Customer Reviews

Elusive Butterfly

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was awesome. I couldn't put it down. At first it seems to jump around a bit with chapters consisting of just a paragraph but about 1/3 of the way through it all comes together: the mental illness issues, the eternal life, and the call for change. It was a beautiful book and I loved it!

I was distressed and distracted by the production problems inherent in this independently published book...typographical errors, poorly laid out photos, incorrect layout. But these are not the fault of the author and if you get past all that, the magic of this book comes through it all.

When most younger people write an autobiographical story, it comes out self-serving, adolescent, and blaming others for trials and problems. This book is an exception. It has power. It has a gracefulness that generally is only able to be captured by a more mature author. I don't know what I would compare it to--it's in a league all its own.

My only hope is that Peterson, its creator, finishes her upcoming novel soon. If she combines image with prose as eloquently as she has attempted to here (and would have succeeded had production problems not intervened) her novel will be something unique and powerful as well.

Elusive Butterfly is unforgettable, and its problems stem from the youthfulness of its author and the quite obviously low budget of its producer/publishers.

Don't miss it.

The author takes the reader to the high and low places of her life and her mood swings with each chapter of Elusive Butterfly. Even the parts that are fictional are really thinly disguised stories of pain and loss and hope.

With the simple symbolism of the butterfly, a common symbol of eternal life, the author takes the epiphanal aspects a step further, lamenting the fact that her late mother is "on that butterfly flight in the sky" and cannot be with her as she moves into her adulthood.

This was a book of heavenly proportions and I am thrilled that this author plans to write more fiction as that is her strong point. A book of talent and love lost by a truly remarkable writer who unabashedly shows the bright and dark spots of her soul.

It is rare that a low-budget book of 117 pages provides so much to think about but then Elusive Butterfly is a rare gem in books today. It may seem superlative but really, I could not put this book down and it has been passed around the law firm where I work quite a bit.

As far as the format, I agree with a previous reviewer that it is obvious the author did not plan the direction of the book with a chapter outline or the other trappings of a traditional manuscript. She didn't have to.

The book is as bipolar as its author, and full of paradox: tragic and funny, visual and obscure, poetry and prose. All of this, along with the rough spots, just brings to the surface the author's struggle with bipolar disorder and how it even affects her creative license.

This book is more than a read; it's an experience.

I absolutely loved this book. The style was engaging, riveting even. Hillgren Peterson shows such courage by putting her soul out there and I am certain this book will really help people. But beyond a self-help or pop psychology tome, this book reaches people who want a good story, people who appreciate dry humor, and people whose soul has been touched by loss and illness.

It's not often that an author in her twenties examines some of the most intimate questions of the soul and gets them published in a slim 117 pages. It's not often that I pick up a book like this one.

Elusive Butterfly is well-paced, almost frantic, but each phrase is packed so you read it again, with pleasure. Hillgren-Peterson's style is playful and the building of her words seduces the reader through word craft and story weaving that's in a word - unbelievable.

Her fiction, particularly the award-winning "Peaches and Nectarines" reads as a letter from the soul. She weaves allegory and top-notch essaying into an unforgettable short story on heroism in our relationships based on the tiny moments of a marriage.

Rumors circulate that she's the next big thing with her upcoming novel. Let's hope those rumors are true.

Have you ever had words float in front of you that labeled exactly what you were feeling at that exact moment? From heartbreak to elation, the joy of birth's miracle to the grief of loss, Amy Peterson accomplishes maybe the hardest thing for an author to accomplish - touching the reader's soul.

I was shocked. I was in grief. I was horrified. I was elated. I was blessed. I was happy. I was laughing. This was all in the space of 117 pages of compelling writing. I agree the production and editing left a lot to be desired and I hope this young author's future work is more carefully handled, as she should be.

A special book that opens hearts. Shocking stories that make you think. Draws you in, holds you close, changes your life. I heard that if you send the book to Amy, the author, she will sign it and hand-draw a butterfly on the spine. My friend has a copy and it stands out on a bookshelf, looks whimsical.

Buy it. Buy two or three. Realize that if the rest of us didn't cover up so much in our lives, our story would not be so different from this one.

I can't wait to read the novel with digital art that she is working on next. Count me as a huge fan.

Okay, I admit to being a schoolmate of the author and that was my primary motivation for purchasing this book. The writing style was imprisoning. Having known Ms. Hillgren Peterson for at least 15 years I knew of her talent. The fiction was incredible and I am among her fans thrilled to know she is hard at work on her first novel. This is where she shines. The addition of photos to the prose was a clever idea, but was sort of unnecessary in my opinion.

Amy takes risks with this book that far exceed the courage of most authors out there today. Congratulations on publication before the big 3-0, Amy. This was an incredible read that should be selling more prominently.

If this book becomes more widely read it will change lives.

When I read this I could not believe this was AHP's first book. She plays with format and style with the panache of a pro and wanders into intensely personal territory with no fear. While there are some rough parts, I feel that is necessary to any memoir type piece. I read somewhere that this book was described as a "novelized memoir." I think it is all that and more. It reads with the engaging style of a memoir and treads into territory where most of us will never go.

With everything from factoids about butterflies to short fiction to poetry to photos the 117 pages are packed with punch. Loved it. Must read.