Deliciously dark and equally as captivating, Lost Boy is the novel you have been waiting for!

Posted on OuroborosFreelance.com on 5/16/2017:

A plethora of books on the market now retell old fairytales. Skip all of these – read Lost Boy by Christina Henry instead!

Lost Boy is Jamie’s story. Jamie is the first boy that Peter Pan brought to his island. He is also the defacto father-figure for the other boys, but only because he is the “oldest” and realizes that they still need to eat and, occasionally, bathe. And given that their lives consist of roughhousing, battle simulations, fighting off the Many-Eyed, and ransacking the pirates’ camp, he is also the closest thing to a doctor the boys have.

Everything changes when Peter brings back a boy who is younger than usual. Charlie is only five years old, and takes much of Jamie’s time and attention. Much of the book deals with Peter’s jealousy over Charlie and Jamie’s relationship and the schemes of Peter to separate Jamie from the young boy.

The addition of Nip and Sal bring further complications, of which you will need to read yourself.

And then after many crying jags (mine) – Captain Hook.

Suffice it to say, I will never look at Peter Pan the same again. I am now and forever a Captain Hook fan.

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher. (A huge thank you to Berkley Publishing Group!)

Rating: 95/100

Buy this book July 4th!

Okay. I am very... conflicted on how to feel about this. Because, on the majority of my hands, I LOVED this, but on a tiny pinky of a hand I'm a little bit annoyed.

This tells the beloved story of Peter Pan, but before he flew off into the sky to retrieve Wendy and her brothers; back when Jamie was Peter's very best friend, his very FIRST friend, and the two of them fled into a hole in the ground to go find new playmates together. This is the story of how Jamie once loved Peter Pan, and slowly grew up to hate him. Because "Peter needed to be a hero, so somebody needed to be a villain."

This was, hands down, my FAVORITE portrayal of Peter Pan. Christina Henry PERFECTLY captured how he was in my head from my reading of the original story, and how I just always imagined him - because, I've read a handful of retellings so far and Peter is always just a little too innocent and nice or just a little too overly evil. Peter is just a boy - a little, eleven year old boy who wants what he wants when he wants it. He throws temper tantrums, he screams and fights when he's upset, and he's a horribly manipulative little creature. As a person who almost solely worked with boys between the ages of 8 and 12 for almost six years, I will be the first to tell you that (although you may think it) that age group isn't actually as evil as they're made out to be. They aren't innocent either - they're more just horribly simple and one track minded (for the most part). And Christina Henry captured this in-between PERFECTLY to me. Peter was perfect in this book.

And Jamie! Oh Jamie, he was wonderful too. I REALLY enjoyed her twist that James was originally a lost boy - not just any lost boy, but Peter's FIRST lost boy. It was a really, truly refreshing look on the story. And it made their rivalry as Captain Hook and Peter Pan seem all the more horrific and childish - which, I enjoyed.

I also LOVED that Christina Henry didn't hold back. There are so many flaws in Peter Pan's little world on the island; so many things that simply don't add up. And Henry totally pulls those things to the forefront and exploits them. SO MANY people die. there's illness, there's blood, there's boys who hate each other and there are boys who don't fit in on the island. Some of her descriptions were seriously gruesome and I swear a certain death is always going to stick in my head (view spoiler)

Overall I fucking enjoyed this so much. I never didn't want to be reading it - it captured my heart from the start and I'm angry I got this book at such a busy time in my life or I would have read it in a single sitting rather than a day. And please PLEASE don't think I'm writing this review so well because I got it from NetGalley (legit just go look at my other review I did for a book from them cause I tore it apart and hated it lol) because I will legit be preordering my copy RIGHT NOW and ordering all of Henry's other books because I'm in love.

But.

There's always a but isn't there

There is a small, tiny little thing that bothered me.

It's slight spoiler territory so WARNING FOR SPOILERS AHEAD but it has to do with the romance in this book.

I feel like I shouldn't be so annoyed with this, because no where does it say that this was going to happen in the description, but, I'm still a little peeved. Basically, throughout 75% of this book, Jamie talks about how much he's in love with Peter Pan. Not just how much he likes Peter or how much he enjoys being around him and playing with him. He talks about how he's IN LOVE with Peter Pan. How he just wants to see Peter smile and how he would do anything for Peter and how he's fuCKING IN LOVE WITH PETER PAN.

I feel queer baited. I shouldn't. But I do.

If you give me a character who, from page one, is telling the reader how much he loves another character you'd think those characters were going to have a slightly more-than-friends relationship, RIGHT??

The majority of my highlights in this book are Jamie AND PETER talking about how much they love each other.

Now, I understand there are multiple types of love. (I am asexual, obviously I understand there's romantic love, platonic love, family love, etc. etc.) But when you say you're IN LOVE with someone usually that implies romantic feelings??????

I dunno, I just wanted something. Cause, even though I knew where this book was going to end up, I still felt like the author could have done SOMETHING with this whole LOVE thing??

Okay, that is all.

but yes this book comes out July 4th and I highly recommend it if you're a fan of Peter Pan or "Lord of the Flies" because tbh it was VERY similar to that book which makes total sense that I loved this book so much cause PP and LOTF are my two all time favorite classics.

Christina Henry, author of the chilling Alice, which is a brilliant re-telling of Alice in Wonderland, has shifted focus to a new fairytale. In Lost Boy, readers get to experience the story of the boy-who-never-grew-up through the origin story of his arch-nemesis. And what a story it is.

Jamie is a fierce fighter- the best. And he protects the younger and weaker members of those lucky few that Peter brings back from the real world or in this tale, the Other Place. This protective instinct is sneered at by Peter who accuses Jamie of "babying" or "mothering" the boys. In truth, there is no worse insult in Peter's arsenal. Grown ups either abuse you or take your stuff or both. They're pirates.

The stage is set. Love and hate intertwine with magic, blood and, of course, a little bit of fairy dust.

Peter lies. With just that one sentence I knew we were not going to be fed the Disney version of Peter Pan. More like the Grimm's Fairytale version. 

If you read Ms. Henry's Alice, you know this isn't going to a sweet, lovely tale. And it isn't. It is dark and Peter is not a nice boy at all. The tale is told from the viewpoint of Jamie, Peter's favorite playmate. And life is full of fighting pirates and each other and playing in the ocean. Until Jamie starts noticing things. 

This Peter is cold, menacing and uncaring of his lost boys. Basically a narcissistic sociopath.  While Peter and Jamie are pretty well-developed as characters, the rest of the boys weren't. We didn't really know their stories and I wish we had, but this was more Jamie and Peter's story, so I understand. 

I'm sure this will do quite well overall. It just wasn't right for me.  Release Date is July 4, 2017.

Everyone grows up knowing the fairytale of Peter Pan...but what if all of our lives we've been told the wrong story? A fairytale to keep keeps happy, thinking this story exist, but its just a fairytale. This story gives us the true story of Peter Pan, the one that will make you see the infamous hero in a different light. We follow Jamie ( as the story is told from his perspective) and Peter, we learn how Pan takes boys from the other place, and brings them to this magical island... But everything is not as it seems, he promises no rules and fun all the time, but then they come and he has rules that all must abide by, and its not all fun and games all the time. Throughout the book Jamie begins feeling tingly in his legs and arms, and day  by day he finds himself taller, and thinking in a new way.. Is he growing up finally? And why now? You get the answers to all these questions and you will quickly figure out who Jamie is in the infamous fairy tale we all know and love. This was a great twist on a classic and i loved this version much more than the tale we were told as children...

I received a DRC from publisher in return for a fair review.

What a great retelling! Makes me very sympathetic for Hook. This book is dark, gritty, and full of adventure. It starts off with Peter and his early band of misfit boys. He has collected them over the years, and replaces them when one dies. James was the original Lost Boy, and the favorite of Peter's. He has always been the responsible one, taking care of the others. Over the many years he has spent with Peter he has slowly become disillusioned with his hero, and his adoration has become something of a different nature. When Peter pushes James too far, it's a battle to the end - and the beginning of the original tale.

This was a fun intense read. Even though the reader knows what is going to happen and how it will end, the action and emotion portrayed by the characters draws readers into the story and keeps them invested in the outcome. Peter is a narcissistic sociopath with no care for anyone. James fights valiantly for the boys, but in the end, they are set to be forever at war with each other. 

I may be more of a villain at heart as I love reading their backstories and getting to know their motives, and this one definitely puts a different spin on things. A perfect read for those who like their retellings to be a little darker.

Review for Monster Librarian forthcoming. I'm not usually one for villain backstories, but this one was really well done.

I got this book to review through the Amazon Vine program.  I have been a big fan of Christina Henry's other books (The Adventure of Alice and her Black Wings series).  However this book missed the mark for me.  It's not poorly written or anything, it's just really boring and predictable.  I think part of my issue is that I was expecting something as darkly creative and lush as Brom’s The Child Thief and this book is just so much less than that.

