The Butterfly Effect

Book excerpt: A "delightfully off-kilter" (Rachel Yoder, Nightbitch) tale of a grumpy, introverted entomologist, her astonishing lack of social skills, and her empirical data-driven approach to people and relationships that's half A Man Called Ove, half The Rosie Project "A warm, winning debut from a talented new Midwestern voice." —J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest Is there such a thing as an anti-social butterfly? 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. 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 Ames, Iowa 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. Being back home is making a mess of Greta's perfectly catalogued and compartmentalized world. It 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 partner with shiny hair, perfect teeth, and actually remembers the names of the people she meets. Plus Brandon runs the only butterfly conservatory in town, and with Greta's dissertation is now in jeopardy, she's got to get a job. She'll 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.