Scan barcode
fictionaladventures's review against another edition
2.0
I love retellings and I love Peter Pan but this book wasn't for me. I think it's because basically the only relation to Peter Pan was the names and that's pretty much it. It was about drug dealers and I'm just not interested in reading about drugs?
chloeboxer's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book up simply because of the cover. I thought it was really gorgeous and it looked like something I would like. When I start reading I was instantly captivated by the plot. This book was romantic and sweet and was not what I was expecting. I was going wait the end. I couldn't believe what happened and I was left speechless which doesn't really happen very often in books. There was something special about this one and I suggest it if you love contemporary.
kitkatchonk's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5
Had this book avoided the awfully unnecessary love triangle it probably would have been closer to a 4.5 or maybe even 5 stars. This suppose to have been a wonderful Peter Pan reselling set in a modern day time (California) that should have made me go out there and find adventure. To be honest, it's certainly made me want to learn how to surf, and the atmosphere overall for this book wasn't bad. It was actually kind of good.
The plot was decent (don't want to talk too much about it to avoid spoiler, and I feel like this book is better if you go in blind not expecting much from it), the characters were only okay. Nothing too memorable but nothing too awful either.
The ending however was by far my favourite part of this book. The last 50 or so pages caught me completely off guard. And threw a few twists I wasn't expecting at all.
Overall a lovely contemporary read with memorable references to the original story. And while it was good it wasn't, sadly, amazing.
Had this book avoided the awfully unnecessary love triangle it probably would have been closer to a 4.5 or maybe even 5 stars. This suppose to have been a wonderful Peter Pan reselling set in a modern day time (California) that should have made me go out there and find adventure. To be honest, it's certainly made me want to learn how to surf, and the atmosphere overall for this book wasn't bad. It was actually kind of good.
The plot was decent (don't want to talk too much about it to avoid spoiler, and I feel like this book is better if you go in blind not expecting much from it), the characters were only okay. Nothing too memorable but nothing too awful either.
The ending however was by far my favourite part of this book. The last 50 or so pages caught me completely off guard. And threw a few twists I wasn't expecting at all.
Overall a lovely contemporary read with memorable references to the original story. And while it was good it wasn't, sadly, amazing.
angelas_library's review against another edition
3.0
If Second Star weren’t a retelling of Peter Pan, my rating of it would be entirely different. There are some pretty big detractors – frustrating romance, a second half that feels entirely off the rails – that would result in a low rating if this were your average book. Luckily for Sheinmel, her creative reimagining of Peter Pan enchanted me enough to appease the part of me that was irritated by the questionable parts of this story.
Wendy Darling is on a mission to find her brothers, 16-year-old surfers who ran away from home to chase the waves. Nine months later, they still haven’t returned, and the police and Wendy’s parents have given up the search, convinced that the boys have perished in a surfing accident. Wendy isn’t so sure, and as soon as she graduates she takes off in pursuit of her brothers, determined to find them and bring them home.
Wendy’s hunt leads her to Kensington Beach, where she meets a scruffy band of surfers – our Lost Boys in this retelling – who live in an abandoned mansion and spend their days on the water. Wendy finds herself enticed by the boys’ carefree lifestyle, drawn into their little world of salt and sun and sand. She’s especially beguiled by the group’s leader, Pete, who teaches her to surf and whose kisses make her feel like someone new, someone whose family and world haven’t fallen apart.
As delighted as I was by the Lost Boys, I was even more impressed by Sheinmel’s clever reimagining of Captain Hook. The role of the villain is played by Jas, a drug dealer who rules the opposite side of Pete’s beach. (What happens to people who take drugs? They get hooked. Get it? Huh? Like I said, clever!!) Wendy’s investigation reveals that Jas may have a hand in her brothers’ disappearance, and when she goes to confront him she soon realizes he’s an enticing as he is dangerous.
Jas is both a positive and a negative of this book for me. On the plus side, he has this dark pull that really appealed to me. He’s smooth and sexy and magnetic, and even though he’s a “bad guy” he’s charming and educated and polite, which adds great complexity.
