A review by misssusan
The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Pérez
3.0
this is not the kind of story i was looking to read today but i still dug it enough to read it all the way through so you go perez, another win for you
so here's the set up: azael wakes up in juvi. he can't remember exactly how he got there - he was in a fight with his boys maybe? - and the set up is weird as heck, they're not even giving him his one phone call. instead he's told to secretly observe this girl lexi in another cell. meanwhile the narrative jumps back and forth from this (current) to the past, filling in details of azael's life and how he ended up where he is. it worked for me. azael's got a strong voice and the more you learn about him and lexi the more you care. these kids got handed the poor end of the box when it came to choices but this book's ultimately pretty hopeful that they still did have choices. 3 stars
so here's the set up: azael wakes up in juvi. he can't remember exactly how he got there - he was in a fight with his boys maybe? - and the set up is weird as heck, they're not even giving him his one phone call. instead he's told to secretly observe this girl lexi in another cell. meanwhile the narrative jumps back and forth from this (current) to the past, filling in details of azael's life and how he ended up where he is. it worked for me. azael's got a strong voice and the more you learn about him and lexi the more you care. these kids got handed the poor end of the box when it came to choices but this book's ultimately pretty hopeful that they still did have choices. 3 stars