Lost Boy

Publisher's Summary

The author of Alice takes listeners through a dark tale of Peter Pan, who turns his best friend into his nemesis, Captain Hook.

On an island lives a boy called Peter and his band of merry lost boys, young forever. That is unless they get sick or killed by pirates or eaten by crocodiles or unless - inexplicably - they grow old. For some of them do grow old, and nobody knows why.

One of these boys is called Jamie, and he was the first boy that Peter ever brought to the island. Jamie's lived there for longer than he can remember, and it's not all fun and games. Peter thinks the boys are replaceable, that if one dies or grows up, he can swap in another from the Other Place, the place where he collects new playmates. Jamie looks out for the boys and takes care of them. He does everything Peter does not. Jamie tries to keep them alive because to him they matter. When Peter steals a boy who is too young, Jamie takes the boy under his wing. But Peter won't have that, for nobody will ever take Jamie from him. Ever.

©2017 Tina Raffaele (P)2017 Recorded Books

Loved it. This is how it's done

A lot has been made recently about deconstruction of characters and subverting expectations about characters. Now I may be biased as I was never attached to the original story characters to begin with but I thought this was fantastic and to me this was so much more interesting than the original. I kind of feel guilty about getting the book so cheap on the daily deal. I would recommend this even at the typical 7 hour audible book price. Though, don't be suprised if you finish it in one day.

19 of 19 people found this review helpful

Awesome! A super retelling of Peter Pan.

A grown up look at a fantastical world from an adolescent's POV. A coming of age story in a land where the only adults are pirates and growing very old does not necessarily equal growing up. It's a story of the love between a boy & his mother, of snide & expectant, brave & protective, selfish & generous brotherly love, of hard won and late budding true love and of a loveless society that lets it's low income, lower class children slip through it's fingers unnoticed and unmissed. There's still swash buckling adventure and crowing and lost boys living in a tree. But, unfortunately (or maybe not - read the book!! Or listen to it on audible), I grew up since I last read Peter Pan. After reading this book, seems the story grew up, too. 😁

62 of 67 people found this review helpful

Lord of the Flies ad infinitum

It's a bit gruesome and despicable, and I suspect will forever taint my opinions and views on Peter Pan and Neverland.

Which is to say, this novel was quite excellent and successful! The protagonist is so well written that I couldn't help but to empathize. The action is well paced, and the gravity of the drama is heartbreaking. This novel presents us with atrocities and horror that will haunt you, and will make you second-guess the heroes of all of your favorite bedtime stories.

I picked this up on a daily deal, which was a wonderful steal for what this story delivered.
Is it worth a credit? It is a shorter novel that I finished within a day (I listen to everything at 1.75X, and can listen all day at work) but I feel that I would have been equally as happy if I had paid a credit for it. It may be short, but it's exactly as long as it needed to be to tell the story, any longer and it would have been unnecessary filler, any shorter and I'm not sure you would have developed deep enough connections with or opinions on the characters.

A word of warning: This fairy tale is better left to the grown-ups, there is a lot of graphic violence against children in this one that I think would be too harsh for younger or more sensitive audiences. This is definitely a Dark Thriller, not a bedtime story.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Best take on Peter Pan in years!

I loved this story! Ive already read Alice and Red Queen, so i knew I would like Lost Boy, but my expectations were still passed by a long shot. The ending was superb amd the narrorator added that special vocal touch. If a 6th star were possibe, I would have pressed it.

55 of 61 people found this review helpful

Excellent

I love this pre story of Hook and Peter Pan! I actually listened all the way through without pause. It throws a new darker view on the story that takes me back to the original versions the the Grim tales.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Wonderful ^_^ Just what I was looking for.

I absolutely loved it!
Super engaging adventure that puts such a unique perspective and twist on a beloved story.
Narrator really brought everything to life as well. Brilliant.

It was easy to relate emotionally with Jamie. You felt every moment of despair and revelation. By part 4 I was enchanted by Jamie's character.
Very creative story telling that I can't wait to revisit if any sequels are planned!

~"Do you feel it?" - Choas Choas~

26 of 29 people found this review helpful

Dark

It has been decades since I read Lord of the Flies. I did not like that book and for many of the same reasons, I did not like this book. I will say it is very well written with good development of the characters and story. The narrator does a great job. It is definitely a twist on the original Peter Pan but for me a bunch of brutal young boys on an island killing each other was not very entertaining. I think I'll go back and reread the original Peter Pan.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

one of my favorite audiobooks I have heard!

I loved this! Everything about it was great from the narration to the plot. I don't want to give spoilers, but this is how Captain Hook lived with Peter Pan and grew to hate him. There are some good characters and the narration was great. Lots of things I didn't expect.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

If you believe in fairies...

Don’t read this book. It will shatter all your Disney dreams. Peter Pan will change forever, and Captain Hook? I gave it 5 stars but consider my warnings.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Dark side of imagination.

I was entranced, Lord of the Flies meets Peter Pan and all human, some non-human emotions, and twists created in a explosive chemical reaction.
The performance was one of the best I've heard, I could feel the story through the clear and precise voice of a professional. Refreshing.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful