I cannot even begin to explain how disappointed I was in this book. I thought the concept was fun, the synopsis made it sound so interesting but it fell flat for me. Did the author do a good job making Peter Pan unlikeable? Yes, she did. The problem was that she didn’t make James Hook likable. The only character that was remotely interesting was Tiger Lily but she ended up being nothing more than a love interest for Hook and a plot device.
I am not trying to discourage anyone from giving the book a try, but I really think the story was very flawed. It was very disjointed and that may be due to the fact that there was seriously a ton of useless details added to the book. I feel that a good author can tread that fine line between building a world and just throwing description in to fill pages. Alas this book fell into the latter category. I found myself getting so very bored with the details and how it dragged on and on. Yet, the parts that actually mattered to the main plot did somewhat capture my interest (barely).
There were some bright parts in the book at least. Some of the characters were written extremely well! The way Tiger Lily was written was perfect! She was strong willed, sarcastic, and overall the best character in the book. The mermaids were also written very well. I loved that they did have that slight touch if evil to them. And I must admit that Peter Pan was also written well. I mean the author really was able to make him come off as insane and selfish. So there was that at least.
What turned me off about the book was that it felt so incredibly long. It felt like there were a lot of filler pages and some portions of the book just did not feel like it belonged in a YA novel. For example, Hook traveling to an island and having sex with numerous women was just a weird addition. Yes, it showed that ultimately he was an adult but the first time they do this was weird. He was just thinking about Tiger Lily the entire time that he was having sex with this woman. (Yes in some YA there is sex, but it was weird) The author did not go into detail for these conquests, but still I was not a fan of how it was thrown in. The ending also left more to be desired. I just wish that there could have been something better for Hook. Overall, I am glad I finished the book but not glad that it was not a very good book. I am not trying to discourage anyone from reading the book, but it was just not the book for me.
The Owl's Book Nest 