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Tinfoil Butterfly
Joe Hill meets Carmen Maria Machado in this spellbinding debut about a young woman trapped in a Black Hills ghost town in the dead of winter
Emma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to outrun a violent, tragic past, when she meets Lowell, the hot-but-dumb driver she hopes will take her as far as the Badlands. But Lowell is not as harmless as he seems, and a vicious scuffle leaves Emma bloody and stranded in an abandoned town in the Black Hills with an out-of-gas van, a loaded gun, and a snowstorm on the way.
The town is eerily quiet and Emma takes shelter in a diner, where she stumbles across Earl, a strange little boy in a tinfoil mask who steals her gun before begging her to help him get rid of “George.” As she is pulled deeper into Earl’s bizarre, menacing world, the horrors of Emma’s past creep closer, and she realizes she can’t run forever.
Tinfoil Butterfly is a seductively scary, chilling exploration of evil—how it sneaks in under your skin, flaring up when you least expect it, how it throttles you and won't let go. The beauty of Rachel Eve Moulton's ferocious, harrowing, and surprisingly moving debut is that it teaches us that love can do that too.
Emma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to outrun a violent, tragic past, when she meets Lowell, the hot-but-dumb driver she hopes will take her as far as the Badlands. But Lowell is not as harmless as he seems, and a vicious scuffle leaves Emma bloody and stranded in an abandoned town in the Black Hills with an out-of-gas van, a loaded gun, and a snowstorm on the way.
The town is eerily quiet and Emma takes shelter in a diner, where she stumbles across Earl, a strange little boy in a tinfoil mask who steals her gun before begging her to help him get rid of “George.” As she is pulled deeper into Earl’s bizarre, menacing world, the horrors of Emma’s past creep closer, and she realizes she can’t run forever.
Tinfoil Butterfly is a seductively scary, chilling exploration of evil—how it sneaks in under your skin, flaring up when you least expect it, how it throttles you and won't let go. The beauty of Rachel Eve Moulton's ferocious, harrowing, and surprisingly moving debut is that it teaches us that love can do that too.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2019
137 people are currently reading
12592 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 584 reviews
April 22, 2025
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Tinfoil Butterfly is a strange and heartbreaking story. Meshing real life horrors with subtle fantastical elements, this story has a lot of substance for such a short tale.
Emma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to reach the Badlands of South Dakota. Along the way she gets picked up by a man named, Lowell.
It doesn't end well.
Fleeing for her life, Emma comes across an abandoned diner where she seeks refuge from an oncoming storm; her van out of gas.
This is where she meets, Earl, a little boy whose face is hidden behind an odd tinfoil mask.
Earl ends up stealing Emma's loaded gun and implores her to help him get rid of George.
Emma is stranded. Earl is her only contact and she gets pulled into his bizarre and dangerous world as the snow begins to fall.
This entire novel is steeped in an ominous atmosphere. As the reader, you go along with Emma as she tries to drag information out of Earl.
It turns out, he has lived a torturous life, the truth is hiding just under the surface, but you can't quite get to it. Regardless of the past, Earl is scared to leave it behind.
Earl isn't the only one with a dark past. Emma is on the run from her own. Damaged and broken, she is forced, while in the clutches of her new found crisis, to revisit each painful moment of it.
The truth of Emma's past is admittedly difficult to read. Trigger warnings for: .
I loved the bond formed by Emma and Earl.
I though the evolution of that relationship over the course of the story was very special. It brought the humanity of the characters to life in a way that filled my heart with empathy for them both.
Paired with the beauty of their relationship, however, is equal amounts of horror. We're talking horrific, realistic, painful content.
There were times I felt sick to my stomach, but honestly, the story is worth it.
The feelings of violence and fear boiling just under the surface really never let up, making this a tense read.
With this being said, it also feels quiet and subtle at times. I have no idea if I am explaining this accurately.
It's almost something that you just need to experience for yourself.
I do recommend this for people who enjoy darker contemporary stories, or slow burns with equal parts violence and beauty.
You know who you are. Pick it up!
Tinfoil Butterfly is a strange and heartbreaking story. Meshing real life horrors with subtle fantastical elements, this story has a lot of substance for such a short tale.
Emma is hitchhiking across the United States, trying to reach the Badlands of South Dakota. Along the way she gets picked up by a man named, Lowell.
It doesn't end well.
Fleeing for her life, Emma comes across an abandoned diner where she seeks refuge from an oncoming storm; her van out of gas.
This is where she meets, Earl, a little boy whose face is hidden behind an odd tinfoil mask.
Earl ends up stealing Emma's loaded gun and implores her to help him get rid of George.
Emma is stranded. Earl is her only contact and she gets pulled into his bizarre and dangerous world as the snow begins to fall.
This entire novel is steeped in an ominous atmosphere. As the reader, you go along with Emma as she tries to drag information out of Earl.
It turns out, he has lived a torturous life, the truth is hiding just under the surface, but you can't quite get to it. Regardless of the past, Earl is scared to leave it behind.
Earl isn't the only one with a dark past. Emma is on the run from her own. Damaged and broken, she is forced, while in the clutches of her new found crisis, to revisit each painful moment of it.
The truth of Emma's past is admittedly difficult to read. Trigger warnings for: .
I loved the bond formed by Emma and Earl.
I though the evolution of that relationship over the course of the story was very special. It brought the humanity of the characters to life in a way that filled my heart with empathy for them both.
Paired with the beauty of their relationship, however, is equal amounts of horror. We're talking horrific, realistic, painful content.
There were times I felt sick to my stomach, but honestly, the story is worth it.
The feelings of violence and fear boiling just under the surface really never let up, making this a tense read.
With this being said, it also feels quiet and subtle at times. I have no idea if I am explaining this accurately.
