ARC Review: Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield
10:00
Series: None
Author: Lisa Heathfield
Published June 30th 2016 by Electric Monkey
Goodreads Synopsis
June's life at home with her stepmother and stepsister is a dark one—and a secret one. She is trapped like a butterfly in a net.
But then June meets Blister, a boy in the woods. In him she recognises the tiniest glimmer of hope that perhaps she can find a way to fly far, far away from her home and be free. Because every creature in this world deserves their freedom... But at what price?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Paper Butterflies follows June Kingston throughout her life from the age of 10. It sees her trapped at home, with a horrific home life, and alone at school. It's only when she meets a boy, called Blister, in the woods, that she starts to recognise the signs of freedom, and sets her on the path to recover and grow strong enough to escape. She's like one of the paper butterflies she and Blister makes, yearning for freedom and the power to grow wings, but will she be able to, or is she doomed to be locked in her world for good?
This book was horrific, and heartbreaking, right from the first page. I've had it on my TBR for a good few years now, and even though I loved Seed, I kept pushing this book further down, but decided enough was enough, and as soon as I started it, I couldn't put it down. June lost her mother when she was only 5, and has had a stepmother and stepsister since she was 6. Her stepmother, Kathleen, was abusive, and on the first page, we see her force June to take drink after drink, refusing to allow her to use the bathroom, and then send her to school where she wees herself. She's already ostracised by her peers for being mixed race, and they regularly are racist towards her, and being known as the girl who wet herself on the school bus hasn't helped. There's more forced feeding, and racist comments, and down right psychological abuse at the hands of both her stepfamily (Megan included) and her peers, and no one helps her. She tries to tell people, alluding to different things that are happening, but no one cares about her, and it's so heartbreaking! Her dad just thinks she's a stroppy brat who's acting against a loving mother figure, especially with Kathleen appearing to be caring when he's around. Once she meets Blister, and later his family, she starts to see what a normal home life should be like, being loved and cared for by parental figures, and I really thought she might end up with a happy ending. Then the book took a turn, and I was completely blown away - it was so out of the blue, I just didn't see it coming. This is a book that is so thought provoking, and it's going to stay with me for weeks to come!
Dates Read:
February 24, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
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