OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Fireflies and Butterflies" by E.M. Waithaka.]

Fireflies and Butterflies is a romance novel written by E.M. Waithaka. The book follows the love life of Vincent Mann. Vincent originally was engaged to his girlfriend of two years, Eve Johnson. However, tragedy strikes after Eve travels to Kenya for work. Believing Eve to be dead, Vincent moves on and enters a relationship with Allegra Gills. Unbeknownst to Vincent, Eve is in a coma. Eve awakens from her involuntary rest after eight months with a case of amnesia. Eve’s sister, Liz, has been attending to her bedside since Eve’s accident. Just as Vincent and Allegra’s relationship heats up, Vincent receives a call from Liz revealing that Eve is alive. Now Vincent must choose between his blossoming love for Allegra and his lingering feelings for Eve.

The premise of the novel really drew me in. I couldn’t imagine the anguish Vincent felt when he thought that the love of his life was dead. Additionally, I appreciated that Waithaka didn’t have Vincent break up with Allegra as soon as he learned about Eve. Vincent treated both women fairly and I thought his journey to Kenya for closure was realistic. I also really enjoyed the two main settings of the novel. It was clear that Waithaka had extensive knowledge of both San Diego and Kenya. Denizens of both areas would appreciate the detail that went into describing them. In continuation, infidelity was the main theme of the novel. Both sides of the issue were discussed in a balanced manner. While I personally don’t think I could forgive a cheater, I appreciated the way that Waithaka handled the topic.

While I enjoyed the premise, I had some issues with the setup of the novel. I felt that not enough time was spent constructing Vincent’s relationships with Allegra or Eve. As a result, I couldn’t really root for either woman. Also, the book was told from a first-person point of view. While this is not an inherent issue, the characters were not written in a distinctive fashion. If it weren’t for the inclusion of the character’s name at the beginning of the chapter and the different settings, I wouldn’t have been able to determine which character was speaking. This also related back to the issue with choosing Allegra or Eve. As the two did not have any distinct personality traits, Vincent’s dilemma seemed meaningless.

Fireflies and Butterflies contained some errors. While they were not severe enough to detract from my enjoyment, they indicated that the book needed another round of editing. The most common instances involved word omission and incorrect word usage. For example, padded was used instead of patted.

I rate Fireflies and Butterflies 2 out of 4 stars. I was really torn for this rating. I thought that the author had a lot of potential as a writer and the premise was quite unique. However, the editing and character issues were significant weak points. I would recommend this book to casual romance fans. However, more hardcore romance enthusiasts may be disappointed by the lack of love scenes and the underdeveloped romantic aspects.

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Fireflies and Butterflies
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With a premise such as this book has, I definitely need someone to root for! The point of view also makes a big difference, as you noted. I appreciate your review, you did a great job

Great review, thanks, but with the editing and character issues, I think I will give it a miss.

The review was definitely amazing ,thanks I have to try it

I know what you mean about the first-person POV resulting in the characters not being distinctly characterised--I feel like that's a trap a lot of first-person POV authors fall into, not being able to make characters seem 3D. That aside, though, the story does seem interesting, although I'm personally not a big fan of the love triangle trope...

Anyway, thank you for your review! it was insightful and really helpful