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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
2.5
I was hesitant to read this because Peter Pan is a favourite story of mine and I couldn't see how a sequel written by someone other than J.M. Barrie could live up to it. I have no problems with stories going off theme for an unofficial spin-off or retelling but making it the official sequel was a different story.
However, A Pack of Lies was one of my absolutely favourite books as a kid. The story had been mesmerising. So maybe Geraldine McCaughrean could pull out the stops for.
Unfortunately, it was a letdown. It started okay - McCaughrean was obviously trying to stick with the storytelling style that J.M. Barry had written in and she somewhat carried it off but I think also took it too far at times. There was a quirky comparison for almost everything and the description and narration just went on a bit too much in parts. Aside from that, though, I was enjoying it enough at the beginning. But then it all seemed to fall apart halfway through.
The plot was all over the place, every time the kids overcame one difficulty there would be another to the point of getting a bit ridiculous. And each difficulty would be just as easily sorted out as the last. At one point, the narrator even made a point of saying "oh you think so and so is going to show up and save the day? Or this is going to happen so the kids will be saved? Well, you're wrong, you don't realise how deadly Neverland really is." But then, right after saying that, something happens to conveniently save the day so it all felt a bit redundant.
I also don't think that McCaughrean got the character of Pan right at all. He was simultaneously both too dark and not dark enough. He was much more whingey and bossy than he usually is but he'd also lost that mysterious air and to him that he had in the original. His nativity was also gone and seemed to be replaced more with a conscious insistence in thinking a certain way.
One other aspect that really disappointed me was that this book seemed to be stuck in Barrie's time with its political correctness. Of course, some things had to stay the same - Wendy couldn't up and change her personality and I supposed there couldn't have been a complete switch from how the Native Americans had originally been portrayed. But things certainly could have been improved. Rather than improve, though, McCaughrean seemed to lean into the Native American stereotype rather than work to improve it and she created a second female character purely, it seems, in order to play the girly, damsel in distress character. At least Wendy had been strong-minded and adventurous, even if her role as a girl was very different to the Lost Boys or her brothers. Female Tootles was annoying and just wanted to play marriage and "save Tootles" games.
I think maybe this book had been on the right track but then it went and tried to do too much with the story while doing nothing at all with the writing style. It's too bad that a new story about Peter Pan written in modern times fails to incorporate modern thinking into it.
I was hesitant to read this because Peter Pan is a favourite story of mine and I couldn't see how a sequel written by someone other than J.M. Barrie could live up to it. I have no problems with stories going off theme for an unofficial spin-off or retelling but making it the official sequel was a different story.
However, A Pack of Lies was one of my absolutely favourite books as a kid. The story had been mesmerising. So maybe Geraldine McCaughrean could pull out the stops for
Unfortunately, it was a letdown. It started okay - McCaughrean was obviously trying to stick with the storytelling style that J.M. Barry had written in and she somewhat carried it off but I think also took it too far at times. There was a quirky comparison for almost everything and the description and narration just went on a bit too much in parts. Aside from that, though, I was enjoying it enough at the beginning. But then it all seemed to fall apart halfway through.
The plot was all over the place, every time the kids overcame one difficulty there would be another to the point of getting a bit ridiculous. And each difficulty would be just as easily sorted out as the last. At one point, the narrator even made a point of saying "oh you think so and so is going to show up and save the day? Or this is going to happen so the kids will be saved? Well, you're wrong, you don't realise how deadly Neverland really is." But then, right after saying that, something happens to conveniently save the day so it all felt a bit redundant.
I also don't think that McCaughrean got the character of Pan right at all. He was simultaneously both too dark and not dark enough. He was much more whingey and bossy than he usually is but he'd also lost that mysterious air and to him that he had in the original. His nativity was also gone and seemed to be replaced more with a conscious insistence in thinking a certain way.
One other aspect that really disappointed me was that this book seemed to be stuck in Barrie's time with its political correctness. Of course, some things had to stay the same - Wendy couldn't up and change her personality and I supposed there couldn't have been a complete switch from how the Native Americans had originally been portrayed. But things certainly could have been improved. Rather than improve, though, McCaughrean seemed to lean into the Native American stereotype rather than work to improve it and she created a second female character purely, it seems, in order to play the girly, damsel in distress character. At least Wendy had been strong-minded and adventurous, even if her role as a girl was very different to the Lost Boys or her brothers. Female Tootles was annoying and just wanted to play marriage and "save Tootles" games.
I think maybe this book had been on the right track but then it went and tried to do too much with the story while doing nothing at all with the writing style. It's too bad that a new story about Peter Pan written in modern times fails to incorporate modern thinking into it.
Turns out I like to watch Peter Pan movies but am not interested in reading about him.
Oh, I LOVED this, it was such awesome Peter Pan fanfic. The maze of mothers was just excellent. Race dodginess as expected, though not very bad if I recall correctly.
A surprisingly great book! I was quite suspicious of a certain character, and I was proved right. I quite enjoyed this book compared to Barrie's Peter Pan. The sequel was definitely better!
I was so disappointed by this book. I read it while being in a PeterPan frenzy and I was expecting an entertaining and good story. All this one does is to bash Hook even when he is lying on the ground.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
slow-paced