Title: The Butterfly Project
Author: Emma Scott
Release Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Tagline: “Where you are is home…”

Synopsis

“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.  

*ARC kindly provided by the Author in exchange for an honest review*

Talán ez volt az eddigi kedvenc Emma Scott könyvem. Különleges, szépséges és lebilincselő volt. Egy gyönyörű történet a múlt elengedéséről, második esélyekről és a fény megtalálásáról egy egészen egyedi köntösbe bújtatva. 🙂 

Zelda Rossi Las Vegasból érkezik meg New Yorkba, hogy szerencsét próbáljon, és megmutassa a készülő ‘Mother, May I?’ című képregényét néhány kiadónak. Amikor meghozza ezt a döntést, Zelda mindent egy lapra tesz fel, és az összes megtakarított pénzével, mindent hátrahagyva hagyja el Nevadát. Sajnos Zelda-nak csalódások sorával-, és csukott ajtókkal kell szembenéznie, kivéve egy helyen. Az egyik kiadó ígér neki egy második esélyt, azonban ehhez dolgoznia kell a képregényén, és New Yorkban kell maradnia még egy darabig. Ám amikor az amúgy is elkeseredett és csalódott lánynak egy ijesztő, lepukkant hostelben ellopják a holmiját, és ott találja magát egy idegen városban, rajzeszközök-, és B-terv nélkül, csupán néhány napra elég pénzzel, elkezd kétségbeesni.

Ekkor sodródik az útjába Beckett Copeland. Beckett-nek sincs sokja, keményen dolgozik minden egyes centért, nappal biciklis futárként, míg esténként asztalleszedő fiúként egy étteremben, mégis a lány segítségére siet.

Beckett egyszer elkövetett egy hatalmas hibát, amely örökre árnyékként követi a mindennapjait. Zelda szintén sötét démonokkal, és PTSD-vel küzd, és a ‘Mother, May I?’ is ezen múltbéli tragédia egyfajta feldolgozása.

Zelda és Beckett mindketten próbálnak a másik számára segítséget nyújtani ahhoz, hogy elengedhessék a múltat, a sötétséget és a bűntatot és mindeközben szép lassan ők maguk is  békére találnak, és talán innentől elindulhatnak a továbblépés útján.

Gyönyörű volt ez a történet, és nagyon-nagyon komoly témákat érintett. Én valóban hiszek a második esélyekben, és éppen ezért, nagyon tetszett az a perspektíva, amelyet Beckett által kaptunk. A szereplők nagyon a szívemhez nőttek, tetszettek a levelek és nagyon tetszett a képregény, amely ahogy formálódott, maga is a gyógyulást szimbolizálta. A képregényoldalak nagyon különlegessé tették a kötetet, és imádtam őket! 

Emma Scott ismét egy szépséges történetet hozott el nekünk, amelyben megmutatta, hogy létezhet második esély, és mindenki megérdemli a szeretet. Őszintén ajánlom!

My Review in English

Maybe this was my favorite book by Emma Scott so far. It was a really unique, beautiful and captivating story about letting go of the past, second chances and finding the light, delivered in a really unique wrapping. 🙂

Zelda Rossi is a graphic book designer and she comes from Las Vegas to New York to try her luck and to show her upcoming graphic novel ‘Mother, May I?’ to a few publishers. When she makes this decision, she takes a huge risk, she takes all her savings and leaves behind everything in Nevada. Unfortunately, Zelda needs to face a lot of disappointments and closed doors, except one place. One publisher promises her a second chance but for this she has to work on her graphic novel and she must stay in New York for a while. But when the already sad, and disappointed girl gets mugged in a creepy, trashy hostel, she finds herself in a foreign city, without her art supplies or a ‘plan B’, with enough money for only a couple days, she starts to fall into despair. 

This is when her and Beckett Copeland’s path cross each other.  Beckett also doesn’t have much, he works hard for every cent, at days as a bicycle messenger, at nights as a bus-boy in a restaurant, but he still rushes to help this girl.

In the past Beckett made a huge mistake, that follows him every day as a shadow. Zelda also fights with her own daemons. She has PTSD and ‘Mother, May I?’ itself is a way to deal with a tragedy that happened in her past. 

Zelda and Beckett are both trying to help each other to find a way to let go the past-, the darkness and the guilt.  On this road, the both of them are slowly able to find their own peace which is the first step toward their future and their chance to move on. 

It was a beautiful story that touched some serious subject matters. I truly believe in second chances and this is the reason why I loved so much the perspective that we got by Beckett. The characters really have grown to my heart and I loved the letters and the comic book which as it formed, was the symbol of the healing itself. The graphics in the book were amazing and they added a really unique kick to this beautiful story.

Emma Scott once again brought us a beautiful story that showed us that second chances can truly exist, and everyone deserves love. I highly recommend it!

