My review cross-posted from Romance Junkies

Everyone knows the story of Peter Pan. The boy who won’t grow up defeats the villainous Captain Hook, saving the day and making children everywhere squeal with glee.

This is not that story.

This is Hook's tale. The man who would become Captain Hook was once a dashing privateer, before he landed in Neverland to become the villain and a victim of a never-ending war. Hook is sure that Neverland will never change, but he's proven wrong when a mysterious woman dreams her way to Neverland. Stella Parrish is a smart, determined woman who will stop at nothing to redeem the cursed Captain Hook. Their adventure will take them through Mermaid Lagoon to the land of the fairies and beyond. But will Stella's love be enough to save Hook's soul when the powerful Pan is equally determined to hold onto him forever?

Enter a Neverland where magic is as sinuous as a snake and twice as deadly. In ALIAS HOOK author Lisa Jensen puts her own twist on J. M. Barrie’s PETER AND WENDY and the result is an imaginative, dark ride through a fascinating, purgatory-like landscape. Our guide through Ms. Jensen’s Neverland is Captain James Benjamin Hookbridge, the man who comes to be Hook, the foil to Neverland’s boy ruler. Hook is a Restoration-era privateer who is vain, proud and not wholly likeable. Ms. Jensen gives us his backstory, showing the man before the myth, and though this part of the book is long and not exactly captivating, it does show readers how and why Hook came to Neverland and became the number one villain in Pan’s personal game. And once Pan sets his sights on Hook, the boy, who is a dark and twisted version of the beloved character, will not let the pirate go. Pan’s will and Hook’s own reticence to see that he needs to change and grow keep the two locked in a never-ending battle that Hook will always lose.

Hook’s one last shot at salvation comes in the form of Stella Parrish, a woman whose mere arrival in Neverland is a shock to all who live there. Stella is the catalyst for Hook’s change and watching him grow from the morose, frustrated pirate to the man he is meant to be is interesting. Hook and Stella’s journey takes them through Neverland and this is where ALIAS HOOK truly comes to life. Ms. Jensen’s insight into the world of magic, the relationship of male and female, and the true nature of boys who run free without ever seeing the real consequences of their actions is marvelous. This isn’t a light book, but it does become fascinating. I loved seeing the ins and outs of Neverland and by the end of the story I could not put ALIAS HOOK down. The story has many ups and downs, but in the end I’d say that ALIAS HOOK is a complex, interesting adult fairytale.


Note: My review was written for Romance Junkies and is cross-posted here courtesy of Romance Junkies.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Alias Hook has gotten so much praise and given everything I had heard, I was curious about this book and wondered if it would live up to the praise it had received. I am not a hundred percent sure it did. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book, but I also struggled with it which is why I cannot say it’s the best book I’ve ever read.

Alias Hook starts off painfully slow. The writing style was pretty but I didn’t get sucked in by it. It just seemed prose-y to me and made my reading experience excruciating. To add to that, the pacing was slow so while I liked the setting and I liked what the author was doing with the world building, I couldn’t really get into the book until half way through. To add to that, because the writing wasn’t working for me, I couldn’t really picture some of the more imaginative things in the novel.

Once I hit that half way mark though, I was sucked in by the book. That was when things turned around. Maybe at that point I got used to the writing and was able to appreciate the book but whatever the case, after that halfway mark, this book just became infinitely better for me.

Captain Hook is a character I won’t be forgetting any time soon. The author takes her time developing him and it shows. The details which have gone into showing us what made Captain Hook the person he is today are evident. He is a fantastic character and one I loved reading about. Jensen’s original take on his character made me excited and it was so easy to sympathize with him. Moreover, I just loved the development he underwent over the course of the book. At the beginning of the book, I sympathized with him even if I didn’t like him (Pan is SCARY) but by the end of the book, I loved him. He is such a sweetheart. Can you imagine that word being used to describe Hook? It works in this case though. He is smart, a little rough around the edges but really a great guy underneath all of that.

