Review: Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen

Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen

Published July 8th 2014

“Every child knows how the story ends. The wicked pirate captain is flung overboard, caught in the jaws of the monster crocodile who drags him down to a watery grave. But it was not yet my time to die. It’s my fate to be trapped here forever, in a nightmare of childhood fancy, with that infernal, eternal boy.”

Meet Captain James Benjamin Hook, a witty, educated Restoration-era privateer cursed to play villain to a pack of malicious little boys in a pointless war that never ends. But everything changes when Stella Parrish, a forbidden grown woman, dreams her way to the Neverland in defiance of Pan’s rules. From the glamour of the Fairy Revels, to the secret ceremonies of the First Tribes, to the mysterious underwater temple beneath the Mermaid Lagoon, the magical forces of the Neverland open up for Stella as they never have for Hook. And in the pirate captain himself, she begins to see someone far more complex than the storybook villain.

With Stella’s knowledge of folk and fairy tales, she might be Hook’s last chance for redemption and release if they can break his curse before Pan and his warrior boys hunt her down and drag Hook back to their neverending game. Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen is a beautifully and romantically written adult fairy tale.

This was such an exciting, interesting book! I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this book and I really liked it. Instead of being a full blown retelling, Hook exists alongside the original story of Peter Pan. Hook is more of the “real” story where Peter isn’t a protagonist nor is he a hero. I really liked how this story didn’t have a black and white view of good and bad. Neither Peter not Hook was the good guy. Both of them are villains, one more so than the other, but still villains.
I loved the writing style of this book. It was so beautiful and unique.
I really liked the character development from both Hook and Stella. I really liked their relationship as well.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The writing and characters were great and I really liked seeing a very different take on Neverland.