Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

12 reviews

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

rczimmer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The book wasn't badly written but the plot and issues are quite dark (even for someone who enjoys thrillers and true crime). Definitely a more twisted than your average thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

kates_cupcakes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Easily one of the best books I’ve ever read, there was such a sense of forgetting, being forgotten. Abandonment is a large theme and finding who you are. There’s a beautiful story of persevering despite your surroundings and helping others so they don’t experience the same pain you did. I found myself wanting to build up other women and wondering why we all feel against each other when we should help. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

anissawren's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug abuse, Terminal illness, and Vomit

themichellegray's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

A grim, heartbreaking story told through unstructured writing and a confusing 'interview' format. I found it quite difficult to suspend my belief for this wildly unrealistic plot which unfortunately made it read like a commodity of other's very real trauma.

While I don't find much enjoyment in this type of book, the hopefulness is what carried me forward. I was rooting for the victims eventual escape and happiness alongside justice being served. Yet the ending wasn't as gratifying as I would've liked and instead concluded with a lazy "twist" (if you can even call it that).

There's definitely an audience for this darker book seemingly created for shock value. Without much depth written into the overarching story though, I don't fit into that group.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction and Pregnancy

kassidypf13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

sydbingus's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

I think the “twist” at the end was a little unnecessary and ruined it a little for me, but still a very enjoyable read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

cait's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? 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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ladylovestead's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

This is a fun read if I don't think too much about it. I thought the butterfly garden was creepy the characters were interesting. There were some issues in logic that I struggled with. For example, the butterfly garden must be just a huge structure. It housed lots of girls each with their own room. Then there were rooms for like snacks and a natural area with a cliff and a waterfall. This garden was supposed to be nestled inside an even larger greenhouse? The geometry didn't make sense to me and I found things like this to be really distracting. If you can ignore some of those logic issues and read it for sheer entertainment, it's a dark and twisted fun ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction