I wanted to like this book, I really did. But overall, I found it tiresome.

As I said in the review for the first book, I felt like they could have cut at least 25% without any damage to the overall story. How many times do we need to read about Peter (and usually Tink and sometimes Molly) barely escaping yet another danger? Another reviewer mentioned the Harry Potter franchise when commenting on the length; I found other parallels: the name of Peter's school (St Norbert's School for Wayward Boys) and the one Harry allegedly attends (St Brutus's Center for incurably Criminal Teens) - but maybe they're both based on real school names? And Ombra has so many similarities to the dementors. The jumping back and forth between plotlines got monotonous. But what exasperated me the most was how Ombra is always GROANing - would it have hurt Barry or Pearson to pick up a thesaurus??

It's not a bad book, it's just a little too full of itself. Maybe I should have listened to it, like Susan recommended. Maybe Jim Dale's voice for Ombra would make all those *groans* bearable.

Peter is back at the island with the other boys now called the Never land. Even though Peter is the leader the boys, James is starting to get tall. Peter can now fly without the starstuff, but will remain a young boy forever. One day at the island pirates come for a trunk that is full of starstuff. There is no starstuff here on the island, but the pirates don't know that. The pirates threaten them if they didn't give the starstuff they would kill the oldest daughter of the Mollusk leader. At first the pirates don't believe what the Mollusk leader tells them: Molly's Father took it to England. Then they eventually believe them and left for England. Peter was watching the whole thing from the air and he knew Molly and her Father were in trouble because the pirates were headed their way, and Peter know he needed to do something. The way to get their was to hide in the pirates ship because if he flew Peter would get too exhausted and maybe fall into the sea.

In this riveting and adventure-packed follow-up to the award-winning New York Times bestseller Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter leaves the relative safety of Mollusk Island - along with his trusted companion, Tinker Bell - for the dark and dangerous streets of London. On a difficult journey across the sea, he and Tink discover the mysterious and deadly Lord Ombra, who is intent on recovering the missing starstuff - celestial dust that contains unimaginable powers. In London, Peter attempts to track down the indomitable Molly, hoping that together they can combat Ombra's determined forces. But London is not Mollusk Island; Peter is not the boy he used to be; and Lord Ombra - the Shadow Master - is unlike anything Peter, or the world, has ever seen.

The story continues only with a darker side to it - not sure I liked that very dark element. Peter Pan is lighthearted and carefree and this story was just so ominous. Could be scary for a youngster reading this.

As always Jim Dial was amazing as the reader.

This book wasn't fun like the first one, at least not on that same level. I didn't fall off the couch laughing or get funny looks as I chuckled to myself in the breakroom. But this book was better than the original in some ways. Better story, more tension, some unexpected emotions, fewer (seemingly) annoying villain POV scenes (at least in the second half of the book.) (Although I don't know that that counts because the villain POV scenes in both books are well written and rather entertaining.)

OTHER HAPPY THOUGHTS:
The authors did a great job with Tink. She's not as annoying and stuck up as she is in the original, but she's still very true to character.
They met a Darling. Made me happy. But Peter bumped into a random guy named James Barrie. Made me more happy. And Mr. Barrie directed Peter "second to the right and straight on 'til..." which was the absolute best part of the book. So much happy.
For a seemingly cheap fantasy cash grab of a prequel, this story does an amazing job of establishing setting. I don't know that I've ever felt like I was in London like I did while Peter was trekking through it.

OTHER SAD THOUGHTS:
Okay, so does everyone have to be jealous of everyone? I get it that Tink is jealous of every girl ever (it couldn't be any other way) but teacher is also jealous of someone at one point and so is Molly, and George, and even Peter. Could we all just not fall in love while we're still kids? (On the other hand, A+ for writing a really convincing awkward fourteen-year-old in George. Nailed it. Nerd.)
I'd have liked to have seen some different personalities from the various villains. Hook is Slank is Nerezza. I thought Ombra would be different, but he wasn't really. I wanted him to be creepy and ominous and near silent but he ended up barking orders at everyone just like the rest of them. Some varied villains could have taken this book to the next level.

As it was though, I really enjoyed this read. Sped through it in a day. No regrets. Can't wait to get to the rest of the series.

I actually liked this offering better than the first book in this series, Peter and the Starcatchers! The pirate, "Black Stache" returns with his new moniker, Captain Hook. Slank returns to Mollusk Island searching for "starstuff" with the villainous Lord Ombra and the adventure continues when Peter learns Molly and her family are in danger.

Failing to locate the coveted "starstuff" on the island, Lord Ombra sets sail for England with two stowaways; Peter and Tinker Bell, who hide themselves on his ship. Once in England, Peter has no end of trials and tribulations in his attempts to locate and warn the Aster family. There are many page-turning kidnappings and rescues, as well as troublesome mishaps which make it difficult to set this book aside. As a fan of the original, I deeply appreciated guest appearances by James Barrie and George Darling.

I could quibble about a few things; Louise Aster could have dismissed Jenny from employment; I think the natives would have missed the Lost Boys after a few days and searched for them; but, all in all, I found this to be an enjoyable and suspenseful read. Four stars for this imaginative story!!

Not as strong as the first book in the series, but still an enjoyable ride!

Instead taking place on the high seas and on an island, this time our story is mostly set in the foggy, cold streets of London. A creepy dark hooded figure is stealing people’s shadows and gaining control of them— and he wants Molly Aster and her mother next. So Peter sets out to rescue Molly.

The tedious wait for the rescue was what made this book less enjoyable for me. Peter ran into trouble again and again in London, distracting him from his main goal. And the things and people he ran into didn’t add to the story at all. It was more like filler stuff and things to happen just for the sake of them happening. I thought maybe he would do something like save the children who were serving that awful man and take them back to Neverland with him or that Tink would rescue the monkey that dangled from the animal collector’s chain... but they just escaped from their captors and nothing good came from it. It was as if those parts existed in the story just to make something exciting happen.

Anyway...

I did enjoy the book— especially narrated by Jim Dale— and it’s a fun story to listen to on the road. I do think the first book is much stronger though.

Peter and the Starcatchers is one of my childhood favorites. This is the series I read religiously after my Harry Potter craze. I can't tell you how many times I reread the series in my youth, especially, Peter and the Shadow Thieves I love how dark it is in comparison to the first. We are introduced to Umbra, a shadow creature that haunts the darkest parts of the world and turns your skin to ice with a mere glance. I'm not exaggerating; he used to give me nightmares. It is this very creature that our dear Molly is trying to escape, and fortunately for her a certain red head comes to her aid; though she is quite capable of taking care of herself. Their reunion in this installment is a bit bitter sweet . . . all of their reunions and goodbyes are a bit bitter sweet to be honest. Though Peter and the Shadow Thievesis the moment Peter starts to realize he will remain a boy forever, and have his friends will eventually leave him. And Tinkerbelle is no help. She is not afraid to tell Peter how she sees it. I love the scene where Peter is trying to fly out the window with Molly, but she weighs him down because she's grown so much since the last time they saw each other. Tink in pure Tink fashion tells him, "Why don't you drop her, she's as heavy as a cow" This scene never fails to put a smile on my face.
You can't go wrong with Peter and the Shadow Thieves or any of the books in the trilogy. What more could you want, than blood thirsty pirates, and magic galore. It is a story full of strong friendships and magic that you can't get enough of. If memory serves me right, the next books only get darker. The theme of immortality vs. growing up is prevalent throughout the whole series.

If you like Peter Pan and hints of dark themes this is the book for you! I don't have anything negative to say about it, highly recommend. I should probably eventually reread it now that I'm older and see if my opinion has changed, doubtful.

A sweeping second adventure that introduces new characters to a developing storyline. I will never see certain historical landmarks in England the same again! Tinker bell’s personality adds so much to the interaction between what she says and how Peter conveys these musings to Molly.

I read the first book in this series MANY moons ago and loved it. Devoured it, really, getting through it in virtually one sitting while at the cottage.

This one was not as easy to get through.

Granted, I didn't read it while on vacation and as a result couldn't read undisturbed for long periods of time, but this one just didn't pack the same punch as the first. It was still magical, it was still action-packed and moved at a good pace, and the Shadow Thieves were a nice lil' Dementor style addition to this Peter Pan world Barry and Pearson have concocted, but there were just long stretches that felt unnecessary and borderline tedious. Like, did we need the whole Captain Hook plotline? No, we didn't, because he added nothing to the story and keeping him in for the sake of keeping Hook in a Pan story isn't a good enough reason to include it. Similarly, Peter being kidnapped like 4 times on his way to Molly's house got a bit boring. We get it - the flying boy is in a place where he can't fly and that's scary. Let's move on.

That all being said, will I read the third one? Probably. It's an enjoyable enough romp/brain break that I'll probably pick it up in a few years and be pleasantly reminded of how fun reading books was as a kid (and continues to be as an adult, when I choose to read books like this).

Excellent second book in the series. The audio is fabulous because of Dale's fabulous narration, but the book is also good because of the illustrations.

Premise- (4/5) I really enjoyed Peter and the Starcatchers, and had high hopes for the sequel. In book two, Peter leaves his newfound island home to bring a warning to Molly. Accompanied only by Tinker Bell, he sets off for London. I wasn't sure how to feel about him leaving the island so soon after getting there. But I was curious to meet our new villain, Lord Ombra, and see how he tied into the story; and, excited that Molly would be in book two again. I was excited to pick this up!
Characters- (4/5) I don't know that I would say Peter or Molly grew much as characters, but they remained their brave, somewhat awkward, but essentially endearing selves. We didn't get to see too much of the Lost Boys, Mollusk Tribe, or pirates in this book, which was a little disappointing. But we got much more of Tinker Bell, which was fun! Slank's role was diminished, but he did appear again as a villain. The bigger antagonist, however, was Lord Ombra. I guessed before I started the book that Ombra had something to do with the shadows (blurb on the back, plus, fun fact from your local nerd: 'ombra' is very close to the Latin word for shadow, 'umbra'. not sure if that's actually intentional, but I like to think so). And I was right. The shadow stuff was interesting, but I felt that Ombra was a little overdone sometimes. He was supposed to be deeply sinister and menacing, but I think I felt that was stated a lot and not shown enough. Still, he served his purpose as the main villain. Oh, and the introduction of George Darling as a supporting character was...fun, I think? I'm still trying to decide how I'm feeling about that. (Slightly ticked off because I'm reasonably sure that it's George and MARY Darling in Barrie's original book, not George and MOLLY, but what can you do?)
Plot-(3/5) Okay, so the plot was not quite what I was expecting. First of all, it took Peter quite a while to actually find Molly. Which makes a lot of sense, but that means that there was a lot of time spent with Peter on his own (with Tink, usually) in London, and that just wasn't as fun because he wasn't building relationships with any characters and since we won't be seeing them again, it felt a bit like wasted time. Also, I feel like I was expecting...more. It's not that Peter and Molly (and the Lost Boys) weren't in life-threatening danger, because they were. But somehow that didn't come through as forcefully as I wanted, and there were a lot of villains making threats that they proceeded to not carry out, which was a bit anti-climactic. Speaking of climaxes, I did really enjoy the climax once we got there. The plot was solid with few plotholes, but I wanted a little more.
World- (3.5/5) For the most part, the story took place in London rather than the island, so the world was a bit different from the last book. London's darker, seedier side definitely came through in Peter's chapters. I would like to see more explanation from the Starcatchers, but seeing the Return was interesting. Historical London doesn't quite allow for the same freedom of world building that Mollusk Island does, but I thought it was fairly well-done.
Writing- (4/5) Aside from a few issues I had with over-dramatization and anti-climacticness, I like how these books are written. They're definitely targeted for a younger audience, but the writing is just fun. Humorous, descriptive, and overall enjoyable.
Overall- (3.7/5) While I didn't enjoy the plot of Peter and the Shadow Thieves as much as I liked the first book of the series, the characters were still engaging, and it was a fun read. I think Barry and Pearson could've done more, but it was great to see Molly and Peter reunited and working together again. Uniting returning characters with new ones and bringing the story back to London, Peter and the Shadow Thieves is a good read if you liked book one!

This book is soooooooo good!!!