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jraley_writes's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Death of parent
lilredhead's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
After I finished the book I needed a bit of time to reflect. Lost boy was the first book I read by Christina Henry, and I picked it up because I read some other fairy tale retellings and was curious about this one. I went in completely blind.
This book has blown me away, I honestly feel like this book would "downgrade" all the other books I rated because to me, nothing I read so far compared to it.
Let's just say, I am Hooked 😉
The story has great buildup, it is written as if Jamie retells the events, so immediately it has a bit of a somber vibe to it, but nothing too drastic. The start of the story really feels like a boy who starts to realize certain things with the mind of a boy. Throughout the story, however, this boy-mind slowly grows into the mind and thoughts of a man that has seen a lot.
The story is also more gruesome than I anticipated, although it's not written to be graphic persay, all the gruesome parts have a quick follow-up of bittersweet feelings. There's quite a few characters and I developed a deep love for all of them (except you, Peter). Reading how they navigated their life on Neverland, the relationships they had, and the things they lost, really hit home.
I finished this book so fast (for me) but still had to put it down a few times to process the things that happened 😅
Jamie is a wonderful character to follow and in some ways I really related to him.
He did not deserve what happened to him.
This book has blown me away, I honestly feel like this book would "downgrade" all the other books I rated because to me, nothing I read so far compared to it.
Let's just say, I am Hooked 😉
The story has great buildup, it is written as if Jamie retells the events, so immediately it has a bit of a somber vibe to it, but nothing too drastic. The start of the story really feels like a boy who starts to realize certain things with the mind of a boy. Throughout the story, however, this boy-mind slowly grows into the mind and thoughts of a man that has seen a lot.
The story is also more gruesome than I anticipated, although it's not written to be graphic persay, all the gruesome parts have a quick follow-up of bittersweet feelings. There's quite a few characters and I developed a deep love for all of them (except you, Peter). Reading how they navigated their life on Neverland, the relationships they had, and the things they lost, really hit home.
I finished this book so fast (for me) but still had to put it down a few times to process the things that happened 😅
Jamie is a wonderful character to follow and in some ways I really related to him.
He did not deserve what happened to him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Death of parent
robotnik's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't even know what to say.
Retellings have this weird thing they sometimes do where they try going the dark fantasy route but they go at it so hard that they turn into a monster cheesefest and it doesn't have the effect you know the author really, really thought they were invoking. Instead, it's just silly and loses any of the real true darkness the original story had as it bastardizes the absolute shit out of it.
This was not one of those retellings.
Lost Boy was amazing from start to finish. At no point did I feel that sort of bastardization in it, and every bit of darkness was perfectly placed to make the story exactly what it needed to be.
And Peter. Peter Fuckin' Pan. This is the sort of Peter I see some people try to be all witty and suave with but absolutely ruin the things that make him Peter, even sometimes turning him into a teen because, for some reason beyond me, they think "Hot Boy Peter" is a good idea and it's probably the worst idea they ever actually had. But, this one made him darker while keeping the things to him that were Peter. And it was fantastic.
Everything about this book was brutal and heart-breaking and that last few chapters kicked me in the teeth. Bless this book and bless Christine Henry for penning this dark take on the Pan mythos.
Retellings have this weird thing they sometimes do where they try going the dark fantasy route but they go at it so hard that they turn into a monster cheesefest and it doesn't have the effect you know the author really, really thought they were invoking. Instead, it's just silly and loses any of the real true darkness the original story had as it bastardizes the absolute shit out of it.
This was not one of those retellings.
Lost Boy was amazing from start to finish. At no point did I feel that sort of bastardization in it, and every bit of darkness was perfectly placed to make the story exactly what it needed to be.
And Peter. Peter Fuckin' Pan. This is the sort of Peter I see some people try to be all witty and suave with but absolutely ruin the things that make him Peter, even sometimes turning him into a teen because, for some reason beyond me, they think "Hot Boy Peter" is a good idea and it's probably the worst idea they ever actually had. But, this one made him darker while keeping the things to him that were Peter. And it was fantastic.
