Review ~ The Butterfly Project by Emma Scott

Book Description:

"Where you are is home..."

At age fourteen, Zelda Rossi witnessed the unthinkable, and has spent the last ten years hardening her heart against the guilt and grief. She channels her pain into her art: a dystopian graphic novel where vigilantes travel back in time to stop heinous crimes—like child abduction—before they happen. Zelda pitches her graphic novel to several big-time comic book publishers in New York City, only to have her hopes crash and burn. Circumstances leave her stranded in an unfamiliar city, and in an embarrassing moment of weakness, she meets a guarded young man with a past he’d do anything to change...

Beckett Copeland spent two years in prison for armed robbery, and is now struggling to keep his head above water. A bike messenger by day, he speeds around New York City, riding fast and hard but going nowhere, his criminal record holding him back almost as much as the guilt of his crime. 

Zelda and Beckett form a grudging alliance of survival, and in between their stubborn clash of wills, they slowly begin to provide each other with the warmth of forgiveness, healing, and maybe even love. But when Zelda and Beckett come face to face with their pasts, they must choose to hold on to the guilt and regret that bind them, or let go and open their hearts for a shot at happiness. 

The Butterfly Project is a novel that reveals the power of forgiveness, and how even the smallest decisions of the heart can—like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings—create currents that strengthen into gale winds, altering the course of a life forever. 

#standalone

Buy Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2mT2Hac

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2nfP4iA

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 stars

“I once read that you fell in love like how you fell asleep: slowly at first and then all at once.”

Emma Scott delivers a book that even the hardest of hearts would melt for. As with any Emma Scott book The Butterfly Project is beautifully written, emotionally charged and all about the characters. I love a character driven book and these two grow organically right in front of eyes, page by page. A slow build from strangers to friends to lovers and all that delicious getting to know you stuff in between.

“A story of cause and effect. Of violence, vengeance and redemption, touched with shades of chaos theory. An unapologetic affirmation on the power of forgiveness.”

Sometimes, when two people meet, you just click, and while trusting a stranger, especially one of the opposite sex should be the last thing you do, something tells you that all will be okay and Zelda took that leap of faith with Beckett. Beckett and Zelda were both laden with guilt, they go through the motions day to day without a care for themselves, two empty vessels trying to make it to the end of the day before Groundhog Day starts all over again. Both were too bogged down in the mistakes of their pasts rather than living for the now. It is here that Emma Scott delivers a book of assuaging that guilt, redemption and ultimately forgiveness all the while wrapped around the most natural and stunningly beautiful love stories.

“I recognized the weight of guilt hanging around his neck, because I wore it too.”

Zelda was one of the tattoo artists that worked at Vegas Ink and we first met her in All In. Zelda wanted a fresh start and rather than continue with the tattooing that had become her bread and butter she wanted to pursue her dreams of becoming a graphic novelist which meant relocating to New York. Unfortunately for Zelda, breaking into the world of publishing is not easy and now with hardly any money left, a hostel room and only rejections to her name she is contemplating going back to Vegas with her tail between her legs. Fate though has other ideas and it is when she is at her lowest that she meets Beckett.

“I’m all premise, no pulse.”

Beckett was adorable with a capital A. This man stole my heart from the minute we met on the pages. The more you get to know him, the more you understand him, as Beckett is far from an open book. Beckett bleeds kindness, he would do anything for anyone. You can tell that this comes from the heart, but he made a mistake…once, and it is this mistake that he carries around every single day. He is like a pack horse, laden down with guilt and he struggles to walk, every single day.

“But asking means wondering and considerations and second-guessing, and I just wanted to…have the moment without all the mental noise.”

Both Beckett and Zelda have their own ways of coping with their guilt, Zelda with her graphic novel that avenges her past and Beckett who bleeds his guilt through cathartic letters to the one person he needs forgiveness from the most. With Zelda’s artwork and Beckett’s heartfelt words, this was a match made in heaven, and maybe just maybe this is their new beginning.

“This beautiful man was kissing me and all I ever wanted to do for the rest of my life was kiss him back.”

Emma Scott ruined me, I was so emotionally connected with Zelda and Beckett that I experienced this book through them. So many emotions, so many tears and yet uplifting all the same. When you hit rock bottom, the only way is up and it takes that one special someone to give you the motivation to start the climb.

These two were perfect for each other, the yin to the yang and Emma Scott delivered their story with honesty and authenticity, nothing was sugar coated, you were given the good with the bad but this is one of those books that gives you faith in the human race too. Where one person can save another just by being there, where second chances are warranted and given and people learn from their mistakes. Where a problem shared is definitely a problem halved and when life hands you lemons you make damn lemonade. Heartbreakingly, beautiful story that I cannot wait to read again.