This book is going to be one that you either love or hate. Unfortunately, I fall in the latter category. The story was completely chaotic! It took the term unreliable narrator to a whole other level. It was so hard to tell if the characters were lying or lying about telling lies. Further, none of the characters are likeable.

Absolutely no one in this book was likeable. There was no "hero" to root for and no thread intrestenough to keep me reading. Just a lot of really disturbed people trying to outsmart each other. I did not enjoy it.

'Follow The Butterfly' by Martta Kaukonen (translated by David Hackston) is a mystery/thriller set in Finland, told by four interconnected perspectives. Ida is a self-confessed pathological liar with murderous secrets she has no intention of revealing to her therapist. Clarissa, celebrity therapist, is so sure that getting to the source of Ida's trauma is the key to curing her seemingly suicidal thoughts that she doesn't suspect Ida is hiding more dangerous thoughts from her. Clarissa's husband, Pekka, is consumed by finding out why his wife seems so enamoured by Ida, and Arto, a journalist who has interviewed Clarissa, has his own shameful secrets.

This story is built around the sensitive issues of suicide and child abuse. Kaukonen doesn't give details, and focuses on the thoughts and feelings of the victims which was good; however, the writing wasn't developed enough. There was more telling than showing how characters felt, and the mystery relied on so much ambiguity or missing information that the mystery wasn't as sophisticated as it could have been and the characterisation and motivations weren't that convincing. I think Ida and Clarissa were much more interesting than the male narrators, who didn't really add anything to the story. Without the male perspectives, there would have been more room to develop the female characters and the sense of unreliable narration.

Overall, I think Kaukonen's debut novel has some interesting ideas but it wasn't developed enough to be a gripping psychological thriller.

Thank you to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for making this novel available for honest review.

Lots of drama, suspense. Very twisty with a lots of POV.

Defiinitely worth to go through the book.

I did not see the end coming and man I loved it.

Unfortunately something went wrong with my ARC download and since the ARC has been archived now, I can't read it anymore. The blurb sounded very interesting though and I wish I could have read it. Hopefully, I will be able to read it in the future once it officially releases.

2.75 stars rounded up. I wanted to like this one, but unfortunately I didn’t like or care for any of the four characters, and that made it quite a struggle. I did guess some of the big twists, so that was good. It was clever and intricate, with the constantly changing viewpoints, but the unlikeable characters and the fact that the big twists came so late into the story (about 67 and 81% in) meant this one wasn’t quite hitting the spot for me personally. I am sure though, that others will enjoy it though fair warning on some difficult themes - I don’t think I’ve ever done some many content warnings on Storygraph!

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Follow the Butterfly was one of the strangest books I have read recently. Told from four points of view each person is very interesting and even more so when you realize that none of them are who they appear to be, and they are frankly all in need of psychiatric help. If you like psychological thrillers that are heavy on psychology you will love this.

Follow the Butterfly is a complex psychological thriller told from the point of view of its 4 main characters. It does seem a little pedestrian at first as the cast of characters are introduced and publicity-hungry therapist Clarissa Virtanen takes on suicidal Ida as a client ,a young woman with some very dark secrets. Clarissa becomes almost obsessed with the enigmatic and secretive Ida, getting her to agree to 6 months of therapy in an effort to cure her destructive thoughts.......but has she made a deal with the Devil?

This is very much a slow burn story but once it gets into its stride the gripping , twisty and very clever plot throws up shock after shock . Author Martta Kaukonen ramps up the pressure and constantly plays with the perceptions of her readers in a very accomplished and engaging thriller,highly recommended.

I couldnt put this down and flew through it in a matter of hrs!! I think that probably helped since it meant I wasn't forgetting who wad who when I went back to it later so it all worked out perfectly for max enjoyment. This book had me all over the place, I had no clue what was going to happen next and couldn't stop reading til I found out. I loved how different it was and just how the characters never did the predictable which made for such a fun read

I read it in a day of travel. Easy read, but it did get a little much with the various POVs, especially at the end it got muddied. Overall, a good concept of a book…gives a little The Silent Patient meets Frida McFadden. 3.7/5 stars

I loved this book. The way the main character thinks and acts so unpredictably, the twists to the plot and the overall premise were brilliant. I raced to the end and can't wait to read more from this author. Highly recommend!

Amazing book. My first by this author. I loved that it's told from multiple POVs. Some ppl don't enjoy that, but it's one of my favorite aspects of a good thriller. I can't wait for part two. 5 big stars!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book

To be honest i did struggle with this book. It has four different POV and I kept having to go back to remember who and what.. that maybe just me though..

That said it is a twisty and drama filled story that is well written with a brilliant plotline.

I loved it

This was everything that I was hoping for from the description. The mystery element worked well in telling this story and was hooked from the first page. The characters felt like they were meant to be there and enjoyed the way Martta Kaukwrote this.

Wow. Okay so this isn’t an easy read as it’s 4 different points of view so it can get a little tricky in places as the writing style is very different however you do get used to it.

I thought this was an incredible twisty, mystery book. I didn’t expect the ending and just thought the whole book was great! Can’t wait for the second one

This translated Finnish book is written in short, punchy chapters from four points of view. It's the story of a disturbed woman who seeks out a therapist with the intention of having someone who will vouch that she's unhinged if she's ever caught, ensuring that she doesn't get a prison sentence but instead goes to a psychiatric unit.

The mix of narrators and the direct address to the reader worked well. The twists were well plotted and also worked but weren't especially mind-blowing.
I liked the pace of the book but for a book about a psychologist it felt psychologically clumsy and the character motivations and traits were oblique at times. I don't know if this was down to the translation but the dialogue occasionally felt clumsy and unrealistic. I often felt like I was reading something that had been written rather than it having any sense of reality. Occasionally the language also felt odd with archaic words like 'hullabaloo' that are rarely used.

It's an oddity in terms of style and firm but didn't quite work for me