It’s Reread Friday time, and this month, I’ve reread Butterfly Hunter by Julie Bozza. I read this when it was fairly new and I remember it as beautiful, but that something bothered me. Not bothered-bothered in a triggering way, but there was something that made me not love it as much as I thought it should be loved, if that makes sense.
Sadly, I feel the same way this time around. The beginning is great, the slow build of Dave and Nicholas’ relationship is beautiful, the butterflies are breathtaking, and if that had been the story, it would’ve been a five-star read for me.
But… here comes the but, and I’m gonna try to word it so it doesn’t ruin the story for anyone who wants to read it. But two men setting out into the outback to find a never before documented butterfly, falling in love while on the quest, and ending up finding the butterfly is a complete story. It’s a story that makes sense to me.
To throw in irrational scenes towards the end to up the drama to a story that’s been flourishing in a gentle, almost magical light, ruins it for me. To have one character go all macho man and publicly stake a claim on the other in a way that made me want to hide behind the pillow and not watch, only to then go directly into the third act breakup yanked me out of the story. I think we should forever ban the third-act breakup in romance stories. And in this case, it was almost a fourth act break up – the story was done.
This would’ve been a favourite of mine if it had ended with them going home to Dave’s to restock and driven out into the outback to live happily ever after instead of going to Dave’s ex for dinner.
It’s still a great read. Beautiful. Magical. Poetic. With great symbolism of the fragility of life. Stunning. If only it had stopped at the 88% mark 😊
Butterfly Hunter
Holly Day 
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