Title: The Ghost of Buxton Manor
Author: Jonathan L. Ferrara
Date Added: August 16, 2016
Date Started: October 17, 2016
Date Finished: December 29, 2016
Genres: YA, Paranormal Romance, LGBT, Fantasy
Pages: 400
Publication Date: October 12, 2016
Media: Kindle
“Michael, don’t forget our Neverland.”
For nearly a century, the ghost of 17 year-old Rupert Buxton has been trapped in his childhood home. He spends his days reading, roaming, and trying desperately to recall his former life. Hope is restored when a boy his own age moves into the manor—a boy he quickly becomes fascinated by. This peculiar, modern boy is the first person that Rupert has been able to reveal himself to, and just might be the key to help him discover his mysterious past.
The Ghost of Buxton Manor is a young adult, LGBT paranormal fiction centered around historical figures Rupert Buxton and Michael Davies—the inspiration behind the real Peter Pan.
This novel is an utter delight. It’s based on real historical figures, Rupert Buxton and Michael Davies, the latter whom inspired J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Rupert Buxton has haunted the mansion that was once his family estate for nigh on a hundred years. He neither knows the cause of his death nor why he’s forced to linger in limbo as the shade of a 17 year old youth.
Three events throw Rupert’s afterlife topsy-turvy. The appearance of Dr. Wyman, his spectral therapist; a strange ghostly trio of Bloody Mary, the Weeping Bride, and the Headless Horseboy; and finally the arrival of Caroline, George, and most importantly Aaron to his long deserted home. Rupert feels an immediate connection to Aaron, and despite Dr. Wyman’s warnings to stay away, he’s unable to resist.
Initially, Rupert is merely a spectating spector to Aaron and family’s modern life, but eventually the two boys discover a way to bridge the divide. Rupert is precious and charming. His speech affectations are indicative of an earlier time as evinced by many of his turns of phrase such as calling Aaron’s laptop a “futuristic typewriter.”
I was able to figure out a major plot point, but that in no way stole any of the joy from this tale. One of the things I loved was how Aaron’s parents knew he was gay, and it was a non-issue. There are plenty and more narratives, fictional and non, about parents who don’t accept their LGBTQ children. It’s been done over and over again, and showing parents/guardians treating it as normal, helps to show that it is. The unaccepting parents paradigm wasn’t the adversary in this story, rather it was the mystery of Rupert’s past and how the two boys could possibly be together.
I only have one critique, and it has to do with how a particular character’s inflection was written out. She had a French accent, and the author chose to show that phonetically. It was a bit distracting, but didn’t take away from the overall quality of the story. I only recently read the editing tip advising against this, making it one situation where you can tell and maybe minimally show with a particular phrase thrown in here or there.
Rupert has a sad, sweet whimsy about him, which balances perfectly with Aaron’s almost stubborn determination. Aaron’s parent’s aren’t just nondescript automatons either, but stand on their own as original characters, and Mr. Ferrara does an excellent job on touching on the mysteries of the ghost world that not even Rupert is privy to. There’s also the sweet reference of the author using the name “Aaron” for Rupert’s soul mate as that’s the name of his husband. They have a blog Husband and Husband together in addition to a YouTube channel.
Considering I cried at the end of this book, I have no choice but to give it…
5 stars.
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
One to add to the TBR list. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds fun. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was a surprising quick read for 400 pages!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahh! You cried too! I teared up a few times.😪 I’m so happy you loved this Adrienne! Did you hear, Jonathan’s working on a sequel?🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was going to write about that at the end of my review! I thought I’d read it somewhere, but I couldn’t find the source to verify (or link to) so I erred on the side of caution. I’m so excited. I can’t wait to read that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review! 🙂 I love when a story is so well done that it can stir such emotions as sadness or anger, so when a book can straight up leave you in tears I gotta say “well done!” to the author for that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s exactly what I think! If you can make me cry then you’ve managed to stir up some emotions, though…I’m a hyper sensitive person so your mileage may vary 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your State of the Reader posts already sold me on this book, but I want to read it even more now! It’s so nice that the parents in the story accepted their son for who he is. Oh and character accents are definitely tricky to write effectively…
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was such a sweet, charming story that brought a tear to my eye. I did figure out a major plot point like I said, but that in no way lessened my enjoyment of the story one bit. I really liked that this wasn’t the “parent’s don’t accept their child” story. There are so many of those out there already, so I’m glad Jonathon went another way, and it’s really cute that Rupert’s soul mate is Aaron and that’s the name of Jonathon’s husband. Very sweet!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes I like it when I correctly guess a plot point. It makes me feel smrt, I mean smart. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so smart! I am so smart! SMRT, I mean smart! :p I feel validated like I figured out the mystery. If I like the story then it doesn’t bother me, and I don’t think less of the book or the author. If I had issues with the story and/or thought it was too predictable, I’ll be more irritated. Bixton Manor wasn’t that predictable, and the end was poignant enough to make me cry. I didn’t know all the details of how it would go, so it wasn’t a disappointment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
crying at the end of a book? please, noooooo thst means a cup of swiss miss marshmallow lovers is required afterwards! :-O
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right?! I need to invest in some hot chocolate. That would hit the spot right about now. It’s been REALLY cold the past few days, hovering around 20F.
LikeLike
This book sounds really interesting! I’ll have to check it out! (Like I don’t already have a million books I need to read, lol!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was really good! Are you on Goodreads at all? If you are, are we friends yet lol. People have different names on Goodreads from here, so I have problems keeping track :p
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am on Goodreads! Annddd… I just sent you a friend request on Goodreads along with a little message so you know who it is! My profile pic is a pic of my dog with a Christmas collar on haha! I actually had a different account awhile ago with a bunch more books on it, but I never could figure out the password so I gave up and just started a new account. Now that I’m caught up with my Backloggery, I will probably start adding more books to Goodreads! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: The State of the Reader: 4/12/17 | The Shameful Narcissist Speaks
Pingback: The State of the Reader: 6/21/17 | The Shameful Narcissist Speaks
Pingback: Elijah Dart: Angel of Death by Jonathan L. Ferrera (DNF) | The Shameful Narcissist Speaks