Lisa Jensen

Realistically this is more of a 3.5 for me....but as someone who has always been suspicious of Peter Pan, I appreciate Jensen agreeing with me so that earns it another half star.

There has been a lot of different renditions of Hook in my life time--the move HOOK with Dustin Hoffman, PETER PAN with Jason Issacs, PETER PAN with Christopher Walken, PAN with Hugh Jackman, Disney's animated Hook, WENDY AND THE NEVERLAND PIRATES' animated Hook, Syfy's NEVERLAND's Hook, ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME's Killian Jones/Hook...

And that has nothing on the LITERARY versions...

So Hook has gotten a lot of play in the last 30 years or so okay? This however was an intriguing take as it focuses more on the man who was Hook before, during and after being Pan's "foe" Captain Hook. and that peaked my interest like you wouldn't believe.… (más)

Fantastic new version of Beauty and the Beast! What if the Beast is actually the hero? There are two young women characters here: Rose, who falls for the handsome prince, and Lucie, who loves the true Beast and fights to protect and restore him. Who really is the more beastly? Very well done. The language is flowy and imbued with the right mix of medieval-ish historical times and fairytaleness, if that makes sense. I dunno, I just loved the way it read. Loved the idea of Lucie being enchanted into a candelabra, so she can watch her revenge take place; there are more than two transformations taking place here, though, and Lucie is a great heroine. Love the opening quote from Greta Garbo after seeing a film version of Beauty and the Beast: "Give me back my beast!"… (más)

Beauty and the Beast told from the perspective of … the candlestick?

Lucie is sent to work as a maid at the Chateau de Beaumont, where she encounters the handsome but self-centered and arrogant Jean-Loup. When the enchantress arrives at his door and punishes him for his cruelty, Lucie is only too happy to see him get what he deserves. As all the other servants flee the grounds, she chooses to remain and bear witness to Jean-Loup’s suffering, and so the enchantress gives her a new form that will be safe from the Beast’s abuse.

But there’s one problem: Beast isn’t suffering. Because Beast doesn’t remember being anyone but Beast. And as Lucie gets to know this new creature, so unlike the monstrous Jean-Loup, she starts to think she might even like to be friends with him.

Until the day a beautiful girl arrives at the castle, whose very presence threatens to undo the curse and unleash Jean-Loup back into the world. Lucie is determined not to let that happen.

It’s a story of (like the title says) love and revenge, of second chances and learning to let go of hatred. It has some very interesting twists that I’ve never seen before in a BatB retelling! Skillfully done!… (más)

It isn't you, it's me. You are a perfectly nice book and I'm sure there are lots of readers out there who will love you for the book that you are. You and I are just not meant to be.

For me Alias Hook started out quite good in the beginning but as the story progressed my interest in the story declined and it took every ounce of my being just to continue. Not that the book is badly written it wasn't just my cup of tea. The idea was great; Captain Hook, the great villain in Neverland isn't really the great villain. Instead he is stuck there, has been for 200 years, and it is Peter Pan that is the actual bad boy. Then one day a woman arrives in Neverland, why is she there? Who sent her?

The book isn't bad, I liked parts of it. I liked the idea that Hook is the victim and Peter Pan is the one that is tormenting him. How fun is there to be stuck in Neverland, immortal while the crew is mortal and Pan and his boys kill them off and new grown-ups arrive to join the crew on the ship. Not bloody fun I would imagine. But I just couldn't  commit to the story. My heart wasn't in it. And I really, really wanted to like it. Oh well, I guess not every book is for me.

The only thing working really well for me in the book was that I imagined Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook...;)



Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!… (más)