Review Detail

Kate Ellison’s The Butterfly Clues is a YA mystery that I heard about through (I think) a newsletter. I honestly have no clue. Good books seem to fall in my lap these days. And shoutout for a cover that doesn’t feature a twenty-something in a purty dress!

So the main character, Lo, is left feeling guilty after her brother’s death, and now finds herself dealing with dysfunctional parents who don’t seem to care about her. She’s convinced herself that she’s ugly and she has no friends. Sounds like pretty standard YA fare, yes? But when you throw in the demanding presence of OCD, things get a bit more juicy.

I applaud Ellison for creating a unique heroine. I’ve never read a book about OCD before, and the author handled it so tastefully. Lo never made excuses for herself or tried to get over her OCD or anything like that. Her hoarding, thievery, and counting were all part of her. They were constant in the narrative but not jarring, and Ellison handled that aspect so tastefully and beautifully that I couldn’t have been more pleased.

For instance, in the first chapter when Lo has a compulsion to steal a figurine from somone’s porch:

”The whole world falls away, goes quiet, as I move closer, and closer, and closer. Inches. Centimeters. Millimeters. The moment we finally touch is slow, holy, thunderous, the single moment when everything makes sense.”

Isn’t that gorgeous?

Oh yeah, Ellison’s prose is to die for. It’s lyrical and full of imagery and all that good stuff I love. My Goodreads status updates were full of pull-outs from this book. (Sorry guys!)

And because I can’t help myself, I’ll share just one more:

”I don’t know how I get outside, but, suddenly, I am—shaking, choking. I fall into the cold wet grass and dirt and dark, door swinging close behind me. The world is swinging, loose and wild.
Moon huge. Breathe heavy.”

Okay, I’ll stop.

Anyway, the mystery part itself was fairly well done. Now it was slightly predictible, but the above-mentioned things negated that for me. I really like the idea of a teenage girl beating the police at their own game. (As an aside, if you’ve ever seen the movie Brick, which I totally recommend, The Butterfly Clues is similar to that). I wasn’t surprised by any of the major plot twists, but I didn’t see them coming a long way off—more like a few pages before they happened.

Oh, and, of course, it couldn’t be YA without some romance. And a love triangle. I didn’t actually mind the love triangle for once, as I think Ellison handled it well—Lo was never in some quandry over which guy to choose. Flynt, Lo’s love interest, was fun and unique and interesting (troubled past, nice smile, you know, boy-next-door with flair). I even liked the corny romantic ending because it fit so well with the rest of the story.

And there was also one very delicious scene at Flynt’s “house,” on the couch, that involved sketching and kissing… Think Titanic but less…Leo DiCaprio.

…just saying.

I really really liked The Butterfly Clues. Lo was a unique and likable protagonist, Ellison’s prose was gorgeous, and the story was engaging and had a nice resolution. I’m trying to go over the other books I’ve read this year, but I think this is my favorite 2012 YA debut so far!