Waiting on Wednesday: Hook's Tale by John Leonard Pielmeier

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

This week's upcoming book spotlight is:
Hook's Tale by John Leonard Pielmeier
Publication Date: July 18th, 2017

Scribner
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

From Goodreads:

"A rollicking debut novel from award-winning playwright and screenwriter John Pielmeier reimagines the childhood of the much maligned Captain Hook: his quest for buried treasure, his friendship with Peter Pan, and the story behind the swashbuckling world of Neverland.

Long defamed as a vicious pirate, Captain James Cook (a.k.a Hook) was in fact a dazzling wordsmith who left behind a vibrant, wildly entertaining, and entirely truthful memoir. His chronicle offers a counter narrative to the works of J.M. Barrie, a “dour Scotsman” whose spurious accounts got it all wrong. Now, award-winning playwright John Pielmeier is proud to present this crucial historic artifact in its entirety for the first time.

Cook’s story begins in London, where he lives with his widowed mother. At thirteen, he runs away from home, but is kidnapped and pressed into naval service as an unlikely cabin boy. Soon he discovers a treasure map that leads to a mysterious archipelago called the “Never-Isles” from which there appears to be no escape. In the course of his adventures he meets the pirates Smee and Starkey, falls in love with the enchanting Tiger Lily, adopts an oddly affectionate crocodile, and befriends a charming boy named Peter—who teaches him to fly. He battles monsters, fights in mutinies, swims with mermaids, and eventually learns both the sad and terrible tale of his mother’s life and the true story of his father’s disappearance.

Like Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, Hook’s Tale offers a radical new version of a classic story, bringing readers into a much richer, darker, and enchanting version of Neverland than ever before. The characters that our hero meets—including the terrible Doctor Uriah Slinque and a little girl named Wendy—lead him to the most difficult decision of his life: whether to submit to the temptation of eternal youth, or to embrace the responsibilities of maturity and the inevitability of his own mortality. His choice, like his story, is not what you might expect."

Over the years I have discovered that I'm a bit of a sucker for a good Peter Pan retelling or Peter Pan-inspired story. I loved Tiger Lily and Alias Hook, and I'm actually reading another Hook-inspired book right now called Lost Boy. I'm not sure why there is such an interest in him lately, but Hook is definitely one of the characters that most intrigues me, so I am really excited to check Hook's Tale out!

What do you think about this upcoming release? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

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Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen

Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen. St. Martin's Griffin, 2015. Paperback. 368 pages.

Most of you probably know the story of Peter Pan, or have at the very least seen the Disney movie version of Peter Pan. From those stories, we know that Captain Hook loses the fight against Peter Pan and is fed to the crocodile. But what we don't know, according to Alias Hook, is that he didn't actually die in that fight because Captain Hook is cursed to lived forever in Neverland and cannot physically die. It's really a pretty unfortunate situation, but Lisa Jensen tells the story beautifully.

Alias Hook was a little difficult to get into at first, and there were a few chapters towards the beginning where I was still very unsure whether or not I wanted to continue on with the story. I plowed through, however, because the prose was lovely and premise fascinated me, and I must say that it paid off and I'm incredibly glad to have read this book.

The world of Neverland that Jensen created is fantastic and so full of the magic and darkness that I crave so much in retellings like these. I adore what Jensen has created, from the nuances and 'rules' that Peter Pan has for the world, to the way in which Neverland exists and people can visit and the various inhabitants of the land. Jensen has captured a unique magic that combines the nostalgia and excitement of youth with the adventurous and difficult journeys of adulthood, including both love and loss.

I really enjoyed exploring the different aspects of Hook's character that are often overlooked. He is jaded and hopeless, stuck in a land where he can never win, never leave, and never die. But at the same time, we are able to discern a small piece hope in him that surfaces at various moments throughout the novel that lend to some truly beautiful, exciting moments.

I also loved Stella. She is a bold, exciting, and endearing character that I felt had a wonderful relationship dynamic with Hook. This story would not exist without Stella, and she is the perfect catalyst for ever aspect of change that occurs throughout the story. I loved the interactions between Stella and Hook, and their chemistry was simply perfect. They are two very different people, but they still fit so well - they bickered and they had different hopes and dreams, but it all came down to them at the end, and I think it was written wonderfully well.

On the whole, I have very conflicting thoughts on this book. I loved the concept, the storyline, the worldbuilding - all of the major components of this book were brilliant, and it was whimsical well thought-out. This book contains a very elegant prose style, and because of this the writing did not always feel exceptionally accessible. I kept having to reinforce my reading and make sure I was focusing on the story and not zoning out instead. But... although the prose is somewhat difficult to connect with, it is also very beautiful at the same time, and by the end of the book I realized that I didn't mind the extra effort involved at all. There were many times when I wished to highlight or mark various passages, and I felt very moved by many of the emotions and events Hook undertook.

Overall, I am giving Alias Hook four stars! I truly cannot wait to read more from Lisa Jensen.

And if you are looking for even more Peter Pan-inspired stories that are absolutely gorgeous, I would like to take the time to highly recommend you go check out Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson!

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

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