Lost Boy by Christina Henry

Lost Boy
Christina Henry

Front cover

Date read: 23 - 30 November 2019
Length: 318 pages
Published: 2017


Jamie is the first ever boy to be taken by Peter to the Island, with promises of fun and adventure, somewhere you'll never grow up. But it's not really like that at all. Peter is mysterious and keeps many secrets. Boys die and are replaced. There's pirates and the Many-Eyed after them. And when a girl comes to the Island, everything changes.

ALL

CHILDREN

GROW UP

EXCEPT ONE...

I was given this book by a friend because they know I have read Peter Pan and they thought it would interest me. They were not wrong! Lost Boy is based on the original story, but set before then, when Peter was first taking boys to the Island. It is told from the perspective of Jamie, the first boy ever taken, and we learn about what life on the Island is really like.

It is nice that this story has a different viewpoint because it makes it fresh. You can read this story without ever having read Peter Pan and it still makes sense. It's not a re-telling because it's a different story, just set in the same world.

If you like Peter, this is maybe not the book for you, because at the end you will not. Actually, pretty early on you will realise he's not who we are led to believe. He's selfish, advocates murder and just views the boys as his playthings. They are replaceable, and when one dies he just goes to get more.

One thing I thought interesting was the idea of the magic behind them never growing up. When Peter takes the boys to the Island, they are led to believe the Island is the magical place, and just because they are there that they will never grow up, but that's not the case, as Jamie figures out. I don't want to spoil anything.

A good read based on a classic.

Overall rating

Thanks,

The Wee Librocubicularist