ARC Review: Lost Boy by Christina Henry

Title: Lost Boy
Author: Christine Henry
Publisher/Publication Date: Berkley Books; July 4, 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Source/Format: First to Read; eARC

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

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...

My Thoughts:

Lost Boy by Christina Henry was probably one of the darkest retellings of Peter Pan that I’ve read—not to say that I’ve read many altogether, but what I said still stands. This was a dark and gritty story filled with morally gray or just downright evil characters operating under the guise of naivety. By far, Lost Boy wasn’t a bad book. However, I had a hard time deciding about how much I liked this book.

Lost Boy was easy to read after I got past the beginning. I honestly wasn’t sure if I would finish this one, but once I got farther in the book I found that I couldn’t put it down. There was something engrossing about this story. Henry presented an interesting take on Peter and Hook’s story, including a setting that was fraught with danger. The island was isolated, but there were also monsters and pirates, which added more danger to a story already filled with it.

That brings me to the plot. Lost Boy was a story about the lost boy who would eventually become Peter Pan’s greatest enemy, Captain Hook. So, right off the bat, I was interested in what Henry could do with that concept, and the result was, well, interesting. Like I said above, Lost Boy was a dark book and it dealt with characters that actually willingly did cruel things all in the name of Peter’s idea of fun. The situation on the island had such a skewed perspective. On one breath I could see how Jamie cared for his fellow lost boys, but even he wasn’t above following the rules made and partaking in activities directed by Peter. While this was really Jamie’s story, Lost Boy was also about Peter, a boy who never grew up. Peter knew how to sell his version of paradise to the lost boys who were otherwise unwanted in the “Other Place”, but his idea of fun was skewed. He was a monster. However, from what I know about the original Peter from J.M. Berry’s work, this portrayal is more in line with his actual personality.

So, yeah, Lost Boy was a total surprise. There were a lot of things I liked about the story. There were a few details that I didn’t totally agree with, but otherwise Lost Boy was good. This is the first book I've read by Christina Henry and it certainly won't be the last.

Rating 4/5

This Copy of the book was provided by First to Read (Publisher) for this review, thank you!

About the author...

CHRISTINA HENRY is the author of the CHRONICLES OF ALICE duology, ALICE and RED QUEEN, a dark and twisted take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as well as LOST BOY: THE TRUE STORY OF CAPTAIN HOOK, an origin story of Captain Hook from Peter Pan. She is also the author of the national bestselling BLACK WINGS series (BLACK WINGS, BLACK NIGHT, BLACK HOWL, BLACK LAMENT, BLACK CITY, BLACK HEART and BLACK SPRING) featuring Agent of Death Madeline Black and her popcorn-loving gargoyle Beezle. She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

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