It's almost something that you just need to experience for yourself.
I do recommend this for people who enjoy darker contemporary stories, or slow burns with equal parts violence and beauty.
You know who you are. Pick it up!
August 15, 2019
My heart aches, truly.
Emma is trying to escape her past. Her goal is to hitchhike her way to The Badlands. Unfortunately, she is picked up by Lowell and he turns out to be not such a nice guy. Events unfold and she finds herself on the run yet again. She stumbles upon an abandoned diner and takes refuge for the night. She wakes in the morning to discover a young boy in a tin-foil mask pointing her own gun at her. He says his name is Earl, that his mother has died and has been eaten by his father and that she now lives as a crow watching over them. He claims he will help her only if she can help him in return.
That plot description is vague, I know, but it's so hard to put words to my thoughts right now.
The despair is palpable, the violence is wicked, and the darkness that unfolds is unrelenting. You, as a reader, are not given a moments rest. Not one moment of peace to be had. But there are sparks of hope and love trying to break free from these pages and I grasped them dearly to my heart because I was afraid that if I didn't that I would slip into a deep depression with bouts of rage and anger at the wrongness of it all. Earl stole my heart immediately and Emma, while having made so many mistakes, wanted to do right. To be good. To be loved.
This quote, which I will spoiler tag, made me choke on tears:
Just typing that made my eyes fill up and chin quiver.
This is not a book that I would recommend to just anyone, no sirree, but I do hope it finds the right audience because I will never forget Earl and Emma. 4 *I'm just picking up the pieces of my shattered heart* Stars!
I would like to thank NetGalley and MCD X Fsg Originals for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Emma is trying to escape her past. Her goal is to hitchhike her way to The Badlands. Unfortunately, she is picked up by Lowell and he turns out to be not such a nice guy. Events unfold and she finds herself on the run yet again. She stumbles upon an abandoned diner and takes refuge for the night. She wakes in the morning to discover a young boy in a tin-foil mask pointing her own gun at her. He says his name is Earl, that his mother has died and has been eaten by his father and that she now lives as a crow watching over them. He claims he will help her only if she can help him in return.
That plot description is vague, I know, but it's so hard to put words to my thoughts right now.
The despair is palpable, the violence is wicked, and the darkness that unfolds is unrelenting. You, as a reader, are not given a moments rest. Not one moment of peace to be had. But there are sparks of hope and love trying to break free from these pages and I grasped them dearly to my heart because I was afraid that if I didn't that I would slip into a deep depression with bouts of rage and anger at the wrongness of it all. Earl stole my heart immediately and Emma, while having made so many mistakes, wanted to do right. To be good. To be loved.
This quote, which I will spoiler tag, made me choke on tears:
Just typing that made my eyes fill up and chin quiver.
This is not a book that I would recommend to just anyone, no sirree, but I do hope it finds the right audience because I will never forget Earl and Emma. 4 *I'm just picking up the pieces of my shattered heart* Stars!
I would like to thank NetGalley and MCD X Fsg Originals for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
July 20, 2019
___________________________
Chapter 8 was really good.
2.5 Stars ⭐
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Chapter 8 was really good.
2.5 Stars ⭐
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
June 27, 2021
ugh this was great
July 28, 2019
I have never met a girl who talks so much about her own boobs. Had to double-check this wasn't written by a dude.
Any comparisons to Joe Hill or Stephen King should be thrown out the window because NO.
??? What even was happening. The super vague hardly extant magical realism until weird very important moments? And the timeline? She's recovering from surgery, has just cut out her own stitches, finds this kid and is like "yes this is what brings me meaning now in the depths of my grief, now I am learning to love and live again" (like, what, a month, two months after her step-bro/lover/quasi baby daddy killed himself??) and then smash cut to "we went to the hospital and I claimed Earl as my own and it's now **nine days later** and I'm ready to reconcile with my mom and make amends and choose LIFE and I'm going to get clean and blah blah" but like again, we have maybe a total of three months total in which this girl has lost a "baby" and her lover/stepsibling and then got diagnosed with cancer and then ran away and dealt with a buncha corpses and murdering and shit, and like adopted this kid, and...?????
Any comparisons to Joe Hill or Stephen King should be thrown out the window because NO.
??? What even was happening. The super vague hardly extant magical realism until weird very important moments? And the timeline? She's recovering from surgery, has just cut out her own stitches, finds this kid and is like "yes this is what brings me meaning now in the depths of my grief, now I am learning to love and live again" (like, what, a month, two months after her step-bro/lover/quasi baby daddy killed himself??) and then smash cut to "we went to the hospital and I claimed Earl as my own and it's now **nine days later** and I'm ready to reconcile with my mom and make amends and choose LIFE and I'm going to get clean and blah blah" but like again, we have maybe a total of three months total in which this girl has lost a "baby" and her lover/stepsibling and then got diagnosed with cancer and then ran away and dealt with a buncha corpses and murdering and shit, and like adopted this kid, and...?????
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2020
This book just knocked me right off my feet and into yesterday it hit me so hard! I was instantly engrossed and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to immergé myself into this fabulously dark and gripping story. It starts off strong, the middle stays strong and the end is just a punch right in the gut. This book has EVERYTHING you could possibly want. It’s dark and haunting and you can just FEEL it settle into your bones until your whole body aches. It’s creepy and insidious and has just the faintest sprinkling of the supernatural and I just DEVOURED it. It’s emotional and disturbing and it will leave you feeling all kinds of feelings for DAYS. I could go on and on and on but I’ll leave it at that and URGE you to just experience it for yourself!
March 2, 2020
"You need to get help before this turns into something even bigger than you want. Believe me, I know. Some choices can't be undone." -- Emma, the protagonist, on page 58
Tinfoil Butterfly is the first novel by Rachel Eve Moulton, and after this interesting debut I hope she has many more tales to share with us - this was an unsettling but very assured piece of storytelling.
