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Butterfly
"Exquisitely written . . . steeped in emotional clairvoyance." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
Plum Coyle is on the edge of adolescence. Her fourteenth birthday is approaching, when her old life and her old body will fall away, and she will become graceful, powerful, and at ease. Or so she desperately believes. Instead, over the next couple of weeks, the older brothers she adores court catastrophe in worlds that she barely knows exist, while Plum’s friends, her worst enemies, tease and test, smelling weakness. A powerful tale about the shifting bonds and psychological perils of adolescence.
Plum Coyle is on the edge of adolescence. Her fourteenth birthday is approaching, when her old life and her old body will fall away, and she will become graceful, powerful, and at ease. Or so she desperately believes. Instead, over the next couple of weeks, the older brothers she adores court catastrophe in worlds that she barely knows exist, while Plum’s friends, her worst enemies, tease and test, smelling weakness. A powerful tale about the shifting bonds and psychological perils of adolescence.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
24 people are currently reading
1090 people want to read
About the author
Sonya Hartnett
34 books311 followersSonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enjoyed by adults.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
May 31, 2020
i mean:
...and the sensation is of drifting under a spell or of losing time intergalactically, to the gentle ministrations of almond-eyed extraterrestrials.
September 18, 2010
If I would have read this book before ordering it for my library, I probably would not have ordered it for our teen collection. I think the style, plot, characterizations and tone are all wrong for YA, and I would be hard pressed to find many teens who would enjoy this book. The book is set in Australia, and although at first this is very evident, it eases up after a while. Plum is about to turn 14 and lives with her parents and two older brothers. Her friendships at school are very fragile, as they usually tend to be in teenage years. She comes off as moody, temperamental, dreamy, and impulsive (and I personally did not like her character). One day she befriends her neighbor Maureen, who happens to be having an affair with one of Plum's brothers, but Plum doesn't know this. Plum begins to idolize her, taking all of her advice and even becoming jealous when her husband is home (he seems to travel a lot). Plum is also possessive over a box of treasures or idols, and their importance is revealed during a birthday sleepover Plum has with all of her friends. In the end Plum comes to terms more or less with how life changes and Maureen seems to be as lonely as ever. I felt like Plum and Maureen were the main characters, and at times it even seemed as though Plum was a secondary character. The book also had this sad, tragic undertone that reminded me of the movie version of Little Children (haven't read the book, so I can't compare this to the book version). The ending left me wondering about what Maureen actually does with her son??? All in all, the author is great at weaving words and writing a very beautiful prose, but again, I don't think this is a teen book.
June 22, 2019
This was a re-read, I dimly remember reading this book when I was somewhere between 12 and 14 and I could barely remember the plot but I could remember the writing.
Butterfly is an exploration of the breakdown of relationships and friendships as seen through the eyes of Plum, an early adolescent.
I’d say, as far as the plot goes it seems insignificant or unremarkable but the writing is so impactful, I wouldn’t say it shines or sparkles but it catches the attention and hypnotises the mind into an altered state.
This book didn’t really make me feel uneasy, but something about the vibe was off and strange. I can’t work out if I’m neutral, in love or in complete loathing of that feeling but I can say it’s an exact replica of how I’ve felt on a dreary Sunday afternoon when I seem so catastrophically wrong and yet also inconsequential in this world.
Every line of this book feels like it could be a quote, there’s a poetic quality to each characters thoughts and actions and a solemn sobriety that comes with everyone and everything taking themselves far too seriously to be sensible. But that’s sort of how we’ve all felt at pivotal moments in our lives. This book just takes you and alters you slightly inside, it has the power to really change how you feel without riveting you with an intense plot.
Anyways maybe Sonya Hartnett is an incredibly talented witch or maybe I’m just an over emotional fuck.
Butterfly is an exploration of the breakdown of relationships and friendships as seen through the eyes of Plum, an early adolescent.
I’d say, as far as the plot goes it seems insignificant or unremarkable but the writing is so impactful, I wouldn’t say it shines or sparkles but it catches the attention and hypnotises the mind into an altered state.
This book didn’t really make me feel uneasy, but something about the vibe was off and strange. I can’t work out if I’m neutral, in love or in complete loathing of that feeling but I can say it’s an exact replica of how I’ve felt on a dreary Sunday afternoon when I seem so catastrophically wrong and yet also inconsequential in this world.
Every line of this book feels like it could be a quote, there’s a poetic quality to each characters thoughts and actions and a solemn sobriety that comes with everyone and everything taking themselves far too seriously to be sensible. But that’s sort of how we’ve all felt at pivotal moments in our lives. This book just takes you and alters you slightly inside, it has the power to really change how you feel without riveting you with an intense plot.
Anyways maybe Sonya Hartnett is an incredibly talented witch or maybe I’m just an over emotional fuck.
July 11, 2022
A coming of age novel about Plum, a fourteen year old girl learning about herself and who her friends are. The book is also about Maureen, the married woman living next door to Plum. We learn early on that Maureen, in her 30s and married, with a son named David, is having an affair with Justin, a young man in his early 20s, who is Plum’s older brother.
A novel that reads like young adult fiction, but ends darkly.
Shortlisted for the 2010 Miles Franklin award.
A novel that reads like young adult fiction, but ends darkly.
Shortlisted for the 2010 Miles Franklin award.
February 7, 2011
Plum's life is one big Awkward Phase. Reading this, I was plunged back into my adolescence, during which I wanted more than anything to just be invisible so no one could witness my gawky, bespectacled, desperately uncomfortable existence. Or no - like Plum, I knew the best thing would be to not care at all what people thought - but that was even more impossible than becoming a graceful, lovely teen.
Plum's efforts to grasp some control over her life are strange and rather pathetic - and yet are intriguing enough to grant the readers some insight into this imaginative and worthwhile person. Her friends are fairly awful, at least in a group, but we can see why they are rather fed up with Plum, who has decided that she can't just be herself with this crowd but can't figure out what to say or do instead. Plum is difficult, needy, and desperate for insight, and that last is exactly what makes her a worthy and interesting character - and one to whom many readers will relate.
The narration doesn't just stick to Plum, but, butterfly-like, lights occasionally upon Maureen and Plum's brothers Justin and Cydar. Cydar, a contemplative and moody 22-year-old, is a particularly poignant character; his feelings and worries about Plum, whom he has loved intensely since she was born, are strong and painful.
Plotwise, this is a typical adolescent slice-of-life, with Mean Girl friends and betrayed trust, but the breezy and quirky intensity of the narration, as well as Plum's vividness, raise this book above many novels for teens.
Plum's efforts to grasp some control over her life are strange and rather pathetic - and yet are intriguing enough to grant the readers some insight into this imaginative and worthwhile person. Her friends are fairly awful, at least in a group, but we can see why they are rather fed up with Plum, who has decided that she can't just be herself with this crowd but can't figure out what to say or do instead. Plum is difficult, needy, and desperate for insight, and that last is exactly what makes her a worthy and interesting character - and one to whom many readers will relate.
The narration doesn't just stick to Plum, but, butterfly-like, lights occasionally upon Maureen and Plum's brothers Justin and Cydar. Cydar, a contemplative and moody 22-year-old, is a particularly poignant character; his feelings and worries about Plum, whom he has loved intensely since she was born, are strong and painful.
