Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

12 reviews

peeshpish's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Rape, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Gun violence, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

tifftastic87's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Misogyny

bcsylve's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

strawbeb's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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? No

3.75

This book was simultaneously NOT what I thought it'd be, and EXACTLY what I thought it'd be. As soon as I heard the premise and saw a few snippets, I was "hooked". And while I did have a fantastic time, maybe I set the bar too high?

Christina Henry is an addictive writer. Whether I was in love with what I was reading, or if I felt it was lacking, regardless I always turned the page. And I ended up finishing the entire book in two days (would've been one, but it arrived in the mail late in the evening.)

On "one hand", Lost Boy accomplishes exactly what it promises. It's a dark twisted version of the original tale. Heroes are the villains, and villains are the heroes. There is A LOT of death, blood, violence, psychological abuse, and then some. And none of it feels gratuitous. There's always a narrative purpose for the dark deeds that are done. Christina Henry writes "darkness" excellently.

Alongside this, the plot is intense and keeps you engaged.

One of the most compelling elements is that you know Jamie/Hook and Peter will survive at the end. They must or else there'd be no story. Because you know this, and you know Henry knows this, the curious and shocking ways she writes the "in between" is made all the more impactful. There are fates worse than death.

On the "other hook", there were flaws I noticed. For one, while Jamie is an endearing character that you can't help but root for, at times he felt a bit like a Gary Stu. Perfect and amazing at everything, with everyone looking up to him all the time, and complimenting him at practically every turn.

There's even a surprise female character, and of course her and Jamie have a romance. Because Jamie has both brains, brawn, and now "the girl".

The pacing also felt disjointed at times. Peter wastes nearly five (5) ENTIRE pages going on about a story about a crocodile. I did understand the significance of the tale, but I truly doubt it needed that many pages and details to get across. This was the worst time the pacing felt terribly slow.

But towards the later half of the story, a vital character suddenly switches sides. It's incredibly abrupt and feels like it comes out of nowhere. And then, barely even 3 pages later, the character returns back to their original side again. It felt like this might've been a scene Henry brainstormed early into production, then got further into writing only to realize she couldn't fit it in, but out of sheer determination, crammed the scene into the plot anyways.

All in all, the book definitely has flaws and is far from perfect. But what it does well, it does really well and it will keep you on the edge of your seat regardless of what chapter you're on. Flaws aside, I do wish Christina Henry would return to this world and these characters again. For a sequel sounds like it would be a wonderfully grand adventure.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Stalking, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Sexual violence, Cursing, Alcoholism, Misogyny, War, and Terminal illness

Warning to readers that have arachnophobia.

There are creatures in the book that are basically Giant Sp*ders. The descriptions of them are disgusting. They aren't focused on TOO heavily, but they do get time in the spotlight throughout the book.

Several mentions, but fortunately only two major encounters.

aely's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Stalking, War, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Alcohol, Cursing, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

viselik's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, Terminal illness, Misogyny, and Sexism

definitelynotnina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

5.0

It was not at all what I expected when I picked this up, but it's a wonderfully twisted version of the story. Not for the faint of heart.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Body horror

Moderate: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Sexual violence and Outing

breadwitchery's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Animal death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Fatphobia

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Meine Sicht auf Peter Pan wurde sehr verändert, weshalb die Originalversion viel an Leichtigkeit und Magie einbüßt. Das finde ich sehr schade. Andererseits ist es meisterhaft, wie gut dieses Buch zu der Welt passt. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Violence

starofash's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, and Misogyny