Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'
Потерянный мальчишка. Подлинная история капитана Крюка by Christina Henry
24 reviews
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
isaaah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
[Rant review]
Peter Pan really is a brilliant villain. I'm obsessed with this concept. I loved his characterization in this book: it was deeply unsettling, frightening even, yet there were moments where I almost felt compassion for him. For the boy that is, essentially, cursed to be alone forever and does everything to not be. Who will never be able to grow past his egocentrical view of the world, will never know the happiness of a kiss, a hug, a mother. A boy who only thrives on blood and on other children worshipping him. Because essentially he -or the island- is like a god, who needs offerings to be satisified. It is deeply chilling and saddening at the same time.
Jamie's (changing) stance towards his relationship with Peter is another thing I loved. We are told he loved Peter once, but we only see him when that love already starts to turn to hate. Yet the memories of the love remain, and those can be just as strong if not stronger than the love itself. The melancholy and sadness of those memories really hit me, thinking back to the times where everything was sunshine and rainbows and finding that everything has changed for the worse. And having to look past those feelings to realize that that person you loved is not the same as you thought them to be. I found it very well conveyed.
Peter Pan really is a brilliant villain. I'm obsessed with this concept. I loved his characterization in this book: it was deeply unsettling, frightening even, yet there were moments where I almost felt compassion for him. For the boy that is, essentially, cursed to be alone forever and does everything to not be. Who will never be able to grow past his egocentrical view of the world, will never know the happiness of a kiss, a hug, a mother. A boy who only thrives on blood and on other children worshipping him. Because essentially he -or the island- is like a god, who needs offerings to be satisified. It is deeply chilling and saddening at the same time.
Jamie's (changing) stance towards his relationship with Peter is another thing I loved. We are told he loved Peter once, but we only see him when that love already starts to turn to hate. Yet the memories of the love remain, and those can be just as strong if not stronger than the love itself. The melancholy and sadness of those memories really hit me, thinking back to the times where everything was sunshine and rainbows and finding that everything has changed for the worse. And having to look past those feelings to realize that that person you loved is not the same as you thought them to be. I found it very well conveyed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
morganish's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
Full disclosure, I was in a rush and needed to read this for a book club, and could only get it on audiobook, so... 1. There might not be things I remember as clearly as if I was just reading. But 2. This was my first audiobook since... middle school!? Just, a really long time. I kind of just want to download all my thoughts about becoming a recent audiobook convert here instead of a review, but I'll do my best to focus on the actual book instead.
Lost Boy is a Peter Pan prequel from Hook's perspective, where Peter Pan is a monstrous, manipulative sociopath. It's a really fantastic metaphor for how abuse, especially abuse of minors, works psychologically by pitting victims against each other, explored in a variety of ways that absolutely pull no punches. If you can hang with that kind of content, I can't really recommend it highly enough, and definitely sets this book at least at 4 stars for me.
But as deeply entrenched as I was in the narrative, there's a particular plot direction somewhere vaguely in the middle of the book that really, really didn't work for me. From a queer lens in specific, it felt like a bit of an oversight how it's handled, though I'm not sure straight/cis readers will notice or think much of it. It soured a lot of the rest of the story in overall enjoyability for me personally. And then, ultimately, the ending felt like it was trying to wrap up and intersect with the canonical version of Peter Pan. This focus on intersection felt like it undermined the story's powerful themes, trying to hit a checklist of events instead of giving Lost Boy the emotional/psychological ending it deserved. For me, these two negative aspects stood out enough to take what was initially a really gripping story and put it in the category of enjoyable for the moment, but not making it into a new favorite.
If you like retellings or tie-in stories about classic children's tales, especially if they shed a new, more adult, darker light on the original, you should seriously consider picking this up. From what I've seen so far, it succeeds at this more than any other retelling I've encountered. However if you're triggered by stories that realistically explore how abuse works, I definitely would advise proceeding with caution. And I'd also say if you have no tolerance for stories that don't consider/make space for queer interpretations of certain kinds of plot devices or storylines, this might not be the story for you.
Lost Boy is a Peter Pan prequel from Hook's perspective, where Peter Pan is a monstrous, manipulative sociopath. It's a really fantastic metaphor for how abuse, especially abuse of minors, works psychologically by pitting victims against each other, explored in a variety of ways that absolutely pull no punches. If you can hang with that kind of content, I can't really recommend it highly enough, and definitely sets this book at least at 4 stars for me.
But as deeply entrenched as I was in the narrative, there's a particular plot direction somewhere vaguely in the middle of the book that really, really didn't work for me. From a queer lens in specific, it felt like a bit of an oversight how it's handled, though I'm not sure straight/cis readers will notice or think much of it. It soured a lot of the rest of the story in overall enjoyability for me personally. And then, ultimately, the ending felt like it was trying to wrap up and intersect with the canonical version of Peter Pan. This focus on intersection felt like it undermined the story's powerful themes, trying to hit a checklist of events instead of giving Lost Boy the emotional/psychological ending it deserved. For me, these two negative aspects stood out enough to take what was initially a really gripping story and put it in the category of enjoyable for the moment, but not making it into a new favorite.
If you like retellings or tie-in stories about classic children's tales, especially if they shed a new, more adult, darker light on the original, you should seriously consider picking this up. From what I've seen so far, it succeeds at this more than any other retelling I've encountered. However if you're triggered by stories that realistically explore how abuse works, I definitely would advise proceeding with caution. And I'd also say if you have no tolerance for stories that don't consider/make space for queer interpretations of certain kinds of plot devices or storylines, this might not be the story for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, and War
Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Xenophobia
Additional content warnings: *keen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Violence, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Kidnapping
More...