Plotwise, this is a typical adolescent slice-of-life, with Mean Girl friends and betrayed trust, but the breezy and quirky intensity of the narration, as well as Plum's vividness, raise this book above many novels for teens.
June 15, 2011
This is a really hard review for me to write. I am not sure if it was the fact that the author is Australian or that the setting is in the 80′s. It took me awhile to read this book, I just could not get into it. I put it down a couple of times, but was determined to read til the end. I am glad that I did, the ending was great when the whole storyline comes together and the mysteries are all solved.
The characters were very interesting and that is the reason that I was drawn to finish the book. Plum is a perfect portrayal of a young teen just trying to make it in the world. She is trying to figure out where she fits in and whom she is. My favorite character would have to be Plum’s brother, Cyder. He was very layed back and seemed to be the brother that everyone went to for help. He was very trustworthy and would keep the siblings secrets. Cyder also gave advice and did not get upset if they chose not to use it. He absolutely surprised me at the end, by being Plum’s savior.
I would recommend this book for an older teen/adult. There was no swearing, but a minor sexual situation that a younger reader may not understand. Also, the writer has written the book in a way that it can tend to be confusing.
The characters were very interesting and that is the reason that I was drawn to finish the book. Plum is a perfect portrayal of a young teen just trying to make it in the world. She is trying to figure out where she fits in and whom she is. My favorite character would have to be Plum’s brother, Cyder. He was very layed back and seemed to be the brother that everyone went to for help. He was very trustworthy and would keep the siblings secrets. Cyder also gave advice and did not get upset if they chose not to use it. He absolutely surprised me at the end, by being Plum’s savior.
I would recommend this book for an older teen/adult. There was no swearing, but a minor sexual situation that a younger reader may not understand. Also, the writer has written the book in a way that it can tend to be confusing.
February 10, 2015
"One is only given a handful of choices before life is decided for you."
This was vigorously depressing, and the ending left me sick to my stomach. Excuse me while I go jump off a bridge.
This was vigorously depressing, and the ending left me sick to my stomach. Excuse me while I go jump off a bridge.
July 27, 2012
'Butterfly' is an achingly perfect depiction of what life is like when you’re 14 and female.
Although Hartnett is predominantly a writer for young adults, 'Butterfly' is targeted towards adult readers. You would never give this book to a fourteen-year-old girl; to do so would be to risk that encompassing pain to feel all the more sinister and raw. With all the darkness that pervades this novel, I found myself actually reveling in the fact that I was no longer a teenager, and never ever ever ever would I EVER again have to be subjected through the agony that accurately depicts those long years.
Sonya Hartnett is regarded as a brilliant writer for young adults, and yes, “brilliant” is definitely the word here, even if the adjective seems to be becoming redundant (a bit like “ahhmaaazing” really). The prose is brilliant – so much so, that sometimes I wish I had written it. Really, I can’t recall the last time I’d read such stunning similes. They were so gratifyingly creative that my eyes drew back to savour the whole sentence all over again, at least twice.
In contrast to the exquisite language, there's an uncomfortable, underlying darkness that diffuses Hartnett’s writing; the ominous foreboding tone is undoubtedly her trademark. 'Sleeping Dogs' captured the consistent grimness beautifully, and 'Butterfly' is no different.
The only disappointment I found with this book was that I unwillingly (yet completely) despised the protagonist. This teenage girl who calls herself “Plum” one minute, and “Aria” the next…okay, she's meant to be disliked by her friends - I get that - but the reader? Possibly. Or maybe it’s because I have a tendency to totally despise weak female protagonists. We’re definitely meant to feel pity for the poor girl, and the action she takes (what ignites the actual bullying) is definitely not cool. I didn’t even feel much empathy either and found myself wanting to actually slap her for being so damn pathetic. Not something you want to feel when trying to relax and read a book.
I also would’ve liked to discover a little more about Plum’s parents, who were simply shoved into the background with little say and not much else. The mother was even more of a mouse than Plum herself and this I found infuriating. There was something not quite right with this family, which is often the case with Hartnett’s characters. All of them seem to have a severe case of major depressive disorder, and you expect something sinister to creep into the paragraphs – something traumatic, taboo – and destroy them with every turn of the page.
If the action seems itchingly slow and the suspension just too purposely drawn out, stay poised. Hartnett doesn’t disappoint. Although subtle, and yes, darkly depressing…the end is something shocking.
Not a book to hand out to the teenagers.
Although Hartnett is predominantly a writer for young adults, 'Butterfly' is targeted towards adult readers. You would never give this book to a fourteen-year-old girl; to do so would be to risk that encompassing pain to feel all the more sinister and raw. With all the darkness that pervades this novel, I found myself actually reveling in the fact that I was no longer a teenager, and never ever ever ever would I EVER again have to be subjected through the agony that accurately depicts those long years.
Sonya Hartnett is regarded as a brilliant writer for young adults, and yes, “brilliant” is definitely the word here, even if the adjective seems to be becoming redundant (a bit like “ahhmaaazing” really). The prose is brilliant – so much so, that sometimes I wish I had written it. Really, I can’t recall the last time I’d read such stunning similes. They were so gratifyingly creative that my eyes drew back to savour the whole sentence all over again, at least twice.
In contrast to the exquisite language, there's an uncomfortable, underlying darkness that diffuses Hartnett’s writing; the ominous foreboding tone is undoubtedly her trademark. 'Sleeping Dogs' captured the consistent grimness beautifully, and 'Butterfly' is no different.
The only disappointment I found with this book was that I unwillingly (yet completely) despised the protagonist. This teenage girl who calls herself “Plum” one minute, and “Aria” the next…okay, she's meant to be disliked by her friends - I get that - but the reader? Possibly. Or maybe it’s because I have a tendency to totally despise weak female protagonists. We’re definitely meant to feel pity for the poor girl, and the action she takes (what ignites the actual bullying) is definitely not cool. I didn’t even feel much empathy either and found myself wanting to actually slap her for being so damn pathetic. Not something you want to feel when trying to relax and read a book.
I also would’ve liked to discover a little more about Plum’s parents, who were simply shoved into the background with little say and not much else. The mother was even more of a mouse than Plum herself and this I found infuriating. There was something not quite right with this family, which is often the case with Hartnett’s characters. All of them seem to have a severe case of major depressive disorder, and you expect something sinister to creep into the paragraphs – something traumatic, taboo – and destroy them with every turn of the page.
If the action seems itchingly slow and the suspension just too purposely drawn out, stay poised. Hartnett doesn’t disappoint. Although subtle, and yes, darkly depressing…the end is something shocking.
Not a book to hand out to the teenagers.
June 7, 2010
Butterfly is such a strange, unique story; but in the most positive way ever. I can’t explain in words exactly why I enjoyed this book so much. It’s not paranormal, it doesn’t have a breathtaking romance and it’s not anything that you can possibly relate to. But it just drew me in and I love how unexplainable that is for me.