Emma is eighteen years old, fleeing suburban Ohio via hitchhiking after some heavy family drama collectively involving her absent father, a close relationship with her stepbrother, and a young and popular new high school teacher. After realizing that her traveling companion - an van-driving young man who clearly has some concerning emotional issues - may not be a safe choice, she makes a break for it in a sequence that quickly turns violent. She soon finds and seeks refuge in a dilapidated ghost-town in the snowy Black Hills of South Dakota and then meets Earl, an eight year-old child.
Other than intermittent flashbacks (to detail where Emma's life took a wrong turn, leading to her road trip) the story basically covers the next 24 or so hours as Emma gets to know Earl and she is then drawn into an odd situation that takes turns being suspenseful, creepy, and menacing. I know it can be a cheap thrill or easy plot device when a child is placed in danger, but Emma and Earl have to learn to work together and then utterly depend on each other to survive and escape from the area.
While I thought it lacked a solid ending - sometimes I just like everything explained to me or neatly wrapped up in a tidy conclusion - this still was a really good and original story that comfortably hops and combines genres. I also think it marks the confident arrival of a new talent in the writing world.
Tinfoil Butterfly is the first novel by Rachel Eve Moulton, and after this interesting debut I hope she has many more tales to share with us - this was an unsettling but very assured piece of storytelling.
Emma is eighteen years old, fleeing suburban Ohio via hitchhiking after some heavy family drama collectively involving her absent father, a close relationship with her stepbrother, and a young and popular new high school teacher. After realizing that her traveling companion - an van-driving young man who clearly has some concerning emotional issues - may not be a safe choice, she makes a break for it in a sequence that quickly turns violent. She soon finds and seeks refuge in a dilapidated ghost-town in the snowy Black Hills of South Dakota and then meets Earl, an eight year-old child.
Other than intermittent flashbacks (to detail where Emma's life took a wrong turn, leading to her road trip) the story basically covers the next 24 or so hours as Emma gets to know Earl and she is then drawn into an odd situation that takes turns being suspenseful, creepy, and menacing. I know it can be a cheap thrill or easy plot device when a child is placed in danger, but Emma and Earl have to learn to work together and then utterly depend on each other to survive and escape from the area.
While I thought it lacked a solid ending - sometimes I just like everything explained to me or neatly wrapped up in a tidy conclusion - this still was a really good and original story that comfortably hops and combines genres. I also think it marks the confident arrival of a new talent in the writing world.
November 15, 2025
3.5 rounded up to offset the DRAMA of the bookclub this month - very much not good and also very much not bad with the most horrifically 18yo narrator of all time
April 4, 2023
I picked up Tinfoil Butterfly when I saw it on The ‘Gram and thought it had been posted by one of my Goodreads’ friends. Turns out I was wrong (go figure) and I should have saved myself the library checkout because this just wasn’t for me.
The premise was great – girl hitchhiking through the Badlands winds up with the wrong stranger. This could have went anywhere from . . . .
(Have y’all seen Freeway? Highly underrated film.)
To . . . .
And I would have been totally satisfied. In fact, at some point a Bigfoot reference was made and I thought “hell, I liked Devolution so a Sasquatch story would maybe be A-okay as well. But that was not the case. This was a “horror” in the same sort of way I’m Thinking of Ending Things was – a/k/a I’m too dumb to appreciate it.
The premise was great – girl hitchhiking through the Badlands winds up with the wrong stranger. This could have went anywhere from . . . .
(Have y’all seen Freeway? Highly underrated film.)
To . . . .
And I would have been totally satisfied. In fact, at some point a Bigfoot reference was made and I thought “hell, I liked Devolution so a Sasquatch story would maybe be A-okay as well. But that was not the case. This was a “horror” in the same sort of way I’m Thinking of Ending Things was – a/k/a I’m too dumb to appreciate it.
January 2, 2023
Scary. Thrilling. Intriguing.
Emma is hitchhiking her way to a better place after horrific violence and a tragic life. She stumbles upon a nasty stranger and barely escapes. She finds herself in an abandoned town where a young boy in a tinfoil mask named Earl greets her. They form a friendship, but Earl's strange and horrific life begins to mirror Emma's... Now, if only the two of them can get out alive.
This book is a thrill ride packed with violent horror and mystery. I was glued to this book and wanted to see if Emma and Earl got the life they deserved (a much better one). Rachel Eve Moulton has quite the skill in writing these believable and empathetic characters. I felt so hard for their struggles, but I was happy they found each other.
Bonus points for weaving honest LGBTQ+ representation into the story and not making it a plot point.
Four out of five stars!
Emma is hitchhiking her way to a better place after horrific violence and a tragic life. She stumbles upon a nasty stranger and barely escapes. She finds herself in an abandoned town where a young boy in a tinfoil mask named Earl greets her. They form a friendship, but Earl's strange and horrific life begins to mirror Emma's... Now, if only the two of them can get out alive.
This book is a thrill ride packed with violent horror and mystery. I was glued to this book and wanted to see if Emma and Earl got the life they deserved (a much better one). Rachel Eve Moulton has quite the skill in writing these believable and empathetic characters. I felt so hard for their struggles, but I was happy they found each other.
Bonus points for weaving honest LGBTQ+ representation into the story and not making it a plot point.
Four out of five stars!
March 14, 2024
3.5 (I feel like the first 100 pages have a vibe that I was really into and then it transitions into a whole different vibe that I didn't enjoy AS MUCH)
This was such a surprise! I saw it at the library and brought it home on a whim. I was drawn to this cover. I had no idea what I was getting into and I skipped reading the back. This felt like a few different stories rolled into one, honestly.
