Colleen Oakes

I love all things Alice and will read any Alice pastiche you put in front of me, but I'm beginning to re-think that position. First, there was Gregory Maguires After Alice and now this.

I'm all for giving the "villain" a backstory and making him or her into a hero, or at least a good anti-hero. But FFS, make your protagonist likable. And, if you're going to use Lewis Carroll's works as your inspiration, at least try to do more than pay vague lip service to his characters. This felt more like show more it was set in some obscure corner of Oz than in Wonderland and none of the identifiable Carroll characters were really much like their originals at all. The book actually had the potential to be an entertaining YA fantasy, but the awkward, failed attempts to tie it in to Carroll's works (and the prose that was more Middle Reader than YA) distracted from what good there might have been. show less

"She was learning quickly that what was right and what must happen weren't always the same thing."

This is one of those moments where I wish we could do away with star ratings.
I wanted to like this book more than I did, but I don't think it's terrible. There were multiple times in the book where I was so pulled in, I tightly gripped the book, and had it very close to my face.
Unfortunately, all of those moments ended quickly.
This book had so many great concepts, but nothing was ever fleshed show more out. Including the characters, especially the main character Dinah, who I found to be weak/flat. I read with a sort of detachment at times. She seemed to be naive, and without any instincts. She had to be talked into things often. One time, she finally had some ideas of her own, some courage, and she took action. I thought this was character growth. But after that adventure she went right back to being naive and dull.
What I did like (besides all the moments that started out good before falling flat) was the banter between Dinah and Wardley, and her relationship with Harris, her guardian.
It was the last 15 or so pages that gave me hope for the next book, but even then I am not sure I will check it out.
I had a sense throughout that the editor didn't do their job, or that perhaps there wasn't one? For a HarperTeen/ Epic Reads book, I was quite disappointed. show less

I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Princess Dinah is preparing to be queen and rule their kingdom alongside her father. Her coronation will be on her eighteenth birthday or so she had hoped. Not only is her father plotting against her, but his aide Cheshire as well (this Cheshire isn’t a cat).

This is a great story that draws you into another world. There’s a slight romantic interest, but nothing comes of it so this is definitely not a romance novel. show more The characters were so well described that you immediately connect with them. This is a great take on Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts; could we be reading a possibility of how she became evil?

Colleen Oakes has begun an amazing dark fantasy series with Queen of Hearts, one I’m sure everyone will enjoy! I can’t wait to find out what happens in book two. show less

Wendy Darling has always adhered to her parents’ and society’s rules and expectations for a sixteen-year-old girl in Victorian England–except when it comes to her secret love for the local bookshop owner’s son, Booth. When Wendy’s father finds out about her relationship with Booth, he forbids her to see the boy again. On this night, a chance to escape her constraints flies through the Darling children’s bedroom window, and his name is Peter Pan. Mesmerized by this magical boy, show more Wendy and her bothers, John and Michael, follow Peter on to the second star on the right and straight on till morning–to Neverland. Here the Darling children find freedom, fun, and adventure, but as they spend more time in Neverland, they begin to forget who they are and where they came from. For Wendy, Peter’s grip on her tightens and she becomes more enraptured with him. Before too long, Wendy starts to see that the veil Neverland has cast over her eyes might mask a darker and more nightmarish truth.

The last time I reviewed Colleen Oakes’s work was for her Queen of Hearts series, which is one of my favorite retelling/fantasy series. I love it because it is an example of masterful world-building and storytelling. Oakes, as I said, has a skill for balancing the classic story with her contemporary version, allowing both worlds to coexist in a new, brilliant, and lively story.

Oakes does it again with her new series, Wendy Darling, and the series’ first installment, Stars. This time, Oakes transports us to Victorian England and Neverland in an enthralling and imaginative look at J.M Barrie’s classic Peter Pan. Wendy Darling: Stars is vivid, exciting, and it sucked me in from the first pages. It is also incredibly unique for its darker exploration of this classic tale. We all know Peter as the lovable and mischievous hero that battles Captain Hook and saves Neverland time and again, but this isn’t that Peter, and this isn’t that Neverland. This looks at the “other side” what and who Peter could be inside and the truth that might lay behind the magic of Neverland.

Peter is possessive, dark, villainous, and rules the Lost Boys with a military-style hierarchy. He raids Hook’s territory like a Viking would Britannia (not quite to that extreme, but you get the point). Wendy is the typical sixteen-year-old who loves to fall in love and becomes enraptured by the boy she shouldn’t like–a boy who plays games with her life, imprisons her at his whim. There is palpable tension between the Darling children, which is a refreshing change to the bubbly original. It’s clear characters will fall, need redemption, saving, and growth. Particularly important to me was that Wendy becomes the heroine in every sense of the word. She has to become the savior for herself and her brothers. I always like seeing female characters save themselves, not needing the male to ride in on a white horse.

Oakes’s works are always well-written, lyrical, and swift. The characters are interesting, believable, and they drive the story onward in an action-packed and mysterious tale that will surely leave readers thirsty for the next volume in the series as it did me. Wendy Darling: Stars is ultimately masterful in every way.

Everyone needs to add this book to their holiday and winter shopping list; it’s unputdownable and completely thrilling. I love it and recommend it unreservedly. show less