A Totally New View of Peter Pan

Six Points of Light: Hook’s Origin

By Kalynn Bayron

Paperback: 206 pages

Publisher: Booktrope Editions (January 13, 2016)

ISBN-10: 1513706454

ISBN-13: 978-1513706450

Approximate Lexile: 810

 

Publisher’s Blurb:

St. Catherine’s is a place for misfits, for the forgotten; it is also the only place fifteen-year-old James Cook has ever known. Abandoned on the front steps as an infant James is raised by Sister Maddie who loves him like the mother he never knew. James possesses a genius level intellect and a kind heart but his constant state of ill health has meant that he has never had an invitation to leave the orphanage and join a family. One evening, a young boy is delivered to St. Catherine’s in the arms of his distraught mother. In her dying moments she calls out to her son the words that will set James and the young boy on a collision course with destiny, ‘Never grow up Peter.’ As James and Peter forge a seemingly unbreakable bond, James learns that his new friend is not who he appears to be. Peter is manipulative, mischievous and dangerous. As it turns out Peter is also harboring a secret whose repercussions will echo through time and pierce the veil that separates reality from make believe. Before he was Captain Hook, he was simply James, and as it turns out, he was not such a dastardly villain after all. Join some of the most beloved characters in literature as their roots are laid bare and the truth of their humble beginnings is revealed.

 

My Thoughts:

This is not your typical retelling of a well-known story’s origin. Instead, it turns everything you thought you knew on its head, and I’m not sure I like it. This retelling is dark, and Peter Pan especially suffers for it. James Cook (eventually Hook) is a little too good to be true, as is his instant love for Wendy (a pet peeve I’ve documented in other reviews). It takes liberties with some basics of the story, as well.

 

The storytelling is…fine. There’s some good description. There are also some rather preachy bits, such as when James is being told he needs to forgive both Peter and himself. It seems as if James is going to take that advice to heart but then…maybe not. In the end though, Hook is no villain, and this narrative does nothing to explain why he would be thought of as one.

 

Probably the most interesting part is the little plot bomb dropped at the very end, and it’s why I will probably read the sequel when it’s available.

 

Overall though, to be honest, this read like fanfiction. Some fanfiction out there is actually pretty wonderful. This is not that kind. A few editing errors, hopefully, are cleared up in the final publication copy.

 

Possible Objectionable Material:

Magic, fairies, suicide, fighting, murder, dishonesty.

 

Who Might Like This Book:

Those who like familiar stories retold. As I said, it’s dark, and although it’s probably accessible to late elementary on up, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to them.

 

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.