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The Butterfly Effect: A Novel Paperback – December 8, 2020

by Rachel McKenny (Author)

3.9 234 ratings

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"A warm, winning debut from a talented new Midwestern voice." --J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

A Man Called Ove meets The Rosie Project in this "delightfully off-kilter" (Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch) tale of a grumpy introvert, her astonishing lack of social skills and empirical data-driven approach to people and relationships.

Is there such a thing as an anti-social butterfly? If there were, Greta Oto would know about it--and totally relate. An entomologist, Greta far prefers the company of bugs to humans, and that's okay, because people don't seem to like her all that much anyway, with the exception of her twin brother, Danny, though they've recently had a falling out. So when she lands a research gig in the rainforest, she leaves it all behind.

But when Greta learns that Danny has suffered an aneurysm and is now hospitalized, she abandons her research and hurries home to the middle of nowhere America to be there for her brother. But there's only so much she can do, and unfortunately just like insects, humans don't stay cooped up in their hives either--they buzz about and... socialize. Coming home means confronting all that she left behind, including her lousy soon-to-be sister-in-law, her estranged mother, and her ex-boyfriend Brandon who has conveniently found a new non-lab-exclusive partner with shiny hair, perfect teeth, and can actually remember the names of the people she meets right away. Being that Brandon runs the only butterfly conservatory in town, and her dissertation is now in jeopardy, taking that job, being back home, it's all creating chaos of Greta's perfectly catalogued and compartmentalized world. But real life is messy, and Greta will have to ask herself if she has the courage to open up for the people she loves, and for those who want to love her.

The Butterfly Effect is an unconventional tale of self-discovery, navigating relationships, and how sometimes it takes stepping outside of our comfort zone to find what we need the most.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Alcove Press
Publication date

December 8, 2020
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.73 x 8.2 inches
ISBN-10

1643855298
ISBN-13

978-1643855295
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Butterfly Effect:
“A warm, winning debut from a talented new Midwestern voice.”
—J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

“Delightfully off-kilter…[Lovably-flawed] Greta’s comically critical point of view interrogates midwestern norms and gendered stereotypes in a story that explores the legacy of familial dysfunction. Come for the butterflies, and stay for Mans McKenny's acerbic authorial eye which examines the complexities of the Midwest and its quiet dramas.”
—Rachel Yoder, award-winning author of Nightbitch

"a lovably grumpy and unfiltered heroine. As a reader, you’ll undergo your own metamorphosis and realize how much you needed this story."
—Faith Salie, Emmy-winning contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning and author of Approval Junkie

“A well-written story with an interesting character in Greta.”
—Red Carpet Crash

About the Author

Rachel Mans McKenny is a Midwestern writer and humorist, recently published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Scary Mommy, McSweeney's, and other outlets. The Butterfly Effect is her first novel.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Alcove Press (December 8, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1643855298
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1643855295
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.73 x 8.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #945,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12,550 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
- #19,132 in Contemporary Women Fiction
- #103,468 in Contemporary Romance (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3.9 234 ratings

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Rachel McKenny

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Rachel Mans McKenny is a humorist, essayist, and fiction writer from the Midwest. Her work can be found in The New York Times, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Electric Lit, and other outlets, and her debut novel, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, is available on Dec. 8, 2020 from Alcove Press. You can find more about her at rachelmansmckenny.com or on twitter @rmmckenny.

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234 global ratings

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Gabi Coatsworth

Learning how to be Iowa nice - or at least less socially awkward

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2020

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The novel's main character, in the form of Greta Oto, is unique (or at least unusual in the fiction I've read). She's socially awkward yet keeps trying to make connections with the people around her, not sure of what she's doing wrong. Her twin, Danny, has never had any trouble with this, but has just suffered a brain injury and is learning how to become who he was, as his brain heals. Their relationship with their mother, who left them when they were young, is still a problem, and all in all, there are enough personal relationship issues to keep you hooked from page one.
Somehow, the author manages to make all the strands clear, and had me rooting for all the characters, because they were all trying so hard. The city of Ames, Iowa, is the magnetic location of the book - the place people return to, to work things out. The butterfly motif serves as a great metaphor for the book as a whole, and I learned quite a bit about insects - though I never felt I was being force-fed information. The pace picks up as the book goes along, and I could barely put it down as I got closer to the satisfying end. Great debut!

12 people found this helpful

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the reader

WHILE WORKING ON A PHD

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2022

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The Butterfly Effect has been chosen 2022 All Iowa Reads, so I ordered it. All Iowa Reads picks some good reads, plus I like midwestern writers. This book is a delight.

Greta is not a girly girl, tall, almost six feet, short hair, wearing jeans, sweat pants, no dressy outfits. She doesn't like Meg, loves her dog, Franz.

Greta Ot is an entomologist, loves insects much more than she likes people. She does not. Insects, with their big, strange eyes do not look at her in judgment. Greta is prickly and in your face with humans. Bugs are fascinating, especially glass wing butterflies in Costa Rica. These are the butterflies she is working on for her PhD.

