Review | Tinfoil Butterfly

Tinfoil Butterfly by Rachel Eve Moulton

Emma’s trying to forget the past and finds herself recklessly hitchhiking across the U.S. with a guy named Lowell who has gone from harmless and dumb to a creepy potential serial killer.

Just outside the Badlands of South Dakota, Emma decides to make a run for it and ends up stranded in an abandoned town with a loaded gun and a snowstorm creeping in.

Emma takes shelter in an old diner where she meets Earl, an odd young boy wearing a tinfoil mask.  Earl creeps her out but she’s desperate to find gasoline to get her out of town before the snowstorm hits.

Before long, Emma is pulled into Earl’s isolated world that quickly spirals into a house of horrors.  Confronting the boy’s demons, both real and imagined, brings Emma’s tragic past to the surface and the two make a choice to survive.

Tinfoil Butterfly is a tough book for me to rate.  It’s a horror story so obviously I was willing to suspend my disbelief for a chilling story.  I found myself several times saying out loud, “Nooooo, why would you do that?  Who does that?” when there were major red flags / creepy vibes.  (I’m that person throwing popcorn during a movie and yelling my frustrations at the screen.  From the comfort of my own home of course.)
*Yells at book* Get out of there girl!  I’d rather take my chances walking to the next town in a blizzard!

Emma has a terribly sad and over-the-top disturbing past that readers learn in a series of flashbacks.  Earl’s current situation is also over-the-top and heartbreaking.  I liked that the two characters found kindred spirits in each other but it felt rushed.

Overall, this read like an average horror movie:  I was entertained and appreciated the disturbing atmosphere but was never invested.

And finally, this book is billed as “The Shining meets About a Boy” and that is completely inaccurate.  The comparisons stop at boy in an isolated location.

I’d mention this book to readers who enjoy horror with metaphysical elements.

Thanks to MCD x FSG Originals and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  Tinfoil Butterfly is scheduled for release on September 10, 2019.