My Favorite Quotes From the Book

“Keep talking. I like your voice. It’s a searchlight in the dark…so I can always find my way back.”

“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.”

“I was lost in the dark without you, Beckett. You found me. You brought me home.”
“You are my home, baby,” he said. “I never want to be anywhere else.”

“There were promises in our kiss. Unspoken vows to take care of what we had, of what we were creating in that very moment, because after tonight, there was no going back.”

“Remember I told you about a light in the fog? It’s emerald green and it’s showing me another way. Every day it feels less like something I shouldn’t be allowed to have, and more like something precious I can’t throw away.”

“The book was an apology spread out over a hundred black and white pages, colored with tears and inked with regret; everything I didn’t do that day was embedded in the drawings, and my heroine’s rage—her merciless thirst for vengeance—was my only relief.”

“I’m falling in love with Zelda Rossi and my imperfect heart wants to think she’s falling for me too. I can’t help myself. It’s not a decision to be made, and even if it was, I wouldn’t want to unmake it. I want her. For the rest of my life, if she’ll have me.”

5 – “You are my home” – Stars

 Links

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2lkj8ZY
Amazon Universal: myBook.to/TheButterflyProject

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/TheButterflyProjectES

(Instagram: @upveronika)

The Butterfly Project Excerpt

“Why do you stay if it’s so hard to live here?” I asked.

Beckett took a drag from his cigarette, as if he were buying time before answering.

“Brooklyn, born and raised,” he said finally, still not looking at me. “Where else would I go anyway? Different city, same struggle.” He finally brought his gaze to mine. “So you’re getting out?”

“On the bus, tomorrow,” I said. “I can’t stay. I was here for a job interview—sort of—and it fell through.”

“What was the job?”

“You’ll think it’s stupid.”

“Yeah, I probably will.” His smile was dry.

I laughed a little. “Smartass. I draw graphic novels.”

He stared at me blankly.

“Long-form comic books that tell one continuous story,” I said.

“Like The Walking Dead?”

“Exactly. I have one mocked up and I came here to pitch it to a few publishers. They all rejected me. Well, one half-rejected me, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t stay in the city long enough to make any changes, and I wouldn’t know what changes to make if I could.”

Beckett studied the cigarette between his fingers. “Why can’t you stay?”

“Where do I start?” I ground out my cigarette under my boot heel. “My poor planning? My dwindling funds? The fact I was robbed today? Or that I was naively hopeful the publishers would adore my work and sign me on the spot? Take your pick.”

Beckett shook his head, his mouth turned down in his grimace. “Wait, go back. You were robbed?”

I nodded and waved away the last of the smoke, wishing my failure could be as easily dissipated. “I came here like a wide-eyed twit with a dream, and I crashed and burned.”

“You tried. That’s more than most people do.”

“Tried and failed.”

“So try again.”

“I wish,” I said, letting my gaze roam over the dingy back alley. “I feel like I’m so close to breaking through. That last publisher gave me some hope. If I could pull a few weeks out of my ass, I’d have a chance. But it’s impossible. I have to go back to Nevada.”

“You don’t have friends or family nearby?”

Yes, and only two hours by train.

“No,” I said, and decided I’d said enough to a total stranger. The last thing I needed was the terrible homesickness to well up again. I stood and brushed off the ass of my pants. “Anyway, it is what it is. Thanks for the smoke.”

“Were you hurt?”

I turned, glanced down at Beckett. “What?”

“You said you were robbed,” he said, his voice low, his eyes holding mine as if he were forcing himself to hear this. “Did they hurt you?”

“No, I… No. I wasn’t there. It was a break-in.”

He leaned against the wall and his sigh plumed out in front of him in the cold air. It sounded relieved. “I’m sorry, Zelda.”

I frowned. “Not your fault. Like I said, the city kicked my ass. The sooner I get the hell out of here, the better for

all involved.”

Beckett ground out his smoke and got to his feet. He was at least six-two, yet it didn’t feel imposing to stand in his shadow. It felt…

Safe. I feel safe with him.

“Do you know how to get back to wherever you’re staying?” he asked.

“The same way I got here, only in reverse,” I said, covering my unsettling thoughts with sarcasm.

Because that was safe for me.

Playlist for the Book

Author Bio

Emma Scott writes romances with flawed characters, characters with artistic hearts: builders, poets, and writers of various makes and models. Emma loves to write book lovers; those who have found refuge, companionship, and escape in books, much as we all do in real life. She digs realism, honesty, authenticity in storytelling. She also loves to write about enduring love, soul-deep love, in as real a setting as possible, but with big smooshy HEAs. Emma believes in diversity, open-mindedness, and inclusion. She adores sweetness mixed with steam, love conquering all, and above all, hope. Love always wins.

 

Where to find Emma

Website: www.emmascott.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaScottwrites

Twitter: @EmmaS_writes

Instagram: @EmmaScottWrites

Amazon: http://bit.ly/EmmaScott

 

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