I think I liked certain storylines more than others, so I felt a little antsy when the narrative traveled down one path for too long, but other than that--I was invested/entertained the whole time.
More soon
This was such a surprise! I saw it at the library and brought it home on a whim. I was drawn to this cover. I had no idea what I was getting into and I skipped reading the back. This felt like a few different stories rolled into one, honestly.
I think I liked certain storylines more than others, so I felt a little antsy when the narrative traveled down one path for too long, but other than that--I was invested/entertained the whole time.
More soon
September 5, 2019
Rachel Eve Moulton's Tinfoil Butterfly hits like a rush of pure cocaine — a terrifying account of rescue and redemption torn from the pages of Tarantino's handbook.
Freshly wounded by the haunts of her past, a twentysomething runaway named Emma tries to outstrip the vestiges of her former life.
After her hitchhike turns into a bloody carjacking, Emma heads for the Badlands on a suicide pact — but her sweet Veronica leaves her stranded at a diner in an oblivion landscape we come to call the Black Hills. Out there in the forest is a deafening silence, a piercing quiet that conjures up the evils Emma has been trying to put an end to:
While taking refuge inside the diner, Emma notices the shimmer of a creature prowling nearby — a lonesome boy called Earl, unmistakable by the tinfoil mask concealing his face. Earl begs Emma to help dispose of his presumably dead father who “ate up my mother,” and it’s a bizarre entreaty from an 8-year-old child — a child clever enough to leverage his wishes with the gun he’s stolen from Emma in her sleep.
What draws Emma and Earl together next is the loneliness of one's sex and identity, the death of loved ones and hence love itself, and the revenant evil stirring beneath the surface of one's memory. Together, Emma and Earl forge an unlikely bond that is at once splintered and scary but everlasting all the same. At the core of Moulton's heart-pounding debut novel is a damaged woman with nothing left to lose but life itself and a lonely boy left searching for something powerful enough to kill his pain — that thing called love, which saves them both.
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I found Moulton's meticulous consideration to gender, pronouns, and sexuality with her characters to be so respectable — from Earl's innocent understanding of his own identity to Ray's violent revelation. Such beautiful, captivating tenderness shown here. While others may be offended by the story's escalating savagery and explicit approach to triggering concerns like self-harm, domestic violence, and child abuse, I greatly appreciated the emotional confidence and unapologetic honesty with which Moulton impelled this story.
(Thanks again, FSG Originals and MCD, for providing me an advance reading copy of this title.)
If you liked my review, feel free to follow me @parisperusing on Instagram.
Freshly wounded by the haunts of her past, a twentysomething runaway named Emma tries to outstrip the vestiges of her former life.
After her hitchhike turns into a bloody carjacking, Emma heads for the Badlands on a suicide pact — but her sweet Veronica leaves her stranded at a diner in an oblivion landscape we come to call the Black Hills. Out there in the forest is a deafening silence, a piercing quiet that conjures up the evils Emma has been trying to put an end to:
“My father used to tell me evil had to be invited in. … that evil doesn’t take people by surprise. In order for it to really get you, a tiny piece of you has to want it. He sure wanted it, my father. He drank it up until he lay down on the train tracks where he let it kill him. Literally let it split him in half. And that’s what I tried to do too, right? It’s what I’m still trying to do. Split myself in half.”
While taking refuge inside the diner, Emma notices the shimmer of a creature prowling nearby — a lonesome boy called Earl, unmistakable by the tinfoil mask concealing his face. Earl begs Emma to help dispose of his presumably dead father who “ate up my mother,” and it’s a bizarre entreaty from an 8-year-old child — a child clever enough to leverage his wishes with the gun he’s stolen from Emma in her sleep.
What draws Emma and Earl together next is the loneliness of one's sex and identity, the death of loved ones and hence love itself, and the revenant evil stirring beneath the surface of one's memory. Together, Emma and Earl forge an unlikely bond that is at once splintered and scary but everlasting all the same. At the core of Moulton's heart-pounding debut novel is a damaged woman with nothing left to lose but life itself and a lonely boy left searching for something powerful enough to kill his pain — that thing called love, which saves them both.
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I found Moulton's meticulous consideration to gender, pronouns, and sexuality with her characters to be so respectable — from Earl's innocent understanding of his own identity to Ray's violent revelation. Such beautiful, captivating tenderness shown here. While others may be offended by the story's escalating savagery and explicit approach to triggering concerns like self-harm, domestic violence, and child abuse, I greatly appreciated the emotional confidence and unapologetic honesty with which Moulton impelled this story.
(Thanks again, FSG Originals and MCD, for providing me an advance reading copy of this title.)
If you liked my review, feel free to follow me @parisperusing on Instagram.
September 11, 2019
A haunting, beautifully written novel about a girl with a torrid past who goes on one journey just to be taken down a different and unexpected path. How she transverses this path is greatly influenced by Earl, an unusual kid with a tinfoil butterfly mask.
When a book is touted as "The Shining meets About a Boy", you tend to have certain expectations walking into the book. I haven't read About a Boy but I can tell you that this is absolutely nothing like the Shining. This debut holds its own and doesn't need this to give readers the wrong impression. That being said, this novel covers a myriad of topics - some may be triggering, some may be distasteful and given with an eerie presence that will crawl under your skin, but there are also underlying topics that I felt were dealt with beautifully and for that I applaud the author.
Tinfoil Butterfly starts off strong. Emma sure likes to put herself in quite the predicaments. What is she running from? We find that the stitching on her abdomen is the least of her concerns and doesn't even touch the stitches that are crumbling apart inside her. The dialogue between Emma and Earl are a pleasure to read and at times the things Earl says really make your hair stand on edge. You forget they are in a real place and not some dystopian land.
