Book of the Month

June 2019 - Flutter by, Butterfly

Have you ever heard about psychological experiments done at universities? How about those done on people by the CIA? How about The Monarch Project?

I have. I am fascinated by psychology in general, therefore, when I saw the blurb of Flutter by, Butterfly by BrittneyDennis, I simply had to read it.

The story starts by introducing Jani, a very young woman, a girl if you will, whose life lacks any real human connection. She's from a very wealthy family but her parents are more than cold-hearted to her and she has no friends. She used to have nannies but whenever she became too attached to one of them, they were ripped away from her.

One nanny, in particular, left a big hole in Jani's heart after she was taken from her. Maria. The only person who ever treated her as a mother should. She lost her too though.

Despite being deprived of human connection, Jani has grown up surrounded by luxury. Money can't buy everything though, certainly not friendship. And so Jani lives her isolated life full of strange meetings which her adoptive parents put her through, that is until she gets to meet her idol, Alejandro.

Alejandro becoming her idol didn't happen just like that though. Her mother pushed the celebrity on Jani from a very young age, be it his movies, posters, items with his face on it. The obsession was forced on the young woman.

Ever since their first encounter, we as readers are taken on a rollercoaster of events. A web of lies and manipulations starts to untangle before our very eyes. And every time we think we know what will happen next a plot twist turns us 180° in a different direction.

It's certainly a very interesting story to read with a very original topic. On first sight, one would expect it to happen in secret labs, watching the government make their secret agents. But more than anything else, this story is one of true love and devotion. About broken souls who do everything in their power to stitch and repair the damage done to them. It's about loyalties and fighting against the bigger evil. About true family.

~*~ attention, spoilers ahead ~*~

I am known for bombarding the author with all the questions I have during the reading, and I did just that. But I would like to use this chapter to share the events which I would like to read more about within the story. All of these parts of the journey were just too interesting to cut short.

As a local weirdo, I knew a lot about the experiments on people before reading this story. That means I didn't have any issue following the events after Jani's research at the beginning of the story. Though somebody who is not familiar with the monarch project would benefit from more information. I would stretch that part, there could be a whole chapter dedicated to what she found there and it would add to the creepiness of the whole situation.

What I would also love to see more of is the time when Jani becomes close with The Host (Dumb-dumb) and Loco. How did that happen? As far as we know, they are part of the program, what happened to make them go against it, help, and hide her? That would be a very interesting read.

Another part of the story which would deserve more exploration, as far as I am concerned, is Jani's time with her estranged uncle and his family. Where I stand, she started to trust Sandy and Bruno too suddenly. Even though their relationship after that one defining event was cute, I would love to see a little bit more development there.

What I was wondering the most about... In Flutter by, Butterfly we are introduced heavily to multiple personalities disorder. Alejandro, the main character has a whole herd of people inside his head. I've got very strong Split vibes there. A big part of the story is dedicated to their effort of putting his persona back together. Though as much as I loved that part, it seemed a little bit inconsistent. I believe the author herself mentioned in the story, that if one personality emerges he or she doesn't know much about what happened during the time somebody else got the front seat.

Lobo once answered to Jani's question about his head "Not quite. More like waking up from a dream, with a vague recollection of why you are here."

Still, Alejandro's personalities switch in a matter of seconds and I was wondering, how come each of them knows where he is and what's happening. They all just seem to be taking over the baton without a blink.

Flutter by, Butterfly (I just love that play of words btw) was a beautiful ride which left me with so many questions... I think is not a bad thing though. If a story makes you think and question what happened in it, that means it managed to draw you in enough for you to care about its characters and what happens to them. And boy, I did care. Thank you, @BrittneyDennisk, for sharing your story with us.

~*~

This review was written by Rasha007. Should you have any questions, please tag her.