Plum is painfully and awkwardly balancing between that line of child and teenager. She’s not like any character I’ve ever read before; sophisticated and somewhat immature at the same time, but just thriving to be accepted and liked. She makes some bad choices, but it only enhances the child that she still is, despite how badly she doesn’t want to be.
The relationships buzzing around Plum were small but contributed greatly to her story. Her strange yet overprotective brothers: one whom seems to be hiding something huge and one who is so antisocial that he puzzles Plum completely. Her clueless parents who don’t understand her at all and her understanding neighbor, Maureen, who takes Plum under her wing and turns her into Ariella, a more dazzling version of herself- they all have a hand in the ups and downs of Plum’s coming-of-age woes.
Overall, I ended up loving Butterfly. Sonya Hartnett writes gorgeously with complex characters and adolescent insecurities that are almost too emotional to be YA. Though I’m not a fan of the heavy Aussie slang, I do look forward to reading more of Sonya’s books. I definitely recommend that you check out Butterfly!
Plum is painfully and awkwardly balancing between that line of child and teenager. She’s not like any character I’ve ever read before; sophisticated and somewhat immature at the same time, but just thriving to be accepted and liked. She makes some bad choices, but it only enhances the child that she still is, despite how badly she doesn’t want to be.
The relationships buzzing around Plum were small but contributed greatly to her story. Her strange yet overprotective brothers: one whom seems to be hiding something huge and one who is so antisocial that he puzzles Plum completely. Her clueless parents who don’t understand her at all and her understanding neighbor, Maureen, who takes Plum under her wing and turns her into Ariella, a more dazzling version of herself- they all have a hand in the ups and downs of Plum’s coming-of-age woes.
Overall, I ended up loving Butterfly. Sonya Hartnett writes gorgeously with complex characters and adolescent insecurities that are almost too emotional to be YA. Though I’m not a fan of the heavy Aussie slang, I do look forward to reading more of Sonya’s books. I definitely recommend that you check out Butterfly!
November 7, 2010
This wonderfully unique story is a must-read coming of age book. But it is not for YA readers even though it is being marketed as such. This is an adult book - I knew that from page one. The intense attention to detail and the description of innermost feelings will not do for teen readers. This is far too realistic for those who are still in their teen years. Only adults who have lived through the blurred pain of adolescence will abide this true-to-life depiction of what it means to be young and feel betrayed by everyone on a daily basis. Strangely, as I read this, it was not my own teen self that I thought of, but rather my fourteen-year-old son. It was him I saw in the mood swings and harshness of Plum, the central character. It is also full of moments that made me gasp at the brutality of truth - confessions, wishes and remarks made by Plum, her older brothers and the older, wiser lady who lives next door. I could not put the book down for the last 100 pages and the ending was stark - a lot like life. This is not for teens. Read it if you remember being one - it will be all too real for you.
February 6, 2017
This book felt like it didn’t really fit into either a YA or adult category comfortably. It was certainly more YA than adult, but there were very adult-type themes that I really wouldn’t want a 14 year old (the age of the main character) reading. The main character also seemed a strange mix of mature and immature - being more observant of things than I would suspect most 14 year olds are normally, but then thinking things that made me roll my eyes because they seem so childish. But then perhaps that is just par for the course with most adolescents!
It’s set somewhere in Australia, but I don’t recall it ever mentioning specifically where. Some of the descriptions are beautiful, but that is probably the best part of the story.
This was my second Sonya Hartnett, and I enjoyed my first - The Children of the King - more than this one. 2.5★
It’s set somewhere in Australia, but I don’t recall it ever mentioning specifically where. Some of the descriptions are beautiful, but that is probably the best part of the story.
This was my second Sonya Hartnett, and I enjoyed my first - The Children of the King - more than this one. 2.5★
July 15, 2018
Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett is listed online as a middle grade, however, I highly disagree with this listing. It's an Australian book about a girl about to turn 14 who kind of has to learn a few things about herself and friendship. Where this is a very, very well written story, and the language is BEAUTIFUL, there are some themes that could be deemed inappropriate for middle-grade readers such as marijuana use, infidelity, and the use of curse words. You could also argue that this book can be mistaken to encourage eating disorder behavior because the main character struggles with body image issues, is told to do something unhealthy, and then literally never learns that that kind of behavior is unhealthy. Also, some lying is prevalent that maybe isn't completely dealt with. Overall, if you are an adult or new adult reader who doesn't mind reading about young characters, I recommend this book. It's beautifully written and can be an entertaining read. 3.5 stars.
June 10, 2012
What a fucking nasty book. The main character is nasty, her friends are nasty, the older brother she looks up to is nasty, the neighbour she idolises is nasty and the whole book left a foul feeling.
The nice characters like her parents and the 4 year old are fucked on and the reader is left feelimg hopeless and sullied.
I didn't like it. I thought it would hae been a much better book if a lot less happened. If all the plot twists and extra storylines had been left out and it was left as a simple slow story about a girl growing up in the 80s in suburban Australia.
The nice characters like her parents and the 4 year old are fucked on and the reader is left feelimg hopeless and sullied.
I didn't like it. I thought it would hae been a much better book if a lot less happened. If all the plot twists and extra storylines had been left out and it was left as a simple slow story about a girl growing up in the 80s in suburban Australia.
May 9, 2024
3.5 stelline
March 23, 2012
Whenever I saw this book at my school's library as I was browsering for a good book to read, the cover really drew me in. I thought it would be about a teenage girl changing into a butterfly or something of the sort. I was a little dissapointed when I came back for the book a week before my spring break, thinking that it would be something to entertain me while at home, to discover that the book was about a pre-teen girl going through girl puberty. A real shocker. Like that saying goes "never judge a book by it's cover. I need to start reading reviews about a book before I actually go out of my way to either buy it or check it out. A good way to not waste money or time on a book that is not worth while.
So butterfly is about a pre-teen girl struggling with herself. She wants to be different, pretty, skinny, but most importantly, wanted. All this seems in her reach when she meets her beautiful elegant neighbor Maureen, who offers Plum the possiblity of getting what she wants- with an ulterior motive: getting close to Plum's brother, Justin, who she secretly has an affair with.
I can't say I liked the book or that is was something worth reading, it wasn't. I was forcing myself to read it because I thought that if I gave it a chance, it would get better. There was something about the book that really freaked me out, not the part where Maureen ends up choking her kid to death in the end, which is horrible none the less, but the story's mood. It was gloomy and despressing. The characters were really weird. They all had some problem going on in their lives, and like someone in another review wrote, they never got resolved. I think it's just one of those books where you have to spaculate what happens next, which in my opinion, I could care less what happened to them later on in life. I'm gonna give the book a one star rating. It's not a book that I would recommend people read, but if like me you have nothing good going on during your spring break, you might want to pass your time by reading a really disturbing book. I guess a good reader and comprehansider, reads anything that comes their way for the sole pupose of better understanding.
