The Butterfly Code - Sue Wyshynski

Title: The Butterfly Code
Author: Sue Wyshynski
Rating: 2.5 - 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Whitman Books for letting me receive a digital copy of this book.

My friends say Hunter's dangerous.
They say he's a threat to everyone in town.
But I'm not so sure.
As he stands before me in this crowded club with the lights shining around us,
I catch something good under Hunter's dark facade. Something decent and profound.
I don't know who or what to believe.
But I will find out the truth.

Aeris Thorne is expecting a quiet vacation in the remote town of Deep Cove. But on a stormy night, she meets the alluring and mysterious Hunter Cayman, and her life takes an exhilarating turn. Aeris is both drawn to him and determined to find out what he's hiding in his lab on the promontory. What Aeris doesn't know is that Hunter's tormented by a secret: the truth behind his research. As he and Aeris are drawn together, the walls he's built to protect himself threaten to crumble. When Aeris's life is threatened, Hunter is forced to make an impossible decision about her future━one that could change everything.

It seems as though I randomly request books, because The Butterfly Code wasn't what I expected. Of course, I knew it would involve some sci-fi and I should have known better because I'm not a huge fan of that, but still... It had so many ups and downs that I casually felt like being on a rollercoaster.

Aeris and Hunter meet in front of a club Aeris and her friends went to. Hunter is there to pick up a friend of his, named Victoria. There is an instant chemistry between the two and Aeris makes it her mission to prove to herself that Hunter isn't the bad guy everyone tells her he apparently is. As she finds out more about him, she reveals he's keeping major secrets from her, same as her father. These secrets have to do with her mother, too, who died in Switzerland when Aeris was still a child. Conflicted between her feelings for Hunter and finding out the truth, she gets herself into trouble that may cost her life.

Sue Wyshynski's writing style is flawless. Seriously, it's really really good. It's also one of the only things that kept me reading The Butterfly Code. I wasn't a fan of Aeris, I'll admit that. I can't even put a finger to it, but I couldn't relate to her at all and I think it's always important a reader can relate, or it is to me. Hunter, on the other hand, is a great guy. Alright, seems like every guy mentioned in a book is a great guy to me, haha. But seriously, he was mysterious and it was thrilling to read about his conversations with Aeris.

Then there was Greg, one of Aeris' best friends. Oh, how I wish we'd have felt a little more chemistry between these two. You could totally tell Greg had feelings for her from the very beginning (and the scene in which Ella - Aeris' other best friend - basically wants him to tell her about his feelings is one of my favourites), which made it so sad seeing Aeris only having the hots for Hunter.

Is there a sequel to this? Because a lot of questions are unanswered. I never understood Aeris' father's motives, either. He always choose to keep secrets from her when in truth he knew things he wouldn't tell. Same as Hunter. Or anyone else involved in Hunter's program. That's where the sci-fi begins. Everyone in town thinks Hunter and his co-workers try to cure diseases, but things are way bigger than that. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'll stay quiet on that.

To be honest, sometimes the romance lacked. The book is mostly about Aeris trying to find out what Hunter is working on. While it's mentioned that she loves music, I missed reading about her dream. I mean, we get plenty of her playing the piano and singing, but what about her career? I wanted to know more of that. There was too much action and fear for me, too less friendship.

So, I don't want the author to think I hated this book. It just wasn't my kind of book. And it was soooo long. I think if you're struggling with a book, it's even worse when it's a big one. This book had a lot of potential and I hope it gets all the fame it deserves, because - again - the writing was actually great!

Oh, and one more thing: I was excited to read about the jellyfish story, because just the day before getting to that part of the story, I saw a documentation about it on TV and could understand what the story tried to explain.