3 stars - "I would read again... sometime... with limited options"

This books suffers from sequel syndrome. Its just not as engaging as the first.
I'm not a huge fan of childrens literature to begin with but a narration by Jim Dale is hard to pass up.
This is going to sound like I hated this book but that's not the case. It was just overall unremarkable.
It was missing the things I liked the most about the first book. The magic of the island itself and it's inhabitants, the connection to it's inspiration (Peter Pan). Part of the joy of the first book was making those connections "oh that's how the mermaids came to be!".

This book mostly took place off island with some looks back at the minor adventures happening there while Peter was away to keep connected to Neverland. That was nice. I like the characters of Neverland as a whole so I was glad to see what was going on with them throughout the story.
The problem I often have with childrens literature is only the last 5 minutes matter. There are never any repercussions for things that happen along the way and this story is no exception. Molly is obstinate and contrary throughout and those qualities actually get 1 character killed and nearly ruin what is painted as one of the most important events in Starcatcher history but at the end there are nothing but congratulations for her and Peter. I find it incredibly frustrating. Even more so if I consider that children might be reading this and thinking that that means that sort of behavior is admirable.
The number of times that the story would have Ended Happily (and immediately) if a character just used their words was so high that it became farcical. I found it very difficult to take seriously after the 3rd or 4th time that one sentence could have untangled the whole contrived mess.

After all that I didn't dislike this book. On it's own I'd never ready it again however I can see how it's a necessary stepping stone to future story and Am looking forward to book 3 in hopes that it has more of what I'm looking for and of course, more Jim Dale.

Peter and the Shadow Thieves is the second book in the Peter and the Starcatchers series.

I really struggled with Peter and the Shadow Thieves and I am not even sure why.

When Neverland has some curiously odd visitors Peter decides it is his duty to inform Molly that something is wrong. Leaving his friends behind Peter flies after the ship that is transporting the mysterious Lord Ombra. Molly is concerned when her father hires guards to watch the house then disappears claiming he has secret starcatcher things to tend to.


The writing was still smooth despite being told from many point of view. I really liked the idea a mysterious monster like creature going after the starstuff with two children once again sworn to protect it. In the end I just forced myself to keep reading since I had nothing else to read. Unless I cannot get any thing else from the library I will not continue on with the series.

This sequel to Peter and the Starcatches is a definite nail biter. Peter and Molly face a seemingly indestructable enemy which can take control over someone merely by touching their shadow. Peter must help Molly's father get rid of the dangerously miraculous 'Starstuff' before the evil Lord Ombra (the shadow stealing enemy) takes it for himself and use it to take over the world or something!

I would compair this book to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because they both had a reasonable amout of blood and gore but they both had the same sort of bittersweet humor. Both the enemies in both books are somewhat indescribable and hard to fully understand but also very intriguing and interesting. Also the main characters in both books (Katniss and Peter) both share remakable bravery and curiosity that most books seem to leave out in characters.

I gave this book five stars because, much like the first book in this series, it had a very subtle way of showing humor, which I thought was pretty sweet. I loved the characters and the way everything kind of fell into place in the end and how all the villains never really left, but were still defeated until next time so theres room for another book! I love this book and would recommend it to anyone of any age!

I read this whole giant thing in one sitting. I'm so in love with this version of Peter Pan that I didn't even realize I had spent over 5 hours reading this. There was so much adventure in this book, and a lot of new characters that helped make the story better, and it was such a good read. I love Peter so much, and it was really fun reading the scenes between him and Tinker Bell. I'm excited to read what happens in the next book, as there wasn't a cliffhanger at the end, so I'm no sure what to expect.

I’m loving this series! This installment introduced George Darling as a young teen, and it also had the best little cameo!

