Book Review: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

Rating: 8/10

Overview: Gwendolyn's mother has always been a bit odd, moving their little family around and whispering about monsters in the shadows. Gwen doesn't believe her until the night those very shadows scoop her up and bring her to Neverland, and yes, it's the same Neverland from the stories, only things seem a bit off. Gwen's captors drop her onto the deck of the Jolly Roger, bringing her face to face with Captain Hook. But he's not exactly what Gwen pictured when she thought of J.M. Barrie's fearsome pirate. In fact, she starts to wonder if Hook is really a villain at all. Before she can decide whether or not to trust the Captain, Pan himself sneaks onto the ship one night and steals her away. Gwen feels strangely drawn to him, but she also can't seem to shake the Captain's warnings that Pan is the true villain of the story. 

As a Reader: Okay let me just start by saying that I LOVE Peter Pan. I still refer to him as my first crush and will fight anyone who says he isn't real. So naturally, I was over the moon when I came across this spin-off in the library. I'm also happy to say that Maxwell did not disappoint. As such a huge fan, I had some pretty big expectations for this book, and as you can tell by the rating, I was highly satisfied. The characters just felt so real, but the whole story still had that magical Neverlandliness that filled my heart with wonder the first time I read the J.M Barrie version. Maxwell did a perfect job making plenty of nods to the original story (just to get my nostalgia rolling) but then threw in her own unique spins, twists, and a healthy dose of darkness to keep things interesting. There was also plenty of swashbuckling type romance (which you guys know I don't usually enjoy) but it was really well done. None of the interactions felt fake or cheesy, and I loved seeing the characters' relationships grow and change as they learned more about each other, all while the world was literally falling down around their shoulders. Probably my favorite part of the book was that, just like Gwen, I had no idea how the good guy/bad guy dynamic was going to work out. And toward the end, even after I had clearly picked a side, it still didn't feel like any of the characters were one-dimensionally good or bad. They all had layers, and it made them and the story feel that much more real. 

As a Writer: So from a writer's perspective, this book really got me thinking about spin-offs and their place in the literary world. Most of this is just speculation and sort of me working through my own thoughts. I'd also really like to hear what you guys have to say. So, spin-offs, let's do this. First I think I should try to put down my understanding of what it means to be a spin-off. In my mind, a spin-off is different from a retelling because the author only keeps a few bits and pieces from the world of the original book, and the rest of the story comes from their own mind. A recent literary example of a spin-off would be J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Now this example is a different sort of spin-off compared to Unhooked because J.K. is a queen and wrote a spinoff of her own book. She still set the story in the wizarding world we all know and love, but it focuses on characters we never really got to meet in the Harry Potter stories. That gets into my big question for the day, how do readers, in general, feel about spin-offs? Are our expectations so high that spin-offs tend to fall short, or do we love them regardless because we're getting to dip our toes back into a world we fell in love with the first time we read about it? I really think it depends on the individual reader, and in my case, I always get super involved with the CHARACTERS. A reader's favorite part of a book can make or break the spin-off, because if the spin-off is missing that one special part you just HAVE to have, chances are, you'll throw the book down in disgust. I still haven't been able to force myself to read anything else by Leigh Bardugo, because I know none of her other books have my favorite characters from Six of Crows (It's picky of me, I know, but I like my books the way I like my books!) So what do you guys think? What's the best way to approach writing a spin-off? My only advice at this point would be to look at what's precious to the original and incorporate as much of that as you can, while still making the story your own. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!