Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

8 reviews

peeshpish's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tifftastic87's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Peter told the boys they would play games and have adventures, they would never grow up and they would be boys with him forever. Peter lies. Jamie has been on Peter's island for longer than he cares to think about, and through all those years he's been looking out for the other boys and burying them when he wasn't able to. But when Peter went too far, bringing back a boy too young, Jamie started to really look at Peter and didn't like what he found there. 

This was the pick me up I needed after some let downs this month. I am probably a little biased as I love the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and especially the ideas of Peter being not what he seems. This was a Hook origin story and I really liked what Henry did with the lore and characters. As an oldest sibling, Jamie was so relatable. I felt for him even when the characters he was attached to weren't well developed, he was and his emotions were so it picked up the slack a bit. There was a lot this could have done better, the ending was a little rough and some of the characters were a little flat but overall it was really good. Hands down I would read a sequel. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

unicornofblue's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bcsylve's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

josoko's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark sad tense
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

viselik's review against another edition

Go to review page

I just struggled to get into it. It's definitely something worth reading if this is more your thing. 

I will be giving this book another shot eventually! I do adore what they did do with Jamie and his backstory, I just kinda got too annoyed at Peter by the end of it.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

the things i would do and give to be able to experience this book again for the first time...

i first read lost boy around 2 years ago, give or take a few months. and i was in love. baffled. shocked. totally immersed and utterly impressed by all of henry's brutal, brilliant and exciting ideas.
[this was the book that sparked my passion for re-tellings (of peter pan and others)!]
jamie and peter's relationship is so frighteningly interesting and nuanced; the manipulation, the jealousy, the betrayal, the absolute madness - i loved it all.

the book is very character-driven, and with that i mean most of the book is the characters getting slaughtered or slaughtering each other. the plot beyond that was scarce, but that's okay because the pages were filled with other things, namely clever ideas, fantastic revelations and intrigues (but sometimes, sadly, also kinda lengthy scenes).

there's only one thing i didn't like, neither back then nor now, and it's the whole thing surrounding sal.
i didn't hate her character in and of itself (i guess she was even meant to debunk certain female stereotypes), but i hated the effect she had on all the others and the story.
i hated how the revelation that she's a girl seemed to change everything, from the boys' thinking to their language to even the narration (suddenly noting her physique and random blushing and so forth). and i hated how jamie came to the very quick realisation that he loved her right there on the battle ground. it was strange.
her whole arc didn't fit into the story and she brought a certain aspect to the book that i didn't enjoy. perhaps it was the romance that was obviously inevitable (because she's the only girl and jamie the main boy, which is just so stupid). perhaps it was the possibility of a happy ending. i don't know. the book seemed to lose its tone and charm as soon as jamie fell for her and even became a little unenjoyable from this revelation on until her inconsequential death. it got better after that, though.


but the ending was great. like really. it was impactful and so so SO thrilling.
still one of my favorite christina henry books, even after nearly 2 years.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

starofash's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

lost boy is about the story of jamie, captain hook, before he joined the pirates. 
it's also about how people can twist stories and even your own memories to make you believe them, make you love them. that's exactly what peter does in this retelling. 
he's the villain. 
the story is very captivating and you can't really put the book down. 
the only three critique points i have are: firstly,  the way a queer narrative was avoided, although it had potential to be trans-inclusive or have a gay love story, secondly, the author's obsession with the phrase "xy, for xy" (is that understandable?) 
it's at least on every second page for quite a bit of the book, and after 100 pages, i really was getting fed up. 
lastly, the ending felt a little bit rushed rushed and i would've loved to explore more of jamies feelings and his rise to being captain
 nevertheless, it's a very good book and i enjoyed reading it. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...