I kept expecting the story to gain more plot and/or depth and it never really did.  It just plods along and ends exactly as you expect it to.  The Many Eyed Ones seemed interesting at first and I was excited for our first encounter with them; but even that feel flat for me once it was revealed what they were...it just wasn't that big of a mystery.

Basically the big reveal is that Peter Pan is a cruel forever child, which seems anti-climatic if you think about it.  I mean imagine if you were stuck between the ages of 7 to 15 forever; there’s a lot of cruelty and thoughtlessness that happens in those years.  Imagine if you are never held accountable for your actions or learn about consequences.  I am not saying all kids are cruel, but if you were living in that sort of environment there would be no reason to not be selfish and immature.  The whole story seems like...well duh.

Unfortunately there was nothing in the story here that really hooked me and drew me in.  It was boring from beginning to end and I almost stopped reading it quite a few times.  This is a book I truly could have skipped.  I suppose if you worship Peter Pan as a symbol of hope and innocence then this book might floor you, but I have always thought Peter Pan was creepy and cruel so this book was nothing new for me.

Overall this is one I would skip.  If you are looking for a dark expansion on the Peter Pan mythos that is interesting and builds an amazing dark world around the Peter Pan story I would recommend checking out Brom's book The Child Thief.   That is an amazing book about a darker look at the Peter Pan mythology and history.

I continue to enjoy the trend of novels retelling classic fairy tales, so when this story came into my radar, I couldn’t wait to read it.  The author grabbed me in quickly with the story of Captain Hook and immediately gave the book a “hook” of its own by seeing him as a boy himself. 
The idea of Captain Hook, “Jamie”, as Peter Pan’s first lost boy was brilliant. Henry gave Jamie a great voice that started out quite young, even if it was a little old considering he is telling the tale as a man, and then grew as the story went on. There was a great feel for Jamie’s moods, concerns, and changes as each day passed and each event took its toll on him. 
Peter was presented as the new villain, and embraced the character. He was brilliantly manipulative and positively terrifying at times, yet we wasn’t fully rounded. He was presented as a whiney kid that did anything to get what he wanted, and although there was more and more depth showing the lengths that he would go to get his way, there was no real insight into Peter’s life.
The story itself, fell somewhat short. It seemed to drag on from point to point and never really reached an ending that would satisfy a younger reader. Jamie’s voice became droning as he, more and more, began to realize the true Peter. His thoughts were understandable, but quite repetitive. I wanted more insight into the island instead of Jamie’s head most of the time. I felt that the battle between Peter and Jamie was too short for the amount of buildup and then the story fizzled out quickly after. We saw why Jamie left Peter and the reasons behind his anger. What was left out, and much needed, was his path to becoming Hook.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the way this author is going back to stories from childhood and reinventing them from her insights into a older feeling Alice and even the infamous Red Quenn . So obviously a somewhat darker look at the Peter Pan story held great appeal. Now I admit it's set before the more well known story and honestly it's a lot more intense then any Disney version. Please don't expect singing and happy times but be ready to see the boy that didn't grow up as a lot more monstrous then previously portrayed.
This is essentially a glimpse into just how Captain Hook might have become Peters arch nemesis . We know they were enemies but what started it? Well how about Jamie was once a boy who ran, played and laughed with Peter? An original 'lost boy' brought to a magical island to keep Peter company and never grow old alongside other playmates . The problem is Peter is a child with all the egocentric feelings that youth can bring.  He doesn't understand love or loyalty and is utterly selfish to the point that only his own needs and gratification are important . Here is were Jamie struggles as he's seen so many of the other children who are promised eternal youth and happiness by Peter fall and yes he's buried them. This story slowly escalates as characters fight amongst themselves ( think Lord of the Flies) with pettiness, jealousy and violence rearing their ugly heads. Yet all this is escalated by Peter as he pushes , plots and then even he makes big mistakes that change so much. 
So not a typical piece of fan fiction that could have been written about Neverland and if Peter Pan is your hero then here he is solidly given feet of clay! This was a shock and very harrowing to read at times. I'd read about half and had to go to bed but my mind kept returning to this story and the characters turmoils which shows I think just how gripped I was by it. What I will say is that it's Jamie who dominates this story with an almost absent mercurial Peter. Seeing the different dynamics as Jamie was portrayed as the caring protagonist and Peter frankly is possibly the villain but then I remind myself that it's a portrayal of a side of childhood we ignore . Not a sweet , funny retelling. Yet I was totally immersed in it even if at times the utter bloodthirsty antics horrorified me. Yet I finish by understanding just possibly why Hook and Peter became unwavering enemies . I'm left with a sense of sadness and the hope that in real life friends can always be there to support each other .
This is a voluntary review and my thoughts and comments are my own honest and I believe a fair opinion

After finishing this emotionally draining, but excellent story, I feel like all I have left is my bones. Lost Boy tells the tale of Jaime, the first lost boy in Peters group. He thinks that its all fun and games until he realizes that Peter is hiding something from him. 

Henry has painted a totally different side to Peter, one that is sadistic and dark. This is not your normal childhood feel good story. Its more of a black thriller that will lead you down a dark path. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who likes a twist.

This was a good book, don't get me wrong, but it just wasn't what I expected. I am a huge fan of any type of Grimm/Fairy Tale/Disney retelling, but this one just wasn't up to par with other things that I've read. However, with that said, I still foresee this being a fairly popular book and doing very well. Just because it wasn't exactly my cup of tea, doesn't mean it won't be your! I would highly recommend giving it a shot if you a fan of Henry's past work.

Have you ever wondered why Captain Hook hated Peter Pan so much?  After all, why would anyone hate a perpetually young boy who just wants to have fun and adventures?  This story answers that question.  A boy who refuses to grow up never learns to care about other children's needs and feelings more than his own.  An eternal child never learns to see the consequences of his own actions.  And a perpetually immature boy will never learn to see other boys as more than something to use to get what he wants and then throw away when they no longer amuse him.  
Jamie was the first boy Peter ever brought to the island and has remained his closest confidante and second-in-command even as other boys were added to the group.  Over the years, Jamie has taken on the responsibility of making sure the boys were ready for their various adventures, taking care of them when they were hurt or sick, and keeping order among the rambunctious boys.  Things begin to change when Peter brings five year old Charlie to the island.  Peter quickly tires of the little boy who cannot keep up on their adventures and sees nothing wrong with putting Charlie in danger to get rid of a nuisance.  Determined to protect Charlie, Jamie begins standing up to Peter and discovers just how malicious Peter can become when he doesn't get what he wants.  What follows will turn Jamie's former love for Peter to a deep hatred as eternal as Peter's youth.

A wonderfully ingenious take on the tale of Peter Pan. Just as with "Alice" Christina Henry's reinvented world is full of recognizable characters shown in new light. The ending was one of those where I had to take a break every other page or so and just put the book down for a minute while I absorbed it all. I loved it.

3 stars.

Although this book had a bit of a slow start it still contained a large amount of action, violence, and bloodshed. All of which gets a thumbs up from me. As a kid I was never a big fan of Peter Pan and watching it recently with my daughter confirmed my dislike. So reading a book where Peter Pan is a villan was quite enjoyable. 

The writing is great, and the main characters are compelling but, the book lacks a little something. It is a very quick read and retellings are always a bit of fun but the book is just so-so. 

Recommended to those specifically looking at dark retellings. 

~ARC provided by Berkley and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lost Boy is written by Christina Herny who is known for her dark retellings of Alice and the Red Queen. I was provided a copy of this title via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  
This is the story of Captain James Hook, before he becomes the Captain.  This retelling takes the spin that is much more believable about what a truly ageless boy would be like if he had no supervision, responsibilities or rivals. 
This book is well written and you do feel for the characters; sometimes even Peter, but not as much as the other characters. It’s an engrossing coming of age story with narratives we all recognize. For me I found some pacing issues in the beginning where the story dragged, but the second half of the book was very quick and I was unable to put it down!
In the end, though, there is no misunderstanding as to why Hook despises Peter. I have nothing but sympathy for Jamie/Hook and, I too, hate Peter Pan. By the end of this story I really, REALLY hated him.

I'm not this author's biggest fans, but library patrons are into her Alice series, so I will definitely be purchasing this title.

WARNING: RANTER REVIEWER AT WAR WITH HERSELF 

Was it good? Yes.
Was the world full of well rounded, rich detail? No.
Did we need this? I...suppose not. 
Were the characters multifaceted and we'll developed? The MCs were. 
What about the other characters? They only developed when and if they needed to...otherwise they acted as fodder for the grind. BUT in a way that emphasized the MCs feelings on the matter. 
Was the plot unique? Sadly, no.
Does the book have merit? Oh, yes.
Was it enjoyable? In the way you cannot help but rubber neck at a car wreck— there is so much tragedy in this book that it flits the balancing act of wisdom when it cares to. 

....and back and forth I went. 

Gut time: 3.8 stars. (It cannot be 4 because I was bored during the beginning. But more on that later.)

"I hate Peter Pan." 

