Anyway onto the review. I read these out of order, which was not intentional. I had requested a whole bunch of books off of Netgalley, I have learned since doing this. I am alot more selective now considering I had to read quite a few horrible books, and because I am a perfectionist I couldn't just leave them unfinished.
I found 'Wendy Darling- Seas' after reading a string of really awful, not even worth 2 stars books. I had no expectations, I was just trying to get through my ebooks.
I loved it! I have read an alarming amount of Peter Pan retellings this year, that and Beauty & the Beast were my obsession. Most of them were disappointing for one reason or another. A lot of them had a darker version of Pan and since OUAT's take on him. I was really loving it.
So I read 'Seas' not knowing it was a squeal to 'Stars'.
'Seas' starts with Wendy waking up on Hook's ship the Sudden Night. It's quite a ride from there. I finished 'Seas' in a day. I was completely entranced, I loved the slightly more mature take on it. Might have something to do with the fact that I'm supposed to be an adult. This wasn't the Disney version of Pan, there is violence, innuendo, attempted sexual assault and language. It wasn't graphic, at least to me. It was there, but it wasn't trying to be shocking or overdone. Colleen handled all of these topics really well.
Wendy is young lady, aboard a pirate ship of murderous cutthroats and the book was very plain about how this was not a very good idea. I think Hook sold this book for me, he was not at all what I was expecting. I have read books like this where Hook is the love interest, and to be honest I don't like it. Since Pan was maniacal and evil, I thought that was the turn this book was taking.
I was relieved to find that Hook was not the least bit interested in Wendy. Right off, he tells her to give him a reason to keep her and her brother Micheal alive. She tells him that Peter Pan is in love with her, from there the two of them form a unlikely partnership to take down Pan.
I loved this. I like when two unlikely people join up, out of sheer need. It worked great, Wendy and Hook's scenes are the strongest in the book. I loved the character development, we through Wendy's eyes go from hating and despising this band of rogues, to them all becoming a strange family dynamic. (with the exception of Barnabas) who I hope the fish eat his flesh and his eyes.
The visuals were really good, the writing was crisp and clean. I really liked how Colleen developed the world. It came to life, the characters were all very unique and well developed.
In other words I would give this book five stars.
Oddly enough, my thoughts on the first and third book are completely different. That will be another post.
