Review of Lost Boy, Found Boy by Jenn Polish
Genres: Retelling, Sci-Fi
Pages: 80
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 19/03/2018
Buy The Book: Publisher's Website
(Received free from NetGalley for review)
In a futuristic world, Neverland is a holomatrix, Hook is a cyborg, and Tinker Bell is an automated computer interface.
Peter is desperate to save his lover from a military draft that, unbeknownst to him, Mir volunteered for because they are desperate to be able to fly. So, naturally, Peter programs an entire island—Neverland—as a refuge where Mir can fly without having to fight in a war.
But he doesn’t locate Mir right away; instead, he fights for control of the island with automated interface Tinker Bell, and in his attempts to find Mir, others arrive on the island. But Peter’s single-minded focus on Mir generates repercussions for everyone.
Lost Boy Found Boy is a sci-fi retelling of Peter Pan, where Neverland is nothing but a computer program designed by Tink, a computer interface. When Peter discovers that their friend has signed up for (war? I think?), they'll do anything to get them to stay.
This was a really short book. Too short for the huge concepts that Jenn introduced. There was no introduction to the idea that Peter was transgender and I only kinda guessed it, as descriptions were lacking. Mir is non-binary like myself and that was the only obvious one (although Peter called them he later on which was confusing?). I had no clue that Tink was supposed to be an asexual lesbian or that Hook was bisexual.
I did feel that these preferences and genders were just thrown in willy nilly and I really hate that. I'm asexual and non-binary and I want a story that represents me well. A lot of readers will read that Tink is asexual and have absolutely no idea what that means. I guess that Jenn was trying to help the community in some way but they really failed on that front.
I won't deny that this was a really good concept though. It just needed more writing and a better editing team. It was a bit like watching a pilot episode, it was great, introduced characters I was interested in and showed us a world I really wanted to explore. The world building was the biggest loss, it was barely mentioned.
Too bad the concept wasn't really explored in depth. I've come across some two-star books myself lately, a shame. I hope you'll have better luck next time ;)
ReplyDeleteRonnie @ Paradise Found