The Butterfly Clues (edition 2012)

I really enjoyed this although it has some flaws; it's a solid mystery with complex characters which I always like, but the ending did not hold up. The resolution of the mystery was ok, although a little convenient in terms of the rescue. But everything after that. Lo’s father who has clearly never accepted Lo's rituals suddenly has a complete turn around? Jeremy and Keri end up together because Lo suggested it to Jeremy? In fact, I really think the book would have been stronger if the entire school subplot had been excised. I never felt invested in that because Lo wasn’t invested – the only reason it seemed to be in there was to provide the one red herring attack and to show how alienated Lo feels from her peers. Heck, except for Keri, I couldn’t even remember which of the other girls was which.

While I wish Flynt was real, he’s a completely preposterous character. And I couldn’t believe the strippers would all just talk to Lo about Sapphire and let Lo take her stuff! Seriously? I don’t know any strippers and haven’t been to a strip club ever so I cannot speak from personal experience, but I have friends who have, and from what I understand this is a pretty idealized version of that life – or maybe not idealized so much as glossed over. So maybe I could see the strippers talking to Lo, but I can’t imagine none of them would have protested the removal of Sapphire’s things by a stranger they know nothing about.

The amount of coincidences is pretty far-fetched as well – I can see Lo believing that the universe meant for her and Sapphire to connect, but are we supposed to as well? Because I as a reader did not feel enough setup for that little bit of magical realism/destiny/etc. at all and from the way I read it, we are intended to believe that's part of how everything came together.

The real accomplishment here is the character of Lo. She feels like a living, breathing person I might meet. Ellison brings to life this complex girl trying to deal with her overwhelming grief at losing her entire family (and this is a very real portrayal of grief in my opinion – you don’t just lose the one person, your entire family has to rebuild itself around the hole and sometimes they can’t and even if they can your relationships never look or feel the same) and caught up in something scary that, because of who she is, she can’t let go. I particularly love how Ellison made us feel how clearly Lo felt the loss of her mother, the parent who understood her and helped Lo cope with her compulsive urges, but without hitting us over the head with it. Instead Ellison shows us concrete differences in Lo’s life – how she and her respective parents deal with food and meals for example before and after Oren's death.

Lots to like here, but room for improvement as well. I'll be interested to see what Ellison does next. ( )

The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison is about a girl diagnosed with OCD who stumbles upon the murder of a 19-year-old in Cleveland, Ohio. Days after the murder and a near-death experience, the main character, Lo (short for Penelope), finds a glass butterfly and horse pendant necklace at a flea market, both of which belonged to the murdered girl Sapphire. After learning more about Sapphire and the current police investigation, Lo quickly becomes obsessed with discovering who killed her and why they committed the crime. With the help of a strange artist named Flynt, Lo finds herself at the center of the investigation, and Sapphire’s killer knows what she is up to. It is only a matter of time before Lo is the next victim.

I would recommend this book to any fan of mystery and thriller novels. It is packed with suspenseful moments and plenty of action, and it oddly reminds me of many of those crime shows on television. The beginning introduces us to a fantasy suburb of Cleveland called Neverland and all the weird characters that live on the streets there. As you dive deeper into the story, the plotline becomes more twisted and dark, and it will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat. Finally, in the finale, we do see a light at the end of this dark tunnel, but everything may not turn out as expected.

I think the most interesting aspect of this novel would be the characters. Lo is diagnosed with OCD, and it does take a little bit to get used to her patterns and way of thinking, but it certainly pays off. Flynt is an erratic artist who views the world differently than most people, and he will introduce Lo to many other people with the same values. With Flynt’s help, Lo finally will discover what happened to Sapphire, and why she feels such a connection to someone she presumably did not even know. With the unique characters, suspenseful plotline, and interesting themes, The Butterfly Clues is one I definitely recommend to any Young Adult reader. ( )

