Roses of May

| "Priya . . . the sum of what you can do is what you’re already doing. Don’t suffer weight that isn’t yours to carry."
This book wasn't so fucked up but it was good in it's own way.
The characters are so fucking well written and likable I just couldn't stop reading.

I mean just read these snippets:
(0 spoilers but if you want to experience it for your self don't read them.)
" “I’m too old to sit on the floor,” he tells her.
“I’m older than you are.”
“You devour souls to stay young.”
“True.” "

" “All right, you three,” Eddison says, pulling out his phone and using it to point at me, Inara, and Bliss. “Stand together, give me fuel for my nightmares for years to come.”
Snickering, Inara and Bliss lean into me on either side, our arms wrapped around each other, and smile for the camera. Eddison actually shudders.
“Three of the most dangerous human beings on the planet,” he mutters.
“What am I?” asks Mum.
“Their demonic leader.” But he kisses her cheek. "

overall rating: 4/5 ⭐️ time taken to read: ~2 days number of notes: 24 TW: SA, murder etc "It seems that God himself has gone out of his way to make her more beautiful. She's all innocent beauty, no artifice or vanity; it's why you love her the way you do." (page 1) TROM by @dot_hutchison is the sequel to TBG, the second book in The Collector series. it follows the protagonist, Priya Sravasti (yay, asian rep!) in the time after her older sister Chavi was murdered the year before. Priya finds out the killer is after her, and she is determined to not become their next victim. the killer also has a rather peculiar trademark. they sometimes assault their victims, then lay them bare in front of an altar in a church/chapel then scatters the victims' favourite flowers around them. in the days leading up to may the killer (each flower bouquet representing a victim) sends flowers to Priya's new home - somehow managing to escape the security camera every time. things i liked (and loved!) -> the switches between Priya (1st person) and Eddison (3rd POV). it shows a large contrast, where Priya and her mother are constantly worried about their safety but are taking things one step at a time; and Eddison (one of the FBI agents from the TBG case), going out of his way to look after Priya even in the minutest way. it is evident that Eddison cares for Priya, for they see each other as siblings. -> 2nd person POV as the killer. by using the pronoun 'you', i was able to really put myself in their shoes and visualise the things the killer has done to all the other girls prior to Priya. it also was a good change, since TBG was entirely in Maya/Inara's POV. -> finding out who the killer was. i don't know if i was just slow, but i didn't figure out who it was until they were revealed. i literally thought it was this other specific character! it made me go back to the other parts, where the killer was hidden in plain sight and i did not even spare a second thought at that 😭 [ somewhat spoilers ahead! ] things i disliked: -> the blurb made me believe that it would follow the girls from TBG. unfortunately, the girls (mainly Inara and Bliss) interact with Priya through letters and small updates about them scattered here and there; such as Inara protecting Keely (the last girl from TBG) from the public. albeit i loved Priya's story, i wish there was more about the TBG girls. in many ways Inara and Priya were very similar - headstrong women who are determined to make it through their way; and perhaps that was why they got along so well. -> Priya's mother easily agreeing to Priya's plain to be used as bait for the killer. Priya's mother has fire even stronger than Priya and is feared by many people (including Eddison), yet why did she easily agree to Priya as bait? especially when the killer has already murdered her first daughter. -> this book felt rather dragged on and lengthy for me. though the length was similar to TBG, TBG was packed with many twists and turns. TROM had twists and turns; but the 'intervals' in-between them were quite long. overall, i loved this story. i adore Priya and admire her fire. definitely a must-read if you're a fan of TBG!

