I am not even remotely kidding when I say that the first eight chapters of Tinker Bell (An Enchanters Tale) was an absolute slog to get through. I can’t help feeling that the entire beginning was useless, pieces of backstory for Tinker Bell that really didn’t serve an overall purpose and fell far more in line with giving service to the additive story that Disney alone decided to give her with their Pixie Hollow plotline. The only character among her friends that I actually recognized was Tiger Lily, thus the odd pirate Caiman who spent time with them and several other unrecognizable names meant absolutely nothing to me. And it certainly doesn’t help that Calonita gives readers very little to endear them to these characters to begin with.

By the time we reach chapter nine, we slowly enter a section of the story that more heavily features characters we think we know and love, that of James, Peter Pan, and the lost boys. But even then, this is clearly not the backstory we expect from this tale as Tinker Bell is very quickly enamored with the young James, with Peter portrayed as an incredible goofball—somewhat in line with his inspirational counterpart—who refers to himself and the other boys as “James’ Lost Orphan Boys.” And while I can say that the story does pick up quite a bit here, the interactions Tinker Bell has with this teenager James and the internal thoughts we’re privy to just…don’t feel like Tinker Bell.

It is very clear to me, however, that Calonita is looking to make this an almost love story, portrayed in an insanely short span of time as Tinker Bell appears to quite literally fall in love with James, even going as far as to call him, “Darling,” as some sort of tease. And I’ll be honest, this is where I really began to roll my eyes and check out. It wasn’t like the innocent-esque, child-like obsession love that we see Tinker Bell as having for Peter in the original or in adaptations. Instead, it’s something reciprocal and results in the two of them staring at each other and then blushing as they look away. At one point, James even makes a comment about how he “could kiss” her and Tinker Bell envisions turning him into a fairy so they could be together.

Nevermind the fact that the only reason Tinker Bell is even there is because she was sent to find medicine for her dying pirate friend, but instead she’s so heart-eyed at a teenage James that she’s completely forgotten about all the friends who were set up in the beginning of the novel. And so naturally, upon returning to Neverland, it seems everything has gotten to be so much worse.

At this point, I just can’t help feeling as though this book suffers from what a great many adaptations do when an author wants to write a specific story but either doesn’t quite know how to fit the existing characters into it or doesn’t have a great grasp for what the personalities of those characters would truly be. Of all the characters, the only ones I felt truly came close to embodying their counterparts were Peter and the lost boys, and the lost boys only make this list because they’re not really a story focus and therefore aren’t on the page super often and certainly not as individuals. But even Peter has his failings, for mere moments after he, Tiger Lily, and the lost boys hijack the Jolly Roger, the young boy immediately informs Tinker Bell and James that the idea to do so came from Tiger Lily, herself.

I dunno about you, but I am confident that Peter Pan would never have done so. This is the boy who goes about taking credit for all the fun ideas, who shouts “Oh, the cleverness of me!” whenever he gets a chance, telling others they helped a little only when they call him out for it. There is no way in any realm anyone could convince me that he’d lead with an epic adventure like that being someone else’s idea. And I know this is a super nitpicky thing of me to point out, but I was just so disappointed. Anything less than this is not a true rendition of Peter and it was one of the biggest missed opportunities in the book. For me, I also just really hate when beloved characters are not written as themselves. If you’re going to adapt a well known and loved story, it’s important to do the characters justice and I just don’t think Calonita succeeds here, which is wild—but in my experience, not surprising—for an author who regularly writes adaptations of Disney characters.

Honestly, this all just makes me rather weary of the rest of her adaptations.

All of this to be said, Calonita’s take on Never Land and the characters who live there is…not the worst. The writing, overall, is fine. The plot is okay. It’s readable for someone who isn’t deeply attached to the personalities of the characters. And there are certainly plenty of people out there who are in love with Captain James Hook and looking for a romantic adaptation—not sure how they’ll feel about this middlegrade pairing with Tinker Bell and the subversive way in which Calonita presents it, but I can guarantee that this book has an audience somewhere. I…am just not one of those people. Don’t even get me started on that plot twist at the end and how it makes absolutely no sense given Tinker Bell’s behavior in the original and other adaptations.

I was very excited to receive this title; however not having the option to read such a lengthy title on my kindle made it difficult to get through. I did enjoy what I was able to read though, and recommend it for fans of Tinkerbell