A Book Obsession..: Early Review: Lost Boy by Christina Henry

Early Review: Lost Boy by Christina Henry

, by Kt Clapsadl

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

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.

LOST BOY by Christina Henry was a though provoking read that was incredibly dark and twisted. that kept me horrifyingly hooked from page on. Did I mention dark and twisted? If it's not obvious, despite being a riveting story that kept me engaged from page one, I'm incredibly conflicted about LOST BOY. It was almost too dark. The violence just seemed so much more real and harsh since it involved children. The constant death and injury were brutal enough, but the way they are just ignored by certain characters as status quo, just left a sick feeling in my stomach. Which of course I'm sure was the point, and yet it just felt a little too much for this mother's heart to bear witness to.

Onto the characters. Oh my goodness did the author do a fantastic job with them. Jamie of course was the star of the show in my eyes, with Peter being delegated to a spoiled rotten brat. But even that was just the surface, with much more to Peter than met the initial eye. I won't spoil things, but suffice it to say with each new chapter it was almost as if layers of a veil were lifted from Jamie's eyes, and more of Peter's true colors were revealed. The rest of the cast, be they cannon fodder or well developed side characters, all lent well to this horrifying tale.

All in all, the story is amazingly well written and felt like a real prequel retelling in the truest sense. There's always two sides to a story and this one? THIS is the one I believe. So bravo to Ms. Henry for masterfully changing my perceptions of this well known lore!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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