The Fall of Butterflies by Andrea Portes Review

Title: The Fall of Butterflies
Author: Andrea Portes
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: May 10th 2016
Source: NightOwl Reviews
Purchase: Amazon

Willa Parker, 646th and least popular resident of What Cheer, Iowa, is headed east to start a new life.

Did she choose this new life? No, because that would be too easy—and nothing in Willa’s life is easy. It’s her famous genius mother’s idea to send her to ultra-expensive, ultra-exclusive Pembroke Prep, and it’s only the strength of her name that got Willa accepted in the first place.

But Willa has no intentions of fitting in at Pembroke. She’s not staying long, she decides. Not at this school—and not on this planet. But when she meets peculiar, glittering Remy Taft, the richest, most mysterious girl on campus, she starts to see a foothold in this foreign world—a place where she could maybe, possibly, sort of fit.

When Willa looks at Remy, she sees a girl who has everything. But for Remy, having everything comes at a price. And as she spirals out of control, Willa can feel her spinning right out of her grasp.

In Willa’s secret heart, all she’s ever wanted is to belong. But if Remy, the girl who gave her this world, is slip-sliding away, is Willa meant to follow her down?

Andrea Portes’s incandescent, heartfelt novel explores the meaning of friendship, new beginnings, and the precarious joy and devastating pain of finding home in a place—a person—with wings.

Ok, so I really don't know where to start on this one. I don't normally read contemporary but when I saw this I was instantly intrigued so I gave it a go. Not so sure that was such a good idea.

I have never read anything by this author before, but when she starts off a book by nicknaming people by their illness, that was the first red flag for me. It was almost as if she was in some small way defining people and picking on them for their illness.

The other problem I have with this is that the main character is constantly talking about how ugly she is, how she doesn't have any family except her dad, yet she is leaving him to go across country, and that she is going to kill herself. Talk about depressing.

I finally had to put this book aside to either A) try again and finish at a later date or B) never pick up again. I just could not finish this book.

Disclaimer: *I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Andrea Portes is the bestselling novelist of two critically lauded adult novels, Hick, her debut, which was made into a feature film starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Alec Baldwin, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, and Juliette Lewis, and Bury This. Her first novel for young adult readers, Anatomy of a Misfit, was called “perfection in book form” by Teen Vogue.

Currently, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Sandy Tolan, their son, Wyatt, and their dog, Rascal.

Find Andrea: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram