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golden_lily's review against another edition
Read This Review & More Like It At Ageless Pages Reviews
I have reviewed a hundred books, and read and rated thrice that many, but rarely have I been so at a loss for words as Second Star has left me. Even now, I can’t say if I loved it or hated it. I’ve gone back and forth multiple times just writing this review. So, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. I’m not going to rate this book.
Second Star is a contemporary retelling of the Peter Pan mythos that reimagines Peter as Pete, a homeless surfer and his lost boys as three other runaway youths, including Belle, Pete’s ex. Captain Hook becomes Jas, a “pixie dust” dealer living across the beach. And Wendy Darling is now a straight-A student who has just graduated high school and is looking for her missing brothers before she leaves for Stanford.
In the beginning, I felt the story dragged. There’s a lot of detail about Wendy’s house and her parents’ depression from John and Michael’s presumed death. She has a best friend that she’s drifted apart from due to Fiona’s boyfriend’s meddling. Despite all this detail, I couldn’t connect to Wendy. I learned a lot about her, but I never felt close to her. This never really changed, but it worked for me once she reached Kensington.
The hidden cove where the lost boys live is like another world. There are no fantastical elements to the plot, but the middle third feels like fantasy. The writing, which had been disconnected, becomes ethereal. The descriptions of the beach and the water and the way surfing feels like flying are pretty incredible. It’s beautiful and amazing and the absolute best part of the book.
And then there’s the end. I don’t know how I feel about the end. It’s confusing and messy and...lovely? It’s definitely a trippy mind fuck that feels more in line with an Alice in Wonderland retelling, but I’m left wondering if Wendy learned anything on her journey.
Second Star has gorgeous prose. I really want to recommend it on that strength alone, but I can’t. It’s instalove-y and love triangle-y and what plot there is meanders.The twist ending left me thinking about the book, but not always in a positive way. I will say, its definitely one of the more unique experiences of my reading year.
I have reviewed a hundred books, and read and rated thrice that many, but rarely have I been so at a loss for words as Second Star has left me. Even now, I can’t say if I loved it or hated it. I’ve gone back and forth multiple times just writing this review. So, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. I’m not going to rate this book.
Second Star is a contemporary retelling of the Peter Pan mythos that reimagines Peter as Pete, a homeless surfer and his lost boys as three other runaway youths, including Belle, Pete’s ex. Captain Hook becomes Jas, a “pixie dust” dealer living across the beach. And Wendy Darling is now a straight-A student who has just graduated high school and is looking for her missing brothers before she leaves for Stanford.
In the beginning, I felt the story dragged. There’s a lot of detail about Wendy’s house and her parents’ depression from John and Michael’s presumed death. She has a best friend that she’s drifted apart from due to Fiona’s boyfriend’s meddling. Despite all this detail, I couldn’t connect to Wendy. I learned a lot about her, but I never felt close to her. This never really changed, but it worked for me once she reached Kensington.
The hidden cove where the lost boys live is like another world. There are no fantastical elements to the plot, but the middle third feels like fantasy. The writing, which had been disconnected, becomes ethereal. The descriptions of the beach and the water and the way surfing feels like flying are pretty incredible. It’s beautiful and amazing and the absolute best part of the book.
And then there’s the end. I don’t know how I feel about the end. It’s confusing and messy and...lovely? It’s definitely a trippy mind fuck that feels more in line with an Alice in Wonderland retelling, but I’m left wondering if Wendy learned anything on her journey.
Second Star has gorgeous prose. I really want to recommend it on that strength alone, but I can’t. It’s instalove-y and love triangle-y and what plot there is meanders.The twist ending left me thinking about the book, but not always in a positive way. I will say, its definitely one of the more unique experiences of my reading year.
mrsgalvan23's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to, but I could not get into this book.. I think it was just the characters making a series of bad decisions and I did not enjoy it. All of the characters got on my nerves. I honestly started skimming at one point. The writing was the only thing that I enjoyed because you can tell the author is talented.
ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.
ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.
tobyyy's review against another edition
5.0
4.5
Man, this book was enjoyable. It is basically a retelling of Peter Pan, except it's set in California with serious surfers who chase waves up and down the coast. A very inventive setting, that's for sure!! The names are the same - Wendy Darling is our protagonist, and she goes hunting for her missing surfer brothers, John and Michael Darling. She finds clues at a beach called Kensington ("Kensie") with Pete and his girlfriend Belle and a band of boys who have run away from their foster homes in order to be "free" to surf.
It gripped me from the very beginning. At first I didn't realize it was a Peter Pan retelling, because I can't see blurbs on my Kindle and I didn't remember just from the title, but it hit me pretty fast, since it is pretty obvious to anyone slightly familiar with J.M. Barrie's famous story.
I literally had difficulty putting it down - it's been awhile since a book has been this fun for me to zip through. I started it yesterday and finished it this morning at 3am. The only problem I had with it is that the ending was... frustrating. It fit with the rest of the book, and with the story of Peter Pan, I think - if I'm remembering correctly - but it made me sad that Wendy was so quick to fall in with her parents' wishes.
Ah well. I'm very glad that I picked this one up. Definitely a book that I would recommend, to pretty much anyone interested in a wonderful YA novel!! Well done, Ms. Sheinmel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for a wonderful read in return for a review.
Man, this book was enjoyable. It is basically a retelling of Peter Pan, except it's set in California with serious surfers who chase waves up and down the coast. A very inventive setting, that's for sure!! The names are the same - Wendy Darling is our protagonist, and she goes hunting for her missing surfer brothers, John and Michael Darling. She finds clues at a beach called Kensington ("Kensie") with Pete and his girlfriend Belle and a band of boys who have run away from their foster homes in order to be "free" to surf.
It gripped me from the very beginning. At first I didn't realize it was a Peter Pan retelling, because I can't see blurbs on my Kindle and I didn't remember just from the title, but it hit me pretty fast, since it is pretty obvious to anyone slightly familiar with J.M. Barrie's famous story.
I literally had difficulty putting it down - it's been awhile since a book has been this fun for me to zip through. I started it yesterday and finished it this morning at 3am. The only problem I had with it is that the ending was... frustrating. It fit with the rest of the book, and with the story of Peter Pan, I think - if I'm remembering correctly - but it made me sad that Wendy was so quick to fall in with her parents' wishes.
Ah well. I'm very glad that I picked this one up. Definitely a book that I would recommend, to pretty much anyone interested in a wonderful YA novel!! Well done, Ms. Sheinmel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing Group for a wonderful read in return for a review.
heather4994's review against another edition
3.0
I like Alyssa Sheinmel's writing. There is just a little bit of magic in it that makes you question what you're reading. Is it real, imagined, somewhere in between. The beach setting, with white sands, "flour soft" and the waves, clear and glassy, hollow, perfect. Descriptions are so beautifully written, I could feel myself transported to the beach, a place I already feel has a special healing magic to it. With that and the reference to it being a reworking of Peter Pan I felt a special kind of surrealism reading the novel.
The beginning of the novel tells us of the tragic truth that Wendy's brothers, Michael and John, 16 yr old twins, are lost. They ran away, maybe for a few days, maybe for longer, to surf and never returned. That was September. It is now graduation day and Wendy has not seen them. There is an emptiness beside her, inside her, in her home. She just can't accept they are gone. Her best friend Fiona is worried about this fact, but her parents are still wrapped in their own grief and don't even notice.
But here was the problem, I spent so much time trying to compare the book to Peter Pan, I couldn't enjoy the book as much as I might have. The middle became so muddled to me, especially the love triangle. Yes, it's Peter Pan and you know the love triangle in that. I didn't like how that turned out. Or did it? I don't know if the narrator, Wendy is unreliable. I wouldn't exactly call it "an irresistible summer romance" as it says in the description. There is a heavy dark tone of sadness with the hunt for her brothers. And there is the drug dealer Jas who gets kids hooked on "fairy dust". That just doesn't fit into a summer romance for me.
I got lost in the end. What was real, what was a dream, what was a nightmare. What really happened? That ending......that's what the ending was like. The book was dreamy and magical, but when it comes back to reality, there are absolutely no clues to help readers know what to believe. In the end, I guess it's up to us to decide what to believe. For me, I like a solid definite ending. This one doesn't have one for me.
Maybe I just wanted a little more clarity. Maybe Wendy did too. I didn't understand. Neither did Wendy. So in the end, I was of the same mind set as Wendy. However, I didn't like the guy I think Wendy would choose, it made no sense to me. And I am not really sure what Wendy believed at the end.
Would I read another book with these same characters? Yes, I'd love some more closure. I'd love some more of the surf scene and the dream like quality of Wendy's time with Pete, Belle and the boys. And I'd like a definite ending.
I think Second Star just kind of misses the mark somehow. I enjoyed reading it. I kept wanting to and made time to read it. But I felt unsatisfied when I finished. Somewhere in the middle it veered off course and just never made it's way back to the story it started out to be. But that doesn't mean everyone will feel that way. Give it a chance if you're game. Alyssa Sheinmel knows how to write. This one was like two puzzles mixed together, the pieces don't fit because they come from two separate stories/puzzles.
Thanks to the publishers for a copy of the e-ARC for review. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
The beginning of the novel tells us of the tragic truth that Wendy's brothers, Michael and John, 16 yr old twins, are lost. They ran away, maybe for a few days, maybe for longer, to surf and never returned. That was September. It is now graduation day and Wendy has not seen them. There is an emptiness beside her, inside her, in her home. She just can't accept they are gone. Her best friend Fiona is worried about this fact, but her parents are still wrapped in their own grief and don't even notice.