Molly Astor & her father Leonard are once again in need of Peter's help. There is a large amount of starstuff that needs to be returned before The Others get their hands on it. The return cannot take place until a specific time on a specific day at a specific place. Until that exact time comes, the starstuff is being heavily guarded at the Astor's home. Lord Umbra & his gang of Others are on the trail of the starstuff putting Molly & her family in grave danger. Peter intercepts Lord Umbra's plan & leaves Neverland to visit England in order to warn Molly. Molly & Peter seem to escape danger just in the knick of time just to find themselves in the next dangerous situation. On their path to the return, they gain a new sidekick, George Darling. Between the 3 of them, they discover the time/date/location of the return. Leonard is in terrible danger & doesn't know it. The return is interrupted by an unlikely character, making the starstuff available for The Others to get their hands on. Just at the last second, Peter comes to the rescue & completes the return.

I've only completed Book 2 of 5 in the series, but we've now identified a few of the iconic figures in the original Peter Pan story. In this book, George Darling made his debut. Clearly interested in Molly, he is the jealous wanna-be boyfriend that would go through great lengths to keep Molly safe. Safe from danger, & safe from other possible suitors, namely Peter. Although he is only a young teenager in this story, it was so funny to see the same personality show through as that that we already knew from his older self. Anther action-packed installment in this thoroughly entertaining series!

Age recommendation: 8 & up (Lord Umbra is a dark, mysterious character)

On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 10!

Another fun adventure with Peter. This one continues the story of Peter and the Starcatchers. However, this one doesn’t provide as much Peter Pan background as Peter and the Starcatchers did.

With this being aimed for a younger audience, I find that it is an enjoyable read, however the more I think about this story, the less I actually enjoy the story. There is an introduction to a new antagonist in this book, who does make the villains feel more of a threat. The stakes were certainly raised in this book, which also did make it more intense of a book. However, there were several plot holes within the book. Several times towards the end with events that made me scratch my head. Though for pure enjoyment and for a fun Peter Pan related story, this was a fun read.

The art throughout this book was gorgeous. For the most part it was pretty much what I imagined as I read, but at the end, the golden suit that Lord Aster had to wear for the Return (picture on page 503), I actually really needed the picture to understand what was being described.

The story was cute and fun. The beginning was a little bit hard to get into, but I was full invested by the end. I haven't read the first book in this series, and I think there were several things that would have seemed more important had I read it, but this does well as a standalone anyway. One thing I definitely got the impression I was supposed to understand was the random old man who helped Peter find Molly's house around the middle?

Before Peter finally got help finding Molly's house, there seemed to be way too many plots going on at once, and I couldn't even really tell the general direction of the story. Peter and Tink kept getting into little side problems, the boys back on the island seemed to be moving into a new hideout, Hook was making all these plots, Molly was spying on the strange cops that kept coming around by her house. It also seemed like we'd dropped the story of whatever was going on on NeverLand around the middle, but we did pick it back up again and it all ended very nicely.

The ending was absolutely my favourite part. I liked how they didn't actually say that it was Peter who'd come back and was helping them, but you still know. It was also very nice of them to end off in the same place we began, with a mango hitting Hook in the face. I know that's a bit overdone, but I love it for some reason. Especially in this case, it made the whole thing seem complete. Peter needed to go back to the island and get back to normal life. He'd already come to that understanding with TinkerBell on the train. He belongs on NeverLand now. Although I am glad he said he'd come back to help the Starcatchers when they needed it.

I really liked all the little connections to the Disney movie (well, I guess it was a Disney book, so that makes sense. Is this cannon in the same universe as the movies?). Especially that Lord Ombra, the main bad guy, could steal shadows. I just kept thinking about Peter Pan flying into Wendy's room looking for his shadow. Lots of fun.

So yeah. I liked it, it was fun. There was a lot of extra stuff in there, but in the end it all worked out and I enjoyed it.

It was an awesome book!!!!!!! Kinda scary at some parts, so I recommend previewing before giving it to younger readers, but it would be a great read-aloud (my mom read the first book in the series aloud)!