In case the title did not clue you, this is a Peter Pan retelling. (Whew. Now that that is out of the way...) And like our MC, I should start this by saying that I am most definitely not a Peter Pan fan, so that could lend toward some bias. Also, between the title and the Prologue, you pretty much know how this one is going to play out. Although at the time I read this I had never seen the subtitle and I STILL predicted how it was going to play out, so there is that. Fact is, unlike Alice this tale stays pretty true to Peter Pan. It is the Prequel to the tale Disney so kindly sensored for our first time way back when. In fact, some of those nit picky questions are addressed here. (view spoiler)

All that being said, I did get bored. *flinched at the admittance.* Maybe I was comparing it to much to The Child Thief or Alice (both which I rave and recommend, by the way.) Whatever the case, the beginning of this tale just did not do it for me although it did pick up later. To better explain...TO THE STORY! 

“He wanted the boy and Peter got what he wanted—always." 

In a way, this entire story is about a boy. Only it is not about the boy you may think it is. Peter Pan treks into the real world and brings boys back to 'play' with him. However his way of play is quite different from our own and many, many boys die. But there had to be a first boy. And for whatever reason, the very first boy that Peter brought over has lasted the longest and is the fiestiest. He has loved Peter for what could be over a hundred years. But a disagreement over one of the newest recruits could be just the thing to change all this. 

...Sounds intriguing? Yeah...and yet... the first bit is the dreadfully dull bit. The first 8 chapters are in 'Part One' and are the worst of the lot in my opinion. There is too much introspection into the underdeveloped mind of a 12-year-old-going-on-grown-up. Back and forth we go as he argues (unconvincing) with himself and describes the very limited world he lives in. BUT if you can slog through Part One, you will not be disappointed. Both the pace and the plot pick up from here. 

“It’s not such a wonderful thing, to be young,” I said. “It’s heartless, and selfish.” 

"Et tu Brute?"

Betrayal has a way of livening things up. So does jealousy. And so does anger. Here we begin to see the dark nature that Christina Henry won me us over with. The problem with children is that ID overrides ego and superego. What they want goes. What seems good, is. Personal gratification and selfishness are the hallmark of childhood. What would become of such a child over years when you take away the innocence and leave the rest? Would, could a monster grow? And who is the monster? The one who remains savage or the one who becomes savage in a singular purpose? 

Oh Freud, what a field day you would have with this book. 

"Was this, too, part of growing up? Was it facing the bad things you’d done as well as the good, and knowing all your mistakes had consequences?" 

When Peter goes too far in his fun and games he may just leave behind the one person the game was supposed to ensnare. And by doing so it could turn out that Peter is given relevantions that he was not prepared for. And what does a sulkly, cruel boy do when he does not get his way? Blood Bath. A blood bath that leaves the lost boys wondering just what happened to all those promises of childhood joy. 

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” I roared.
“Only what I had to,” he said, and he was serious in a way that I rarely witnessed. “Nobody will take you from me..." 

As I have come to expect from Mrs. Henry, the dialogue was superb. The scenes flowed flawlessly. You can not imagine a story being told any other way. That being said....

(Well...except for the beginning. That one hitch. What happened?! It was a long, drawn out bore! The MCs were one dimensional and the imagery was flat. How did ut change so rapidly from show to tell? It wad like she was trying to hard to paint us a picture that she TOLD us rather than showed us at first. No need. The story was already there! All we needed was to be plunged in!)

Personally I think that the author was handicapped by how closely she kept the world to the original. Nothing was built on Neverland. It was the same as we know it. So if you adore this author for her world building, this will be a shock. Brace yourself and you will be happier reading it. 


THAT ASIDE: the dark prose and mind catching MCs kept me well invested if only a little wanting. Like before, as soon as I got into this author's work I did not come up for air until it was finished. And, like her other retelling, this one kept me thinking long after I set it down. Such was the underlying commentary on society and preconceptions. It might have even changed who I root for in the battles to come. 

“We all loved you, and so we loved Peter too, because you did. But when you stopped, so did the rest of us. You always made us see him through your eyes.” 

Overall I thought this book was well written if a bit rocky at the beginning. While we did not get the author's trademark world building genius, we did get her richly dark prose and flawless understanding of how character's should behave. Even her flat characters had a purpose (view spoiler) which added to the tale. I would suggest this to those who like the darker sides of classics; but still want to recognize the original work in them. 

THIS ARC WAS PROVIDED VIA NETGALLEY FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

I love the whole Peter Pan story. And always enjoy finding a new way to enjoy the old story.