But here was the problem, I spent so much time trying to compare the book to Peter Pan, I couldn't enjoy the book as much as I might have. The middle became so muddled to me, especially the love triangle. Yes, it's Peter Pan and you know the love triangle in that. I didn't like how that turned out. Or did it? I don't know if the narrator, Wendy is unreliable. I wouldn't exactly call it "an irresistible summer romance" as it says in the description. There is a heavy dark tone of sadness with the hunt for her brothers. And there is the drug dealer Jas who gets kids hooked on "fairy dust". That just doesn't fit into a summer romance for me.
I got lost in the end. What was real, what was a dream, what was a nightmare. What really happened? That ending......that's what the ending was like. The book was dreamy and magical, but when it comes back to reality, there are absolutely no clues to help readers know what to believe. In the end, I guess it's up to us to decide what to believe. For me, I like a solid definite ending. This one doesn't have one for me.
Maybe I just wanted a little more clarity. Maybe Wendy did too. I didn't understand. Neither did Wendy. So in the end, I was of the same mind set as Wendy. However, I didn't like the guy I think Wendy would choose, it made no sense to me. And I am not really sure what Wendy believed at the end.
Would I read another book with these same characters? Yes, I'd love some more closure. I'd love some more of the surf scene and the dream like quality of Wendy's time with Pete, Belle and the boys. And I'd like a definite ending.
I think Second Star just kind of misses the mark somehow. I enjoyed reading it. I kept wanting to and made time to read it. But I felt unsatisfied when I finished. Somewhere in the middle it veered off course and just never made it's way back to the story it started out to be. But that doesn't mean everyone will feel that way. Give it a chance if you're game. Alyssa Sheinmel knows how to write. This one was like two puzzles mixed together, the pieces don't fit because they come from two separate stories/puzzles.
Thanks to the publishers for a copy of the e-ARC for review. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
3.0
"Life isn't about watching from the beach, Wendy."
I've read a lot of re-tellings. I've even read quite a few Peter Pan re-tellings.
But I can say that I've never read one quite like this. It is unique and dreamy, just like I imagine Never Never Land to be. Peter and Wendy, Michael and John all had interesting stories and new backgrounds. I did enjoy it.
but somehow, even with such a unique story, I just didn't love it.
I've read a lot of re-tellings. I've even read quite a few Peter Pan re-tellings.
But I can say that I've never read one quite like this. It is unique and dreamy, just like I imagine Never Never Land to be. Peter and Wendy, Michael and John all had interesting stories and new backgrounds. I did enjoy it.
but somehow, even with such a unique story, I just didn't love it.
booksnorkel's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a dreamy, dark, and modern take on Peter Pan. Wendy Darling is looking for her twin brothers Michael and John. They have been missing since the start of the school year. Everyone thinks that they are dead because pieces of their surf boards have washed up on the shore after a huge set of waves came through in January. Wendy refuses to believe that they are dead, and doesn't want to go away to college until she finds them. She discovers a group of teens her age who live in an abandoned housing development, steal for food, and just live to surf. Pete is the leader, and Belle is his petite blonde friend who doesn't like Wendy at all. On the other side of the development is where Jas lives, he is a drug dealer who sold ‘pixie dust’ to Wendy’s brothers. Thinking to confront him and see if he knows anything about her brothers Wendy takes the drug to gain admittance to his house. Jas isn't what Wendy expects, and when she finally recovers from the drug, she goes with Jas who thinks he knows where her brothers are going to be surfing at next.
Many people complain about how weirdly passive Wendy was about almost everything. And I really hate books that 'leave the ending up to you' just tell me what happened, that way I don't have to worry about my fictional characters.
Many people complain about how weirdly passive Wendy was about almost everything. And I really hate books that 'leave the ending up to you' just tell me what happened, that way I don't have to worry about my fictional characters.
tiffym's review against another edition
2.0
Was this FanFiction or a retelling? With so many flaws and disappointments, this book fell far from expectations. The cast of Peter Pan is reimagined on the beaches of California. None of the context from the original Peter Pan remains. NOR DO THE ENTIRE TRIBE OF NATIVES AND TIGER LILY. I honestly felt the lasting message was "please feel sorry for rich, privileged Wendy." The characters did not have many qualities that made them appealing to the reader. Their backstories could have great, but instead it was skimmed over and I'm pretty sure I ended up reading about Barbie and Ken(s). As entertainment, it'd be a decent read that found at the used bookstore on the beach. If you're looking for quality, no. Feminist theory of Wendy? Only if you squint really hard. Post-colonist theory? Well, I guess Cali only has white people. Maybe it's my general selection of nonfiction/memoirs/historical fiction that makes me so critical of this, or maybe it's my situation that has to deal with the real terrors outside of California beaches that I can't put myself in Wendy's shoes. Either way, this book was definitely not meant for readers like me.
mamabirdgraph's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, a Peter Pan retelling! This book was absolutely awesome. So many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I loved how all the characters were rewritten. Great pool/beach day read!