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bibliophilogy's review against another edition
5.0
soooooooooo underrated guys! pick it up right now! It may be hard to get through the first thirty pages for some people but I swear to you it gets sooooo much better!
brittmariasbooks's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
CW: Suicidal thoughts
The Fall of Butterflies was not the book I thought it was. The main character Willa moves to a private girl school on the East Coast in the US. She plans to kill herself there. But she also meets Remy Taft there. The girls strike up a friendship. Remy is popular, rich and peculiar. She opens up a new world to Willa. But as Remy spirals out of control, Willa can feel Remy spinning right out of her grasp.
I really enjoyed the narrative voice of Willa. It is a very sarcastic, teenage angsty narration and it worked great as an audiobook. The narration is not for everyone but I enjoyed it.
The Fall of Butterflies was not the book I thought it was. The main character Willa moves to a private girl school on the East Coast in the US. She plans to kill herself there. But she also meets Remy Taft there. The girls strike up a friendship. Remy is popular, rich and peculiar. She opens up a new world to Willa. But as Remy spirals out of control, Willa can feel Remy spinning right out of her grasp.
I really enjoyed the narrative voice of Willa. It is a very sarcastic, teenage angsty narration and it worked great as an audiobook. The narration is not for everyone but I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts
nargleinafez's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't quite like the first part of the book especially the narrative but towards the end and the whole friendship of Willa and Remy made it interesting. The whole time I was rooting for Remy to be better but I think Willa made the right choice in the end. This was a pleasant read from Andrea Portes. I'm curious and what she'd be writing next.
mellyjj's review against another edition
5.0
Why is it always harder to write reviews about books you truly love?
Nevertheless, I have to try. Because, you guys, The Fall of Butterflies is magnificent. And I encourage everyone in the world to run--yes, run--to the nearest bookstore--and yes, brick and mortar bookstore--and purchase a copy of this masterpiece. It will make you cry, it will make you laugh over and over again, it will make you feel understood. It will make you feel. And isn't that why we all read? Why we all live?
Willa is the character that every editor and every reader dreams of. Her voice is strong and unique and unforgettable. She has the ability to laugh at and hide her pain with humor, but she still feels so much. Her glibness is both her protection and her savior; and she has this wonderful ability to critique her surroundings and society, and understand just how different people live in a way I think so many don't. I understand her and her struggles on a very personal level, and saw the same fears I experienced when I was in high school--and sometimes still feel. I was so worried she was going to fall down the rabbit hole of destruction with Remy, and I'm so unbelievably happy that she pulled herself back up.
I could spend eighteen years piecing apart the psychology of Remy, but I'm not going to. Because this story isn't about Remy; it's about Willa. But I will say a few things. Like how I hate her, but also want to be her, and then hate her, but also idolize her, and then hate her some more. Which is how I'm supposed to feel. She's a complicated person, who both wants and doesn't want to be complicated. She wants to be seen and be the center of attention and be idolized, but she doesn't want to at the same time. She's a scared, lonely, wealthy girl that has the world at her fingertips, but she can't see beyond the shit. It was a painful car crash to watch. But written so damn well.
I had a hard time liking the relationship between Remy and Willa, because you shouldn't. At it's core, this is a story about a toxic friendship. Remy unintentionally saved Willa from herself and her loneliness, which is wonderful, but that's about the only good thing that came from it. Okay, that's not totally true. Remy helped and allowed Willa to be herself (most of the time) and made Willa keep trying. But their relationship was rooted in unhealthy experiences, because Remy is an unhealthy girl. The relationship might feel important and change your life, but in the end, you can't help someone who doesn't want help or save someone who doesn't want to be saved. They drag you down, and after Willa learned how to be happy and accept herself on her own, she had to make the difficult decision of being by herself again.
Please give Andrea Portes all of the awards for every category ever. Because she deserves them. The writing of this story is impeccable. Willa has the ability to examine society and crack pop culture jokes and make you feel because Andrea Portes wrote her. And I will be forever grateful.
Nevertheless, I have to try. Because, you guys, The Fall of Butterflies is magnificent. And I encourage everyone in the world to run--yes, run--to the nearest bookstore--and yes, brick and mortar bookstore--and purchase a copy of this masterpiece. It will make you cry, it will make you laugh over and over again, it will make you feel understood. It will make you feel. And isn't that why we all read? Why we all live?
Willa is the character that every editor and every reader dreams of. Her voice is strong and unique and unforgettable. She has the ability to laugh at and hide her pain with humor, but she still feels so much. Her glibness is both her protection and her savior; and she has this wonderful ability to critique her surroundings and society, and understand just how different people live in a way I think so many don't. I understand her and her struggles on a very personal level, and saw the same fears I experienced when I was in high school--and sometimes still feel. I was so worried she was going to fall down the rabbit hole of destruction with Remy, and I'm so unbelievably happy that she pulled herself back up.
I could spend eighteen years piecing apart the psychology of Remy, but I'm not going to. Because this story isn't about Remy; it's about Willa. But I will say a few things. Like how I hate her, but also want to be her, and then hate her, but also idolize her, and then hate her some more. Which is how I'm supposed to feel. She's a complicated person, who both wants and doesn't want to be complicated. She wants to be seen and be the center of attention and be idolized, but she doesn't want to at the same time. She's a scared, lonely, wealthy girl that has the world at her fingertips, but she can't see beyond the shit. It was a painful car crash to watch. But written so damn well.