The real love for this novel comes with the lessons that are learned along the way. Emma and Earl. Earl and Emma. Can they save each other or will they let evil in? Earl's world is full of strife and George is someone to be reckoned with, but at what cost? I found myself yelling at some of the decisions that were made. The demons they all have to face, both physically and mentally, are harrowing and disturbing.
This is not a fun, sunshine and rainbows read but most horror novels aren't. We get a sprinkling of paranormal and a dusting of darkness. However, in all of the despair and violence, there is always that little light of hope. Did I find myself rooting for the characters? This isn't a book where I feel you're allotted that. Instead, you're on this journey where you can't peel your eyes away as you need to know how it ends... but the reality is, it never does.... because that is life... and that is death.
"You begin, you begin, you begin. Or you end, you end, you end. Either way there is no stop. No go."
I'm not quite sure what's holding me back from a full 5 star read, but it is a solid 4 star read, a spectacular debut and the right audience will truly adore this story, but it is definitely not for everyone.
When a book is touted as "The Shining meets About a Boy", you tend to have certain expectations walking into the book. I haven't read About a Boy but I can tell you that this is absolutely nothing like the Shining. This debut holds its own and doesn't need this to give readers the wrong impression. That being said, this novel covers a myriad of topics - some may be triggering, some may be distasteful and given with an eerie presence that will crawl under your skin, but there are also underlying topics that I felt were dealt with beautifully and for that I applaud the author.
Tinfoil Butterfly starts off strong. Emma sure likes to put herself in quite the predicaments. What is she running from? We find that the stitching on her abdomen is the least of her concerns and doesn't even touch the stitches that are crumbling apart inside her. The dialogue between Emma and Earl are a pleasure to read and at times the things Earl says really make your hair stand on edge. You forget they are in a real place and not some dystopian land.
The real love for this novel comes with the lessons that are learned along the way. Emma and Earl. Earl and Emma. Can they save each other or will they let evil in? Earl's world is full of strife and George is someone to be reckoned with, but at what cost? I found myself yelling at some of the decisions that were made. The demons they all have to face, both physically and mentally, are harrowing and disturbing.
This is not a fun, sunshine and rainbows read but most horror novels aren't. We get a sprinkling of paranormal and a dusting of darkness. However, in all of the despair and violence, there is always that little light of hope. Did I find myself rooting for the characters? This isn't a book where I feel you're allotted that. Instead, you're on this journey where you can't peel your eyes away as you need to know how it ends... but the reality is, it never does.... because that is life... and that is death.
"You begin, you begin, you begin. Or you end, you end, you end. Either way there is no stop. No go."
I'm not quite sure what's holding me back from a full 5 star read, but it is a solid 4 star read, a spectacular debut and the right audience will truly adore this story, but it is definitely not for everyone.
December 19, 2024
“Madness in its simple form is narcissism - a self stared at so long and so hard that any potential beauty in it becomes horrifying.”
Emma hitchhikes from the Midwest to the Badlands in order to outrun a violent tragic past. After an argument with her latest driver Lowell, she is left in The Black Hills with no gas, a gun, and an impending snow storm. In an abandoned diner, she meets a young boy wearing a tinfoil mask. He steals her gun and asks for her help to get rid of George. Can they save each other?
Tinfoil Butterfly is a horror novel that also dabbles in other genres. I wish the supernatural aspect was explored a bit more because it read like an unfinished thought. It is tense, heartbreaking, unsettling, creepy, and disturbing.
Emma and Earl embark on a journey down an unexpected path only to find out that the true villain is the human capacity for evil. Themes of identity, gender roles, sexuality, innocence, and trauma are explored.
Tragically, they must wear the scars forever, but there is always hope!
Despite a disappointingly vague ending, I enjoyed this book!
Trigger warnings: self-harm, domestic violence, child abuse
3.5/5 stars rounded down
Emma hitchhikes from the Midwest to the Badlands in order to outrun a violent tragic past. After an argument with her latest driver Lowell, she is left in The Black Hills with no gas, a gun, and an impending snow storm. In an abandoned diner, she meets a young boy wearing a tinfoil mask. He steals her gun and asks for her help to get rid of George. Can they save each other?
Tinfoil Butterfly is a horror novel that also dabbles in other genres. I wish the supernatural aspect was explored a bit more because it read like an unfinished thought. It is tense, heartbreaking, unsettling, creepy, and disturbing.
Emma and Earl embark on a journey down an unexpected path only to find out that the true villain is the human capacity for evil. Themes of identity, gender roles, sexuality, innocence, and trauma are explored.
Tragically, they must wear the scars forever, but there is always hope!
Despite a disappointingly vague ending, I enjoyed this book!
Trigger warnings: self-harm, domestic violence, child abuse
3.5/5 stars rounded down
October 3, 2019
I didn't like this book, and I would have rated it only one star except that the writing was quite good - at least for 200 pages. But the last 50 pages or so were ill-conceived and badly executed so that it was hard to follow the story and know what was supposed to be happening. Basically, a young woman is hitchhiking to the Badlands, and a series of unpleasant and unrealistic events occur - including meeting a strange little boy and becoming involved in his miserable family life. The writing was good enough for the first half of the book that I hoped the bizarre and tragic story line would come together and make more sense, but instead, it took a turn towards the ridiculous as well as the highly unlikely. The beginning promised revelations that would explain the narrator's journey, but this promise is never kept. If the writer had been more experienced or skilled, the ending might have come across as wise and poetic, but ultimately, it was just very disappointing.
August 6, 2019
2.5 stars
Emma's trying to forget the past and finds herself recklessly hitchhiking across the U.S. with a guy named Lowell who has gone from harmless and dumb to a creepy potential serial killer.