The downside is that all this sex appeal makes Wendy fall for him, which I didn’t think was believable. It’s one thing to be attracted to him – I certainly was – and to accept his help in finding her brothers. It’s another thing entirely to trust him and fall in love with him. He is a drug dealer, Wendy! He ruins people’s lives and is fully aware of this fact! The stuff he does is unconscionable, and he shows no signs of changing his behavior! Yet you’re into him? Please.
Something else that detracted from the book’s appeal is the question of whether Wendy’s liaisons with Pete, Jas, and the like are real or a fantasy. I was so invested in the world of Kensington that I resented being distracted with questions like, “Is this a hallucination? Does anyone else remember ever seeing Pete? Or Jas?” It seemed out of nowhere and was the number one reason I didn’t award Second Star a higher rating.
Despite these qualms, I still really liked the parallels to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan stories. I enjoyed seeing how Sheinmel wove elements from the book into her adaptation. A lot of the references were subtle, such as Jas stopping at a bar called The Jolly Roger, a description comparing Pete’s laugh to the crow of a bird, and Pete encouraging Wendy to think of something happy to help distract her while she’s trying to surf (which she says makes her feel like she’s flying). It’s a very smart and unique retelling.
This review can also be found on my blog, Angela's Library.
Wendy Darling is on a mission to find her brothers, 16-year-old surfers who ran away from home to chase the waves. Nine months later, they still haven’t returned, and the police and Wendy’s parents have given up the search, convinced that the boys have perished in a surfing accident. Wendy isn’t so sure, and as soon as she graduates she takes off in pursuit of her brothers, determined to find them and bring them home.
Wendy’s hunt leads her to Kensington Beach, where she meets a scruffy band of surfers – our Lost Boys in this retelling – who live in an abandoned mansion and spend their days on the water. Wendy finds herself enticed by the boys’ carefree lifestyle, drawn into their little world of salt and sun and sand. She’s especially beguiled by the group’s leader, Pete, who teaches her to surf and whose kisses make her feel like someone new, someone whose family and world haven’t fallen apart.
As delighted as I was by the Lost Boys, I was even more impressed by Sheinmel’s clever reimagining of Captain Hook. The role of the villain is played by Jas, a drug dealer who rules the opposite side of Pete’s beach. (What happens to people who take drugs? They get hooked. Get it? Huh? Like I said, clever!!) Wendy’s investigation reveals that Jas may have a hand in her brothers’ disappearance, and when she goes to confront him she soon realizes he’s an enticing as he is dangerous.
Jas is both a positive and a negative of this book for me. On the plus side, he has this dark pull that really appealed to me. He’s smooth and sexy and magnetic, and even though he’s a “bad guy” he’s charming and educated and polite, which adds great complexity.
The downside is that all this sex appeal makes Wendy fall for him, which I didn’t think was believable. It’s one thing to be attracted to him – I certainly was – and to accept his help in finding her brothers. It’s another thing entirely to trust him and fall in love with him. He is a drug dealer, Wendy! He ruins people’s lives and is fully aware of this fact! The stuff he does is unconscionable, and he shows no signs of changing his behavior! Yet you’re into him? Please.
Something else that detracted from the book’s appeal is the question of whether Wendy’s liaisons with Pete, Jas, and the like are real or a fantasy. I was so invested in the world of Kensington that I resented being distracted with questions like, “Is this a hallucination? Does anyone else remember ever seeing Pete? Or Jas?” It seemed out of nowhere and was the number one reason I didn’t award Second Star a higher rating.
Despite these qualms, I still really liked the parallels to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan stories. I enjoyed seeing how Sheinmel wove elements from the book into her adaptation. A lot of the references were subtle, such as Jas stopping at a bar called The Jolly Roger, a description comparing Pete’s laugh to the crow of a bird, and Pete encouraging Wendy to think of something happy to help distract her while she’s trying to surf (which she says makes her feel like she’s flying). It’s a very smart and unique retelling.
