Praise Song for the Butterflies

This review can also be found on my blog.

This is a difficult book to review; it feels wrong to give it a number and talk about it as “good” or “not good.” The story follows the life of a girl named Abeo, who is born into a relatively privileged West African family. After bad luck befalls them, Abeo is brought to a shrine and is left in ritual servitude. Praise Song for the Butterflies is quite simplistically written, but its matter-of-fact tone makes the horrors within all the more appalling. Unfortunately, it also holds the characters at arms length and makes it difficult to empathize with them on anything more than an artificial level. While the story is important and eye-opening I didn't find it to be a meaningful literary experience. I'd recommend it to anyone interested, if you can stomach the content.

OMG!!!!
This book is going down as one of my favorites of all time. Let me process my emotions and I will write a review, later.


I must read everything by Bernice L. McFadden!

The prose is so damn sharp. In 240 pages you travel through half a lifetime of misery and joy. Read it.