By Jaelyn Kelly

We all know about the classic fairy tales like Peter pan, Snow white, Cinderella, sleeping beauty and more where everything ends happily ever after. However, have you ever wondered about the villain? What made them so malicious how did they grow to become so hateful, were they born this way or were they made this way?

Well luckily for you I have just finished a great adult fantasy based on the infamous captain hook! The book is called “Never Never” by Serena Valentino where we learn about the past of James hook the man who envied peter pan so much, he wanted him dead the story of a man who never wanted to grow up. A brief insight into the book is that James’s “Hook” biological name is James Bartholomew he a strayed from his pram as a baby and was sent to never land until he was claimed on his seventh day before coming an official lost boy. James never wanted to be found he hated living in London he hated having to grow up all he longed for was the acceptance that neverland provided. He begins his journey as a young lighthearted man settling on becoming one of the best pirates next to his idol Blackbeard to try and gain a spot back to neverland we get to see James prove himself to the pirates in many action-packed pirate adventures he shows his charm, wittiness and devotion in the beginning. However, this does not last long as this dream quickly turns into a heart-breaking nightmare, I think I enjoy this book because it sheds insight into this specific fairytale showing that nobody starts off evil. I read a review from a women named Juleyanna.C her thoughts on this book were “A lot of this story focuses on Hook’s life before returning to Never Land and taking Peter Pan as his nemesis (at which point, we know the rest of the story). It is a story about wishing, wanting, and regret. Hook’s character is so well developed by the end of the story, that the author easily got me routing for Hook and kind of despising Peter Pan! And by the end, a fabulous twist that will turn your idea of Neverland on it’s head!” I love this review because it goes back to my first statement about the book I love reading her books because there is so much character building and you learn to love the characters you were taught to hate. Another review commented by Mercedes B. “I’ve never been a fan of the Peter Pan story or movie, but I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Valentino does a fantastic job making Villainous characters sympathetic and relatable. Captain Hook wasn’t always the fear-riddled coward we know him to be from Peter Pan. He was once an extremely intelligent aristocratic college graduate who became a brave and knowledgeable Pirate under the tutelage of Captain Blackbeard. When James was a young boy, he fell out of his pram and found himself in Never Land. His mother found him on the 6th day he was there and brought him back home. James never got over his time in Never Land and longed to go back and be with his friends for the rest of his days. This driving obsession is what set James on the path the Odd Sisters had laid out for him years and years ago.” This review encourages my main point that the author Serena Valentino did an amazing job showing James character develop through very human emotions, now that were older I think we can all relate to villains in fairytales were all human at the end of the day.

Photo citations

Captain hook and peter pan OMG Malaysia has more pirates than Somalia!? (Not DVD pirates ya) (cilisos.my)

Never Never cover photo-Amazon.com: Never Never (Villains, Book 9): 9781368025294: Valentino, Serena: Books