This review can also be found on my blog, Angela's Library.
arwenauthor's review against another edition
4.0
I'd been so looking forward to reading Second Star: a retelling of Peter Pan with a love triangle between Hook, Peter and Wendy? Count me in! Luckily, I wasn't disappointed.
It started off positively, setting the scene and introducing characters: Wendy as our central protagonist, and her two younger brothers as the lost boys, missing presumed dead. The big thing for all the characters was surfing, not magic - the beautiful comparison between surfing on the waves and soaring through the skies, the vastness of the heavens and the depths of the ocean. I may not be a surfer but I love the sea, so this was intrinsically attractive to me.
Wendy sets out looking for her lost brothers, but finds a lot more: Peter and his lost boys, are squatting in an old millionaire's mansion, with Jas (Hook) at the other side of the beach. The "evil" part of Hook? Jas is a drug dealer, selling "dust" to runaway teens and party animals. Jas and Peter used to be friends, surfing companions, before Jas turned and they swore to stay within their boundaries of the beach. Wendy's search starts with them, but who can she trust? Can she even trust her own experiences, or is the magical world of Kensington a figment of a drug-induced hallucination?
The parallels between Second Star and Peter Pan are not, of course, perfect. Hook as a drug dealer and Peter as a surfer worked very well, but I felt uncomfortable with Belle, the character of Tinkerbell. I know that her jealousy features quite largely in Barrie's original, but it felt a little false here. Belle was the character I was most dubious about, although, oddly, I quite liked her.
So, if you are looking for a very close re-envisioning of Peter Pan, you may be a little disappointed. If you're looking for a well written, very engaging book, then you'll be pleased. Personally, I love it - and would like to read more of Alyssa Sheinmel's books; her style is very soothing and lyrical to read.
But first, I'm off to read the original Peter Pan! It's reminded me how much I loved it as a child, and I'm also keen to find some other modern day retellings of this much loved story. Anyone got any ideas?
It started off positively, setting the scene and introducing characters: Wendy as our central protagonist, and her two younger brothers as the lost boys, missing presumed dead. The big thing for all the characters was surfing, not magic - the beautiful comparison between surfing on the waves and soaring through the skies, the vastness of the heavens and the depths of the ocean. I may not be a surfer but I love the sea, so this was intrinsically attractive to me.
Wendy sets out looking for her lost brothers, but finds a lot more: Peter and his lost boys, are squatting in an old millionaire's mansion, with Jas (Hook) at the other side of the beach. The "evil" part of Hook? Jas is a drug dealer, selling "dust" to runaway teens and party animals. Jas and Peter used to be friends, surfing companions, before Jas turned and they swore to stay within their boundaries of the beach. Wendy's search starts with them, but who can she trust? Can she even trust her own experiences, or is the magical world of Kensington a figment of a drug-induced hallucination?
The parallels between Second Star and Peter Pan are not, of course, perfect. Hook as a drug dealer and Peter as a surfer worked very well, but I felt uncomfortable with Belle, the character of Tinkerbell. I know that her jealousy features quite largely in Barrie's original, but it felt a little false here. Belle was the character I was most dubious about, although, oddly, I quite liked her.
So, if you are looking for a very close re-envisioning of Peter Pan, you may be a little disappointed. If you're looking for a well written, very engaging book, then you'll be pleased. Personally, I love it - and would like to read more of Alyssa Sheinmel's books; her style is very soothing and lyrical to read.
But first, I'm off to read the original Peter Pan! It's reminded me how much I loved it as a child, and I'm also keen to find some other modern day retellings of this much loved story. Anyone got any ideas?
olivianoack's review
1.0
This was disappointing to say the least.
The premise of this book made me think it was going to be the Peter Pan retelling of my dreams. Wendy searching for her missing brothers, and Peter and the lost boys are surfers. The quality of this book probably deserves two stars, but it disappointed me so much that I had to drop it to one star.
