The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ❘ The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website
Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place—possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.
But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"—a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.
As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined—a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.
But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"—a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.
As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined—a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.
When we come to YA contemporary heroines, there are a couple of stereotypical groups which they fall into. There's the popular girls, there's the arty ones, and several others, but by far, the most common group would be the loners. The social outcasts. The friendless, the lonely ones– call them whatever you will, but these are the most used gals in the YA fictitious contemporary world. And so it was not so surprising when our heroine Lo is one of them.
I liked Lo, but I found that she lacked self-confidence, which I pretty much HATE in literature. Other than this though, she was a great main character. She actually went out and did stuff, instead of waiting around, waiting for the clues to come to her. Her collection is cool though, and even though she steals, I think that's one trait which hasn't been used much for the female side of novels.
FLYNT! FLYNT! FLYNT! Loved him– although I thought he was a little strange at first. He wasn't too developed though as a character. Wish we learned more about him! Sapphire, the girl who was murdered, on the other hand felt like she was truly a character part of the novel, rather than dead and absent for a majority of it. All characters were well-done though, and there were no issues with any of them.
The cover is absolutely gorgeous. That's what made me press the "Request" button. Never mind what the book was about, with a cover like that it could have been about...a flying potato's adventures for all I care (actually...maybe not :P) but I was thrilled to find out it was a mystery.
The Butterfly Clues was a mysterious and thrilling novel which had me flipping pages, eager to find out what happens next. Kate Ellison has written a contemporary mystery which many young adult fans will devour word by word. Can't wait for her second novel, Notes from Ghost Town. If it's anything like this one, I'm sure to love it.
If you like this, try...
- Life Is But a Dream by Brian James ◆ Goodreads
- The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson ◆ Goodreads
