Paper Butterflies

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I devoured this novel in just two sittings as the beauty of the writing and the poignancy of the tale compelled me to keep going until I discovered the light at the end of the tunnel. This tale wasn't sad in its entirety however. The sadness was alleviated by June's happiness when with her only friend, Bliss. Seeing their relationship progress gave me real joy and a hope for a better ending to her miserable existence. The plot took an unforeseen turn, however, that still gives me chills to think about. But then June meets Blister, a boy in the woods. In him, she recognises the tiniest glimmer of hope that perhaps she can find a way to fly far, far away from her home and be free. Because every creature in this world deserves their freedom... But at what price? It's a book about how family members, teachers, society, all authority figures can fail someone so entirely. It's about how the truth can be grossly twisted, to devastating effect. This is a must read of a book. More people need to read this book. Simply to understand what a brilliant author Lisa is, and to raise awareness of child abuse. June doesn't have any respite at school either. She is horrifically bullied to the point where the children abuse her whenever they can. Holding her down and painting her skin white to match theirs is a scenario I will not forget.

to Make a Paper Butterfly (with Pictures) - wikiHow How to Make a Paper Butterfly (with Pictures) - wikiHow

I also really loved the concept of June forgive herself without becoming overly preachy. This is so important to me in survivor books & Heathfield gets this done right. Overall just such an important book & most recommended. If there's ONE YA book to read this year- it's this one. And although I would love to see more of these characters, I'm not sure if a sequel would be needed, because this is just PERFECT as it is. June's recounted tales of the tragedy of her young life are intersected with glimpses at her full-grown self and how she is struggling to cope with and to accept her abuse. Primarily, however, this isn't an adult telling a memoir, but is viewed through the child's perspective as she relives her ordeal. It feels real and each moment is made more heartbreaking because of it. To open this book is to step into a disturbing world – June’s world. June is a young girl who lives with her step-mother and step-sister. Her dad lives there too, except he’s away a good deal, working. June’s mother died, she drowned. All words that can be used to describe this powerful novel from the lovely Lisa Heathfield. Paper Butterflies made me feel irrationally angry and left me feeling broken hearted whilst simultaneously filling me with hope. I think it is safe to say that Lisa Heathfield is a master of pulling on our heart strings whilst dealing with the most sensitive and difficult of topics. These easy paper butterflies where first published in Feb 2017 and have been republished for your conveniencePaper Butterflies is an unforgettable read, perfect for fans of Lisa Williamson's The Art of Being Normal, Sarah Crossan's Moonrise, Jandy Nelson, Jennifer Niven and Louise O'Neill. June’s dad just annoyed me so much. I know that he didn’t know the abuse was going on but whenever June tried to tell him that her step-family hated her and that they were mean to her, the Dad just brushed it off and told June to stop being silly. I mean, c’mon! That’s just crazy! How can a parent be so careless?! He would tell June all of the time how much he loved her but then didn’t even listen to what she was saying. Well done, Dad. Well done. He was right side up, and I was upside down, and I didn't want to live with two feet on the ground, I was happy in my chaos, and he was the straightest arrow I'd ever seen." I really loved the structure of this book and the fact we flipped from June’s young life and upwards whilst also fast forwarding to the ‘After’. The big reveal of the ‘After’ was a huge surprise to me. I had no idea it was coming and I definitely wasn’t expecting it. The last few chapters of this book gave me so much to think about and I have to thank Lisa Heathfield for that. She truly brings into question the importance of a victim speaking out and shows that by not speaking out things can get even worse than imaginable. I would hope that reading this book may give encouragement to victims of abuse to feel able to talk to someone, to push past that barrier of fearing they will not be believed and to communicate their pain to someone. Blister’s family were the complete contrast to June’s and I loved them so much. They welcome June with open arms and make her feel welcome and like she is part of their family.

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Stand By Me meets We Were Liars- a heartbreaking and stunning breakout novel for teenagersfrom the award-nominated author of Seed. The narration is alternated with the "BEFORE" and the "AFTER" parts and I swear you won't ever imagine what is the after part after the actual AFTER! I would love to hear what ideas you have for using these lovely easy paper butterflies! Do I need a butterfly template to make these? The only moments of hope within this book, in fact, come from her relationship with a boy (of course) down the street. I’ve talked before about the ways in which the trend of using romance as the way to spur a character’s self-actualization is harmful and creates stagnant narratives (although apparently, not in a full blog post that I can helpfully link to?). The problem with using a romance to spur self-actualization for a child or teen is that relationships in which one person is incredibly isolated from others, especially family members, can very easily turn abusive without any oversight. This is not to say that abuse survivors should not date, but that to a teenager without a support system, reading YA, the idea of a romantic relationship being the only good thing in your life can seem very easy and very appealing, and thus it can be very easy to ignore warning signs. Utilizing romance as the main source of light in a dark book also, frankly, leads to very stagnant narratives, and has also been done before about ten thousand times. (I’m bored.)

Can I use construction paper to make these paper butterflies?

I have received this book on a read-to-review basis from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Lisa Heathfield, and the publisher, Electric Monkey, for the opportunity. I am broken after reading this book. My heart is bleeding from all the emotions that I was feeling when reading this horrifying and heart wrenching novel. True monsters due exist and they can break the strongest soul down when they put their claws in it. This book...I am speechless.... I cried so hard for June. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and take all her hurt away. I was so angry and disguised at how she was treated, at what was done to her...the only part that made things a little better for me and put a small bandage on my broken heart was the love and friendship between June and Blister. I think… I think I actually like him, I thought to myself. Liked him, liked him, just like Jason had called. No adults or teachers or her own father believe June's call for help. They believe that she is just acting up. After her mother died and so no one steps in to help her. Not one single person believes or helps June and it breaks my heart.

Review – Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield Review – Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

Paper Butterflies is a book I like to call a destroyer. A book so deep, hard to read, depressing, hurtful and horrible that you do nothing but grit your teeth in disgust. At the same time though, it gives you food for thought, it gives you love, and beauty. It gives you friendship, family and solidarity, and it gives you life. So no matter what way you look at it, good or bad, it will destroy you emotionally either way.Your life is precious. Every day that you’re on earth is precious. You have a place. You’re wanted.” – Lisa Heathfield, Paper Butterflies If you are into mushy, hard upbringing abusive books, this is for you. It's not my usual type but I would give it 2 and a half stars and I am glad that I got the chance to read it. I would like to thank Lisa Heathfield & Egmont Publishing for my copy of the ARC. Due to this kind gesture, I have decided to leave a review. Paper Butterflies is an unforgettable read, perfect for fans of Lisa Williamson's The Art of Being Normal, Jandy Nelson, Sarah Crossan and Louise O'Neill.