A tale so devoid of wonder that no amount of clapping can breathe life into it.
Peter Pan’s son flies off to save Never Never Land from Capt. Hook in this painfully mirthless sequel.
J.M. Barrie—who wrote Peter Pan in 1904—filled his now-classic work with nuanced characters, vivid scenery, and timeless themes, which continue to fascinate generations of filmmakers, artists, and writers. Flying in Never Land requires faith as much as fairy dust, and any author seeking inclusion in Barrie’s canon should believe in the established characters enough to explore their complexities even while introducing new faces. Rosenthal’s effort, in which Peter’s 12-year-old-son, Thomas P. Pandora, assumes his father’s mantle, sacrifices character development in favor of a generic fast-paced adventure narrative laden with dreary dialogue. The result is a spiritless drama that plays fast and loose with facts established in Barrie’s version—Hook is a former “gypsy” (as though Peter Pan weren’t problematic enough), and Never Land ages children!?—rendering beloved characters unrecognizable and new additions woefully flat. Dispatching Peter (who grows up, changes his name, marries, and becomes a California yoga instructor) from the narrative by transforming him into an overprotective grown-up incapable of comprehending his angst-ridden son is as disrespectful a bit of storytelling as it is disingenuous. Appearances by Hook, Tinkerbell, and Tiger Lily merely reinforce this story’s anemic treatment of the original’s magic formula.
A tale so devoid of wonder that no amount of clapping can breathe life into it. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-944856-09-0
Page Count: 151
Publisher: Whitepoint Press
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
In the current game of one-upsmanship that is the teen paranormal romance market, how does one top vampires, faeries, angels (fallen and otherwise) and the like? Why, make your dark and brooding male lead the Lord of Death, of course. Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera and her mother have just moved to Isla Huesos (an alternative Key West) to start over after her near-death experience two years earlier (she drowned in the backyard swimming pool) and her parents' subsequent breakup. But Isla Huesos just happens to be a portal to the Underworld, making it very easy for tall, dark and handsome John to monitor the girl who ran away from him at 15. She wants to live, darn it, and bad things always happen when he shows up, so why is she so unhappy when he takes back the magical necklace he gave her when she was dead? Cabot's a pro; Pierce is a perfectly likable if almost preternaturally good protagonist; her relationships with her ex-con uncle, underachieving cousin and new buddy Kayla are genuinely endearing, and her interactions with John have the right mix of humor and sexual chemistry. A refreshingly offhandedly gay cemetery sexton rather testily helps Pierce along the way. Ultimately, though, the conventions of the form leach real suspense from the plot, making it feel more like a progress to the inevitable sequel (Underworld, coming in the indefinable soon) than any real reboot of the genre. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 970-0-545-28410-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The back story may not sink in but the romantic tension captivates
Debut author Faegen’s paranormal romance impels a celestial girl toward a dark paramour who embodies a purpose and a partner for all eternity.
Seeking her father’s killer, Sasha entertains the notion of joining a cultish secret society that mysteriously grants the wishes of initiates. It turns out renouncing God and pledging fealty to Eryx, a relation of the devil, is not in store for Sasha. In some inventive takes on the eternal good-versus-evil dichotomy, Sasha is part-angel, and Eryx has a troupe of brothers who nobly seek to thwart him, though they are also sons of Hell. Big, strong, long-haired and immortal, Jax is the brother who is fated to shack up with Sasha, should she forsake her mortality and enlist with the brothers in their mission. Much of what drives the story comes across as just plain arbitrary. Early on, Sasha’s mother is deported to Russia, and Sasha has to move to Colorado, where Jax lives, to reside with evil relations. It turns out Sasha is an adopted child with no clue who her real parents are, and by the time she agrees to sacrifice normalcy to join Jax forever, she has nothing to lose and no one to fall back on anyway. The dialogue partakes of an aggressively teen vernacular—"… major bummer that her aunt isn't just a lost soul, but a crazy-bitch lost soul"—but the narration seems to have a hard time finding its rhythm.
The back story may not sink in but the romantic tension captivates . (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-60684-170-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Egmont USA
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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