The Cheap Reader

A bit cliched at times but still enjoyable. It did kind of feel like 2 books though.

That was better than I initially thought it would be. I really hate that the most interesting revelations are saved until the last minute.

Peter Pan is one of the many classics that I’ve somehow managed to overlook for most of my life. I’ve always known about it and know the general storyline but I never read it. That’s why I was so excited to read this for Classics Retold!

Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed with the story. I really, really liked the idea of Neverland. I always love fantastical lands. The appeal of never growing up is a nice one. Not to mention there were lots of fun things going on around the island. Pirates, fairies, mermaids are just what you need for a magical island.

The story is really what was lacking for me. It wasn’t horrible or anything but I just didn’t connect with it. Probably the biggest problem was I read this for the first time as an adult and not as a child. Books like this tend to have just a bit more magic when you encounter them as a kid. I just didn’t feel that spark of wonder and amazement like I ‘should’ have felt.

The bottom line? It was okay.

I really couldn’t shake the feeling that the book was like a cheap imitation of Peter Pan. You know those knock off movies you can buy for $5 at Walmart? ['The Lion Prince' instead of "The Lion King"] That’s what this feels like. The names of things have been changed but it’s still pretty much Peter Pan. You could easily pick out the Peter Pan elements. Tinker Bell becomes Fiddlefix, Wendy becomes Gwenny, Hook becomes Hack, and so on.

I think the author is trying to imitate Barrie’s voice. From what I remember Barrie spoke to the reader and tried to involve them. This author is not doing it well. But then again I really get annoyed when narrators try to have “conversations” with the readers.  I don’t need side stories or the narrator’s thoughts on issues. JUST TELL THE STORY. The narrator felt even odder because this is marketed/labeled as an adult book. I could kind of understand this type of narrator in a children’s book. [Side note: from what I could tell this book would be appropriate for kids. Nothing too bad, just a bit long]

I do have to say that I thought it was pretty cool that The Boy (Peter Pan) isn’t who we think he is. He’s not caring, he’s quite selfish, he’s not concerned about anyone else’s well-being, he forgets about anything to do with others quickly.  He’s really not the hero that we’ve seen before. I don’t know if this would make him a “typical” boy but it’s really not what you’d expect. Paul ends up being more of a hero. He’s much more like the Peter we think of.

I found the action and the story to be pretty dull. The story should be fun and exciting! What’s not to like about adventures and Pirates?  Unfortunately it didn’t work out because I found myself skimming over quite a bit of the action because I didn’t like it and couldn’t force myself to care.

The bottom line? Interesting idea but it didn’t work out for me at all.

I had really high hopes for this story because it’s an official sequel to Peter Pan. [Barrie left the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital and they in turn approved this sequel.]

The premise of this story had a lot of potential. Something is wrong in Neverland. Neverland is slipping into the ‘real’ world. Now all grown up The Lost Boys and Wendy must return to Neverland to see if they can fix what’s wrong. That sounds interesting right?

Ehhhhh, it turns out not to be so interesting.  I could NOT for the life of me get into this story. I was really bored out of my mind. There was no magic, no spark to pull me in. It was a bit painful to stick with the story.

I thought it was a really interesting idea to make Peter less than perfect. He’s forgotten about his friends again. If they’re gone for any length of time, he doesn’t care about them. Then there’s something a bit dark going on with him. He’s turning slightly evil and aggressive. We discover that he’s taking on a lot of Hook’s characteristics and turning in to Hook. It’s an interesting idea because he has been wearing Hook’s coat. That introduces the idea that clothes make the man. That’s a bit of a scary thought.

The bottom line? Ehhhh, not really for me but the premise is very interesting.

I'm tempted to pick this up again since it is the time for spooky and creepy books. I've liked all the books I've read in the series so far but I wouldn't say I love them though.  I'm worried that the storylines are going to go 'blah' before too long. 13 books is a really big commitment and I'd think the stories would wear thin after a while.

Have you read the books? Are they worth sticking with?

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