VOYA
Lo has been warned not to go to the bad part of town, Neverland, which is of course why she finds herself there one cold Cleveland evening, walking the ominous streets, drawn to certain windows, certain objects, until she witnesses the murder of a girl nobody seems to care about. Lo is not in such great shape herself. The death of her older brother, Oren, has caused her family to shut down, and at the same time has activated her OCD symptoms—compulsive acquisition and repetitive tics—to such an extent that she finds it difficult to have an ordinary conversation or walk down a hallway. There is no magic here, although Lo's relationship with the mysterious street boy who calls himself Flynt, layered on top of her almost supernatural loneliness and helpless compulsions, gives the novel an otherworldly quality. Romance and mystery blend nicely as she attempts to uncover the secrets of the murdered girl, Flynt, and her own brother. Multisensory descriptions plunge the reader into Lo's intensely observed life. Especially evocative are the passages depicting Lo's reactions to Flynt's friends, semi-homeless teen artists who make their lives in Neverland's abandoned buildings and alleys. At first drawn to their freedom, she soon senses menace and desperation. A couple of clunky coincidences as events come to a head at the end may be forgiven due to the slightly dreamlike nature of the narrative ( )

Penelope suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Her rituals must be performed. Mourning the death of her brother, her condition worsens and she becomes obsessed with "Neverland", the rundown part of Cleveland where runaways live and where her brother died. When she is outside a building where a young stripper is murdered, her obsessions include finding out exactly what happened. ( )

The Butterfly Clues was a more interesting read than I expected it to be. The premise sounded intriguing, which is what made me grab it in the first place, but I was worried it would be unremarkable in the current flood of YA literature pounding the market.

As a crime/mystery novel, it was only moderately compelling. The crimesolving aspects felt a little thin and unbelievable even with a decent suspension of disbelief. Lo, for some reason, ends up on the very bad side of town and doesn't quite witness a murder (she's on the other side of the wall). Due to her OCD nature, she picks up on some of the relevant details from the murder and the victim's belongings such that when she sees the belongings at a swap meet, she is quite literally compelled to try and unravel the clues. That initial catch is pretty interesting, but the way the clue finding and unraveling played out was a little less interesting to me.

The romantic elements in the story also felt a little bit strange and forced. As soon as she met the boy who didn't go running from her quirkiness and who she was legitimately intrigued by, it was obvious that he was going to be the romantic lead. I was glad that the story didn't push too hard for them to get romantic (after all, they're solving a murder), but when it did turn in that direction, it felt awkward.

While the setting fluctuated from non-descript to unbelievable (particularly "Neverland"), I found that I really enjoyed some of the specific environments she described. The concept of Neverland was interesting in a "Gotham City" kind of way. It's kind of like this area of town where the city has just given up. Any homes or businesses there have been abandoned or have become havens for the underbelly of society. It felt gritty and grimy and added to the tension. My only problem was that the believability factor grew a bit thin for me...I've never lived in a big city, but I have a hard time believing that such a large area of town could be as abandoned and derelict as Neverland. Then again, maybe I'm just being naive.

So now that I've mentioned areas that I found just "meh", you might wonder what it was that I found truly exciting.

What really drew me in and kept me going is the characterization, particularly of our narrator "Lo."

Lo is a kleptomaniac with serious OCD and plenty of other emotional and mental baggage. It's apparent that she's had some degree of OCD her whole life but everything sort of went into free fall a year ago when her brother disappeared and was later found dead.

On the surface, this characterization may not sound all that exciting or compelling, but where it really shines is that this is a first-person narrative told by Lo. We get her internal voice...along with all the mental quirks and oddities that go with it.

I'm sure everybody has some compulsive tendencies...but as I read along with Lo, I could really feel the heightened emotions and strain of compulsion as she went through even mundane activities. The author did a great job of creating a unique and consistent voice for Lo through the novel and driving it home strong. I found the experience of living the novel through her eyes absolutely fascinating.

The other characters and settings varied from somewhat flat and static to similarly 3-d and fleshed out. I loved the interactions Lo had with her dad and other adults. Not only for the added tension it gave to her internal monologue but also for what felt like fairly realistic adult responses to her claims and behaviors. The characters who helped her were interesting and fun...almost as quirky as Lo herself.

Thinking back over this book...this certainly isn't the best book I've ever read. It's not "high literature" by any means nor does it necessarily top either the YA lists or the crime/mystery list. Where this book really shines is in developing a stark and unique voice and making it so utterly believable that I could feel myself intently drawn into her mental and emotional instabilities. I absolutely loved the way the narrative was presented and thoroughly enjoyed this fresh presentation of what it means to be OCD.

***
3.5 out of 5 stars ( )