Everything about this book was brutal and heart-breaking and that last few chapters kicked me in the teeth. Bless this book and bless Christine Henry for penning this dark take on the Pan mythos.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Child death
th3bookthief's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
kenziekat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
cloreadsbooks1364's review against another edition
4.5
Lost Boy
By Christina Henry
4.5/5⭐️
Lost Boy is a gripping adult horror fantasy novel, a fast-panced retelling of Peter Pan set before the classic tale, from the perspective of the boy who will grow up to become the infamous villain Captain Hook.
Jamie has lived on the island for countless years, never growing up and being Peter's favourite. Other boys are brought to the island, but they never last long. However, he begins to question his adoration of the unapologetic, cruel, self-centered Peter and his treatment of the other boys....
I immensely enjoyed reading this book, I quickly became interested in the characters, the setting, the plot. I kind of forgot about the map at the beginning, which might even have increased my interest levels!
When books feed us and the protagonist information simultaneously, I find it brings me into the story more. This was certainly the case with Jamie, and I found my opinions on the events being the same as his.
This book is horror due to the massive quantity of murder of young boys, so if you're sensitive to that maybe this one isn't for you.
My single critique is that the world felt slightly underdescribed. What did the mermaids and pirates look like? And I couldn't imagine the Many-Eyed at all, it didn't even mention how many eyes they had.
By the way, the smoothness in which the ending set up the popular tale was superb.
So, do you enjoy horror retellings? Then this one may be for you!
TWs: blood, child death, murder, violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, kidnapping
By Christina Henry
4.5/5⭐️
Lost Boy is a gripping adult horror fantasy novel, a fast-panced retelling of Peter Pan set before the classic tale, from the perspective of the boy who will grow up to become the infamous villain Captain Hook.
Jamie has lived on the island for countless years, never growing up and being Peter's favourite. Other boys are brought to the island, but they never last long. However, he begins to question his adoration of the unapologetic, cruel, self-centered Peter and his treatment of the other boys....
I immensely enjoyed reading this book, I quickly became interested in the characters, the setting, the plot. I kind of forgot about the map at the beginning, which might even have increased my interest levels!
When books feed us and the protagonist information simultaneously, I find it brings me into the story more. This was certainly the case with Jamie, and I found my opinions on the events being the same as his.
This book is horror due to the massive quantity of murder of young boys, so if you're sensitive to that maybe this one isn't for you.
My single critique is that the world felt slightly underdescribed. What did the mermaids and pirates look like? And I couldn't imagine the Many-Eyed at all, it didn't even mention how many eyes they had.
By the way, the smoothness in which the ending set up the popular tale was superb.
So, do you enjoy horror retellings? Then this one may be for you!
TWs: blood, child death, murder, violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, kidnapping
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Murder
mayra96's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Personally I always knew Peter Pan to be the bad guy even though Disney painted a certain charm about him. This book tell you how Captain Hook became the person we know, the “villain” every child loved to hate and why. Other than the OUAT depiction of Hook’s story, this might just be a personal favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
yuricloud's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The moon was full, like it always was on the island, watching with its cold, cold eye.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual violence
peeshpish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
tifftastic87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Peter told the boys they would play games and have adventures, they would never grow up and they would be boys with him forever. Peter lies. Jamie has been on Peter's island for longer than he cares to think about, and through all those years he's been looking out for the other boys and burying them when he wasn't able to. But when Peter went too far, bringing back a boy too young, Jamie started to really look at Peter and didn't like what he found there.
This was the pick me up I needed after some let downs this month. I am probably a little biased as I love the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and especially the ideas of Peter being not what he seems. This was a Hook origin story and I really liked what Henry did with the lore and characters. As an oldest sibling, Jamie was so relatable. I felt for him even when the characters he was attached to weren't well developed, he was and his emotions were so it picked up the slack a bit. There was a lot this could have done better, the ending was a little rough and some of the characters were a little flat but overall it was really good. Hands down I would read a sequel.
This was the pick me up I needed after some let downs this month. I am probably a little biased as I love the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and especially the ideas of Peter being not what he seems. This was a Hook origin story and I really liked what Henry did with the lore and characters. As an oldest sibling, Jamie was so relatable. I felt for him even when the characters he was attached to weren't well developed, he was and his emotions were so it picked up the slack a bit. There was a lot this could have done better, the ending was a little rough and some of the characters were a little flat but overall it was really good. Hands down I would read a sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Misogyny