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A review by alisaurus_
Hooked by A.C. Wise
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Shoutout to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!!
I really have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I think the writing was beautiful and the imagery made me feel as though I were right there with the characters. HoWeVeRrRrRrrrr I found the plot to be a bit boring and overall a pretty slow pace. Personally, I haven’t read any Peter Pan retellings before and I was never a huge fan of it in the first place. But after hearing about a queer Peter Pan retelling, of course I had to jump on that instantly.
As someone who hasn’t read this author's previous work, Wendy Darling (2021), I thought that this story was super easy to follow and never once left me in the dark. Jane’s relationship with Timothy and Wendy’s journey back to Neverland 8 years ago was spelled out for me and I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything. That being said, the plot itself of Hooked just did not interest me. I found as I was reading that the only part of the story I was actually interested in was James and Samuel’s relationship. Everything with Jane and Wendy was likely there more so for fans of the original Peter Pan (this is just a guess, I don’t exactly know what about it didn’t interest me).
With the plot itself aside, I did love the characters. James/Hook’s story about PTSD, addition, and falling in love later in life stuck with me the most after reading. I loved every part about his experience with leaving Neverland, weaning off his addiction from the flowers, and being haunted by the tick tock crocodile (clockodile?) while trying to be a good man for Samuel. I also admired the character development between Jane and her mother, Wendy. I was so happy that they were able to mend their relationship and finally understand each other in a way they never had before.
Pointers!!! :
PTSD rep
Addiction rep
Falling in love later in life
MLM romance
Mother/daughter strife
Beautiful writing.
I really have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I think the writing was beautiful and the imagery made me feel as though I were right there with the characters. HoWeVeRrRrRrrrr I found the plot to be a bit boring and overall a pretty slow pace. Personally, I haven’t read any Peter Pan retellings before and I was never a huge fan of it in the first place. But after hearing about a queer Peter Pan retelling, of course I had to jump on that instantly.
As someone who hasn’t read this author's previous work, Wendy Darling (2021), I thought that this story was super easy to follow and never once left me in the dark. Jane’s relationship with Timothy and Wendy’s journey back to Neverland 8 years ago was spelled out for me and I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything. That being said, the plot itself of Hooked just did not interest me. I found as I was reading that the only part of the story I was actually interested in was James and Samuel’s relationship. Everything with Jane and Wendy was likely there more so for fans of the original Peter Pan (this is just a guess, I don’t exactly know what about it didn’t interest me).
With the plot itself aside, I did love the characters. James/Hook’s story about PTSD, addition, and falling in love later in life stuck with me the most after reading. I loved every part about his experience with leaving Neverland, weaning off his addiction from the flowers, and being haunted by the tick tock crocodile (clockodile?) while trying to be a good man for Samuel. I also admired the character development between Jane and her mother, Wendy. I was so happy that they were able to mend their relationship and finally understand each other in a way they never had before.
Pointers!!! :
PTSD rep
Addiction rep
Falling in love later in life
MLM romance
Mother/daughter strife
Beautiful writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction