The second book in the series was better than the first. This time Peter and Molly must help with the Return of the Starstuff. There was a cute Easter Egg featuring James Barrie. I had to put the book down for a while because it was just too long. Once I came back to it things finally picked up again.

I have really been enjoying reading this series. I liked that in this book we have a villain that is very strong because they always mention how strong the "Others" are but we really get to see it in this book. It makes me curious as to how other starcatchers in other areas have been dealing with the other creatures like Lord Ombra. I wonder if they are developing or have developed weapons to stop those creatures. I feel like Peter also matures a lot in this book with everything that he goes through on the island, and in London. It is so sad when Peter notices that Molly is taller than him because it really reinforces that "never aging" side effect from the starstuff. However, I love George Darling and I really hope that he is a character that we get to learn more about in the next book. The relationship (or lack thereof) and jealousy that Tink has towards Molly is hilarious and it is so great when Peter is translating for her. Tinkerbell is so badass and she is always there for Peter when he's in a tight spot. I can't wait to read the next book!

I'm so happy to have discovered this series! (Jim Dale as the narrator is just so amazing, again because of the Harry Potter connection I'm sure... I wonder if I'd have liked it so well had it been narrated by anyone else.)

We rejoin Peter and the Lost Boys on Neverland. Molly has gone home, and in addition to the usual villain of Black Stache (now called Captain Hook after his encounter with Mr. Grin the Crocodile), a much more sinister villain takes the stage: Lord Umbra, a name which means shadow. That's exactly what he is: a creature of shadow who steals people's shadows (essentially representing their souls, as he controls them from that point forward). He's one of the Others, those who are against the Star-Catchers, and seek to find the Star Stuff and use it for their own diabolical ends.

Peter learns that Lord Umbra is after Molly and her family, which forces him to leave the Lost Boys behind (in the clutches of Captain Hook!) and fly to London to help her. While there, he meets George Darling, who obviously will turn out to be Molly's husband and Wendy's father, though at this point Peter still has a crush on Molly (and she on him). The love triangle between the three of them is really sweet and innocent, made more complex with the addition of Tinkerbell's jealousy, since she didn't exist until the very end of the first book.

The adventure was everything you could wish for: there are pirates, fairies, flying, soul-stealing, and a trip to both the Tower of London and to Stonehenge during a lunar eclipse... with a perfect happily-ever-after. I can't wait for the next one!

My brother Jude ( I’m reading this book to him and Truman now) was looking through the books I’ve read on here, and noticed I only gave this one four stars, and was shocked. He looked absolutely betrayed. He said I MUST make it five stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
So, this is an updated rating from Jude ❤️

Gosh this series is excellent

I listened to this audiobook with my kids after we listened to Peter and the Starcatchers because we loved the first book so much. We also liked this one and were excited to find out how it all ends, but I would say that this one is a bit darker than the first one, not quite as lighthearted. However, this didn't seem to bother my kids at all and they wanted to move right on to the next book. We are still enjoying this backstory on how Peter Pan and all of the Neverland inhabitants came to be where they were at the beginning of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan.

This second installment was as strong as the first. It maintained all those warm nostalgic feels surrounded by a new and inventive story. Characters, new and old, grew perfectly though the book.

I’ll admit, I waited a few weeks to write this, although not intentionally. It just got forgotten among so many other things. But, it does mean some of the details of the book have gone a little hazy.

There were, however, some excellent additions in this installment that remind us of things from the original Peter Pan story. Bringing in George Darling was a smart choice. I have to admit, I was surprised to see how willing he was to participate in the danger and adventures, but you could clearly see the makings of the future, older George Darling. It’s very easy to see how this boy would grow into the man and father we already know him to be. Again, another excellent demonstration of the perfection of these books. Tying a younger version of a character so seamlessly to its older version (that you didn’t even write) can’t be an easy feat.

The other addition I truly loved was the shadows. There’s clearly more to be told about the shadows to match it up to what we know about Peter’s shadow in the future, but you can see it will all tie together in end. Going into the shadows too much would be a bunch of spoilers, so I won’t. But it’s clear that Dave and Ridley will leave no stone unturned in telling the tale of how Peter Pan, Neverland, and company came into being.

This the 2nd P&SC book that I read aloud with my 9 year old son and while I don't think it's as successful as the first book, it's still a lot of fun and the writing lends itself brilliantly to reading aloud. There's a little island stuff but it's mostly centered around Victorian London which was fun after I spent the winter reading Dickens and Austen. My main complaint about is that it could definitely benefit from a stronger editing hand: like the first book it has great Dickensian cliffhanger chapters but it also has chapters that shift perspectives for no other reason than to shift perspective: it slows the action down, rather than pick up the pace. It took us a while to get through it but it was a welcome break for me and my boy in the current Fornite addled landscape.

awalnya saya skeptis dengan buku ini.
entah..
cuma ngerasa skeptis aja hehe..

tapi ternyata lumayan seru juga.
sayang versi terjemahan yang saya baca kurang memuaskan. terjemahannya kurang konsisten. ada satu kata yang pada redaksi aslinya disebut 'The Return' dan pada awalnya penerjemah membiarkan kata tsb dibiarkan seperti apa adanya. namun hal itu berubah pada bagian tengah cerita. 'The Return' diterjemahkan menjadi 'Pengembalian'. sebagai pembaca awam saya cuma bisa baca aja sambil mengerutkan dahi.

cuma mau mengingatkan aja sih, baik itu buat pengarang, penerjemah, editor, dan proofreader jika detil kata itu perannya sangat penting sekali. ada kesalahan kecil pada satu kata saja kadang bisa berpengaruh kepada pembaca. terima kasih. :)

Excellent! This was a bit more fast paced than the first book in the series. I love Tinker Bell's role in this story!

Review title: Peter goes back to London

Expanding the backstory established in Peter and the Starcatchers Barry and Pearson bring Peter back to London in this followup. Now a permanent never-aging resident of the island renamed Neverland Peter (not yet Pan), having taken Black Stache's hand, has given him the new nickname Captain Hook, while his band of fellow-orphans has started calling themselves the Lost Boys. After the dosing with the "starstuff" in the opening story, Peter (and the "birdgirl" renamed Tinker Bell) can now fly whenever he wants with the body language familiar from the animation, has the superb eyesight and reflexes, and the cocky insouciance associated with the frozen adolescent we know and love.

But the best part of this second book is that Barry and Pearson have taken this familiar backstory and given it a resonant and exciting new adventure. Set just a few months after Starcatchers, First Officer Slank is back on a ship chartered the Others, the bad guys out to capture the Starstuff for nefarious purposes, sailing into the Neverland lagoon. When their search on the island ends with the knowledge the stuff is no longer there, they follow Molly and her father back London with bad intent. Peter realizes he needs to beat them back to warn and help Molly--and also realizes that having no idea which direction and how far it is to a London he needs to follow the Others ship. From that start the tension and scrapes continue with the right pace of adventure, thrills, close escapes, and dread to the end.

But one of the best bits in this is the emotional depth of the story. Meeting Molly again in London, Peter comes face to face with the consequence of his permanent adolescence: Molly, his peer in the first book, is now growing up beyond his age and he is realizing that the difference will only increase as time passes. This bittersweet realization and how he deals with it give unexpected poignancy to a "YA" tale. The tension between Peter and Tinker Bell over Peter's attraction to the mermaids in Neverland and Molly in London, his lack of awareness of the depth of Tink's feeling, and the introduction of George Darling as a potential love interest for Molly that stirs Peter's jealousy speak to the real stresses of young readers at this emotional passage of life.

I ended up reading this book pretty much straight through in one 24 hour period, pulled into the story and characters as only the best mystery and thriller writers can. That this is Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson writing a young adult novel about Peter Pan is no reason to overlook or underrate it. These are four stars well-earned.

I find that my patience with sequels is waning rapidly. Barry and Pearson seem to know that they have lucked onto a solid concept and know how to execute it adequately.

Unfortunately solid writing does not make for extremely good writing. The writing for Peter and the Shadow Thieves is a ramshackle hodgepodge of story arcs, developed haphazardly and lacking any clear focus for the first 300 pages or so.

When it finally gets going with sinister villains chasing after Peter and Molly, you are half irritated that it took so long, and equally frustrated that the authors continue to bounce back to Neverland every few chapters in a plot line contrived simply to keep Captain Hook in the story.

It seems to take the worst of both Barry and Pearson's styles, coupling the irritating winking nature of Barry's overwrought newspaper columns and matching it with Pearson's angsty coming-of-age teenagerisms.

After a stellar first effort the sequel is a bland shadow of it's predecessor. Unfortunately, the ending promises more to come.