I think the only character I liked was Plum's other older brother, Cydar. He was the most interesting and intriguing character of them all. He had this feeling to him of mystery and sadness that really drew me in. I guess I like the emo type of characters. No really, I pitied him throughout the story and I would have liked to have learned a little more about him. He loved his little sister Plum ever since she was born. I don't know though what kinda love it was.Again, like someone else wrote, it gave me the impression of Cydar loving his sister not as a sister but a lover. I didn't find this creepy in anyway. I thought it was sorta sweet and sad at the same time, loving someone that is forbidden to love and is frowned upon by society. I think if the story had been about him, and not his sister, the story would have been better. As I said before, I pitied him because of how much he loved and care for his sister, who never relly appriciated him. She was always more into Justin, her cool and sexy older brother, who never really did anything nice for Plum. Cydar who was always there for her, even if she wasn't aware of it, felt hurt. Who wouldn't feel hurt? He sold his fishes so he could get her the TV she wanted for her birthday, who never really got anything in return, i felt bad for him.
My least favorite character was Plum. She was to whiny and childish. I mean I understand how she was feeling, like nobody understood her, she felt alone, believe me I know that feeling. I did relate to her. She belittling herself by eating/not eating and trusting the wrong people, I know that. In my case, it wasn't trusting the wrong people, it was me not eating. I was starving myself, doing extreme extercise, sticking my fingers down my throat. Who doesn't want to be skinny, popular and pretty? Everyone wants that. At some point, I realized that I was harming myself and the people around me. The one thing that I felt disturbed by, was the fact that she stole from her "so called friends". I found that very werid. How Plum came up with all these stories of how she had those items of her friends hidden away in a brief-case, as hairlooms. Really? I felt like I was reading something about a physopath gone lose. I found it sad and amusing at the same time. Sad that she hated her friends but at the same time wanted their approval. Amusing that in the end, she realized that they weren't worth it. Why be friends with people that don't appriciate you for what you are.
Oooh the one character I truly wished had gone unharmed throughout the story was David. He was a victim in the story. I wished Sonya Hartnett hadn't ended David the way she did. I wished he hadn't died by his mothers hands, Maureen. It truly is a horrible thing for a mother to kill their own kids. Why have them if you don't want them in the first place. I guess in the end, it had to happen. Something like this was to be expected. Maureen, from the start showed signs of not caring about her kid. She "neglected" David in a way. I don't mean like she ignored him and let him fend for himself, more that she didn't show David the love a mother should have for their kin.
I'll sum up Justin and Maureen in the same paragraph. Justin, I didn't really like him. He was just one of those characters that is there, but isnt really there. He was just something "necessary" for the story to work. I don't blame him for having an affair with a married women, yet I blame him for the death of David. He was a part of why Maureen decided to kill her kid. If he hadn't lied to his sister and said all those horrible lies about Maureen, I don't think she would have done what she did. It had to be done though. He didn't want to be caught so he lied. He knew in the pit of his stomach that what he was having with Maureen was wrong. Forbidden. Something that could never be due to the fact that Maureen was still married and had a child. I'm glad in a way that he broke away from the harm he was doing. He should have man up and come true with the truth. Maureen, I sorta liked her and at the same time didn't. She manipulated and came close to Plum so she could be closer to Justin. Even if she was using Plum, I felt like she wasn't trying to harm her in anyway. She was a friend to Plum and an adviser. She helped her through hard times and also in dealing with the pain of losing the people that she was close to for the longest time. Maureen went a little crazy in the end. I bet she was crazy to begin with, maybe that was why her husband left. She lost her husband, Justin, and Plum. In the end she was alone, so maybe that's why she killed David. Justin could have been a little responsible for that, but it doesn't matter.
Plum's parents. I wished the author had told us in the story what was wrong with them. Why they were so sad throughout the story.
Plum's friends were just outright bitches to her. I understand that they were hurt when they found those lost items of theirs. I suspect that they just wanted and excuse to not be friends with Plum. Friends like that, I don't recommend anyone to have.
Well, I'm finished with this book. I'll be reading somthing new now:P
So butterfly is about a pre-teen girl struggling with herself. She wants to be different, pretty, skinny, but most importantly, wanted. All this seems in her reach when she meets her beautiful elegant neighbor Maureen, who offers Plum the possiblity of getting what she wants- with an ulterior motive: getting close to Plum's brother, Justin, who she secretly has an affair with.
I can't say I liked the book or that is was something worth reading, it wasn't. I was forcing myself to read it because I thought that if I gave it a chance, it would get better. There was something about the book that really freaked me out, not the part where Maureen ends up choking her kid to death in the end, which is horrible none the less, but the story's mood. It was gloomy and despressing. The characters were really weird. They all had some problem going on in their lives, and like someone in another review wrote, they never got resolved. I think it's just one of those books where you have to spaculate what happens next, which in my opinion, I could care less what happened to them later on in life. I'm gonna give the book a one star rating. It's not a book that I would recommend people read, but if like me you have nothing good going on during your spring break, you might want to pass your time by reading a really disturbing book. I guess a good reader and comprehansider, reads anything that comes their way for the sole pupose of better understanding.
I think the only character I liked was Plum's other older brother, Cydar. He was the most interesting and intriguing character of them all. He had this feeling to him of mystery and sadness that really drew me in. I guess I like the emo type of characters. No really, I pitied him throughout the story and I would have liked to have learned a little more about him. He loved his little sister Plum ever since she was born. I don't know though what kinda love it was.Again, like someone else wrote, it gave me the impression of Cydar loving his sister not as a sister but a lover. I didn't find this creepy in anyway. I thought it was sorta sweet and sad at the same time, loving someone that is forbidden to love and is frowned upon by society. I think if the story had been about him, and not his sister, the story would have been better. As I said before, I pitied him because of how much he loved and care for his sister, who never relly appriciated him. She was always more into Justin, her cool and sexy older brother, who never really did anything nice for Plum. Cydar who was always there for her, even if she wasn't aware of it, felt hurt. Who wouldn't feel hurt? He sold his fishes so he could get her the TV she wanted for her birthday, who never really got anything in return, i felt bad for him.
My least favorite character was Plum. She was to whiny and childish. I mean I understand how she was feeling, like nobody understood her, she felt alone, believe me I know that feeling. I did relate to her. She belittling herself by eating/not eating and trusting the wrong people, I know that. In my case, it wasn't trusting the wrong people, it was me not eating. I was starving myself, doing extreme extercise, sticking my fingers down my throat. Who doesn't want to be skinny, popular and pretty? Everyone wants that. At some point, I realized that I was harming myself and the people around me. The one thing that I felt disturbed by, was the fact that she stole from her "so called friends". I found that very werid. How Plum came up with all these stories of how she had those items of her friends hidden away in a brief-case, as hairlooms. Really? I felt like I was reading something about a physopath gone lose. I found it sad and amusing at the same time. Sad that she hated her friends but at the same time wanted their approval. Amusing that in the end, she realized that they weren't worth it. Why be friends with people that don't appriciate you for what you are.
Oooh the one character I truly wished had gone unharmed throughout the story was David. He was a victim in the story. I wished Sonya Hartnett hadn't ended David the way she did. I wished he hadn't died by his mothers hands, Maureen. It truly is a horrible thing for a mother to kill their own kids. Why have them if you don't want them in the first place. I guess in the end, it had to happen. Something like this was to be expected. Maureen, from the start showed signs of not caring about her kid. She "neglected" David in a way. I don't mean like she ignored him and let him fend for himself, more that she didn't show David the love a mother should have for their kin.
