Review: Too much history for me, but you might like
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 7, 2012
Overview:  I think that if you enjoyed reading Seth Graham's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire hunter book (it was a DNF for me), you will LOVE Kiss of a Butterfly.  This book is a good mix of historical and horror, which makes it both more believable but sometimes a bit boring when it becomes too keen on making the plot, setting, characters, and history accurate.  At certain points, I felt like I was reading the equivalent of CSPAN.  Sure, the topic is about vampires, mass mutilations  and communism but there's only so much textbook information I can handle.  I think that in smaller doses, I might have enjoyed the book more and I this is one book I want to put on my re-read this.  Knowing the ending, I think I will definitely enjoy the build up more and the little clues within the novel.Characters:  Since many of the character names are foreign, I made up my own nicknames to remember them easier.  Slatina (Professor), Vesba (Vespa), Nataliji (Natalie), Katarina (Kat), and Steven (he's just Steven).Plot:  Slatina is a professor who recruits Steven on a research job in Yugoslavia.  Steven finds out that he's researching vampires.  And this is where I took off major points for the novel.  Reading about people researching is pretty damn boring.  I understand that it is essential to the novel and builds the characters very well, but I was really bored in this section.  The rest of the novel was amazingly well done.  The writing is polished.  The characters, particularly the ones in Yugoslavia, are so unique and lifelike.  I'm glad that I finished Kiss of a Butterfly because it truly is a great story...as long as you can survive the overload of research information.Ending:  The action and drama that I missed in the first 60% of the novel are crammed into the last third.  I particularly loved the ending.  Full of mystery, blood, and horror.  If you want just the horror part of this book, read the last 33% - that part alone is worth the money spent on this book.(I received a copy of this book for an honest review from the author.)