Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

82 reviews

lcampbell1003's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is veryyyyyyyyy dark. Be forewarned. It is not a thriller, it is *horror*. Sometimes the horror and trauma was gratuitous, not because it was overtly described, but just because the whole situation was just layer upon layer of fucked up shit.

The way the novel was written kept me invested. Back and forth between first person account and third person as told via interviews with FBI detectives who added the needed levity and warmth to balance things a bit. 

This was an interesting one! 🙃

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

snickells's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

devonsonnessa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was amazing, I couldn’t put it down! The only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars is because I did not like the twist at the end with Inara & Sophia… I thought that was kind of dumb. But otherwise this book was phenomenal! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing

lethridge's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Kidnapping

kendallhoward's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

dmackreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

4.0

These girls are way mentally stronger than me because I would’ve either found a way to take that man out or take myself out because there’s no fucking way I could live like that until I just inevitably die. 

You may read this book and find it unrealistic like some people because you feel like what I just said is how you’d handle this situation if it were you but everyone handles trauma differently and a lot of people shut down. You also don’t really know that for sure unless it were you. The fear of consequence doesn’t always seem worth the risk. Let’s also not forget… it’s literally fiction. 

This book was disturbing and kept me so engaged. I didn’t want to stop reading. I needed to know the details about what they were experiencing, how it ended, if they escaped, who survived if any, etc., I wasn’t fond of the writing style at first but I got over it and got used to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

heyitsa_ashley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Pregnancy

coffeequill's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

Actual rating: 4.75

Dot Hutchison’s mind?????? This was one of the more disturbing books I’ve ever read, an intricately woven psychological suspense thriller of captivity and control.

I was fascinated by this story, with every terrifying and twisted detail revealed, every piece of the puzzle notched into place then thrown back into the pile of crazy. The writing was very fast-paced and the dual POVs lended well to this kind of storytelling—one from the main character during her days of being held captive, the other from the FBI agent interviewing her in the aftermath of her rescue. There are no “chapters” per se, but none of it ever feels like it’s dragging.

I don’t want to give anything away about the plot and how insane it truly is, but this book definitely gave me serious chills and thought spirals. It reminded me of The OA a lot, as well as “Pretty Girls” by Karin Slaughter, both of which I loved. But overall it’s a very unique story of abduction, delusion and survival. 

I took off a quarter of a star only because there was one element of the ending that seemed a little too coincidental!! 

Only other thing I would say is this book is riddled with graphic, upsetting descriptions and depictions. Pretty much any trigger you can think of is in this book so it’s not for the faint of heart, like at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

sourpatch409's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment