The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe - My Thoughts

There was a time when I regularly did (and got paid) to do book reviews, but then a season arrived where I kind of stopped reading.  Yep, literally quit reading - at least for pleasure.  I think being back in school didn't help that as I spent a lot of time reading for school and not entertainment.  Last weekend, though, I picked up a book I had for along while but not read.  The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe just happened to be laying on my desk and calling my name.  Well, I now remember why I used to read so much...it is the best escape.  I will not forget that anytime soon. So here is my first (free) offering on a book....

I have always like Mary Alice Monroe and this book had enough information interwoven into the story about Monarch Butterflies that I now have a new interest in butterflies, much like I gained an interest in bee keeping after reading  Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees!  Weird?  Probably, but hey I love odd facts especially if you can weave some mystery and good story telling around them. 

Although The Butterfly's Daughter does weave lovely stories about butterflies in this story, it doesn't come close to the emotional pull of many of Monroe's other works .  The main character, Luz, just isn't developed enough to get invested in fully nor are any of the other characters, except possibly one who actually dies early on in the story.  It was an enjoyable read, because I like reading, but over all it wasn't Mary Alice Monroe's best offering by far.  Honestly, each turn in the book just left me hanging.  It was as if I needed more of the multiple story lines before the author was off dragging the shallow main character into another. In the end....I was just left feeling like I was read a book that wasn't finished. It was disappointing,  as I kept feeling like at any moment I was going to find the page that wouldn't let me put the book down, but it never came.  That being said, I know I will continue to follow Monroe as an author and look forward to reading another of her books where her characters have more depth and puts her talent as a writer more fully on display.