and bled into her relationship with Luke to the point where the relationship felt like some sort of trauma bonding. Additionally, I was confused by her repeatedly going back to her family, as some of the instances were written to seem like they were the 'final straw.'
All this being said, there are definitely some good 'bones' to this book that could have been transformed into a really heartfelt and loving story. However, the writing is its ultimate downfall. Particularly in the beginning, the book continued to repeat mundane and unnecessary details (e.g., she doesn't like studying or how horrible her job was). There were also completely unnecessary details when describing the characters' actions - at one point, the steps of plaiting one's hair are pretty much spelled out for the reader. This took me out of the book as I no longer felt like I was 'drawn in' (or really had any investment in the story), and led me to be incredibly frustrated at other times.
While I am sorry that I could not provide a positive review, I do want to provide an honest one.
Again, thank you very much for the eARC of this book.
Please note that all opinions expressed here are my own.
Tropes:
- Slow burn
- Forced proximity
- Unusual meeting
- Nickname ("Princess")
- Golden retriever MMC
- Getting over family trauma
Despite my gratitude, I unfortunately can't give this book a positive review. It took me two separate attempts to read, and I had anticipated DNF-ing it, but I chose to complete it to review the eARC.
While I really enjoyed Luke's character for the majority of the writing, I think the book really leaned into the idea of him being a 'golden retriever boyfriend,' which eventually enveloped his whole personality. So much so that I couldn't connect to the previous dating trauma he later discussed as his character just didn't seem developed enough to have those sort of emotions.
In complete contrast, Audrie's only personality traits were being tired, sad, and treated awfully by her family. I would like to preface this by saying that there were clearly traumatic family relationships here, and the character should be largely dominated by these feelings, given the persistence of her family's actions. However, her familial interactions completely took over from Audrie as a character and bled into her relationship with Luke to the point where the relationship felt like some sort of trauma bonding. Additionally, I was confused by her repeatedly going back to her family, as some of the instances were written to seem like they were the 'final straw.'
All this being said, there are definitely some good 'bones' to this book that could have been transformed into a really heartfelt and loving story. However, the writing is its ultimate downfall. Particularly in the beginning, the book continued to repeat mundane and unnecessary details (e.g., she doesn't like studying or how horrible her job was). There were also completely unnecessary details when describing the characters' actions - at one point, the steps of plaiting one's hair are pretty much spelled out for the reader. This took me out of the book as I no longer felt like I was 'drawn in' (or really had any investment in the story), and led me to be incredibly frustrated at other times.
While I am sorry that I could not provide a positive review, I do want to provide an honest one.
Again, thank you very much for the eARC of this book.
Please note that all opinions expressed here are my own.
Tropes:
- Slow burn
- Forced proximity
- Unusual meeting
- Nickname ("Princess")
- Golden retriever MMC
- Getting over family trauma
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse