Butterflies Don’t Lie. A YA romance novel. Here we go, because I have oh so many thoughts.

Butterflies Don’t Lie

Author: B. R. Myers

Publisher: Nimbus Publishing

Rating: ✨✨✨✨

Pages: 272

Review:

So I decided to try out a romance novel. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been reading fantasy romance with a romance subplot. Then my fellow youth ambassadors were like “Butterflies Don’t Lie is a good book” so then I figured that I’d go all in and read a full blown romance novel. Oh boy. I have thoughts. Good? Probably? Bad? Also probably? This book has me questioning my feelings. But, the best books are the ones that you can’t truly figure out.

So this book reads like a Wattpad novel. Honestly, I didn’t come to that conclusion until I saw in the acknowledgements that is actually WAS written as a feature novel for Wattpad. Don’t get me wrong, Wattpad has some INSANE stuff, but there’s also some stuff that is written by people who THINK they’re authors… unfortunately I have read some of those… BUT this novel, Butterflies Don’t Lie was good. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if this originally was a y/n self insert novel. This is very much what this feels like. Now, USUALLY these stories are kinda cringe, but I actually found this one decent. And I enjoyed it.

When I say it feels like a Wattpad novel, this is not an insult. That’s just the ~vibe~ it gives off.

Let’s talk about the main character, Kelsey, for a second, shall we? Kelsey Sinclair, from Mariner’s Cove. To my surprise, I found myself liking her. I was surprised because I don’t usually like the main character, but I found her relatable in certain ways. She’s your typical 16 year old girl with a huge crush on Blaine who’s a super nice guy with… nice shoulders… apparently. Kelsey has aquaphobia, and of course we don’t find out why until the end of the book when her and her love interest are pouring out their thoughts and feelings to each other before they do that thing where they mush their faces together. Yayyyy. Wait why do I like this girl again? Right, she screws up a lot and it reminds me of myself. It’s like simple screw ups that have other people all angry, like her parents, her boss, or even her love interests or best friends. Some of Kelsey’s personality traits are that she has no sense of fashion, and she’s very responsible because she has a little brother with Down syndrome that she constantly has to take care of, her aquaphobia, and her typical teen girl things that she goes through. And her magazines! I almost forgot about her magazines. Kelsey goes to magazines for love advice, she takes multiple quizzes on how she flirts and stuff-and I’m here like ?? You’re really going to take love advice from a magazine?

Francine, her BFF (who appears once and then we never see her again) left her for the summer, which leaves Kelsey to carry out her amazing plan to kiss her crush all alone. So Kelsey is moping and moping the leaving of her best friend, and so she’s thinking about her crush, Blaine. So Kelsey wants to marry him and all that lovey dovey sappy stuff that makes me feel single, so of course there’s a new love interest that’s introduced because plot. His name is Luke, and Luke has blue hair and a bicycle. Luke is also a huge flirt, and he has eyes for Kelsey.

As far as character development goes, Kelsey partially overcomes her aquaphobia, with the help of her new boyfriend, stops taking advice from a magazine article trying to sell her lipgloss, and comes around to liking this guy she thought was bad news.

One that I liked is that her being in love with a guy isn’t her entire personality. Sure, Blaine is constantly on her mind and we could’ve done with a little less daydreaming, but she still had her own character unlike SOME romance novels I’ve read *cough* *cough* Bella Swan *cough* Twilight *cough* *cough*.

So, like any good love story, Kelsey has a boyfriend by the end of it. She falls in love, realizes who’s the guy for her… and who’s not.

Um… hold up… I was going to take this bit to talk about the chemistry between Kelsey and her soon to be boyfriend… but I don’t remember any of it. It was there, I’m sure of it. *racking brain* *trying to remember* *processing* *loading memory*

Memory: 13% loaded

Welp. All I can tell you is that it is enemies to lovers.

Honestly my only complaint is that the love story could’ve been better drawn out. It sorta felt a tad rushed. Not like “okay let’s get the touchy feely stuff outta the way so they can kiss” more like it got straight to the point and didn’t leave any room for air. But who needs air? Not me. I don’t need bReAtHiNg.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It’s perfect for if you love The Summer I turned Pretty, which I say also feels like a Wattpad novel. It’s just the writing style, you know? There’s that really distinct writing, and they always use the same character—and there’s a huge chance of their being a love triangle. Like this book. Anyway, that’s my review of The Summer I Turned Pretty Butterflies Don’t Lie!

If this was made into a movie or something, I would totally watch it, let’s put it that way. And I’m also going to read B. R. Meyer’s other book, Girl on the Run.

I think I have it a fair shot, after all, the only other romance novel that I’ve read is Twilight… so sure, the bar to top that is a LITTLE low, but take it from me, a 14 year old with no boyfriend (or any interest in getting one) that this love story is a good one. I self-roasted myself a little more than I was expecting in this review. But like I like to say, the best romances are the ones that make ya feel single.