The Butterfly Girl, by Rene Denfeld
HarperCollins - October 1, 2019
Fiction - Thriller
Naomi Cottle Book 2
E-book
Fiction - Thriller
Naomi Cottle Book 2
E-book
272 Pages
* I received this digital ARC courtesy of HarperCollins Canada, in exchange of an honest review. This does not influence the following opinions which are my own.
My Rating (out of 5)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint!
I loved The Child Finder, so when I heard that Denfeld was writing a sequel - well, I was all in!
In The Butterfly Girl, Naomi Cottle, affectionately known by many as "The Child Finder" returns. This time she is looking for the sister she had to leave behind when as a young child, she escaped her abductor.
Naomi has a knack for finding lost children, she knows them because she was once one of them; But she has almost nothing to work with to find her long lost sister. It has been many years since her escape, and her age at the time, and the psychological trauma surrounding her abduction and escape have limited her memory. She has no pictures, no description, not even her sister's name to help in her search. But she has vowed not to work another case until she finds her sister.
Her search ultimately takes her to the streets of Portland where she finds there is a killer also searching for young women and girls. The girls disappear off the streets and show up some time later, floating in the river.
She cannot help but worry for the street kids she encounters during her search. She is especially drawn to Celia, a young homeless girl who also had to leave a sister behind while fleeing an abusive step-father and a drug addicted mother. Celia tried to ask they system for help and protection, and the system failed her. Now she relies on a few friends - other discarded and forgotten youth, a kindly non-judgmental librarian, and her ever present butterflies to protect her on the streets, as all the while she dreams of the butterfly museum her mother told her about during better times - a place she knows she will truly feel safe.
Worried for the safety of the Celia and the other kids, and despite her vow to forgo any other investigations until she finds her sister, Naomi cannot help but be drawn into the investigation of the missing girls. Naomi and Celia may each be holding the key to the others salvation.
I love Denfeld's writing. I always feel moved by her stories. I cannot help but be drawn into her characters - she writes them with such depth and humanity. In this case, I learned from the author's note, much of Celia's story comes from Denfeld's own real world experiences - and it shows.
I really just wanted to scoop Celia up and take her away from the hard streets. To tell her that I believe in her and her story, and to tell her that I am on her side. The Naomi Cottle series speaks to the strength and resiliency of children when faced with circumstances many adults would find emotionally impossible to cope with. Though there was an ache in my heart for Celia's story, it was balanced, as always in Denfeld's writing, with hope.
While this is the second book featuring the character Naomi Cottle (the first being The Child Finder) and it can be read as a stand-alone novel. Trust me though, if you haven't already read The Child Finder, read it now.
The Butterfly Girl is a suspenseful and yet deeply moving story of sisters and survival.
I loved The Child Finder, so when I heard that Denfeld was writing a sequel - well, I was all in!
In The Butterfly Girl, Naomi Cottle, affectionately known by many as "The Child Finder" returns. This time she is looking for the sister she had to leave behind when as a young child, she escaped her abductor.
Naomi has a knack for finding lost children, she knows them because she was once one of them; But she has almost nothing to work with to find her long lost sister. It has been many years since her escape, and her age at the time, and the psychological trauma surrounding her abduction and escape have limited her memory. She has no pictures, no description, not even her sister's name to help in her search. But she has vowed not to work another case until she finds her sister.
Her search ultimately takes her to the streets of Portland where she finds there is a killer also searching for young women and girls. The girls disappear off the streets and show up some time later, floating in the river.
She cannot help but worry for the street kids she encounters during her search. She is especially drawn to Celia, a young homeless girl who also had to leave a sister behind while fleeing an abusive step-father and a drug addicted mother. Celia tried to ask they system for help and protection, and the system failed her. Now she relies on a few friends - other discarded and forgotten youth, a kindly non-judgmental librarian, and her ever present butterflies to protect her on the streets, as all the while she dreams of the butterfly museum her mother told her about during better times - a place she knows she will truly feel safe.
Worried for the safety of the Celia and the other kids, and despite her vow to forgo any other investigations until she finds her sister, Naomi cannot help but be drawn into the investigation of the missing girls. Naomi and Celia may each be holding the key to the others salvation.
I love Denfeld's writing. I always feel moved by her stories. I cannot help but be drawn into her characters - she writes them with such depth and humanity. In this case, I learned from the author's note, much of Celia's story comes from Denfeld's own real world experiences - and it shows.
I really just wanted to scoop Celia up and take her away from the hard streets. To tell her that I believe in her and her story, and to tell her that I am on her side. The Naomi Cottle series speaks to the strength and resiliency of children when faced with circumstances many adults would find emotionally impossible to cope with. Though there was an ache in my heart for Celia's story, it was balanced, as always in Denfeld's writing, with hope.
While this is the second book featuring the character Naomi Cottle (the first being The Child Finder) and it can be read as a stand-alone novel. Trust me though, if you haven't already read The Child Finder, read it now.
The Butterfly Girl is a suspenseful and yet deeply moving story of sisters and survival.
Happy Reading,
Christine
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