Wen-yi Lee’s debut, The Dark We Know, a YA horror, was one of my favorite books of last year. So, when I learned she had an adult fantasy coming out, I was already excited, but the premise of a lesbian girl gang in 1970s Singapore (with magic!) made this one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Despite the genre differences, I looked forward to more of Lee’s striking prose, vulnerable and angry characters, and community among outcasts. And boy did this give me everything I hoped it would!
When They Burned the Butterfly centers around Adeline Siow, a prickly teenage girl with the ability to summon fire. When Adeline’s house burns down with her mother still in it, a butterfly seared into her skin, Adeline tracks down the Red Butterflies, a girl gang that takes down dangerous men and, she learns, of which her mother was the leader, Madam Butterfly.
I won’t say too much about what happens from there, because I spent so much of this book unsure where we were going next but dying to find out. What I will say instead is that Adeline is one of my favorite kinds of character, which is to say she is rather unhinged—understandably so, of course, but while the narrative clearly has care for Adeline, it does not show it in watering her down to make her more palatable. She is mean and she looks out for her own interests, even at the cost of others. However, she is also a grieving, angry teenage girl with friends for the first time in her life and a cause that is worth fighting for, and Lee lets her be all of those things.
I also really liked the progression of Adeline’s relationship with Tian, a fellow Red Butterfly and one of the two most likely to lead the gang next. Whether their goals align or conflict, both of which are true at various points of the story, I understood why they were so drawn to each other, and I rooted for them, as well as the rest of the Butterflies, to find happiness in the midst of everything going on.
When done well, historical fantasy as a genre almost always works for me, and this book is a great example of why I love it so much. The blend of magic and real history makes the world feel both fresh and familiar, and I love seeing how the author plays the two off of each other.
Wen-yi Lee’s adult fantasy debut, When They Burned the Butterfly is a strong start to what I am sure will be a sharp, gutting duology. With a sapphic romance, girls who are allowed to be mean, and fire magic, it gave me everything it promised and more, and I highly recommend it.