The book begins when Greta is flying from Costa Rica where she had been working on her PhD, heading for an Iowa winter. Her twin brother, Danny, has had an aneurysm, the only one left in her immediate family. Her father died when the twins were nineteen, Mom, Martha, had quit the family when the two were fourteen.

Max, Greta's friend and lab partner, picks her up at the airport. Max is her only friend, she doesn't want or need any more. Danny, a musical genius, is popular and well liked. Opposite.

The book goes back and forth in time, back to Greta's growing up years until today. Greta thinks back to how life was, then how it is now.

Ames, Iowa is where Iowa State is located. Many young college students, others working on graduate degrees, very intelligent folks. Danny and his fiance, Meg, are middle school teachers. When Greta comes to Ames she broke, must find a job. So she must talk her ex-boyfriend for a job. He hires her, he knows she is a good, dedicated scientist, will do a good job. He has a girlfriend, Eden, an attractive girly girl.

Greta moves into Danny's apartment with Meg, her opposite. Meg cam't believe how Greta tries on clothes, just holds the article up to her, then buys. The apartment sharing doesn't go well. Meg throws her out. Greta can care less. She does miss Franz, the dog. She has to sleep in her car.

Mom, Martha, comes back. Danny wants her back in his life. He is still in the hospital. Greta does not. She can be gone.

Greta does need to know how to get along with others. She gets her PhD on ants, not her first choice. Book goes over several seasons.

Good read. Lots of fun. Love the Cover.

3 people found this helpful

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Carla Berlin

All Iowa Reads Book for 2022

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2022

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I read this for my bookclub. The characters especially the main character were not very likable. I think it will make for an interesting discussion at bookclub.

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Jan of Texas

Iowa girl reading an Iowa author

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2023

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Overall enjoyed the book. It did get bogged down in a few places. It was a joy to read about places that were familiar.

3 people found this helpful

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sewcrazy

Beautifully written

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2021

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Rachel Mans McKenny’s debut novel, The Butterfly Effect, stayed in my brain for weeks after I read it and I could kick myself for having let it rest for so long on my bedside table. Do yourself a favor and if it is on your TBR, jump to it immediately.

Our main character, Greta Oto, is an etymologist and, quite frankly, a mess-in-a-dress. When she leaves a coveted research trip in the Dominican Republic to return home to take care of her injured brother, her mess spills over into the lives of everyone around her.

I loved Greta, even when I didn’t like her. McKenny is a hugely talented wordsmith with the added gift for beautiful characterizations. I was enthralled by the character development, wondering how she would crack Greta open and get her to pick up all the pieces to put back together in the right way.

There is a slowly developed romance in here, but the focus of the novel is Greta’s reckoning with her past and her stuttering attempts to repair and rectify her relationships with the people she cares about the most. I highly recommended The Butterfly Effect for anyone who appreciates excellent writing, wry humor, and bittersweet yet satisfying endings.

6 people found this helpful

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Healthy People Press (Consignment)

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2021

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Greta is a terrific character - a hot mess of suppressed emotion, unless it’s general antipathy for anything not butterfly-related. The other characters were less compelling to me and I found them melding together. Was that Max? Or Meg? Still a fun read.

2 people found this helpful

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Rebecca

Lots of love for Greta!

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2021

Verified Purchase

I loved this book. So much. And despite all her prickliness, I felt a real love for Greta. (Maybe it’s the pandemic, but her call it as she sees it attitude reminded me a lot of my inner monologue— things I might say if I didn’t have to worry about being polite.) Throughout the whole book, she’s her own worst enemy. Over years of relationships issues— her mother left her family, her father died, and her at times rocky relationship with her twin and a real distaste for his fiance—she’s managed to build up an armor (an exoskeleton? Almost?) to protect herself from getting burned by other people.

When Danny suffers an aneurism, she has to rebuild her whole life, just like a caterpillar disintegrating and being reborn as a butterfly. If you like books about transformation, with a sense of rooting for the socially awkward underdog, you’ll love this book. As a side note, I cannot stand bugs, which are kind of a huge part of this book with an entomologist for a protagonist, but thankfully there were no pictures so I was able to move past that.

9 people found this helpful

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Kelly

Witty, Insightful & Wonderful

Reviewed in Canada on November 10, 2021

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There is something so fantastic about falling in love with a book that has an unlikable and, at times unpleasant, protagonist. A person that you find yourself rooting for even as she treats the people around her badly. That was exactly what I found in THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT and I loved every chapter.

Greta Oto is a wonderfully flawed character who prefers the company of butterflies—or any bug actually—to real people. She’s a scientist first in all situations because science she understands; love and friendship not so much. When Greta’s twin brother suffers a brain aneurysm, she must abandon her PhD research project in Costa Rica and return to her small midwestern town to help him. By returning home, Greta must deal not only with the change in Danny, but also confront many of the reasons (and people) that made her want to leave in the first place.

Mans McKenny does a great job of weaving Greta’s family history with the current timeline to give the reader a much better understanding of why Greta is the way she is. And while there were times where I found myself wanting to give Greta a talking to, I always understood why she acted the way she did and, as a result, found myself so much more invested in her journey.

With crisp writing full of wit and insight, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT is a highly enjoyable read and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.