A strange dark creature is searching for starstuff, and he is not gonna give up. Alarmed by what has happened at the island, peter flies to London to tell Molly, only to find out that she is being followed by the shadow to.

Despite A Few Fun Moments, this is the Weak Link in the Trilogy

I just finished re-reading this book to my wife and daughter, and it lived up to my expectations and recollections from previous read throughs: it's not nearly as good as either Book One (Starcatchers) or =Book Three (Secret of Rundoon), but it serves as a necessary bridge between the two and has some gripping moments! Highlights below:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Set months after the events of Peter and the Starcatchers, this story details the Others' response to Peter and Molly's heroic efforts to keep the starstuff out of their clutches. Enraged at their loss, the Others dispatch a shadow being named Lord Ombra and a team of minor villains to retrieve the starstuff by any means necessary. After stopping off at "Neverland", the Others learn that Molly and her father took the starstuff to England to conduct "the return", the mysterious process by which Starcatchers send starstuff back to the sky. Peter stows away on their ship as they set sail for London, and joins forces with Molly to once again thwart the Others on an adventure that takes them from the Tower of London to Stonehenge.

*TOO SCARY FOR FOR BEDTIME READING: Whereas most of the villains in Book One are kind of bumbling cartoon characters, Lord Ombra and his crew are genuinely scary! There are lots of creepy scenes in which Ombra assumes control over his victims' actions by stealing their shadows, and a couple of moments in which he hurts those who stand in his way. Keep that in mind as you prepare to read this to kids, especially right before bed!

*TOO LONG: This is the longest of the three books, and also the least action-packed. That makes for a kind of long, slow trudge through the first two-thirds of the book before things heat up for the climax. It seems like the authors wanted to spend time paying homage to their favorite British sites, and the plot suffered for it a bit.

*GRIPPING CLIMAX: That said, the climax of this book is pretty awesome! Wolves, bears, and the magical forces surrounding "the return" combine to make for a great sprint to the finish of the book. I was planning on a 2-star review until I got to the last 100 pages, which "bumped it up a star." :)

*NOT AS TIED TO J.M. BARRIE'S WORK (BUT ONE GREAT CAMEO!): Much of the magic in Book One derives from seeing more and more elements of Neverland falling into place. Since much of this book takes place in England, though, that magic kind of gets lost here. Aside from introducing a villain that removes its victims' shadows and introducing a young George Darling, the book's ties to J.M. Barrie's original are pretty thin. J.M. Barrie himself does make one touching cameo, though!

All told, I might just Cliffnotes this book next time I work my way through the trilogy. It's okay, but not any better than that. I look forward to reading The Secret of Rundoon; if memory serves, it will be worth the wait!

I love this series!

Another fun Audible

I was interested to see whether Dave Barry could keep the cracking pace and level of a jolly good read that he set in Peter and the Star-catchers. I am pleased to say that he definitely achieved this. If anything this was more of a chair gripping rollercoaster than the first of his prequels to Peter Pan. Along with the cast of the last book the author manages to give George Darling an appearance in this one.

Jolly good read.

Why is no one selling this audiobook? Someone take my money! Do the authors and Jim Dale have Venmo?
Listening to an audiobook on YouTube is miserable. No chapters, no sleep timer, no adjustable speed. I sacrificed, but it was worth it.

It's a good sequel, you can tell they worried a lot less about fitting the prequel to the story. Much more Better Call Saul, much less Rogue One. Lord Ombra is awesome, and the story is still fun, although less witty. It was a little long.

Reading Starcatchers I rolled my eyes learning that Starstuff brought about both Michelangelo and Atilla the Hun. But Starstuff connected to Stonehenge and the Pyramids? Hell yes.

molly aster is the love of my life and that’s that oh that

It isn't often that the second book is just as good (or better) than the first, but that is very much the case with Dave Barry's Peter and the Shadow Thieves sequel to Peter and the Starcatchers. My 10-year-old son and I loved this volume just as much as we loved the first! Of course Jim Dale's stellar narrating could have something to do with that. (If you haven't heard him read yet, it is worth finding an audiobook he's narrated just to do so!)
This second book is full of even more action and suspense. Plot twists abound, keeping readers wondering if ANYTHING will work out of the protagonists. But, of course, in the end it does.

I highly recommend this Neverland reimagined series!!

This series is absolutely charming. It's just the right amount of faithful to the original story and just the right amount original. It also doesn't belittle its readers for being young which I absolutely love. Nothing drives me crazy more than a book assuming the reader is unintelligent. This book is also setting up important building blocks to get to the story we all know and love, introducing George Darling, insinuating that perhaps Molly will be Wendy Darling's mother and that there's a future generation to come.

I'm interested to see how things will develop with the Lost Boys on the island, seeing as they should be aging. Peter seems to be having more ease with realizing, "Oh, man. Everyone else is aging but me." It's a sobering thing for any immortal to come to terms with, let alone someone who's still a child in mind and body.

I thought the book's concept for Lord Ombra, the villain, was pretty awesome to be honest. There may be nothing to fear but fear itself, but I feel like a living shadow should get an honorable mention. You knew from the title of the book what his skill set was going to be. I loved that he was more ghost than human, though I have a thousand questions as to how someone gets that way. Corrupted starstuff perhaps? I'm interested to see if we ever see more like him, though that might get to be a bit repetitive if we do. Still, Lord Ombra was a great villain.

Also, props to the book for coming full circle at the end. That was a great return to normality chapter.

Ultimately, I don't think you can get away with not reading the previous book before reading this one since they make a lot of references to it. However, it's totally worth reading, so I recommend it.

I have never been a fan of Peter Pan. I always thought he was an obnoxious brat. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have totally changed my outlook. I loved these stories. Interesting and fun interpretation of an old story.

TINKERBELL!!!! She stole the show in this book and I loved it. Boys giggled and cheered the whole way through. A fabulous series.

I didn't love this book. But I did end up enjoying it.

Things I didn't like:
The over-emphasized and harped upon love triangle. We get it. Peter and George like Molly. Molly likes Peter and George. And what are they, like 14? Not like 14-year-olds don't have feelings, but we don't have to make it a talking point.
It's pretty draggy and repetitive overall. Hook is mad, we get it. Peter is cocky, check. Tink hates Molly, yep. (Although there is slight character growth there and that's cool.)

Things I liked:
The relationships in the Aster family. Louise respects her husband and his leadership and teaches her daughter to do the same. But they aren't spineless homebodies afraid to ask questions or make choices.
Tink is pretty cool overall, actually. Jealous little brat, but she's willing to help anyway.
The ending. As in, the actual ending. Like, the last page.

So, not a favorite. I even considered not finishing it, but I partially blame the busyness of life and my distracted brain for that, instead of the book.