5 Stars This review contains some small, general spoilers. Last year I voted The Butterfly Garden as my favorite new book of the year. So I was obviously excited when I found out that Hutchison had a new book coming out already. I did become hesitant when I found out that the Roses of May was a sequel to The Butterfly Garden. Because it seemed that there was no good way to continue the story of The Butterfly Garden, and I hate when a good book gets ruined by lousy sequel. But my fears were unjustified. First of all, because Hutchison is still an amazing writer. And Secondly, because Roses of May was not what I would call a direct sequel. Although these books are part of the same trilogy (with Book 3 scheduled to be released next year), they are not traditional sequels. Apparently each of the books focuses on a different serial killer which the link between them being the same FBI agents investigating. That seemed a little odd to me at first, because in the first book I considered the FBI agents more as conduits for the story to be told than as actual characters. They get more character development in Roses of May though, and there is more time spent on the investigation side. I was fine with that because it reminded me of Criminal Minds which happens to be one of my favorite shows. Roses of May does focus on a different case than the first book, however there are mentions of characters and events from The Butterfly Garden, so I would definitely recommend reading them in order. I thought the way the first book tied in was touching and well done. When I first started this book, I was reminded of the few hesitations I had at the beginning of the first book. The story switches between first and third person and is told in present tense. There are also a few section in second person which is overall the worst voice to use but the reason for those sections makes perfect sense in the end. I cannot explain without giving it away though, and this really is a book to be left unspoiled as much as possible. Anyway, just like when I read The Butterfly Garden, within a fleeting number of pages once again I stopped giving a damn about tenses. I was totally absorbed by the characters, the plot, and Hutchison's gorgeous writing. Just like the first book, I stayed up late to read it. And I resented anything that came between me and finishing this book. Roses of May focuses on Chavi, a teenage girl whose sister was brutally murdered by a serial killer who still remains at large. I will not go into details on the plot, but it did keep me guessing. The characters were brilliantly done. I particularly loved Chavi's mother. The author does a brilliant job of balancing an intricate plot with complex characters. Both books have a lot of secondary characters, but they are all distinct and memorable in their own way. While The Butterfly Garden added depth by exploring the different reactions victims have to trauma, Roses of May shone a light onto the aftereffects of trauma for both victims and their families. "How do you put yourself back together when the pieces permanently broken are the only reasons anyone's look at you?" I loved that this book made me think as well as moving me emotionally. Yes, this book made me tear up (just in case you thought me heartless for hating A Man Called Ove). It gave me chills. It made me hold my breath in anticipation. And as I mentioned, it made me think more about the victims of tragedy's and what they go through because the public callously thinks they have a right to know every gory detail. Because they care more about satisfying their morbid curiosity than about showing compassion. And the truth is that so many victims of all sorts of crimes have to relive their horrors over and over because their is no such thing as privacy anymore. "The public steals tragedies from victims. It sounds strange, I know, but I think you may be one of the few people who'll understand what I mean by that. These things happened to us, to our loved ones, but it hits the news and suddenly everyone with a TV or computer feels like they're entitled to our reactions and recoveries. They're not. It takes a while to really believe it, but you owe them nothing." And that is one of the things I love best about this series. When I read most modern thrillers, it feels like the authors use terrible events strictly for shock and entertainment. They don't care about the people who really suffered those things. Whether or not it is true, when I read these books, I felt like the author was giving a voice to victims. And she did it without sacrificing plot or getting preachy. While there were many commonalities between the first and second books, there were enough differences to make them both unique and to show that the author is developing her style. In the first book, the story is told mostly through interviews with the FBI. The main event has already happened, but the facts and events are slowly revealed to the reader. Whereas Roses of May was much more linear (which I appreciated). (view spoiler)[I was a teensy bit annoyed that the main character realizes who the killer is before the reader does, but I still enjoyed the big reveal. (hide spoiler)] There was more focus on the of the investigation, and the transitions between sections were much smoother. It was also not quite as graphic as the first book. That being said, my emotional reaction was not quite as visceral to the sequel. As I mentioned, it still made me cry and was absolutely a page turner. But The Butterfly Garden wrecked me. I literally wandered around my house in a daze after I finished it. So while Roses of May was still definitely Five Stars from me, it blow my mind quite as much as its predecessor did. But I still enjoyed the heck out of it and cannot WAIT for The Summer Children to come out next year!! RATING FACTORS: Ease of Reading: 5 Stars Writing Style: 5 Stars Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars Level of Captivation: 5 Stars Originality: 4 Stars

I loved it! A great addition to the series. Review to come on theleafd.com

***Spoilers*** Priya's life was turned upside down 5 years ago when her sister Chavi was murdered by the serial killer who still hasn't been found. The killer always leaves flowers around his victims, now the same flowers from the previous murders are showing up on Priya's doorstep. Working closely with the federal agents who worked on the butterfly girls case, after coming into contact with one of the surviving butterfly girls about her ongoing court case, Priya must decide whether she must take justice into her own hands or not. The Butterfly Garden was one of my favourite reads, and coming into this book my expectations were high. Unfortunately I just couldn't connect with this story like I did with TBG. I did like how throughout this book you got little bits of the aftermath after the ending in TBG and it really shown the impacts of being a survivor of high profile case. Although the main plot line was interesting enough, it was kind of obvious who the killer had been, the ending was satisfying and made me appreciate Priya's character a lot more.