I had a hard time liking the relationship between Remy and Willa, because you shouldn't. At it's core, this is a story about a toxic friendship. Remy unintentionally saved Willa from herself and her loneliness, which is wonderful, but that's about the only good thing that came from it. Okay, that's not totally true. Remy helped and allowed Willa to be herself (most of the time) and made Willa keep trying. But their relationship was rooted in unhealthy experiences, because Remy is an unhealthy girl. The relationship might feel important and change your life, but in the end, you can't help someone who doesn't want help or save someone who doesn't want to be saved. They drag you down, and after Willa learned how to be happy and accept herself on her own, she had to make the difficult decision of being by herself again.
Please give Andrea Portes all of the awards for every category ever. Because she deserves them. The writing of this story is impeccable. Willa has the ability to examine society and crack pop culture jokes and make you feel because Andrea Portes wrote her. And I will be forever grateful.
batsinthecastle's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
68 pages. That's how long I spent trying to like this book. The quirky and possibly unreliable narrator was interesting, then she just changes a bunch of times and I don't feel connected anymore. Maybe that's the point, that teens are free to explore who they are and meeting someone new can change a person- but I cannot handle another 200+ pages of this writing style. I've seen writing like it before and it worked, but this didn't work for me.
I usually give YA 50 pages to hook me, so I feel bad that this one didn't work for me. I think the ARC cover didn't help- it was super unattractive and gave me different feels than the hardcover release.
Anyways, this "East Coast" read might be for you, but it wasn't for this New Englander.
68 pages. That's how long I spent trying to like this book. The quirky and possibly unreliable narrator was interesting, then she just changes a bunch of times and I don't feel connected anymore. Maybe that's the point, that teens are free to explore who they are and meeting someone new can change a person- but I cannot handle another 200+ pages of this writing style. I've seen writing like it before and it worked, but this didn't work for me.
I usually give YA 50 pages to hook me, so I feel bad that this one didn't work for me. I think the ARC cover didn't help- it was super unattractive and gave me different feels than the hardcover release.
Anyways, this "East Coast" read might be for you, but it wasn't for this New Englander.
laceyslibrarybooksta's review against another edition
2.0
When I read the synopsis and first started this book, I thought it had a lot of promising qualities that really could have me interested. The cover is what really got me. Harper Teen really put out a beautiful cover on this one. As I got in to it, I really had issues with a lot of things going on and I frankly feel like this book failed to deliver. I will say I read this book all the way through to see where it was going to go. I did find that there was a story, but it was in the beginning and then about 60% in and then it fell off again. This one was a struggle.
The main thing I had an issue with about this novel was the writing. The writing was short and to the point, and while that's not always bad, I felt like I was reading a book that had been transcribed from a reading or audio. There wasn't much detail, I feel like I was thrown back and forth a little, and I had to restart pages because I was just plain confused. I don't think that the trope was bad or even that the story was bad, but I think the way that it was explained was a little confusing to me.
On the other hand, I will say that Remy was the most exciting part of this book. I loved every part of her. I was very interested to see where her story was going to lead which is where the book finally started to pick up for me.
I gave this book two stars because Andrea Portes does have some underlying dark tones in her book. I really think she handled them with care. I am someone who really can't do substance abuse or drug abuse in books, but she did well with this and really took care of her readers when it came to that.
Overall, this wasn't my favorite YA. I did struggle a lot with the writing and wish it was a little more in-depth instead of short and choppy. I would definitely give Andrea Portes another chance and hopes that the writing is a little different in the next one.
The main thing I had an issue with about this novel was the writing. The writing was short and to the point, and while that's not always bad, I felt like I was reading a book that had been transcribed from a reading or audio. There wasn't much detail, I feel like I was thrown back and forth a little, and I had to restart pages because I was just plain confused. I don't think that the trope was bad or even that the story was bad, but I think the way that it was explained was a little confusing to me.
On the other hand, I will say that Remy was the most exciting part of this book. I loved every part of her. I was very interested to see where her story was going to lead which is where the book finally started to pick up for me.
I gave this book two stars because Andrea Portes does have some underlying dark tones in her book. I really think she handled them with care. I am someone who really can't do substance abuse or drug abuse in books, but she did well with this and really took care of her readers when it came to that.
Overall, this wasn't my favorite YA. I did struggle a lot with the writing and wish it was a little more in-depth instead of short and choppy. I would definitely give Andrea Portes another chance and hopes that the writing is a little different in the next one.
readsbykayla's review against another edition
3.0
It's really hard to put what I feel about this book into words. It was good and I really enjoyed the writing style. It was written almost diary-like so we really got a first person perspective into Willa's mind but that also made it slightly confusing. Mainly, this book was just extremely disjointed. There were a bunch of puzzle pieces that just didn't fit together and I don't understand why they were in the book in the first place. I, also, really disliked the ending. I felt like it needed more closure because it just happened and there's no real explanation. This book could use more explanation all around. Why does Willa want to kill herself? Why is she such a follower? It was a good book but I can't necessarily say that I enjoyed it.
ezrantheherb's review against another edition
read from school library - felt a bit weird tbh. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure if I liked it??? it was very bittersweet
aprilbooksandwine's review against another edition
3.0
The Fall Of Butterflies by Andrea Portes kind of appealed to me based on the fact that it was a newer book that was lying around my house. Read my full review here. Link goes live 9/27/2017