Review: Beautiful and Healing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2014
What is the fascination with rape victims in New Adult books? I’ve read half a dozen books with this being a recurring theme and it kind of makes me sick. It seems that some of these books are implying that all you need is a good guy to help you cope with your attack. Or they have this “hero” who gets it all wrong and forcefully gets the woman to admit she was raped. There is this one book where this guy basically corners a girl, grabs her shoulders and forces her to tell him what happened. THAT is not a healthy way to do it.Butterfly breaks those stereotypes and does this perfectly. Beautiful and heartbreaking, Elle Harper touches this subject in a very realistic, frightening way.I loved Grace. Her story broke my heart every time a new piece was introduced. She doesn’t start out a strong character, but she grows to believe she is.Ben. Sweet, troubled Ben. His story killed me, as well. He is a counselor, specializing in rape victims and he had the most amazing things to say. (Guy in that other book, take a cue from Ben. He knows what he's doing).(Let me veer off the path for a second: During my third semester of college, I had this guy hold the door open for me. I said thanks and he responded with “you’re welcome, baby”, which I immediately rolled my eyes at, but turned to smile at him anyways. He then started walking with me toward the parking lot during which he asked for my number, he handed me his phone to enter it in and his background was of a spread-eagle naked women. So with that, I gave him a fake number and told him goodbye. He continued following me, asking me what I was majoring in. After I told him accounting, he said, with the smoothness of a guy who is used to getting what he wants and who obviously has trouble hearing, “awe, counseling? I need counseling.” Not understand what he was talking about, I asked him why and he answered with “because I have a broken heart.” Needless to say, I never saw that guy again. I don’t even remember his name).And THAT is what I think of every time I hear the word counseling.Anyways, Ben is a counselor and he is just the sweetest thing. I’m so glad Grace found someone like him to help her heal. It warms my heart!!Lisa is a great supporting character. She says a very important thing that stuck out to me the most. “He didn’t make you do those things. He gave you the tools to use so you could heal yourself.” Ben may have helped her out, but ultimately Grace overcame it herself.There is a great romance swirling around in this book. A slow, languid, beautiful, healing romance that made my heart clench with happiness. Grace and Ben get through their troubles together, helping each other out any way they can.I’m always wary when it comes to books about rape, because none of us can truly understand how it feels to be a victim unless it has happened to you. And that is not necessarily a mindset I wanna delve into. It’s a touchy subject and it is not always handled well. This book touches on every type of person who is around rape. The victim. The healer. The friend. The jerk who doesn’t believe you and blames you for it (ahem, Claire).Butterfly is worth picking up. It’s worth the tears and the stupid, happy smile you will have in the end.