This is an important read, but it's very heavy at the same time so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Always check trigger warnings.
I wish there was more to Meera story, more pages on the diary, it was less than 10. Not only the bad parts but more of the rest of the confort girls (Yes, I prefer to call them confort girls because let's be honest that's what they were, the youngest ever recorded was 8)
The most unrealistic part of this read is the part where korean influencers do anything good for the society to be honest, I found it even laughable. We can only hope on books where Japan finally addresses an apology, as someone who knew about these things before reading this book I don't think they will ever say they are sorry.

I just finished reading Butterflies.

It took me a little longer than normal because I needed to take breaks. Before picking up this book, I knew nothing about the comfort women and the horrific sexual servitude imposed by the Imperial Japanese military before and during World War II. The photographs at the back of the book had me in tears.

While these women eventually received an apology, no apology could ever make up for what they endured.

I loved how the story moved between past and present, while also shining a light on modern-day sexual slavery and human trafficking. Learning that an estimated 6.3 million people are trapped in sexual exploitation today is as alarming as it is heartbreaking. These are important conversations that need to be brought into the light, and this book does exactly that.

Zoe’s investigation into present-day trafficking, intertwined with her discovery of Meera’s diary and her own family history, was woven together brilliantly. The dangers she faced had my heart racing because you know these things are happening in the real world. The arrest, the imprisonment, and the risks taken by those fighting against trafficking all reinforced just how serious this issue remains.

I almost feel uncomfortable rating a book of this magnitude. How do you put a star rating on a lifetime of suffering endured by so many women?

But I can rate the impact of the story, the importance of its message, and how beautifully it was told.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A powerful, heartbreaking, and incredibly important read that I believe everyone should experience.

As a Korean woman, I went into this book expecting that, despite the heavy subject matter, there would eventually be some sense of hope or healing at the end. Instead, I found the story overwhelmingly tragic, and I struggled with the lack of emotional payoff.

The portions of the book that resonated most with me were the aunt's diary entries. In fact, I often found myself more invested in her story than in Zoe's present-day investigation. Learning about her aunt's experiences and the historical trauma she carried was heartbreaking, and I wished the novel had spent even more time exploring that narrative.

One aspect that didn't fully work for me was Zoe's motivation. While she becomes deeply committed to investigating sex trafficking, I never felt I understood what initially drove her to pursue the story so relentlessly. The connection between her investigation and her family's history eventually becomes clear, but before that point it felt more coincidental than organic.

I also found the ending somewhat unsatisfying. Zoe's professional success and recognition as a journalist felt like a relatively small victory compared to the immense personal and generational trauma explored throughout the novel. I kept waiting for a stronger emotional resolution or a greater sense of healing for the characters.

That said, this may simply be a matter of expectations. I was hoping for something closer to the emotional catharsis found in works like The Joy Luck Club, where difficult truths are balanced with reconciliation and hope. Instead, Butterflies takes a much darker and more realistic approach, one that many readers may appreciate more than I did.

While I admired the author's willingness to tackle difficult historical and contemporary issues, I ultimately found the book more like a news article info dump and less like an actual story.

I have no words to describe this book. The writing style is beautiful and incredibly easy to read, despite the weight of the story itself.

Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.

The horror that these women had to endure is simply indescribable.

This book left me completely speechless. I cried so much. It is such a compelling and heartbreaking story. I read it in one sitting, and I have nothing more to say except that this book deserves to be far more popular!