I'll sum up Justin and Maureen in the same paragraph. Justin, I didn't really like him. He was just one of those characters that is there, but isnt really there. He was just something "necessary" for the story to work. I don't blame him for having an affair with a married women, yet I blame him for the death of David. He was a part of why Maureen decided to kill her kid. If he hadn't lied to his sister and said all those horrible lies about Maureen, I don't think she would have done what she did. It had to be done though. He didn't want to be caught so he lied. He knew in the pit of his stomach that what he was having with Maureen was wrong. Forbidden. Something that could never be due to the fact that Maureen was still married and had a child. I'm glad in a way that he broke away from the harm he was doing. He should have man up and come true with the truth. Maureen, I sorta liked her and at the same time didn't. She manipulated and came close to Plum so she could be closer to Justin. Even if she was using Plum, I felt like she wasn't trying to harm her in anyway. She was a friend to Plum and an adviser. She helped her through hard times and also in dealing with the pain of losing the people that she was close to for the longest time. Maureen went a little crazy in the end. I bet she was crazy to begin with, maybe that was why her husband left. She lost her husband, Justin, and Plum. In the end she was alone, so maybe that's why she killed David. Justin could have been a little responsible for that, but it doesn't matter.
Plum's parents. I wished the author had told us in the story what was wrong with them. Why they were so sad throughout the story.
Plum's friends were just outright bitches to her. I understand that they were hurt when they found those lost items of theirs. I suspect that they just wanted and excuse to not be friends with Plum. Friends like that, I don't recommend anyone to have.
Well, I'm finished with this book. I'll be reading somthing new now:P
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2016
Plum Coyle is your typical adolescent girl growing up the 1980's in Australia. She goes through life trying to impress her friends, trying to gain attention, and essentially trying to be someone she isn't. This book is an accurate portrayal of what some young females must go through in order to feel accepted and fit in; however, Plum takes it a step further and tries too hard. Sonya Hartnett's depiction of adolescent life in The Butterfly is so awkward it hurts.
Plum, vying for attention from her cliquey group of girlfriends, makes some bad decisions. On top of that, she feels inferior when around them and is easily swayed. Hartnett does a nice job of illustrating how in some peer groups it's very "you're in" one minute and "you're out" the next. She is desperately trying to fit in, but it's like witnessing someone trying to push a circle into a square peg. Hartnett even tries to impress her older neighbor, Maureen, but their relationship ends up being an unhealthy one. Plum is desperate for a mentor. I was hoping she would find a group friend, but sadly, that never happened.
I gave this novel 2.5 out of 4 stars, because I felt that it wasn't really YA. Just like Plum, it's stuck somewhere in between. Yes, Plum is a fourteen year old girl, but some of the themes were much older. For example, this book isn't always focusing on Plum and her experiences. Parts of the novel focus on her brothers and the neighbor, Maureen, and lets just say it was rather edgy. For example, there's an affair/adultery depicted and detailed marijuana use. When the novel does focus on Plum, often times she is so eccentric and odd that I imagine many teens finding her to be annoyingly weird. She spends a lot of time focusing on puberty and body image to the point where it becomes unhealthy. I really didn't like that message especially since there was no closure around that issue.
On the other hand, Hartnett's writing style is simply beautiful. I haven't read an author so lyrical and poetic (with the exception of Maggie Stiefvater) in a long time. Her voice is extremely unique and descriptive. Hartnett can take a simple activity, such as walking down the street, and weave an extraordinary image in the reader's mind. This, I feel, may be lost and unappreciated on the average teen. In fact, this book felt very literary; it's almost like something that you might come across in a modern literature high school or college course. The theme was important and many young adults may not even take note of it. Hartnett suggests that we all go through a metamorphosis, just like a butterfly, and while some can undergo this change quite successfully, for others, it can be a challenging, messy process. Life and its situations, especially while you are an adolescent, aren't always easy or pleasant and this book certainly depicts that. Ultimately, life can be, as we like to refer to it at work, a gelatinous mess.
All in all, this book left me sort of lukewarm. I found many admirable qualities and important themes, but if I passed it on to a fourteen year old (as the ARC says fourteen and up) I think they might be bored to tears by the detailed descriptions as well as Plum's idiosyncrasies. Perhaps this book should be marketed to older high school students or as contemporary adult fiction? I think that age bracket would appreciate Hartnett's mystical writing style and controversial situations a bit more than your average younger teen.
Plum, vying for attention from her cliquey group of girlfriends, makes some bad decisions. On top of that, she feels inferior when around them and is easily swayed. Hartnett does a nice job of illustrating how in some peer groups it's very "you're in" one minute and "you're out" the next. She is desperately trying to fit in, but it's like witnessing someone trying to push a circle into a square peg. Hartnett even tries to impress her older neighbor, Maureen, but their relationship ends up being an unhealthy one. Plum is desperate for a mentor. I was hoping she would find a group friend, but sadly, that never happened.
I gave this novel 2.5 out of 4 stars, because I felt that it wasn't really YA. Just like Plum, it's stuck somewhere in between. Yes, Plum is a fourteen year old girl, but some of the themes were much older. For example, this book isn't always focusing on Plum and her experiences. Parts of the novel focus on her brothers and the neighbor, Maureen, and lets just say it was rather edgy. For example, there's an affair/adultery depicted and detailed marijuana use. When the novel does focus on Plum, often times she is so eccentric and odd that I imagine many teens finding her to be annoyingly weird. She spends a lot of time focusing on puberty and body image to the point where it becomes unhealthy. I really didn't like that message especially since there was no closure around that issue.
On the other hand, Hartnett's writing style is simply beautiful. I haven't read an author so lyrical and poetic (with the exception of Maggie Stiefvater) in a long time. Her voice is extremely unique and descriptive. Hartnett can take a simple activity, such as walking down the street, and weave an extraordinary image in the reader's mind. This, I feel, may be lost and unappreciated on the average teen. In fact, this book felt very literary; it's almost like something that you might come across in a modern literature high school or college course. The theme was important and many young adults may not even take note of it. Hartnett suggests that we all go through a metamorphosis, just like a butterfly, and while some can undergo this change quite successfully, for others, it can be a challenging, messy process. Life and its situations, especially while you are an adolescent, aren't always easy or pleasant and this book certainly depicts that. Ultimately, life can be, as we like to refer to it at work, a gelatinous mess.
All in all, this book left me sort of lukewarm. I found many admirable qualities and important themes, but if I passed it on to a fourteen year old (as the ARC says fourteen and up) I think they might be bored to tears by the detailed descriptions as well as Plum's idiosyncrasies. Perhaps this book should be marketed to older high school students or as contemporary adult fiction? I think that age bracket would appreciate Hartnett's mystical writing style and controversial situations a bit more than your average younger teen.
March 6, 2017
I have read the book Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett. Butterfly is about Plum Coyle, a troubled teen who is trying to find her way through life. She is the youngest out of 3. She has 2 older brothers and they are way more successful than her. She seems to be the odd ball in her family.
I recommend this book for teens and young adults that have struggled with self image and self importance issues. This book will help you learn more of how to cope with self damaging thoughts.
