Butterfly Pinned by Leslie Liautaud-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 10, 2025

Marin thought college would be her chance to start over — a new city, new friends, and a new life far from the shadows of her past.

Then she meets Bette, the effortlessly sophisticated and dangerously captivating girl who seems to have it all. Drawn into Bette’s alluring world of privilege and power, Marin quickly finds herself seduced by the glamour, but beneath the surface lies something far more sinister.

As secrets unravel and dark truths emerge, Marin realizes she’s entangled in a web of manipulation and deceit she never saw coming.

With her sense of reality crumbling and her safety on the line, she must make an impossible choice — stay silent and survive or speak out and risk everything.

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REVIEW:BUTTERFLY PINNED by Leslie Liautaud is a contemporary, adult, psychological, suspense thriller focusing on the spiral of college student Marin.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person perspective (Marin) BUTTERFLY PINNED focuses on the need to fit in; to be wanted and love; to experience everything life has to offer but for college student Marin, her life is about to spiral out of control in the wake of meeting fellow student Bette Winston. Bette Winston is the ‘it’ girl at college, well to do, with many questionable yet interesting friends but not everyone is impressed with Bette’s lifestyle including Marin’s roommate Cassie. The numerous red flags will be ignored as Marin is pulled into a world that will quickly warp and twist, leaving Marin a shell of her former self, struggling to come to terms with what happened and why.

The world building is detailed, complex and dark as Marin battles not only the outside forces but her inner turmoil as well. Wanting to fit in,Marin rarely questions the antics and idiosyncrasies of others, until the ultimate betrayal sets into motion another spiral for our story line heroine.

There is a bit of questionable timeline continuity as the jumps are uneven and odd but perhaps Marin’s need to feel accepted forced the awkward relationship development that went from zero to sixty in a matter of hours.

There is a large ensemble cast of controversial, colorful, entertaining and spirted secondary and supporting characters, many of whom are questionable, impulsive and destructive. As Marin struggles to navigate a life no longer under her control, others will seek the opportunity to take what is not freely given.

BUTTERFLY PINNED is a coming of age, through provoking and cautionary tale of power and control, madness, betrayal and mayhem wrapped in an almost pathological need to fit in. The twisted premise is gritty, dramatic and edgy; the characters are controversial, unconventional and tragic.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy