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    The Butterfly Clues (Hardback) By (author) Kate Ellison

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    Short Description for The Butterfly CluesHaving experienced compulsive behavior all her life, Lo's symptoms are getting her into trouble when she witnesses a murder while wandering dangerous quarters of Cleveland, Ohio, collecting things that do not belong to her, obsessing about her brother's death.
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  • What if you had a compulsion to solve a crime?3

    Julie Smith Lo (Penelope) has OCD - she has to do things in multiples of threes (count, tap, brush her bangs back) and she can't go through any door without a tap, tap, tap, "banana". She also feels compulsions to take items that she feels calling to her.

    Her family has moved a lot due to her father's job as a consultant, and her brother Oren died (we find out when and why in small pieces). After Oren died, her mother withdrew and her father spends almost no time at home, so Lo finds herself wandering far from home at times, trying to retrace Oren's steps or visit places she thinks he may have visited. During one of these trips (to a very bad neighborhood), she hears gunshots in a house near her spot in the alleyway. After reading an online crime blog, she finds that a stripper named Sapphire was shot and killed while she was just feet away - thus begins a new compulsion - to find out who killed Sapphire.

    This novel brings the reader fully into the strange compulsions that form OCD - there were points where I really felt the desperation that Lo felt as she tried to get away from dangerous situations and was thwarted by her need to follow her rituals. Flynt is an artsy, homeless teen that befriends Lo and tries to warn her away from pursuing Sapphire's murder and the reader wonders how much he actually knows about the crime and/or the perpetrator.

    Although the depiction of Lo's OCD is enough to draw the reader in, there were quite a few situations that didn't ring true for me. Lo's situation at high school, her interactions with the police, even at times her friendship with Flynt - I just thought to myself, "THAT would never happen." Even so, the underlying story kept me reading.

    Not a typical YA book in many ways, but well worth reading if only for the deeper understanding it provides of OCD impulses.

    Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
    Plot: 3 out of 5 stars
    Characters: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    Reading Immersion: 3out 5 stars

    BOOK RATING: 3.4 out of 5 stars by Julie Smith

  • Someday, I will be a beautiful butterfly, and then everything will be better.4

    theEPICrat The Butterfly Clues may start off somewhat slow and confusing, but eventually the story will take you to unexpected heights with the same frantic energy as its insect namesake. Kate Ellison builds this careful story about a girl with heart-breaking fragility and gives it a quiet, mesmerizing strength and hope that justice will prevail.

    THE GOOD BITS
    {A riveting main character.} Lo may not seem all that together at first, but I got used to her OCD quirks and found them rather adorable as say those of MONK. What I find remarkable is that she embraces the OCD with open arms and radiates this sense of courage where nothing seems impossible. While she may lead her life by certain numbers, Lo somehow manages to look danger in the eye and ask for the truth behind the murder. She was full of surprises, and I enjoyed every second of discovering what she chose to do next!

    {A solid whodunit with suspects in spades.} I thought The Butterfly Clues offered a whole lot of plausible outcomes where no one could be trusted 100%. Add the anxious world of Lo to the mix, then hold onto the pages as the story flits from one suspicion to the next as Lo gets closer to the truth. What I love even more is how this murder may have started as a passing obsession for Lo, but turns into something much more personal than she anticipated.

    THE BAD BITS
    {Was high school necessary?} Of course, I expect Lo to be going through the motions of high school - but throwing in some mean girls and a boy making eyes at Lo seemed extraneous. I suppose it shows that Lo had a normal HS experience and her peers were not peachy-keen, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think they moved the plot anywhere.

    {Everyone seems to have hair issues.} You know, normally I don't notice these things as much or feel the desire to mention them - but this one stuck out almost like Alfalfa's cowlick. I don't know if this was intentional, but everyone seemed to have some sort of dirty, non-glamorous hair. From limp to grungy to stringy to dreadlocks (okay, maybe those doesn't count...), it was just hard to miss the repeat descriptions in the first few chapters. Then again, I am reading an ARC so it may be addressed in the finalized version.

    THE OVERALL
    The Butterfly Clues will wrap readers within in pages like a cocoon as Lo unravels the mystery behind Sapphire's death. Kate Ellison has written a remarkable debut with a main character who captures both compassion and admiration as she shines through adversity with her can-do attitude. by theEPICrat

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