Cobweb ghosts are so inconvenient—especially grumpy ones with bad breath. Don’t they know silence is golden?
Johnny Strong is the expert; he hasn’t spoken in two years. Not one word to anyone except the ghost. The main purpose of life is to avoid people and not get noticed. Friends? He doesn’t need them; and certainly nobody wants him despite what the ghost says.
Until a new boy appears at Windybank—Finn Lyons, teenage wizard. He eats frogs, concocts potions, and is always hungry. Not only does Finn stand up for Johnny; he actively seeks his company and soon becomes part of life.
First love; family and words; a heady mix to go in the potion but how will it all turn out?
Hubble bubble; Johnny Strong’s in trouble! Silence is not always golden in this sweet, zany story of the purest magic at Christmas.
Karen's rating:
'Nobody's Butterfly' is probably the most unusual Christmas story that I've read this year but it's also the most magical story that I've read this year.There's magic in the air this evening...Magic in the airThe world is at her best, you knowWhen people love and care..."One More Sleep 'Til Christmas" from 'A Muppets Christmas Carol'
In the two years that he's been at Windybank, Johnny Strong hasn't said a word to a living soul...emphasis on 'living' because he has spoken with Napoleon. As a matter of fact Napoleon is the only person he has spoken. Which wouldn't be so unusual if Napoleon wasn't a ghost. Johnny just wants to go unnoticed, fly under the radar.
For Johnny the status quo is blown to pieces when Finn Lyons arrives at Windybank. Finn's a wizard and he's looking for Johnny because Johnny's a seeker and Finn's his wizard. Finn actively seeks out Johnny and while Johnny initially seems resistant to Finn's company...Finn is a force of nature and one that's not to be denied.
This one was a bit of a slow start for me and I really wasn't sure that I was going to warm up to it but to be honest the combination of Johnny and Finn ended up being pure magic...not of the explosive kind, no for me it was subtle, slow, smooth and it just wrapped itself around my heart without me even realizing it. I went from 'this is cute and sweet' to 'ohmygod, these boys? No child should have their lives...please can I feed them milk and cookies and wrap them up in love.' And yet in spite of how tragic each of their lives were they found each other and they gave their hearts to each other.
Along with the darker side of things and the sadness of what each boy endured there is a story about coming of age, finding a friend and yes, someone to love there are some pretty entertaining adventures happening as well.
'Nobody's Butterfly' isn't a story that wraps things up with a neat little bow because there are some things that can't really be explained...things like ghost, things like people or ghost knowing things that it doesn't seem like they should know...things like magic.
There's a lot of magic in this story and it's a lovely reminder that magic exist for all of us...it just comes in different forms whether it's a ghost who talks to us and gives us the strength to get through a day, a friend who hears us...really hears us or gives us a hug when we need it most...magic is out there waiting to touch our hearts and our souls if we'll only let it.
'Nobody's Butterfly' is a sweet story that's low on sex and filled with a story that's warm and touches the heart.
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An ARC of "Nobody's Butterfly" was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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