Book Review – The Butterfly Storm by Kate Frost

The Butterfly Storm
Kate Frost
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 451 KB
Publisher: Lemon Tree Press (5 Jun 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B00D8NMGNA

This is somewhat of a coming-of-age story even though the protagonist is not a young teen learning how to be an adult. Sophie is in her late twenties, but in a way she, too, must come into full maturity. She has left England to be with her boyfriend in Greece, thinking that move would make her happy. It does in some ways, but when it becomes clear that Alekos is torn between the demands of his mother and Sophie’s needs, Sophie slowly becomes disenchanted with the whole fantasy of moving to the romantic setting and living happily ever after.

It doesn’t help that Sophie has had a love/hate relationship with her mother – or mum in British vernacular. Sophie has left on bad terms with her mum and is not sure if they will ever smooth things over. That becomes a bigger challenge when her mother, Lelia, is injured in an accident and Sophie returns home to help, if her mother will have her.

Sorting out life’s complexities is never easy for anyone, and Sophie is not spared as the challenges mount chapter after chapter. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will let new readers be as surprised as I was at some of the turns the story takes.

There were some things that I absolutely loved about this book. The descriptions of the places Sophie went were so well done that I was always there with her. The cultural differences between Greece, England, and what I am familiar with here in the States, were also very interesting and sometimes amusing.

I also enjoyed the thawing of the ice between Sophie and her mum, and that was one of the best parts of the storyline – too see them both take baby steps toward each other instead of pushing away, which had been their pattern up to this point. In my opinion, this is when the story really took off, and the book became much more enjoyable to me. The new characters who were introduced were more likable than some of those in Greece, including Alekos who was too immature and weak willed to be the man Sophie needed.

The story structure seemed a little off balance to me, with the first part of the story when Sophie was in Greece taking too much space with scenes that were at times repetitious and other times not directly relating to the point of the story. It wasn’t until well into the book that I got a sense of what Sophie’s quest was really about.

Also a little off to me was Sophie’s interest in Ben. This is the second book I have read recently that had a protagonist who was in a committed relationship, yet seriously entertained the idea of having sex with another person. That bothers me. Perhaps because I am of a generation that does not view sex the way young people do today – something I want, so why not? Even though other readers may not take issue with that plot point, it did make it harder for me to fully embrace Sophie as a character.

However, I decided to treat Sophie like I do my own children and separate how I felt about the behavior from how I felt about the person. That did make it easier for me to stay with her until the conclusion, which was very satisfactory. but again, I will let other readers find out what happens to Sophie on their own. No spoilers here. (smile)