Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

Book: Paper Butterflies By Lisa Heathfield 

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Yasmin, Grade 12

Paper Butterflies is a heart wrenching story that opens your eyes to the cruelty and beauty of the world. The novel follows the story of June from the age of ten to 24 years old, with the majority of events taking place during her teenage years. After June’s mother’s death when she was six, she quickly found her father remarried to Kathleen and gained a step-sister in Megan. June’s father is both ignorant and blind to the cruel abuse and racism June experiences at Kathleen’s hands, and June is too terrified to speak up for herself, as her faith in others and their ability to help her escape dwindles. June finds some support in Blister, a boy she meets in the woods who creates tiny paper figures, and his loving family, but as the terror of her home life grows, her anger and desperation do as well, pushing her to her limit. This book was extremely impactful to me, as the way that the author portrays the emotions of the characters makes the reader feel for them and their indescribable pain. This book also left a mark on me in that it took a turn I never would have expected and have never seen in novels of this genre, yet it was the most harshly realistic way for the story to unfold. This novel gives an insight into parts of our society that are not often addressed, so this story was extremely eye opening. Despite being so realistic, the novel still perpetuates a message of hope, and it was definitely an emotional read. I would highly recommend it to fans of All the Bright Places, Kira Kira, and fans of John Green.