I do not like this book because I don’t think that the story is too slow going. In order for me to read it, I had to make time and force myself. It was long and hard to follow. Sometimes I had to reread pages because I couldn’t understand them. The plot is too focused on the main character and it doesn’t seems to give enough information.
I recommend this book for teens and young adults that have struggled with self image and self importance issues. This book will help you learn more of how to cope with self damaging thoughts.
I do not like this book because I don’t think that the story is too slow going. In order for me to read it, I had to make time and force myself. It was long and hard to follow. Sometimes I had to reread pages because I couldn’t understand them. The plot is too focused on the main character and it doesn’t seems to give enough information.
June 10, 2013
The first chapter I loved a lot! I just knew it was going to be a great book with a lot of passion and emotion but the rest of the book was like...meh...And just when I thought the book was actually starting to pick up and was getting good, it ended. Like...ended right where it shouldn't have.
July 12, 2016
God I hate teen fiction. Really, why model narcissistic paranoia for teens? Why not find a bigger picture that puts obsessing about friends and looks into some sort of context of white class privilege? Nauseating.
March 3, 2017
This was a coming of age book. It was kind of boring. I didn't like it very much.
December 12, 2020
I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. I was confused a lot of the time when reading it because I couldn't exactly figure out the theme. It is a depressing book that is not very appropriate. There are a couple of dirty parts that makes you uncomfortable and they are in no way sweet or romantic either. It was a unique book, but I wouldn't read it if you like happy books with good endings. The main character didn't appreciate her family who cared about her and she seeked attention and wanted to be someone that she was not. She had awful friends that she let treat her badly just because she wanted to say she had friends. Her older brother who she looked up to didn't seem to care about her like she wished he did. Her other older brother seemed to somewhat care about her and she didn't care as much about him. She was also kind of mean to her parents who tried their best for her. Overall, this book was okay. The title also seems to be misleading because it makes you think that this girl will spread her wings and overcome something or that she lives a fun and happy life, when she doesn't. The author did seem to put a lot of time into shaping the book, but the sadness in it wasn't the best way to end it.
January 17, 2011
A beautifully realized, but quite painful coming-of-age story. Plum is almost fourteen and is plagued with the usual self doubt and fears that haunt most teen girls her age. She worries that she is too fat, that she is not pretty, and that she must do anything to keep her friends, even when their behavior borders on the abusive. The opening scene of the novel, where Plum examines herself in a mirror, is brutal in its honesty and self-loathing. Plum vacillates between self-loathing and grandiosity, imagining herself as a rock star in the pop group ABBA or as a courageous volunteer in a botched experiment to get her ears pierced. Her next door neighbor, Maureen, housewife and mother of a young son, invites her over one evening and bolsters Plum’s ego by telling her she could be a fashion model and buying Plum expensive gifts. But Maureen has an agenda and it has nothing to do with Plum and everything to do with Plum’s attractive brother, Justin. Plum’s uneasy and rather rocky relationship with her friends crashes and burns at Plum’s birthday party, when it is revealed that Plum has nicked small objects from her friends, imagining that they have some sort of superstitious power to soothe her when she is unhappy or to make her feel more powerful. After that disaster, when Plum then discovers Maureen’s covert agenda, Plum confronts her , but the confrontation is unsatisfying. The novel ends, oddly enough, with Maureen’s voice , meditating on how life brings few things worth wanting.
Characters: Plum’s voice is completely authentic in its wavering between anxious self doubt and lurid flights of imagination. Her brothers, Justin and Cydar, are more sketchily drawn, especially the enigmatic and seductive Cydar, who loves Plum intensely, but is rather a cold fish. Justin is a bit of a caricature as an oblivious, serial ladykiller. He meets his match with the calculating Maureen, who uses Plum as an entrée to snagging Justin, just when Justin is tiring of her. Her meditation at the end of the novel is bleak and quite troubling, especially when she distractedly puts her hand over her child’s face, attempting to soothe him. Maureen is Plum full grown.
Writing: Filled with unusual and oddly yoked metaphors. I thought it worked, however. Skillful writing filled with emotion and psychological tension.
Themes: Family, growing up, betrayal, friendship, self worth.
I suspect this one will be a love it or hate it kind of novel. I was favorably impressed, despite the novel’s major flaw, its ending. Why the shift in voice from Plum to Maureen? The rather sinister movement of Maureen to cover her child’s face is odd. Is she smothering him? It does emphasize the bleak hopelessness that permeates the novel, but the ending just seemed to trail off into Maureen’s distracted musings. Plum has been distracted into happiness by Cydar’s gift of a television, which we know will end all too soon when she lapses back into insecurity. But I feel that the novel should have ended with Plum’s voice, not Maureen’s, even if Plum seems to have learned little or nothing from her experiences. That, at least, would have been some sort of resolution (experience doesn’t always lead to wisdom).
Still, this novel is quite brilliantly written and Plum is one of the most memorable characters that I have encountered.
Characters: Plum’s voice is completely authentic in its wavering between anxious self doubt and lurid flights of imagination. Her brothers, Justin and Cydar, are more sketchily drawn, especially the enigmatic and seductive Cydar, who loves Plum intensely, but is rather a cold fish. Justin is a bit of a caricature as an oblivious, serial ladykiller. He meets his match with the calculating Maureen, who uses Plum as an entrée to snagging Justin, just when Justin is tiring of her. Her meditation at the end of the novel is bleak and quite troubling, especially when she distractedly puts her hand over her child’s face, attempting to soothe him. Maureen is Plum full grown.
Writing: Filled with unusual and oddly yoked metaphors. I thought it worked, however. Skillful writing filled with emotion and psychological tension.
Themes: Family, growing up, betrayal, friendship, self worth.
I suspect this one will be a love it or hate it kind of novel. I was favorably impressed, despite the novel’s major flaw, its ending. Why the shift in voice from Plum to Maureen? The rather sinister movement of Maureen to cover her child’s face is odd. Is she smothering him? It does emphasize the bleak hopelessness that permeates the novel, but the ending just seemed to trail off into Maureen’s distracted musings. Plum has been distracted into happiness by Cydar’s gift of a television, which we know will end all too soon when she lapses back into insecurity. But I feel that the novel should have ended with Plum’s voice, not Maureen’s, even if Plum seems to have learned little or nothing from her experiences. That, at least, would have been some sort of resolution (experience doesn’t always lead to wisdom).
Still, this novel is quite brilliantly written and Plum is one of the most memorable characters that I have encountered.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2012
"Butterfly" marks my first foray into Sonya Hartnett's fiction. I went into the book knowing nothing of the plot, though the cover and title suggested a cutesy coming of age story. And boy, was I ever surprised.
This is the tale of "Plum's" painful transition to adolescence. But is it weird to say that the story that stuck to me, was that of Maureen and her extreme downward spiral?
For me, Justin is the most deplorable character in this book. He is an adult, he is responsible for his own relationships, yet he is too much of a coward to bluntly tell Maureen that he wants to break off their affair completely. I believe it is because of his lying and skipping around the truth that led Maureen to her sad fate. Even towards the end, when it becomes clear how twisted the situation has become in Maureen's mind, he does not go and clear things up with her, instead relying on his siblings to save him from the situation.