Just outside the Badlands of South Dakota, Emma decides to make a run for it and ends up stranded in an abandoned town with a loaded gun and a snowstorm creeping in.
Emma takes shelter in an old diner where she meets Earl, an odd young boy wearing a tinfoil mask. Earl creeps her out but she's desperate to find gasoline to get her out of town before the snowstorm hits.
Before long, Emma is pulled into Earl's isolated world that quickly spirals into a house of horrors. Confronting the boy's demons, both real and imagined, brings Emma's tragic past to the surface and the two make a choice to survive.
Tinfoil Butterfly is a tough book for me to rate. It's a horror story so obviously I was willing to suspend my disbelief for a chilling story. I found myself several times saying out loud, "Nooooo, why would you do that? Who does that?" when there were major red flags / creepy vibes. (I'm that person throwing popcorn during a movie and yelling my frustrations at the screen. From the comfort of my own home of course.)
*yells at book* Get out of there girl! I'd rather take my chances walking to the next town in a blizzard!
Emma has a terribly sad and over-the-top disturbing past that readers learn in a series of flashbacks. Earl's current situation is also over-the-top and heartbreaking. I liked that the two characters found kindred spirits in each other but it felt rushed.
Overall, this read like an average horror movie: I was entertained and appreciated the disturbing atmosphere but was never invested.
And finally, this book is billed as "The Shining meets About a Boy" and that is completely inaccurate. The comparisons stop at boy in an isolated location.
I'd mention this book to readers who enjoy horror with metaphysical elements.
Thanks to MCD x FSG Originals and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Tinfoil Butterfly is scheduled for release on September 10, 2019.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
Emma's trying to forget the past and finds herself recklessly hitchhiking across the U.S. with a guy named Lowell who has gone from harmless and dumb to a creepy potential serial killer.
Just outside the Badlands of South Dakota, Emma decides to make a run for it and ends up stranded in an abandoned town with a loaded gun and a snowstorm creeping in.
Emma takes shelter in an old diner where she meets Earl, an odd young boy wearing a tinfoil mask. Earl creeps her out but she's desperate to find gasoline to get her out of town before the snowstorm hits.
Before long, Emma is pulled into Earl's isolated world that quickly spirals into a house of horrors. Confronting the boy's demons, both real and imagined, brings Emma's tragic past to the surface and the two make a choice to survive.
Tinfoil Butterfly is a tough book for me to rate. It's a horror story so obviously I was willing to suspend my disbelief for a chilling story. I found myself several times saying out loud, "Nooooo, why would you do that? Who does that?" when there were major red flags / creepy vibes. (I'm that person throwing popcorn during a movie and yelling my frustrations at the screen. From the comfort of my own home of course.)
*yells at book* Get out of there girl! I'd rather take my chances walking to the next town in a blizzard!
Emma has a terribly sad and over-the-top disturbing past that readers learn in a series of flashbacks. Earl's current situation is also over-the-top and heartbreaking. I liked that the two characters found kindred spirits in each other but it felt rushed.
Overall, this read like an average horror movie: I was entertained and appreciated the disturbing atmosphere but was never invested.
And finally, this book is billed as "The Shining meets About a Boy" and that is completely inaccurate. The comparisons stop at boy in an isolated location.
I'd mention this book to readers who enjoy horror with metaphysical elements.
Thanks to MCD x FSG Originals and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Tinfoil Butterfly is scheduled for release on September 10, 2019.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
June 30, 2022
2.5 stars. Didn’t really work for me tbh
May 5, 2019
Whoever did comparison promotions for this book should be chastised for shamelessness. But then again I was mainly attracted to this book because something about the oh so unlikely combination of The Shining and About a Boy proved irresistible. Also…inaccurate. Or, if you want to get technical about it, dramatically tangential at best. Yeah, there is a creepy locale, sort of, and a boy, sort of, but that’s about it. The story is really about a young woman named Emma who, following a personal tragedy, is hitchhiking to South Dakota to get away from her life. Because hitchhiking is neither safe nor reliable as far as transportation modes go, she ends up in a small abandoned town where she meets a boy wearing a tinfoil mask. I’d say from there on it’s a violent nightmarish ride into a snowstorm (aha, is that where they got the Shining then), but really Emma’s life has been a violent nightmarish ride leading up to this moment too. Which is another way of saying this book is relentlessly dark all the way. On a positive note it probably saved it from being YA, because otherwise a novel about an 18 year old and a 8 year old might have gone that way. But this is just too bleak, depressing and heavy to be suitable for younger audience. Maybe some…like Emma herself, a thoroughly tragic young lady. But also a survivor. She push comes to shove, she definitely steps up to the plate, especially once she becomes responsible for her young charge. This might be difficult for some readers, there are all sorts of violence perpetrated onto kids by themselves, by adults around them. But it makes for a darkly compelling read. In fact, it should be read in one sitting and I wish I did so. It’s quick enough of a read so that you can and the author presents such a well rendered literary desolation that it just isn’t a sort of place you want to go in and out of. For optimal results, immerse yourself completely for the duration, however difficult that might prove to be. Not an easy book to recommend, but fans of dark psychological fiction might enjoy this horrific trip of a story. Thanks Netgalley.
September 16, 2019
I am still not even sure what was real and what wasn't. Is Emma crazy, because I feel that way
sometimes. Is Earl even real? I just didn't get it and was so confused. I am sure some readers will love its weirdness, but me, not so much.
*Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.
sometimes. Is Earl even real? I just didn't get it and was so confused. I am sure some readers will love its weirdness, but me, not so much.
*Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.
September 13, 2019
I was, of course, drawn in by the pitch of this book being like “The Shining meets About a Boy.” What a strange and wonderful combination—I needed to know.