I think I liked this better than the first book. Loved the Butterfly Garden but this one just developed the female characters so well. Thanks for providing a book where the majority are strong female characters. LOVE

Good book but it didn’t tie into the first one very well. It could have been a stand alone book ..

** spoiler alert ** I recommend reading the first book in this series first. Its called the Butterfly Garden. This book starts off pretty close to when the first one ended so we get to see a couple of the girls who survived the garden, Inara and Bliss. So we get to see the girls trying to handle the fact that the trial will be coming along soon, and just how they are doing now that they are free. In Roses of May we are with a 17yr old girl name Priya who met the FBI team a few years previously when her older sister Chavi was killed by a serial killer. The entire team has kept up with her through the years, as more girls are murdered. Right now Priya and her mother are living in Boston and when some strange things start happening she mentions them to special agent Eddison. The FBI team somes to realize that the cause of this might be the same man that killed her sister.

2.25🌟 What a fucking bummer. The first half of this book is a slog. The second half is only marginally more interesting. All the female characters seem like copies of each other. The villain/murder is SUPER obvious. They were introduced and I was like, "thats the murderer" I wanted to love this. I'll continue with the series though cause I've got blind hope.

I found it very boring. All the main female characters had the same personality and they were very adored for that personality, it annoyed me a great deal. I also found it very predictable, I knew who the killer was as soon as he was introduced. The sad thing is that I really loved the Butterfly Garden and enjoyed Deathly Waters by Dot Hutchison, so I expected more of this book.

I loved the first book but this one truly didnt know what it wanted to do plotwise or characterwise. There were too many characters and none of them stood out. I felt like the theme of strong women was beat to death and was only slightly less annoying then the weak nervous bumbling male characters who could do nothing right. The author could have shed at least two characters from the storyline and it would have made no difference at all except to clean up the plot a bit. And what was the deal with the Landon character whose name was both Burnside and Cooper? Who lived in a motherinlaw suite with no heat? What was the point of that? It was an inconsequential detail that was jarring in the text and sloppy writing to boot. There were also some glaringly obvious editing problems also. Two characters speaking dialogue in the same paragraph, for example. And some areas of narrative that weren't sure if they were in the voice of Priya or in the third person. Altogether a disappointing book and more so because of how good the first one was. In my opinion it would have been a better book if the author hadn't tried to shoehorn it into a series by shoving characters into it from the first novel. It could have stood on its own as a separate book living in the same universe if she had just allowed it to do so.

Dot Hutchinson has yet to let me down! I loved this book as much as the 1st in the Collector series. It was hard to have to stop listening on Friday and not be able to pick it back up until today. Otherwise I couldn't stop. I can't wait to get the physical book in my hands so that I can actually see the words in front of me.

I really loved The Butterfly Garden. It was creepy, it was intense, it was a crime novel, it just worked for me. So when I found out it would be a trilogy, and a second book would be coming out this year, I just sprang for it. Unfortunately, this book ended up only being alright. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I think the problem with this book was that it felt confused. It didn't know whether it wanted to be a sequel to The Butterfly Garden or a standalone/companion crime novel or a contemporary YA drama. This, combined with the bizarre without warning shifts in POV between first person singular and third person singular and second person singular made this book feel jumbled together. The transitions between these weren't smooth at all, and made for a jarring reading experience. Which is a shame- I would have really loved this book if it was more focused. Because the idea behind it was fantastic- serial killer who kills one girl a year, and each girl is found surrounded by a different type of flower? I like that idea almost as much as the idea behind The Butterfly Garden. I mean, the writing wasn't the problem. Hutchison is honestly a very good writer, and I especially love the way she writes descriptions, making them seem so effortless. While I did cringe a bit reading from the killer's POV, as he sounded too stereotypical and even a bit like Clover from The Cellar, that part was my favorite part of the book- it was the only part that really intrigued me. Priya's parts got a bit boring, and I was annoyed that we had to keep following her, half the time wondering what made her so special and the other half wishing she would get killed off to give this book so needed action. The FBI agents bored me more than they should have had, and again I kept wishing that Hutchison just focused on this killer and not Eddison's (also, Eddison didn't really sound like Eddison in this book, don't really know why) "relationship" with Priya, which got real old real fast, or the butterflies. Continue reading this review on my blog here: http://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/20...

Awestruck Dot Hutchison is gifted with incredible talent, that she uses to get you into the minds of killers and survivors. I have learned so much in these 2 books and am enamored with the characters she creates.