I cant understand how some reviews state the end is a happy one. Maureen, misunderstanding that Justin's problem with the relationship is not her but her "circumstances" i.e. she is married and has a child, smothers her child in the end, believing that now she will be free to be with him. When I read that last passage, my mouth was left agape... I could not help but feel sorry for her.
Even when it is revealed that she had ulterior motives while befriending Plum, most of the time, the exchanges between them felt genuine and I felt that a part of her really wanted to help Plum through her difficulties.
And for the main story, Hartnett describes the horrors of puberty, the need to belong and feel accepted, the cruelty of teenagers extremely well. Ive seen many girls like Plum at my school as well as people like Rachel, Sam, who like to dominate and bully people into feeling inferior. Plum is a typical teen girl, in that she is concerned about her appearance, weight, and is eager to please anyone who might give attention to her. I don't like to read about weak female characters, as I cannot identify with most of their "concerns" but I was glad to see hints of a stronger Plum towards the end of the novel, though how long her new resolve will last is questionable.
Her family on the other hand is not that well sketched out. Her mother and father only make passing appearances and Justin too seems like a prop for the plot to move along. Plum's hero worship of Justin also adds to my dislike of him. It is clear he is not as invested in Plum as her other brother(whose name I cant remember). The other brother is the brains of the family, the most sensible one and can see the problems with his family members' lives long before they are aware of it. But he is presented too hard as the stoic, philosophizing kind (nearly always with a smoke in hand) for me to take him seriously.
In the end, it is a story of two different women, who bond due to their mutual loneliness, and while one has some hope for the future, the other was doomed to despair right from the start. Really, that ending just broke my heart.
This is the tale of "Plum's" painful transition to adolescence. But is it weird to say that the story that stuck to me, was that of Maureen and her extreme downward spiral?
For me, Justin is the most deplorable character in this book. He is an adult, he is responsible for his own relationships, yet he is too much of a coward to bluntly tell Maureen that he wants to break off their affair completely. I believe it is because of his lying and skipping around the truth that led Maureen to her sad fate. Even towards the end, when it becomes clear how twisted the situation has become in Maureen's mind, he does not go and clear things up with her, instead relying on his siblings to save him from the situation.
I cant understand how some reviews state the end is a happy one. Maureen, misunderstanding that Justin's problem with the relationship is not her but her "circumstances" i.e. she is married and has a child, smothers her child in the end, believing that now she will be free to be with him. When I read that last passage, my mouth was left agape... I could not help but feel sorry for her.
Even when it is revealed that she had ulterior motives while befriending Plum, most of the time, the exchanges between them felt genuine and I felt that a part of her really wanted to help Plum through her difficulties.
And for the main story, Hartnett describes the horrors of puberty, the need to belong and feel accepted, the cruelty of teenagers extremely well. Ive seen many girls like Plum at my school as well as people like Rachel, Sam, who like to dominate and bully people into feeling inferior. Plum is a typical teen girl, in that she is concerned about her appearance, weight, and is eager to please anyone who might give attention to her. I don't like to read about weak female characters, as I cannot identify with most of their "concerns" but I was glad to see hints of a stronger Plum towards the end of the novel, though how long her new resolve will last is questionable.
Her family on the other hand is not that well sketched out. Her mother and father only make passing appearances and Justin too seems like a prop for the plot to move along. Plum's hero worship of Justin also adds to my dislike of him. It is clear he is not as invested in Plum as her other brother(whose name I cant remember). The other brother is the brains of the family, the most sensible one and can see the problems with his family members' lives long before they are aware of it. But he is presented too hard as the stoic, philosophizing kind (nearly always with a smoke in hand) for me to take him seriously.
In the end, it is a story of two different women, who bond due to their mutual loneliness, and while one has some hope for the future, the other was doomed to despair right from the start. Really, that ending just broke my heart.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2010
BUTTERFLY, by Sonya Hartnett, brings you to a time when everything sucks, you can never be good enough and most of all you just want to be liked by everyone; that time was when you were 14 years-old like Plum in Butterfly. Plum doesn’t like too much about herself, she collects trinkets that remind her of people she wishes she were more like, and she finds a fast friend in an older woman who gives her advice she thinks will make her better. This is a truly wondrous coming of age story of the typical insecure young girl.
I picked Butterfly from a list and was expecting a girl finding herself through harsh times but this is truly a coming of age tale. Ariella “Plum” Coyle doesn’t want to be herself; she wants to be prettier, thinner, and of course more popular. She thinks all of those impossible until she meets Maureen who is more entwined with her family than she realizes. Maureen promises Plum what she wants if she’ll do this or change her name to that, but when Plum’s friends just begin to like her and Maureen’s advice seems foolproof shocking discoveries are made and Plum’s world falls apart.
I find that Sonya Hartnett is able to capture the pure hell that a young teenage girl must endure just to be happy. Plum faces everything that a 14 year-old must face. Problems with how she looks, not being popular enough, not being able to be yourself. Plum puts a smile on for people she doesn’t honestly like but is desperate for them to like her. Like anybody Plum wants to fit in. She finds refuge in her brothers, Justin and Cyder but finds that sometimes you cannot even trust the ones you truly do love.
I have not read any of Sonya Hartnett’s other novels but I wil be looking in to them. This novel is easily comparable to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye but set in modern time from a less cultured young girl point of view. I was astounded at how accurately Hartnett was able to capture the evilness and snippiness of Plum’s ‘friends’. Overall this book is absolutely terrific. You’ll find yourself wanting to help guide Plum away from the bad people and easily avoidable messes.
I picked Butterfly from a list and was expecting a girl finding herself through harsh times but this is truly a coming of age tale. Ariella “Plum” Coyle doesn’t want to be herself; she wants to be prettier, thinner, and of course more popular. She thinks all of those impossible until she meets Maureen who is more entwined with her family than she realizes. Maureen promises Plum what she wants if she’ll do this or change her name to that, but when Plum’s friends just begin to like her and Maureen’s advice seems foolproof shocking discoveries are made and Plum’s world falls apart.
I find that Sonya Hartnett is able to capture the pure hell that a young teenage girl must endure just to be happy. Plum faces everything that a 14 year-old must face. Problems with how she looks, not being popular enough, not being able to be yourself. Plum puts a smile on for people she doesn’t honestly like but is desperate for them to like her. Like anybody Plum wants to fit in. She finds refuge in her brothers, Justin and Cyder but finds that sometimes you cannot even trust the ones you truly do love.
I have not read any of Sonya Hartnett’s other novels but I wil be looking in to them. This novel is easily comparable to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye but set in modern time from a less cultured young girl point of view. I was astounded at how accurately Hartnett was able to capture the evilness and snippiness of Plum’s ‘friends’. Overall this book is absolutely terrific. You’ll find yourself wanting to help guide Plum away from the bad people and easily avoidable messes.
October 7, 2009
Plum is a fruit sitting unripened on the vine, she is round and awkward and unattractive. Aria is a song, beautiful and stylish, with the potential for fame and stardom. But Ariella Coyle is a butterfly.
