The Butterfly House by Marcia Preston {Book Review}

Hello, and happy Thursday!

I took a bit of a break from doing some blogging (for a week, but it had more impact than you’d expect).

I did get some reading done and now have a bit of a backlog of book reviews to do, so buckle up.

I’ve had The Butterfly House waiting on the shelf for quite a number of years, probably because it’s not a go-to genre of mine and I wanted to read a couple of books first that have been on my reading pile since the previous year.

Now that I’ve finished the book, I regret not reading it earlier when I first spotted the book at a second-hand bookstore. I’ll admit, it was the cover that got my attention. I don’t usually read the back of the book first when out looking for books to add to my bookshelf, and I haven’t made too many bad choices over the years in doing so.

I haven’t read any other Marcia Preston books before, but after reading this book, I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more of her books.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

Book review: The Butterfly House by Marcia Preston #bookreview
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Plot:

Roberta “Bobbie” Lee finds solace during her childhood years in her friend Cynthia’s home at Rockhaven. With a mother who is emotionally distant and struggling with substance abuse, Roberta is drawn to the mother figure she finds in Cynthia’s mother, Leonora.

Leonora nurtures a passion inside of Roberta with her own studies of butterflies and they form a bond over a project Roberta decides to take on. As some relationships grow, others start falling apart, leading to devastating results.

One evening changes the fate of all four women. A tragedy that cannot be unwritten.

Years later, Roberta is still struggling with the aftermath of that night at Rockhaven.

When a stranger with ties to Leonora and Cynthia shows up on her doorstep, she has to face the truth that she has been keeping buried deep down. She has the power in her hands to set records straight, but it will force her to relive the painful night that changed everything.

My Opinion: Positive Thoughts

The characters in the book are driven with growth, and as the story develops the growth is shown through dealing with unresolved childhood traumas and broken relationships. It also highlights that you can have more than one mother, and how different relationships can be, depending on what you’re searching for in your life.

Forgiveness is also a very important lesson in the book, and shows how important it is when dealing with trauma, and what we need to do to find peace and move on with your lives.

I love how easily the author switched between past and present to entwine the story to show how the past has a rippling effect on the present. The jumps between the years weren’t confusing and flowed into each other with similarities between past and present events.

My Opinion: Negative Thoughts

When the truth was spoken about what happened on the fatal night at Rockhaven, and the character that was responsible was brought to light, it seemed a little strange on how it was handled considering how severe the crime was, and the fact that there was no punishment of any sort by law given. The punishment was given in a different sense, fair enough, but when it comes to the justice system, there was a complete gap.

Overview:

The book really has a good theme, or themes I should rather say; focusing on love, friendships, mother/daughter relationships, trauma and mental health. It shows the complexity of mental health and how trauma has a lasting effect on lives and every day routines.

It highlighted a very important role in how childhood traumas affect our adult lives, and the hold they keep over us when left untreated.

The ripple effect of addiction is also played out well to show how one person’s addiction has an effect of several peoples’ lives, and how years later the effects are still present.

My Rating:

The book has a rating of 3.73 on GoodReads. I gave it a 4. I was torn between a 4 and a 5, and would’ve settled on 4.5 rather, if that was an option on GoodReads.

It’s definitely a book I’ll read again in the future, as it deals with real-life issues that many people face, and while it’s fiction, it still has an emotional impact on the reader about the implications of choices and how we deal with the consequences of them.