Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook
From the national bestselling author of Alice comes a familiar story with a dark hook—a tale about Peter Pan and the friend who became his nemesis, a nemesis who may not be the blackhearted villain Peter says he is…
There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. This is how it happened. How I went from being Peter Pan’s first—and favorite—lost boy to his greatest enemy.
Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter's idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. Because it’s never been all fun and games on the island. Our neighbors are pirates and monsters. Our toys are knife and stick and rock—the kinds of playthings that bite.
Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever. Peter lies.
There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. This is how it happened. How I went from being Peter Pan’s first—and favorite—lost boy to his greatest enemy.
Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the Other Place to join in the fun, but Peter's idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. Because it’s never been all fun and games on the island. Our neighbors are pirates and monsters. Our toys are knife and stick and rock—the kinds of playthings that bite.
Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever. Peter lies.
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Community Reviews
A Dark, Twisted & Engaging Retelling | Review of ‘Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook’ (Review originally posted on Cyn's Workshop)
Between Peter and Hook, who’s the real villain here? It has always been safe to assume that Captain Hook was the villain, but the question of where he came from and why he hates Peter was never answered. Peter did take his hand after all, but was that it? Henry offers a new look at the story bringing to life the relationship between the two, and man, is it incredible.
Lost Boy is an incredible look at Neverland and Peter Pan. Peter isn’t the hero here, no one really is. He’s a kid who just doesn’t want to grow up, and sure, everyone sometimes wishes at one time or another that they had never grown up. To stay a child forever is just a fantasy and that’s the idea that Henry sort of capitalizes on. Peter wants to have fun, but an island is a dangerous place, unknown to the children who only have to follow after Peter. They aren’t really given a choice as his charisma wins everyone over. But Jamie has been on the island the longest, he’s been a child for so long, with his memories of this life before Peter haunting him. What’s so striking about that is that it doesn’t come all at once, it’s a narrative that sort of just springs on the reader and on Jamie, this giant revelation that everyone senses are coming but can’t quite see until the end. The reader sees the disenchantment that has fallen over Jamie as Peter’s carelessness of the boys begins to crack that charisma. Not only for Jamie but also for the other boys. It’s an amazing narrative that is believable.
Heroes tend to create their own villains, and Peter has done that here. He did that with his selfishness, his lack of care for these boys here. And while that may seem like it would be out of character, it’s not. Henry did a fantastic job tying together elements of not only J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan but also Disney’s, to make this origin story powerful because Henry structures the story in such a way to make every element seem so wholly plausible. There’s really nothing to suggest otherwise. Peter is a child who brought kids to Neverland on a whim, to his own enjoyment because he was lonely. And through Jamie, the reader gets a feel of this island and the dynamics of the place.
In a way it’s a heartbreakingly beautiful story about how Captain Hook came into being. He’s such a riveting character and the way the story develops, how it shifts and grows, and how the tension drives the story, it sucks the reader in. It’s a dangerous tale that highlights Peter’s quick to anger childish nature and Jamie’s disillusionment. They went from best friends to mortal enemies and that shift in the narrative, in perspective, it creeps on the reader, it makes the reader feel for Jamie, it creates sympathy for the kid everyone knows is the villain. Except he’s not, not really.
This story is a great adventure, it has such a level of darkness to it that is key in Henry’s storytelling. The level of horror functions in a very sophisticated manner, it adds to the story without taking away from the story. It’s a brilliant story that is breathtaking in every way, creating believability and coupling it with an amazing voice to tell a rich and darkly twisted story. (★★★★★ | A)
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Between Peter and Hook, who’s the real villain here? It has always been safe to assume that Captain Hook was the villain, but the question of where he came from and why he hates Peter was never answered. Peter did take his hand after all, but was that it? Henry offers a new look at the story bringing to life the relationship between the two, and man, is it incredible.
Lost Boy is an incredible look at Neverland and Peter Pan. Peter isn’t the hero here, no one really is. He’s a kid who just doesn’t want to grow up, and sure, everyone sometimes wishes at one time or another that they had never grown up. To stay a child forever is just a fantasy and that’s the idea that Henry sort of capitalizes on. Peter wants to have fun, but an island is a dangerous place, unknown to the children who only have to follow after Peter. They aren’t really given a choice as his charisma wins everyone over. But Jamie has been on the island the longest, he’s been a child for so long, with his memories of this life before Peter haunting him. What’s so striking about that is that it doesn’t come all at once, it’s a narrative that sort of just springs on the reader and on Jamie, this giant revelation that everyone senses are coming but can’t quite see until the end. The reader sees the disenchantment that has fallen over Jamie as Peter’s carelessness of the boys begins to crack that charisma. Not only for Jamie but also for the other boys. It’s an amazing narrative that is believable.