The one good thing was how the book captures the life of surfers and being by the ocean. It's very atmospheric, lots about the waves and stuff like that. Totally made me want to be a surfer, or at least watch surfing. Pretty much every other aspect of this book let me down.
First of all, the fact that Pete is nothing like Peter Pan. We all know Peter Pan to be innocent and reckless, disregarding of authority. He's playful and charming and full of games. Pete is orphaned I suppose, but he tries to be mature, but he wasn't witty or funny.
There are 'lost boys' in this book, but only two, Hughie and Matt, are ever named, and they don't play a big role at all. Also Belle is Pete's ex, Wendy has a dog named Nana, and the beach where the lost boys all live is called Kensington. I really appreciated the references, but the actual story was not very Peter Pan-esque.
Honestly, I think one of my favourite parts of the Peter Pan story is the chemistry between Peter and Wendy, that everyone can see, but Peter denies and walks away from. I guess I thought that would be the basis of the love triangle (Wendy also falls for Jas who is Hook), but no. Wendy and Pete kissed on page 35. It was terrible. That's not enough time to build up chemistry and tension, so I didn't enjoy that at all. The first half of the book is pretty much Wendy and Pete making out, while Wendy pretends that she doesn't like him because she thinks he's hung up on Belle. Then halfway through, she ditches Pete and spends the second half of the book with Jas, who is a stalker and very creepy, and not redemptive at all. In the end, there isn't really a moment for Wendy to choose either one of them. It's a weird ending...
The plot of this book is that Wendy is searching for her brothers, John and Michael, who have been missing for nine months. The police think they're dead, but she has a hunch that they're out surfing new beaches up the coast of California. However, Wendy sure spends a lot of time not actually looking for the brothers. There are tons of side trails, a big focus on the romance, and lots of surfing moments. Because of that, I found it hard to care about the brothers. Also, Wendy was always bringing up memories of how terrible her brothers were, so I couldn't figure out why she wanted to bring them home anyways. And if they were still alive, didn't she just assume that they didn't want to be found if they'd gone so long without contacting their family?
This book has the worst ending ever.
I hated this. It's such a cheap way to throw a last minute plot twist at the reader without diving deep into any meaning, and throwing the whole story off balance. It's a no from me.
As the book ends, her dad hands her an envelope that was mailed to them, and inside is a photo of Pete and Jas holding surfboards. So you have a clue that they're real, but it isn't or maybe it is. I have no idea, and I didn't enjoy this book enough to care.
The premise of this book made me think it was going to be the Peter Pan retelling of my dreams. Wendy searching for her missing brothers, and Peter and the lost boys are surfers. The quality of this book probably deserves two stars, but it disappointed me so much that I had to drop it to one star.
The one good thing was how the book captures the life of surfers and being by the ocean. It's very atmospheric, lots about the waves and stuff like that. Totally made me want to be a surfer, or at least watch surfing. Pretty much every other aspect of this book let me down.
First of all, the fact that Pete is nothing like Peter Pan. We all know Peter Pan to be innocent and reckless, disregarding of authority. He's playful and charming and full of games. Pete is orphaned I suppose, but he tries to be mature, but he wasn't witty or funny.
There are 'lost boys' in this book, but only two, Hughie and Matt, are ever named, and they don't play a big role at all. Also Belle is Pete's ex, Wendy has a dog named Nana, and the beach where the lost boys all live is called Kensington. I really appreciated the references, but the actual story was not very Peter Pan-esque.
Honestly, I think one of my favourite parts of the Peter Pan story is the chemistry between Peter and Wendy, that everyone can see, but Peter denies and walks away from. I guess I thought that would be the basis of the love triangle (Wendy also falls for Jas who is Hook), but no. Wendy and Pete kissed on page 35. It was terrible. That's not enough time to build up chemistry and tension, so I didn't enjoy that at all. The first half of the book is pretty much Wendy and Pete making out, while Wendy pretends that she doesn't like him because she thinks he's hung up on Belle. Then halfway through, she ditches Pete and spends the second half of the book with Jas, who is a stalker and very creepy, and not redemptive at all. In the end, there isn't really a moment for Wendy to choose either one of them. It's a weird ending...
