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There are currently 26 member reviews
for When They Burned the Butterfly
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Valerie S. (Mendon, IL)
When They Burned the Butterfly
I was so excited for this book! The premise of teenage girls in 1970's Singapore who have fire magic and a goddess was so intriguing! However, I found the writing to be clunky and wanted to DNF it 25 of the way through the book. But I persevered. Much of my issue with the writing was that I would read paragraphs, and even pages, and little would sink in or stand out. I found myself regularly re-reading passages/pages/chapters not because I couldn't understand what was going on, but because it just didn't stick with me.
We spend a good amount of time learning about the main character, Adeline, and her peers at her private boarding school, and then abandon all those storylines until the final bit of the book. And the build up around the "Maria's" seemed like it would be important later, and while they come back into the story, it could have just been the 1 main girl, Elain, without disrupting any of the story. And when they do reenter the story, they are accompanied by a boyfriend, whose addition seems to serve no purpose. After Adaline leaves the boarding school, the reader must play catch-up to learn about the Butterflies she joins, with little time and little character development for the myriad side characters. Several of them seemed to blend in to one another and I often forgot who was doing what and how it related to the story. The interactions with Genevieve, Adaline's mother's confidant, seemed rushed, and the entirety of her husband and family was largely unnecessary to the story.
A list of gang and character names are absolutely needed. I struggled to keep track, and I so desperately wanted to understand the system of magic in this world. But it felt like new gangs would just appear in the story at any random time. A map of gang territory in Singapore would be helpful, as well. I also got confused by references to Lady Butterfly, Madam Butterfly, and tang ki chi (I think that's the spelling). Are they all the same? And the split between Red Butterfly and Yellow Butterfly? The story takes place in 1970's Singapore, newly independent. However, I forgot it was set in the 70's until most of the way through the book when they mentioned dressing for a disco. That seemed like such an important plot point, and then it just faded into the background until we see some references to Hippies and discos in the final 10 of the story.
The premise of the story was so exciting. I would recommend this for YA readers, since the main characters are all so young, and for those who drift towards female rage stories. The possibility for this "world" is so lush, I hope some of the pacing and/or loose-thread character development can be buttoned up.
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JanineS
Disappointing
I struggled reading this book. It just never came to life for me. I wasn’t sure at times if this was a fantasy or a story of the struggles of Singapore gaining independence. In building a fantasy world I understand that this takes time, so fantasy books are usually longer, but I seriously think this could could have been shorter as much of the turf wars got repetitive and silly - or so it seemed to me. I did appreciate the writing at times.
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Kathryn T. (Geneseo, NY)
A Dangerous World of Intrigue
When They Burned the Butterfly is a fast-paced book intersecting reality and fantasy in the changing and developing of 1970s Singapore into an ultra modern city .
The strength of the narrative is in getting the reader to understand the conditions of that time and how people survived through gang associations and connections some shadier than others. The plight of women in the back alleys is written vividly, and the role of young Adeline forced to face her magical power among companions she never needed before is intense in its competitiveness.
In my opinion, the weakness of the novel is that it skips hurriedly through so many situations attempting to make its point instead of focusing on a few. I had a hard time relating to the main characters, and there were way too many minor ones. Therefore, pacing is an issue.
I doubt that I would have picked this book out to read on my own, and I honestly struggled to finish the novel.
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Sherie W. (Duluth, MN)
Good story, but a struggle
Thank you to BookBrowse and the Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC.
The story in and of itself was really good. However, I struggled with the writing, Halfway through, I started to skim through much of the remaining book so I could find out how the story concluded.
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Debra F. (Cudjoe Key, FL)
Butterfly
Gangs, magic, family dynamics, secret societies...I so wanted to love this story & went into it excited for it to unfold. Unfortunately the prose really turned me off. I wasn't a quarter of the way through when I just couldn't read anymore. There are many people who can and will love this story, I just couldn't get through it.
Thank you Bookbrowse for an ARC.
