When a stranger brings news of Riccardo's grandmother dying, Riccardo discovers that he is now the inheritor of her Milan villa filled with her collection of butterflies. Riccardo, who is a struggling writer, chooses to go to her villa where he finds his grandmother’s diary.

The more Riccardo reads from the diary, the more questions he ends up with. While hoping for inspiration on his book, he also dives into exploring his grandmother’s death.


This book had the makings of a great story. I loved the premise, the atmosphere, and the setting. I always love books set in Italy. I also appreciated the uniqueness to incorporate these butterflies into the horror. Unfortunately, I felt that the writing and structure fell short for me. I found myself a bit confused in the middle of this story and the writing wasn’t the most advanced. The beginning and end were the strongest parts of the story, but I got a bit lost in the middle and it was hard for me to keep interested in this book at times.

I read somewhere that this is the author’s first book written in English which makes me less concerned with the writing because I know that this is miles ahead of anything that I would be able to write. I think with some more practice, this author can really polish off the bumps in prose. For being his first English novel, I’m actually pretty impressed. I’ll definitely read more books by him in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc. All opinions are my own.