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Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler by Jessica Speart
flowtjo's review
fast-paced
2.5
An interesting topic but falls down with pretty bad writing and some really odd homophobic/transphobic parts that made me uneasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Transphobia
jessthanthree's review
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Animal death
lorange's review against another edition
3.0
There is something charismatic about butterflies. As U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services special agent Ed Newcomer finds out, sometimes a fascination for these winged insects can turn into a dangerous obsession as collectors seek to own rare and endangered species. Newcomer's assignment: catch Yoshi Kojima, the most-wanted butterfly smuggler in the world. In Winged Obsession, Jessica Speart nicely weaves together the story of a man obsessed with butterflies, a man obsessed with catching him, and other facts.
Overall, the book is fun and interesting. It's neat finding a non-fiction book that reads like a novel, though effect did not always work well. Speart attempted to dive into the thoughts of all the people involved, which left me as a reader sometimes wondering how much of the story was true and how much was Speart adding for dramatic effect. Mentioning Speart's embellishments, the author broke away from the main story at times to give facts, background info, or introduce other people, but at times it was simply distracting from the main story. As a biologist, I didn't mind the facts as much, but a non-biology reader might lose interest.
My other main complaint was that in the description on my book, it mentioned Speart's own involvement with Kojima, almost making it sound like she helped catch the butterfly smuggler. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and her own involvement was one chapter at the end. In my opinion, I would have either cut that chapter or would have clearly labelled it an afterword or something. It certainly wasn't worth teasing in the description.
Overall, the book is fun and interesting. It's neat finding a non-fiction book that reads like a novel, though effect did not always work well. Speart attempted to dive into the thoughts of all the people involved, which left me as a reader sometimes wondering how much of the story was true and how much was Speart adding for dramatic effect. Mentioning Speart's embellishments, the author broke away from the main story at times to give facts, background info, or introduce other people, but at times it was simply distracting from the main story. As a biologist, I didn't mind the facts as much, but a non-biology reader might lose interest.
My other main complaint was that in the description on my book, it mentioned Speart's own involvement with Kojima, almost making it sound like she helped catch the butterfly smuggler. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and her own involvement was one chapter at the end. In my opinion, I would have either cut that chapter or would have clearly labelled it an afterword or something. It certainly wasn't worth teasing in the description.
greeniezona's review
4.0
I picked up this book at a little bookstore in Iowa that had a box of ARCs at the door that you could pick through if you made a purchase. The butterfly on the cover caught my eye.
When I finally got around to reading it I had some reservations at first. It wasn't that the book was anti-science, but it was a bit light in science where I would have wanted more, and some of the characterizations struck me a little "dime story mystery novel" -- which made more sense when I looked up the author and discovered that she primarily writes mysteries. But once I got going, of course I was hooked, because Yoshi Kojima is such a strange person -- the kind of oncoming disasters is hard to look away from, and it's hard not to root for Ed Newcomer -- who just wants to save wildlife and keeps getting drawn into increasingly bizarre and uncomfortable undercover situations to do so.
Butterfly smuggling is a strange and depressing world -- the kind you just hope doesn't exist -- that all those framed insects you see for sale were responsibly harvested, etc. -- but of course it does. If only the legal system took it more seriously. I'm thankful for those who do.
When I finally got around to reading it I had some reservations at first. It wasn't that the book was anti-science, but it was a bit light in science where I would have wanted more, and some of the characterizations struck me a little "dime story mystery novel" -- which made more sense when I looked up the author and discovered that she primarily writes mysteries. But once I got going, of course I was hooked, because Yoshi Kojima is such a strange person -- the kind of oncoming disasters is hard to look away from, and it's hard not to root for Ed Newcomer -- who just wants to save wildlife and keeps getting drawn into increasingly bizarre and uncomfortable undercover situations to do so.
Butterfly smuggling is a strange and depressing world -- the kind you just hope doesn't exist -- that all those framed insects you see for sale were responsibly harvested, etc. -- but of course it does. If only the legal system took it more seriously. I'm thankful for those who do.
xeniba's review against another edition
1.0
I don’t think I’ve ever been so utterly unfulfilled, angry, and frustrated after reading a book. I was excited to read this, as the story sounded quite engaging. However, the writing is astonishingly bad. I don’t know why I kept going, when I could have found an article on the butterfly smuggler that was likely much better written.
My partner had to listen to me complain about just how poorly written this book was every time I picked it up. I want her to read it so that I can talk to her about it, but I also would never want to subject anyone to writing that terrible. Such a disappointment.
My partner had to listen to me complain about just how poorly written this book was every time I picked it up. I want her to read it so that I can talk to her about it, but I also would never want to subject anyone to writing that terrible. Such a disappointment.
abigail_w7's review against another edition
2.0
This book's subject matter was interesting but the writing left a lot to be desired. It felt like it was written to be shared episodically, and was bloated with repeated information and things that had already been shared and therefore felt out of order chronologically for being repeated. The point of view also lacked consistency and left me confused occasionally as to who was being followed by the narrative. This would have been a DNF for me if I didn't need a non-violent true crime book for a reading challenge so I slogged through to the end. (Unfortunately, the casual cruelty toward animals depicted in this book makes me question whether or not this book works.)
ncsuloges's review against another edition
4.0
This was a First Reads Giveaway. I love the First Reads giveaways because I often receive a book that I would never pick up on my own. Much like a book club, it opens you up to reading new and interesting books. This was a really great read and definitely a page turner.
ks008's review
4.0
I am normally not a nonfiction read. I saw this book discounted at one of the stores I like to shop at so I thought what the heck. The butterfly also caught my eye. This book is about the case of a Fish and wildlife agent that goes undercover to catch a butterfly smuggler. It reads much like a work of fiction. I learned some interesting facts that I didn't already know about butterflies. I am glad I gave this book a chance I also learned something new. So not bad !
mynameiskate's review
3.0
This was quite interesting. Be aware, there are a few descriptions of animal cruelty that some readers may find upsetting.
allisonplus's review against another edition
3.0
Forgive the pun, but I flew through this book. Every passion has a somewhat bizarre subculture or underbelly ...& butterflies and their collectors are no different. I was fascinated by how quickly the undercover agent became fixated on the case as well as the lengthy process of collecting evidence to prove extreme butterfly smuggling was taking place ...by one man. He would have a really interesting psychological profile, that's for sure.