Plum has always felt out of place, her family is not like other families, her house is not like other houses, and she is not like other girls. Plum is at that age where change is everywhere, she is growing up, no longer a child but still is treated like one. Nothing is under her control, her friends, her family, her body. It's not easy turning fourteen.
Plum has trouble fitting in, she is unsure of herself and her place in the world, in other words she is a teenager. Plum, however, has a secret weapon; hidden deep under her bed Plum has stored her most sacred possessions that are able to give her strength and courage. There is also the 'sister' she never had, a secret friend just over the fence.
But what is left for Plum when her world comes crashing down, and her secret possessions under the bed are no longer there for her, her secret friend a friend no more?
Butterfly is the story of growing up and learning that life is messy. Life is change. There are traumas and teasing and lies, but there is also understanding and selfless acts of love. This is a charming story of family, friends and life, which speaks to everyone who is about to turn fourteen, or anyone who has ever been fourteen. A greatly enjoyable book that has something for everyone.
Plum has always felt out of place, her family is not like other families, her house is not like other houses, and she is not like other girls. Plum is at that age where change is everywhere, she is growing up, no longer a child but still is treated like one. Nothing is under her control, her friends, her family, her body. It's not easy turning fourteen.
Plum has trouble fitting in, she is unsure of herself and her place in the world, in other words she is a teenager. Plum, however, has a secret weapon; hidden deep under her bed Plum has stored her most sacred possessions that are able to give her strength and courage. There is also the 'sister' she never had, a secret friend just over the fence.
But what is left for Plum when her world comes crashing down, and her secret possessions under the bed are no longer there for her, her secret friend a friend no more?
Butterfly is the story of growing up and learning that life is messy. Life is change. There are traumas and teasing and lies, but there is also understanding and selfless acts of love. This is a charming story of family, friends and life, which speaks to everyone who is about to turn fourteen, or anyone who has ever been fourteen. A greatly enjoyable book that has something for everyone.
April 19, 2015
At first, when I read "Of a Boy" by Sonya Hartnett, I fell in love. The prose was lyrical and haunting, and the characters were flawed and realistic. I immediately purchased "Butterfly" and read it.
It is quite similar to "Of a Boy." The main character is a troubled child, though slightly older in this case, and all the other characters, minor and major, have some sort of major, depressing issue. I finished this book and began disliking both "Of a Boy" and "Butterfly." For goodness sake, Ms. Hartnett, there is joy in this world! Yes, it is a messed up world, and yes, horrible things happen. That's life. And that is also why the beautiful things, like love, or roses, or the ocean in early morning, are so much more wonderful. Most of the stories I write are dark. There are often deaths. Because that is life. But the point of my stories is to show some sort of hope. The character grows, or it is implied to the reader that things will work out. Because guess what, Ms. Hartnett? That's life too. To write a sad story is understandable. But to write an entirely , pointlessly depressing story, with no character growth and no happiness, is inexcusable, and not even the most breathtaking prose can fix that.
It is quite similar to "Of a Boy." The main character is a troubled child, though slightly older in this case, and all the other characters, minor and major, have some sort of major, depressing issue. I finished this book and began disliking both "Of a Boy" and "Butterfly." For goodness sake, Ms. Hartnett, there is joy in this world! Yes, it is a messed up world, and yes, horrible things happen. That's life. And that is also why the beautiful things, like love, or roses, or the ocean in early morning, are so much more wonderful. Most of the stories I write are dark. There are often deaths. Because that is life. But the point of my stories is to show some sort of hope. The character grows, or it is implied to the reader that things will work out. Because guess what, Ms. Hartnett? That's life too. To write a sad story is understandable. But to write an entirely , pointlessly depressing story, with no character growth and no happiness, is inexcusable, and not even the most breathtaking prose can fix that.
July 27, 2011
This is my first tast of Sonya Hartnett's talents, and while I wasn't knocked-out-wowed, I was certainly impressed with the opening and scene setting. (As I get older I'm certainly loving books set in 80's suburban Australia.) Hartnett's strengths, in this book at least, are descriptive and emotional - the details (Cydar's fish tanks, the smells and plant life of summer in suburbia) are wonderful, but she tries to squeeze in a whole other story about pubescent girls and the horror of school, and while this is a worthy subject, it seems to get a bit of short shrift in 'Butterfly'. It seems as though it should be either a much longer work that continues into Plum's out of high school years, or just an evocative short story, but falls between the two and is just slightly disappointing. Definetly worth a read, but feel that Hartnett has much bigger tricks awaiting.
January 13, 2020
Personal Response
I think that the book Butterfly is interesting with a few twists. This book was very different than any other book that I have ever read. I enjoyed this book but after knowing how it turned out I might not have picked it.
Plot
Plum Coyle’s fourteenth birthday is approaching. She hopes her old life will fall away and she will become new. Plum thinks that her life can’t get any worse, or can it? Her friends soon find out that she has kept one of each girl’s favorite objects and her older brother, Justin, is dating her next door neighbor Maureen. How will her friends react when they realize that she has their favorite object they thought was lost forever.
Recommend
I recommend this book to teenage girls age 13-19. The main character is a 13 year old girl who is turning 14. This book is about dealing with teenage drama and the coming of age.
I think that the book Butterfly is interesting with a few twists. This book was very different than any other book that I have ever read. I enjoyed this book but after knowing how it turned out I might not have picked it.
Plot
Plum Coyle’s fourteenth birthday is approaching. She hopes her old life will fall away and she will become new. Plum thinks that her life can’t get any worse, or can it? Her friends soon find out that she has kept one of each girl’s favorite objects and her older brother, Justin, is dating her next door neighbor Maureen. How will her friends react when they realize that she has their favorite object they thought was lost forever.
Recommend
I recommend this book to teenage girls age 13-19. The main character is a 13 year old girl who is turning 14. This book is about dealing with teenage drama and the coming of age.
October 9, 2010
This book was really well reviewed, but I didn't like it much and I can't imagine it flying off the shelves. Plum is an insecure almost-13-year-old whose place among her mean girl friends is precarious. She befriends her next door neighbor who, unbeknownst to Plum, is having an affair with her beloved older brother. Things come to a head on her 14th birthday, when Plum finds out she indeed has no friends.
I found none of the characters particularly sympathetic and most were downright unlikeable. The title suggests that Plum will turn into a butterfly from the ugly caterpillar she is, but that didn't seem to happen either. Although she gets some insight into herself and the people around her, it doesn't make her more appealing in any way. Maybe I'm missing something???
I found none of the characters particularly sympathetic and most were downright unlikeable. The title suggests that Plum will turn into a butterfly from the ugly caterpillar she is, but that didn't seem to happen either. Although she gets some insight into herself and the people around her, it doesn't make her more appealing in any way. Maybe I'm missing something???
June 18, 2015
On the one hand, this book was well written and described many of the hardships of growing up in a very articulate and heart wrenching manner. On the other, the characters were so unlikeable and the story so depressing that it was difficult to read. I think this book would have been a whole lot better if there had been some sort of redemption or hope for the characters but there was none. Why write a book like that? I think on the whole, people don't want to feel hopeless and depressed at the end of the story (unless it is a true one in which case the author can't change the facts).
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