Heroes tend to create their own villains, and Peter has done that here. He did that with his selfishness, his lack of care for these boys here. And while that may seem like it would be out of character, it’s not. Henry did a fantastic job tying together elements of not only J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan but also Disney’s, to make this origin story powerful because Henry structures the story in such a way to make every element seem so wholly plausible. There’s really nothing to suggest otherwise. Peter is a child who brought kids to Neverland on a whim, to his own enjoyment because he was lonely. And through Jamie, the reader gets a feel of this island and the dynamics of the place.
In a way it’s a heartbreakingly beautiful story about how Captain Hook came into being. He’s such a riveting character and the way the story develops, how it shifts and grows, and how the tension drives the story, it sucks the reader in. It’s a dangerous tale that highlights Peter’s quick to anger childish nature and Jamie’s disillusionment. They went from best friends to mortal enemies and that shift in the narrative, in perspective, it creeps on the reader, it makes the reader feel for Jamie, it creates sympathy for the kid everyone knows is the villain. Except he’s not, not really.
This story is a great adventure, it has such a level of darkness to it that is key in Henry’s storytelling. The level of horror functions in a very sophisticated manner, it adds to the story without taking away from the story. It’s a brilliant story that is breathtaking in every way, creating believability and coupling it with an amazing voice to tell a rich and darkly twisted story. (★★★★★ | A)
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Google+ | LinkedIn
Received this as a Goodreads Giveaway. Loved Christina Henry's [b:Alice|23398606|Alice (The Chronicles of Alice, #1)|Christina Henry|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1416530621s/23398606.jpg|42955198] and enjoyed its sequel. This retelling is like Lord of the Flies meets Peter Pan. Not as gory as Alice, and actually took me a while to get into the story, but this version of Captain Hook and Peter's origin stories was definitely a fun read.
I received this free digital ARC from the publisher via Penguin’s First to Read in exchange for my honest review.
Dry
For something as fanciful as a story in Wonderland, this was quite dry. There was description, but it was lack-luster and empty. Or it was so thick that I couldn’t muddle it all out. There seemed to be quite a few tangents of unnecessary information (that didn’t seem to be in appropriate voice for the character, either.) And that’s just the writing style.
The actual story itself seemed to be left wanting, as well. It read more like an auto-biography, a recounting of past events, than an adventure story. Frankly, it just felt like a random dull read.
Pacing
Slow. This did not really help the story either because on top of being a little on the dull side, it was also quite slow. It had a large build up, but didn’t really pick up from there. It kept a rather slow, plodding pace through, really, the entire book. Even what was intended to be the climax didn’t have the appropriate ‘umpf’ to give it speed or tension.
Underwhelming
The main characters – Peter and Jamie – were really the only developed characters in the book. The rest were there, served a purpose, but weren’t truly fleshed out themselves. (Issues with that.) But I’m more annoyed by how… flat(?) Peter and Jamie were. They had obvious characteristics, but… it was like they were never hitting extremes or felt fully-developed (which is like the opposite of what I just said.) But what I’m trying to say is that they were fleshed out, but they didn’t feel fleshed out. They just felt hollow.
Tie-In
I do like the way this retelling managed to implement all the elements of the original Peter Pan story, but still keep it original. It stayed true to its inspiration, but made it a little less fanciful and a little more realistic and gritty. (Though, I still would’ve preferred more grit. It kind of felt like that was subdued, as well. :/ )
Dry
For something as fanciful as a story in Wonderland, this was quite dry. There was description, but it was lack-luster and empty. Or it was so thick that I couldn’t muddle it all out. There seemed to be quite a few tangents of unnecessary information (that didn’t seem to be in appropriate voice for the character, either.) And that’s just the writing style.
The actual story itself seemed to be left wanting, as well. It read more like an auto-biography, a recounting of past events, than an adventure story. Frankly, it just felt like a random dull read.
Pacing
Slow. This did not really help the story either because on top of being a little on the dull side, it was also quite slow. It had a large build up, but didn’t really pick up from there. It kept a rather slow, plodding pace through, really, the entire book. Even what was intended to be the climax didn’t have the appropriate ‘umpf’ to give it speed or tension.
Underwhelming
The main characters – Peter and Jamie – were really the only developed characters in the book. The rest were there, served a purpose, but weren’t truly fleshed out themselves. (Issues with that.) But I’m more annoyed by how… flat(?) Peter and Jamie were. They had obvious characteristics, but… it was like they were never hitting extremes or felt fully-developed (which is like the opposite of what I just said.) But what I’m trying to say is that they were fleshed out, but they didn’t feel fleshed out. They just felt hollow.
Tie-In
I do like the way this retelling managed to implement all the elements of the original Peter Pan story, but still keep it original. It stayed true to its inspiration, but made it a little less fanciful and a little more realistic and gritty. (Though, I still would’ve preferred more grit. It kind of felt like that was subdued, as well. :/ )
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