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Title: Second Star
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillian
Genre: Young Adult- Contemporary Fiction, Fairy Tales
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Source: copy from the publisher – review policy here.
Synopsis via Goodreads:
A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.
“Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. ”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Okay, so I have a confession to make... I have NEVER read Peter Pan nor have I seen any of the movies. I know, I know... big childhood fail on my part.
This was everything I needed to get out of a mini-reading slump. I was between a book and an audiobook when I needed something new and different. Honestly, I didn't put two and two together until the mention of Jolly Rogers.
Wendy sets course to find her brothers after news of their presumed deaths where her instincts lead her to Kensington. At Kensington Beach Wendy meets Pete and Belle where they live with roaming "lost boys" in an abandoned cape side mansion. Across the beach lives Jas who is the resident drug dealer and lives in his own abandoned mansion and higher scale amenities. As Wendy uncovers the secrets of Kensington she hopes they will yield more clues in finding her brothers. It is after a pixie dust incident at Jas' home when Wendy finds herself facing more truths then she is able to handle and is more determined then ever to save herself and find her brothers.
Devouring this novel in one sitting, I kept seeing a teenage version of Point Break. You know... that movie with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. There's surfing, thieving, drugs, big waves and rainy scenes. Most of all there's feels. Feels for Wendy's missing twin brothers, John and Michael, feels for Pete and Jas. Needless to say the pacing and world building really worked for me. I could see the surfing spots, I could feel the waves and cold water hitting me, and I almost wanted to move into the lost boy home and sleep on a mattress. Almost.
My one peeve would be that there were definitely times that the romance took over the plot and I felt like finding Michael and John had become a secondary concern to Wendy. I would like to think that two boys trying to kiss me and body warmth would not derail my emergency efforts to find my twin brothers.
I had no expectations, since I didn't re-read the synopsis going in I missed the fairy tale tie-in, but Second Star was a refreshing new story that could easily be read as a darker contemporary. If you are wanting/expecting a straight re-telling of your favorite childhood classic then you will probably be put off. While the outcome of events was not particularly shocking, I found myself comfortable with the outcome of the characters and Wendy's growth throughout the story.
I may actually read Peter Pan now, so there's that.
4 Stars: Recommended for fans of dark or issue contemporaries, or fairy tale makeovers.
I will be buying this when it comes out to have a nice hard copy!
I will be buying this when it comes out to have a nice hard copy!
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