I have two wolves inside of me about this series. One is constantly howling about what a great contemporary adventure series this is (this one did drag in the second half); the other is constantly disappointed in the unacknowledged gender biases that stick out like a sore thumb against this rollicking fun background of boys and men getting to have a good time in this genre. Girls can't interact without being petty and jealous of each other (women be competin'), their dialogue constantly paces back to boys or men they admire (fathers, boys they like), and there's some serious sidelining and erasure of adult women in general order for men to be Getting On With It All. Even the female villains (which barely exist) have been weirdly atonally punished by other villains for stepping out of the assigned gender role of "be passive, or let a man do it the right way". It sort of feels like a world where the authors can't fathom what girls or women talk about when men and boys leave the room, if not them - which is unfortunate, because the men and boys in these books get to have quite adventuresome and fun dialogue, and get to be silly and scary villains and rogues. The bad guys in this series are just as fun to read about as the good guys; it would be great to see some scary pirate ladies, or have some better developed dialog with Molly and her mother (yikes all over for Mrs Aster, really), or deepen the mermaids friendships with Tink. The choice to have every girl compete on sight for Peter's affection and hate one another is weird and gross, and a bummer. Peter gets to have friends as well as friction with presumed romantic rival George; why don't any of the girls get to have friends, just because boys exist? Its just lonely and competitive and thoughtless to be a girl in this world, and it makes me sad. I hope the next book, which looks like it features a new main female character, cares more about female interiority and individuality than this one, which cared more about describing shadows in increasingly intricate ways than considering whether Mrs. Aster might have any thoughts in her head. Somehow, though, I have a sinking feeling we are still gonna end up adding yet another girl to the increasingly insulting cage match that is Peter's pubescent affections. My kingdom for "actually I'd like to hang out with my fellow cool gal pal instead of think instantly venomous thoughts at her over this 12 year old in board shorts."

My Thoughts - 5 out of 5 Unicorns - I loved it!!!
***Borrowed the audiobook CD’s from the library

The cover is definitely reminds you of Peter Pan with the flying out the window scene :)

I really like this series and so does my son. I know the library has the first 4 books in audio, so we will be borrowing them all to listen in the car.

This is such a fun series with tons of adventure. My son and I love listening to it in the car before and after school. If I could nail my son down longer than this, we would listen to more of it each day but sadly I just don’t have the time. This is a long book with 9 CDs to listen to. I loved the whole thing. Peter is very courageous, but he tends to cause much trouble like any normal boy. Tink is a spit fire, and it is always humorous to listen to Peter’s translations of what she says to everyone. Of course, boys are in the story though they do not play as big of a part in this story as well as the Mullosk people. Molly is a major part of the story again, and she is just as brave as the last story though she definitely has some girl fits of temper in this story.

I love how well the story is told by the authors. Their descriptions make the story easy to relate to, and I got pulled right into it.

I highly recommend this series to adventuresome kids who would love a good story related to Peter Pan, but it is so unique and wonderful to listen or read. I have already recommended it to several students in the high school when the topic of Peter Pan came up during spirit week for fairy tale day. Well time to find something new :)

The mystical atmosphere drew me in this one. London, fog, mansions, sea, ships, island, tower, etc. This series has so much charm and it's a world (like ours) that you love visiting. The writing is genius, and if you know the Peter Pan story, you'll see why. The prequel to Peter Pan keeps unfolding with more and more layers that make you want to go deeper. Good thing there's 3 other books!

There are a handful of passages worth musing upon. Especially when the starstuff comes into the story. The effect it has on people is beautiful.

This needs to be made into a movie series. Not to ruin the book, but to highlight it and encourage people to read this series. It's wildly imaginative, and don't let anyone tell you this is only for 10-14 year olds.

This writing reminds me of N.D. Wilson, and there is a scene which reminded me of "That Hideous Strength" by C.S. Lewis. Superbly done!

This story makes me happy. And good books do that. We should read for joy. Joy that points us to the Joy Giver.