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!

Butterflies is a great novel which highlights many important aspects of the society. I enjoyed how it blends history, humor and suspense in delivering this masterpiece while it also points out one of social issues in the modern day world. It was very interesting from the start to the finish and it got glued and entertained all through.
Thanks to the authors of this wonderful book!

Something which was just a news headlines to me 'comfort women' now feels real! "Comfort women" were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces during World War II. Estimates indicate that 50,000 to 200,000+ individuals—predominantly from Korea and China, alongside other occupied regions like the Philippines and Indonesia—were interned in military brothels known as "comfort stations" from 1932 to 1945. The war didn't just destroy cities, it destroyed lives and people, especially women!
These women gave survived countless abuse and still stands strong.

This book has a lot of deep emotions — vengeance, helplessness, fear, shame, empowerment and courage! It explores dark themes without being graphic and that's such a positive thing in a book! It had a pleasant thriller vibe and the pacing was top notch! I kept on reading because every moment there was an unexpected twist! Though fiction, this book feels real because the emotions are real, raw and ascending! The research is unmatched and there are real photos to accompany the book!

Some books make me happy. Some make me cry. And then there are books like Butterflies that make you stare at the wall after finishing a chapter because you genuinely don’t know what to do with everything you just read.
I went into this expecting a thriller about investigative journalism and human trafficking. I definitely got that but I didn’t expect it to hurt this much.

Butterflies follows Zoe Kim, an investigative journalist whose work leads her into a dangerous sex-trafficking investigation. What begins as a story she wants to uncover becomes deeply personal when she discovers her family’s connection to the history of the Korean “comfort women.” Through Meera’s journal, Zoe is forced to confront a painful past that had been hidden from her and, eventually, recognize how the suffering of women in the past continues to echo in the lives of vulnerable women today.
And honestly? This book broke my heart.
The sections about Meera were some of the hardest parts for me to read. Her journal showed not just the physical violence she endured, but the way prolonged suffering slowly stripped away her sense of identity, hope, and humanity. One line that stayed with me was the idea that the girl she once was had “died” the moment she was taken. That absolutely destroyed me.
What made it even more heartbreaking was seeing how the trauma didn't simply end when the war did. Arah’s story showed the long-lasting consequences of what these women endured—the relationships they couldn't have, the families they couldn't build, and the memories they had to carry for the rest of their lives. It really made me think about how we often talk about historical tragedies as if they belong safely in the past. But for the people who lived through them, the past doesn't simply disappear.

And then there’s Zoe.
I really appreciated how the book explored her relationship with journalism. She isn't just investigating a crime because it's her job. She becomes emotionally invested because she realizes there are people whose stories have been ignored, dismissed, or forgotten. There were moments when I wanted to tell her, girl, please go home and rest 😭 because she kept throwing herself deeper into danger.
But I also understood why she couldn't stop.

The book raises an uncomfortable question: What happens when telling the truth becomes more important to you than protecting your own peace?

Zoe's anger felt very human to me. She becomes frustrated with systems that seem more interested in protecting themselves than protecting victims. The scenes where victims explain that they've spoken to journalists before but “nothing ever happens” were especially painful. What good is telling someone's story if nobody is willing to listen? And what does justice mean when the people who suffered are the ones left carrying the consequences?
That was probably one of the biggest things I took away from this book: being heard isn't the same as receiving justice.
I also really liked the way Butterflies connected the past and present. The comparison between the “comfort women” of World War II and modern victims of human trafficking was uncomfortableand I think it was supposed to be.

The novel asks us to look at how exploitation can continue in different forms even when the world around it changes.
The most infuriating scenes were honestly the conversations with people who tried to justify the exploitation of these girls. Hearing them say that the women “chose” their circumstances made my blood boil. How can someone call something a choice when the person making that “choice” has been deceived, trafficked, threatened, or has no real alternatives?
That's not a choice. That's exploitation.
And I appreciated that Zoe didn't stay quiet about it.

What also surprised me was how much this book made me think about family and inherited history. Zoe grows up without knowing the full story of Meera's life, and discovering it changes how she understands herself and her family. There’s something incredibly painful about realizing that someone you knew had been carrying an entire lifetime of suffering that you knew nothing about.
It made me wonder how many stories exist within our own families that we never get to hear.
How many people suffered silently because they didn't know how to talk about it? How many stories disappeared because the people who lived them were too afraid, ashamed, or simply never given the opportunity to tell them?

And perhaps that's why the title Butterflies feels so meaningful. The butterfly becomes connected to transformation, memory, and the idea that one small action can create something much bigger. Zoe's investigation begins with one story, one journal, one woman but eventually becomes something larger than herself.
I also loved the message that remembering is an act of resistance.
We can't change what happened to Meera, Arah, or the countless women who suffered. But we can remember them. We can listen to their stories. We can refuse to let their suffering become just another paragraph in a history book.
That part really stayed with me.
Final Thoughts
Butterflies is not an easy book. Please check the content warnings before reading, because there are scenes and discussions involving sexual violence, trafficking, abuse, trauma, and historical exploitation that can be extremely difficult.
But despite how painful it was, I'm glad I read it.
I cried so much while reading this book. Like, actual tears. 😭 There were moments when I had to put it down because I needed a minute to process what I had just read. And even after finishing, I still felt this heaviness in my chest.
But I think that's what made the book so powerful for me.

It didn't just make me feel sad. It made me angry. It made me uncomfortable. It made me question how easily society forgets victims once their stories stop being convenient. And most importantly, it reminded me why remembering matters.

Butterflies is a thriller, but underneath the investigation is a story about women whose voices were taken from them, the people who try to bring those voices back, and the responsibility we have to listen.
It's heartbreaking, infuriating, uncomfortable, and ultimately hopeful.

I finished this book feeling emotionally exhausted but also grateful that I read it. Some stories aren't meant to be easy. Some stories are meant to make us uncomfortable enough to remember.

And Butterflies is definitely one of those stories.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read Butterflies as an ARC! 🦋 This was such a powerful, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking read, and I’m truly grateful to have experienced Zoe’s story before its release. Thank you for trusting me with this book and for sharing such an important story with readers. 🤍📖