His supporting lady was equally awesome. Stella is a fantastic character who isn’t just casted as a romantic interest but rather a person. She gets a back story too, we get to know her better and even she undergoes some development. There were some things about her past revealed that did weird me out a little but sometimes you just got to role with it. I love how loyal she was to Hook and I love that she is also smart in her own right (and a little history nerd!).

The romance between the two (*gasp* Hook in love? What’s next, Hook on Ice?) is beautifully done. I don’t lie when I say it’s one of the best ones I’ve read this year. It’s so heartfelt and it’s developed so beautifully. You cannot help but want to ship these two damaged characters!

My biggest problem with the plot, as I mentioned earlier, was the pacing. I was bored out of my mind for a good chunk of the book, but on the other hand, I cannot help but want to give this book credit for its rather original take on the Peter Pan fairy tale. Whoever said young boys who live forever cannot be scary? (In fact who said they aren’t??) There are elements to the way the plot is laid out that will make you want to high five the author.I’d say, even with my issues, that the author does do justice to the fairy tale and brings it to life in a completely different but fascinating way.

The ending is the one thing I am of two minds about. On one hand, I loved it! On the other hand, I wondered about the way we got no explanations about certain things. I don’t think I’d say the ending was rushed or anything, I just think more time could have been spent on it to show the readers how things worked out.

This is a very compelling re-telling of Peter Pan and it is one I would definitely recommend but with a note of caution in regards to the slowness of the first half of the book. I was not thoroughly enchanted by this one as many readers were but I finished the book with a giant smile on my face and what else can you ask for?

Moonlight Reader started the TBR Thursday, and I think it's a good way to a) show what new books I've got and b) confront myself with my inability to lower my TBR. In fact, since I started recording it, it has risen significantly. I get the feeling I'm doing something wrong here...

I've had a very bad week (or good) depending on what you're measuring. I wanted to lower my TBR but I've quite impressively failed. However, this means I've added loads (literally) of books. And they all seem really exciting. I'd expected to have a slight increase because there was a great book sale last weekend (but I bought 13 books, which must be close to a record for me). And then there were quite a lot of Netgalley books that I got approved/invited for, which is also really nice, but makes this week's TBR massive. So prepare. And did I already say that I'm buried in work for the University right now. I wish I had some time. 

TBR pile currently stands at 236. (+21)

(Netgalley ARCs at 77 (+6))

The Maze Runner is actually the four book box set. I've already read the first book and thought it was OK, but after watching the film I wanted to continue reading the series.

Alias Hook is a book I've wanted to read ever since I first came across it , so I was really glad when I found it Sunday morning.

I wanted to finish another series, so finally bought The Sweet Far Thing. The reviews aren't overwhelming to say the least, but I'll be glad if I can close a series.

City of Bones actually stands for the first three books in the series. It's going to be a group read with one of my book forums. So, I'm curious to see if I'll like it.

The Metamorphosis because sometimes I feel like reading something different.

Bring Up The Bodies is one of those books I've heard so much about that now I just want to try it out and read it.

The Raw Shark Texts has been read by a number of my friends and they all really liked it, so I regretted not buying it myself. So now I did get my own copy.

Seed, The Red Magician & Walking the Labyrinth seemed like really interesting stories, so I requested them on Netgalley.

Really loved this different take on Captain Hook and Peter Pan. It covers a longer amount of time then I expected, but offers backstory for Hook and shows a very different view of Pan that I hadn't thought about.  Children can be cruel and Pan is forever a child - killing is winning but he doesn't understand beyond that.

The romance is secondary to the plot, but at the same time it's important to the plot (they couldn't leave without it, really).  

The ending was kind of bittersweet, since Stella and Hook don't remember each other (although he did leave himself a note!).  They're out of Neverland and that's the main thing really.  Everything else is just gravy.  (Where did that phrase come from?)

I thought I would have a lot more to say about this one.