The plot of this book is that Wendy is searching for her brothers, John and Michael, who have been missing for nine months. The police think they're dead, but she has a hunch that they're out surfing new beaches up the coast of California. However, Wendy sure spends a lot of time not actually looking for the brothers. There are tons of side trails, a big focus on the romance, and lots of surfing moments. Because of that, I found it hard to care about the brothers. Also, Wendy was always bringing up memories of how terrible her brothers were, so I couldn't figure out why she wanted to bring them home anyways. And if they were still alive, didn't she just assume that they didn't want to be found if they'd gone so long without contacting their family?
This book has the worst ending ever.
Spoiler
the whole crew is on a boat in the middle of a storm, headed to shore after Jas, Pete, and Belle surfed Witch Tree, and Belle's leg has been cut open. All of a sudden, Wendy wakes up, she's in a hospital and being restrained. Her parents tell her she's in the psych ward, and she was found washed up on the shore of a beach. The last 50 pages is pretty much Wendy going to therapy, and learning that the whole experience was a hallucination because she was on drugs. But it doesn't answer the question of what Wendy was actually doing all summer.I hated this. It's such a cheap way to throw a last minute plot twist at the reader without diving deep into any meaning, and throwing the whole story off balance. It's a no from me.
As the book ends, her dad hands her an envelope that was mailed to them, and inside is a photo of Pete and Jas holding surfboards. So you have a clue that they're real, but it isn't or maybe it is. I have no idea, and I didn't enjoy this book enough to care.
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
Great retelling of Peter Pan, I enjoyed it a lot, and there were some strange parts, and it was a bit short, but I enjoyed it a ton!
ctorretta's review
5.0
Wow... I just finished this and I'm almost speechless.
This book is about so much more than just angst. There are so many books out there where the characters cannot get past their feelings of hurt or loss. This one is about the adventure that we need to take to get over that hurt. And it is one wild ride (or wave since this is all about surfing)!
This is surprisingly very psychological. The premise behind the plot is pretty simple though, Wendy is trying to cope with the idea that her brothers died. Without seeing their bodies she is unwilling and unable to accept their deaths so she goes on a scavenger hunt trying to find if they are truly dead or not.
She's fighting so much! Her parents, her friends, her SELF. This was so enormous and I loved the way Alyssa B. Sheinmel was able to put all that angst in here without it going overboard. It was dramatic but done in bits and pieces and as Wendy is finding information Alyssa allows the reader into the glimpse which made me question what was going on throughout the entire book.
In a word, this story is epic. It's about those feelings we all have to face at some point but I closed the book feeling fantastic! It's a rare and very talented author that can make me feel this way even though I just cried through nearly the entire story!
4.5/5
This book is about so much more than just angst. There are so many books out there where the characters cannot get past their feelings of hurt or loss. This one is about the adventure that we need to take to get over that hurt. And it is one wild ride (or wave since this is all about surfing)!
This is surprisingly very psychological. The premise behind the plot is pretty simple though, Wendy is trying to cope with the idea that her brothers died. Without seeing their bodies she is unwilling and unable to accept their deaths so she goes on a scavenger hunt trying to find if they are truly dead or not.
She's fighting so much! Her parents, her friends, her SELF. This was so enormous and I loved the way Alyssa B. Sheinmel was able to put all that angst in here without it going overboard. It was dramatic but done in bits and pieces and as Wendy is finding information Alyssa allows the reader into the glimpse which made me question what was going on throughout the entire book.
In a word, this story is epic. It's about those feelings we all have to face at some point but I closed the book feeling fantastic! It's a rare and very talented author that can make me feel this way even though I just cried through nearly the entire story!
4.5/5
littlebiscuit8's review
4.0
Although it wasn't quite what I had expected or wanted it to be... this book still managed to give me feelings. And OH the feelings.
The writing was on point, I found myself escaping into the perfect cove and wanting more by the end of it.
Spoiler
Peter pan is a homeless surfer boy? Hook is a ex-surfer turned drug lord that used to be BFF's with Pete? NOT what I would have expected, especially Wendy's relationship between the two.The writing was on point, I found myself escaping into the perfect cove and wanting more by the end of it.
thejanewayprotocol's review
2.0
I am actually quite upset at this book. I feel like I was cheated when this book was marketed as a modern retelling of Peter Pan. There we similarities yes, but you could argue that for any book for any type of story. I think I read somewhere that there are only something like seven original stories and everything else is just a variation. But my point here is that this story would have been fine as just a YA novel, I feel like they just marketed it as a Peter Pan retelling to gather interest. Which I will admit is why I picked it up, but it didn't deliver the Pan I was hoping for.
So this tale is about Wendy, a recent high school graduate who takes her summer before she starts college to look for her runaway brothers John and Michael. (Twins in this story, for some reason). They live in a surfers paradise in California, and her brothers are more interested in catching waves than being in school. Her parents have come to accept that they are dead, but Wendy is convinced otherwise. Upon her search, she meets Pete and his friends in an abandoned house on the beach. They are drop outs as well, living their days surfing and stealing from rich peoples homes to eat and survive. Wendy and Pete are immediately drawn to one another, and she learns how to surf, while trying to determine if anyone in Pete's crew have seen her brothers. (So I get that these are meant to be the lost boys, but there are only two others, plus a girl names Belle who is very jealous of Wendy. Yeah I get it.... Tink... But still....)
Eventually Wendy meets Jas, Pete's rival aka hook, I guess? He is a drug dealer, but a decent fellow apparently. He also helps Wendy in her search for her brothers, after witnessing disastrous results when Wendy takes some of the drugs that he peddles. There is suddenly a weird love triangle between the three of them which is extremely creepy. I kept having to remind myself that Jas was only a couple years older than Pete and Wendy, but seeing as he was meant to be the hook character, I kept picturing him to be so much older and then I would be grossed out when he and Wendy would make out. It was very distracting. Also - Where the heck zed his crew?
I had such a hard time with the end. With only 20 or so pages to go I was tempted to just not finish it. I didn't like the ending at all. It was a bit too cliched for my tastes. The characters were all flat and just completely unrelatable. If they had just made this a book about a girl searching for her surf- obsessed brothers, it would have worked so much better.
So this tale is about Wendy, a recent high school graduate who takes her summer before she starts college to look for her runaway brothers John and Michael. (Twins in this story, for some reason). They live in a surfers paradise in California, and her brothers are more interested in catching waves than being in school. Her parents have come to accept that they are dead, but Wendy is convinced otherwise. Upon her search, she meets Pete and his friends in an abandoned house on the beach. They are drop outs as well, living their days surfing and stealing from rich peoples homes to eat and survive. Wendy and Pete are immediately drawn to one another, and she learns how to surf, while trying to determine if anyone in Pete's crew have seen her brothers. (So I get that these are meant to be the lost boys, but there are only two others, plus a girl names Belle who is very jealous of Wendy. Yeah I get it.... Tink... But still....)
Eventually Wendy meets Jas, Pete's rival aka hook, I guess? He is a drug dealer, but a decent fellow apparently. He also helps Wendy in her search for her brothers, after witnessing disastrous results when Wendy takes some of the drugs that he peddles. There is suddenly a weird love triangle between the three of them which is extremely creepy. I kept having to remind myself that Jas was only a couple years older than Pete and Wendy, but seeing as he was meant to be the hook character, I kept picturing him to be so much older and then I would be grossed out when he and Wendy would make out. It was very distracting. Also - Where the heck zed his crew?
I had such a hard time with the end. With only 20 or so pages to go I was tempted to just not finish it. I didn't like the ending at all. It was a bit too cliched for my tastes. The characters were all flat and just completely unrelatable. If they had just made this a book about a girl searching for her surf- obsessed brothers, it would have worked so much better.