Straight on till Morning

A Twisted Tale

By: Liz Braswell

Narrated by: Lorna Bennett

Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

What if Wendy first traveled to Never Land...with Captain Hook?

Sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling’s life is not what she imagined it would be. The doldrums of an empty house after her brothers have gone to school, the dull parties where everyone thinks she talks too much, and the fact that her parents have decided to send her away to Ireland as a governess - it all makes her wish things could be different. 

Wendy’s only real escape is in writing down tales of Never Land. After nearly meeting her hero, Peter Pan, four years earlier, she still holds on to the childhood hope that his magical home truly exists. She also holds on to his shadow. 

So when an opportunity to travel to Never Land via pirate ship presents itself, Wendy makes a deal with the devil. But Never Land isn’t quite the place she imagined it would be. Unexpected dangers and strange foes pop up at every turn, and a little pixie named Tinker Bell seems less than willing to help. 

But when Captain Hook reveals some rather permanent and evil plans for Never Land, it’s up to the two of them to save Peter Pan - and his world.

©2020 Liz Braswell (P)2020 Disney

Twisted indeed

In my short life on this earth I’ve come to have more love for two particular things than most have for their favorite grandmother: Disney and villains. Disney movies practically inspired my life-long love affair with villainy. Where Chernabog was fascinating, and Maleficent intimidating, Captain Hook was always just more fun. As a character in the 1953 animated classic he strikes that perfect balance of funny and scary. When I saw that the newest entry in the “Twisted Tale” series was going to take place in Neverland with Wendy joining Captain Hook I couldn’t wait. While it was slow-going at first, within an hour I was glad I bought it.
The good Captain is back in all his foppishly dangerous glory. The author and narrator have captured his charm from the animated version and his menace in the original story. He’s Dustin Hoffman’s version with a drop of Hannibal Lecter. I loved every minute we had with the captain and the crew of the Jolly Roger. While Captain Hook was as devilishly fun as I’d been hoping, the character that impressed me most was Wendy herself. The author does something really interesting with her. This isn’t Hook’s or Peter’s story, it’s Wendy’s. We see her change and grow and find strength and purpose as she struggles with the dawning of adulthood. The entire story is a dark but fun coming of age story for Wendy as she discovers herself, what she actually wants, and what it means to be a hero. She’s also surprisingly funny and I found myself laughing far more than I expected.The narrator does a particularly wonderful job making Wendy’s journey feel real, powerful, and at times painful. As for Tinkerbell I’ll have to admit a bias. I’ve never liked her and always found her to be the least interesting character in both story and film. This is the first time however that I’ve ever found myself enjoying her. Yes, she can still be a mercurial and jealous nuisance. But Braswell constructs an interesting past for her that helps us understand and even sympathize with her and she’s more feminist butt-kicker than jealous sparkler. I honestly couldn’t believe how invested I was in Tinkerbell of all characters. Though I haven’t gotten to the other twisted tales yet, I’m genuinely excited to do so now. Here’s hoping we get one on Bald Mountain someday. I think anyone that’s ever enjoyed the original JM Barrie stories or the 1953 Disney film will find something to love here. The writing, narrator, and characterization are all top-notch. If you do find yourself enjoying it and want something similar please check out Hook’s Tale by John Leonard Pielmeier.

Good but slow

I feel the narration was what got me through it. The story overall was good. But I feel it was quite slow until the last 3 hours. It was quite dragging to get through until the near end. If you love the story of Peter Pan, I feel you will like this and possibly won’t drag on for you. But for others that are reading it due to it being a twisted tales story. I feel it will drag on for you as well. Overall I think it was good. Not the best, but not bad.

Very slow but overall good story

I had a lot of trouble getting through this one. The narration was beautiful, that’s what kept me going. Story full of details, I really feel like this would be an amazing movie for Disney to produce. The visuals and whole concept is stunning and i kept picturing it come to life on screen. Here’s hoping they take this one to that next level!

relatable.

from devices that suck up your time, and new territory, even transgender tribulations, this book was a good edition to my ever growing Disney experience.

A great twist on a classic

I truly enjoyed this book. When I got to the end I wanted more. I think this was a very good description of who Peter Pan really is.

Good but…

I like it but they made it out like Hook was crazy and I think they could have came up with something better.

Overall Okay

I would like to say that the narrator did a fantastic job I loved the way the story was told. The Story on the hand could have been better. It being about Neverland I was expecting something of a darker story. it was an okay story compared to let's say 'As old as time'

Girl Power!

This retelling is full of rich illustrative language, making you feel as if you're right there experiencing it all for yourself. A satisfying feeling. The narration is expressive, with intonations and accents for each character. Peter is not the main character, which thankfully allowed all the others to be explored.

Solidly Okay

The writing and narration was good, and the characters spot-on, but it was also slow-paced and placid enough that I lost interest a third of the way through.

Enemy’s to Best Friends 💙💚🧚🏻‍♀️✨

Loved Peter Pan when I was a little girl, mainly for Tinker Bell 💚. Loved the retelling of the famous boy who never grew up but loved that story focused solely on Tinker Bell and Wendy Darling. Enemy’s to acquaintances to best friends.

Loved every minute of it honestly