Despite a strong first act, this book lost speed for me in the middle and never fully roped me back in. It is definitely a weird book with innovative writing, strange ideas, and a unique perspective to offer. It is always fun to see what sort of innovation MCD is fostering. I am here for it, but this one just didn’t quite work for me.
The story is ultimately about recovery from the loss of a loved one and finding out who you really are in the midst of some pretty f-ed up situations. If you don’t find yourself while being hunted by, not one, but two crazy madmen, I don’t know when you will.
The relationship between Emma (who is running away from her life) and Earl (the kid who finds her in the badlands) is touching as much as it is a bit disturbing. I love how the author handled gender and identity throughout the book. It is a hard enough thing to grapple with on even ground and Moulton takes on this tough subject while running at full-tilt toward danger.
I could definitely see some Tarantino or Panos Cosmatos type director making a crazy, weird, amazing movie version of this.
My thanks to FSG x MCD for my copy of this one to read and review.
Despite a strong first act, this book lost speed for me in the middle and never fully roped me back in. It is definitely a weird book with innovative writing, strange ideas, and a unique perspective to offer. It is always fun to see what sort of innovation MCD is fostering. I am here for it, but this one just didn’t quite work for me.
The story is ultimately about recovery from the loss of a loved one and finding out who you really are in the midst of some pretty f-ed up situations. If you don’t find yourself while being hunted by, not one, but two crazy madmen, I don’t know when you will.
The relationship between Emma (who is running away from her life) and Earl (the kid who finds her in the badlands) is touching as much as it is a bit disturbing. I love how the author handled gender and identity throughout the book. It is a hard enough thing to grapple with on even ground and Moulton takes on this tough subject while running at full-tilt toward danger.
I could definitely see some Tarantino or Panos Cosmatos type director making a crazy, weird, amazing movie version of this.
My thanks to FSG x MCD for my copy of this one to read and review.
May 28, 2024
I have whiplash from this book.
I've wanted to read this for ages and I finally got to it since I wanted a short horror pick-me-up. This is a novel about our hitchhiker, Emma trying to make her way across the United States to escape what she left behind. With her car out of gas, a loaded gun, and the weather taking a cold turn, she seeks shelter in an abandoned diner. There she finds a little boy with a tinfoil mask, Earl who asks her for her help to get rid of George back in his part of the ghost town.
This was wild. In the first 100 pages, I didn't know where this story was headed. As the reader, Rachel Eve Moulton provides you with a past and present timeline along with some supernatural bits sprinkled in; so it was really hard to figure out where this was going! Unfortunately, the last parts of this book weren't my favorite; lowering this to a three-star. There's no reason for it. I know some people don't like the ending but I loved it! This was a solid read and I'm really interested in the author's other books.
I've wanted to read this for ages and I finally got to it since I wanted a short horror pick-me-up. This is a novel about our hitchhiker, Emma trying to make her way across the United States to escape what she left behind. With her car out of gas, a loaded gun, and the weather taking a cold turn, she seeks shelter in an abandoned diner. There she finds a little boy with a tinfoil mask, Earl who asks her for her help to get rid of George back in his part of the ghost town.
This was wild. In the first 100 pages, I didn't know where this story was headed. As the reader, Rachel Eve Moulton provides you with a past and present timeline along with some supernatural bits sprinkled in; so it was really hard to figure out where this was going! Unfortunately, the last parts of this book weren't my favorite; lowering this to a three-star. There's no reason for it. I know some people don't like the ending but I loved it! This was a solid read and I'm really interested in the author's other books.
October 30, 2019
I'm challenged by this one and it shifts in my estimation as I think about it.
On the one hand, it's a searing, blistering read: a harrowing descent into some bad, bad shit. On the other hand, I think that Moulton was trying to reach things she doesn't quite manage to get to, and the book doesn't quite live up to its setpieces.
But all in all, an interesting one. Willing to grade on a curve for it.
On the one hand, it's a searing, blistering read: a harrowing descent into some bad, bad shit. On the other hand, I think that Moulton was trying to reach things she doesn't quite manage to get to, and the book doesn't quite live up to its setpieces.
But all in all, an interesting one. Willing to grade on a curve for it.
November 9, 2022
Reading the lowest rated books on my TBR vlog: https://youtu.be/vIrC1XSD4uk
I really liked this! I found it very suspenseful and I thought the writing was beautiful. It's a little weird at times but I was captivated by it. I would be interested in reading more books by Rachel Eve Moulton.
Booktube | Instagram
I really liked this! I found it very suspenseful and I thought the writing was beautiful. It's a little weird at times but I was captivated by it. I would be interested in reading more books by Rachel Eve Moulton.
Booktube | Instagram
April 23, 2023
I hate giving out another two star rating, but I have had a run of disappointing books lately. This one was just a mess. Too much going on and it was like the author couldn’t decide whether to write a gritty horror/ thriller story with lots of psychos and mayhem (my preference), or a tear jerker with every kind of trauma and an uplifting Lifetime movie ending (no thanks). And this was the result. To be fair, the book was readable—even hard to put down at times—but ultimately unsatisfying.
August 16, 2023
first 100 or so pages were the right amount of unsettling & creepy, and then it was hard for me to care about anything in the second half and found myself skimming for a lot of it towards the end. i also hated that motherhood themes had to play a role in this story and the fact that the timelines were so disjointed. it was a quick, weird book, but not the good kind.
May 3, 2021
I've gotta be honest, I kind of had much higher hopes for this book. I don't think I'd consider it horror at all. Not even close. It was weird. And not in a good way. I read it in a day but...I might have struggled harder if I weren't just so curious to know the (very disappointing) ending. Just meh.
January 7, 2022
I don't know what I expected going into this, but this was so much more heartbreaking than I thought it would be. This is one of those realistic horrors where everything that happens seems like, yes, of course this could happen. Of course this does happen. Though this novel is infused with a sense of the paranormal, the true villain of this story is the reality of human evil. This novel asks the questions, How does evil take root in a human soul? What are the effects of this evil? How do we overcome this evil? And how do we get rid of it and choose love when evil seems to be all around us?
There are no easy answers. If you're looking for a simple and neat bow to tie off this story, you're not going to find it. Emma and Earl broke my heart time and time again. I wanted nothing but the best for them in a world that seemed determined to deal them nothing but tragedy and trauma. Such a tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, heartbreaking horror. It's surprising to me that this book has such a low rating because it drew me in from the beginning and did not let me go.
There are no easy answers. If you're looking for a simple and neat bow to tie off this story, you're not going to find it. Emma and Earl broke my heart time and time again. I wanted nothing but the best for them in a world that seemed determined to deal them nothing but tragedy and trauma. Such a tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, heartbreaking horror. It's surprising to me that this book has such a low rating because it drew me in from the beginning and did not let me go.
July 20, 2020
The first half held my interest, but that waned.
Its an attempt to bring a familiar plot up to date. It seems that each time Moulton builds tension it slips away with a passage of ridiculousness.
I must add, I am very picky with my horror.
Its an attempt to bring a familiar plot up to date. It seems that each time Moulton builds tension it slips away with a passage of ridiculousness.
I must add, I am very picky with my horror.
February 6, 2022
this is such an underrated book about survival and companionship. i could not put it down. it was not only thrilling but a beautiful story about perseverance at both a young and older age. i don’t usually hand out 5 stars but i can say with certainty this one deserves it
August 29, 2025
"Sometimes it's safer to be scared. That's what Mama says."
Well, this was wild, fucked up, and messy. Tinfoil Butterfly is a fast-paced mix of magical realism and horror, following Emma as she hitchhikes to the Badlands after her stepbrother Ray’s suicide. The book opens with Emma’s last bad decision: accepting a ride from a guy named Lowell, who only wants to use her for sex. After a particularly violent escape, Emma stumbles into a diner in the middle of nowhere and meets a creepy kid in a tinfoil mask. What starts as a quest to find gas for her van Victoria quickly shifts into a crazy ass journey to get this kid out and away from his abusive home.
This was too short for how much it tried to contain. I didn’t really know what to expect, but once Emma met Earl, I was hooked. Still, the pacing just kept accelerating until I was completely lost (Earl’s lies, Earl’s truths, Emma’s flashbacks, George and the mom, the crows, the creepy house, Victoria the van…). The flashbacks gave me whiplash, they came in so suddenly and so often that I sometimes couldn’t tell when one started or ended, which just cranked my confusion higher.
10/10 creepy kid factor at the beginning, and that alone made me think this was going to be a 5-star read. I really liked Earl, too. Here's a bit I liked from the kid:
"I'm very scientific," he says. "I like experiments. Every time I meet a new person, I try to decide how long they'll live if I pick them apart." (...) "It's fun to figure out which parts to take off first," Earl continues. "A leg. An arm. With some people, I make sure to take their head off right away so they won't scream. I'd take your head off last."
(...)
"Why wouldn't you take my head off first?"
"You'd have something to say when it came to the very end."
Sadly, it all became too much, too fast. Emma was likable enough that I wanted to root for her, but then… the flashbacks. At first, she’s presented as someone with a brother and a past abortion, but then . The ugliness feels intentional: Emma is someone who wants goodness and beauty, but everything she touches rots. Still… ugh. The brother stuff really bothered me, and I just couldn’t get past how gross it felt.
Content warning for abortion, transphobia, violence against children, and if (step)sibling weirdness isn't really your thing, then that too.
Well, this was wild, fucked up, and messy. Tinfoil Butterfly is a fast-paced mix of magical realism and horror, following Emma as she hitchhikes to the Badlands after her stepbrother Ray’s suicide. The book opens with Emma’s last bad decision: accepting a ride from a guy named Lowell, who only wants to use her for sex. After a particularly violent escape, Emma stumbles into a diner in the middle of nowhere and meets a creepy kid in a tinfoil mask. What starts as a quest to find gas for her van Victoria quickly shifts into a crazy ass journey to get this kid out and away from his abusive home.
This was too short for how much it tried to contain. I didn’t really know what to expect, but once Emma met Earl, I was hooked. Still, the pacing just kept accelerating until I was completely lost (Earl’s lies, Earl’s truths, Emma’s flashbacks, George and the mom, the crows, the creepy house, Victoria the van…). The flashbacks gave me whiplash, they came in so suddenly and so often that I sometimes couldn’t tell when one started or ended, which just cranked my confusion higher.
10/10 creepy kid factor at the beginning, and that alone made me think this was going to be a 5-star read. I really liked Earl, too. Here's a bit I liked from the kid:
"I'm very scientific," he says. "I like experiments. Every time I meet a new person, I try to decide how long they'll live if I pick them apart." (...) "It's fun to figure out which parts to take off first," Earl continues. "A leg. An arm. With some people, I make sure to take their head off right away so they won't scream. I'd take your head off last."
(...)
"Why wouldn't you take my head off first?"
"You'd have something to say when it came to the very end."
Sadly, it all became too much, too fast. Emma was likable enough that I wanted to root for her, but then… the flashbacks. At first, she’s presented as someone with a brother and a past abortion, but then . The ugliness feels intentional: Emma is someone who wants goodness and beauty, but everything she touches rots. Still… ugh. The brother stuff really bothered me, and I just couldn’t get past how gross it felt.
Content warning for abortion, transphobia, violence against children, and if (step)sibling weirdness isn't really your thing, then that too.
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