SUMMARY
A more in depth look at the series, might be some spoilers.
CHARACTER LIKABILITY
PETER
Peter starts our rather selfish but changes rather fast. He soon realizes the others look up to him and it's his job to look after them.
And although he makes mistakes, getting into arguments (not just with Wendy but the Lost Boys) and disobeying his elders, he usually learns from them and suffers the consequences. Such as when he disobeys Fighting Prawn and gets poisoned.
MOLLY
Molly isn't portrayed as a perfect girl, who can do anything a man can do and more. She is brave, but she is also vulnerable (when it comes to her father, she isn't afraid to cry).
She makes mistakes and has to admit to them. They only part where she suffers is in her last appearance as a child in “The Secret of Rundoon”. She continuously disobeys her father and is shocked by his anger at her. This made her look stupid and selfish.
GEORGE
George is quite smart and although he is judgmental at first, eventually he comes to respect Peter. Even before that, he is likable in his desire to help Molly and put his life on the line for her.
CHARACTER GROWTH
PETER
Peter changes from a rather selfish boy (who was thinking of abandoning his friends) in the first book, to a leader who doesn't just feel like he should protect his friends but protect his new friend Molly, and even a stranger (the mermaid he saves).
Although later on, he lacks in development. He knows he is different than Molly and won't grow, but they never really address it. Even when Peter meets Molly all grown up, as well as Ted, we don't learn much about his feelings. We focus more on his fear of Ombra, which is interesting, but I hoped for more.
MOLLY
Molly doesn't develop as much. We see her become brave but we didn't necessarily see a different version of her before. But we do see her being upset about her father and learning to confide in Peter. But that is only in the first book.
From then one she seems to stay the same, disobeying her father and getting away with it. That is, until "The Secret of Rundoon". She messes up twice, first with sneaking on the ship, and then when she follows her father and gets thrown in jail with him. Unfortunately, we never actually see how this might affect her, as after this she is seen as a grown up.
GEORGE
George starts out as looking down on Peter but eventually learns to respect him. He learns about star stuff and eagerly helps, eventually even risking his own life. His bravery is revealed in the third book, where he and the lost boys go off alone and he leads them to steal a ship. That's why his change in personality was such a disappointment when we see him as an adult.
CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
Peter and Molly's relationship does grow and go through struggles in the first book. He gets mad when she won't confide in him about the star stuff, then later when she wants to go get the star stuff instead of going to save the lost boys. Wendy realizes she is wrong and comes back to help save Peter from the alligator.
There isn't really any discussion between them about how Peter will not grow (although Tink mentions it to Peter). Or how Peter is jealous of George and his relationship with Molly.
Wendy and her Father seem to have strains in their relationships, first when Aster forbids her from leaving the house and the second when he scolds her for sneaking on his ship. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any learning done on Wendy's part.
I do think it would have been interesting if we had scene George learn about how Peter will never age. He might had viewed him differently. Perhaps he was told, but there is never any difference in how he seems to view the boy.
USE OF HUMOR
Throughout the books, we repeatedly get scenes between Captain Hook and Smee that are usually funny. Only a very small portion I found skip-worthy.
Tinkerbell is always being rude, so Peter's re-translating of her is usually quite silly. Other uses of humor are more surprising and less predictable. Such as the interaction between George and Peter when they first meet. Or when we see Magill's wild animals.
PACING
The pacing is one of the strong suits. Although the beginnings are often slow, it's not because of bad writing. It's to build suspense. Some chapters are quite small, and are thrown in to build suspense and foreshadowing.
The pacing is fast because there are always at least two different stories going on at once. Actually, there are usually even more.
AWKWARD EXPOSITION
The scene where Ombra reveals the origin of the universe was kind of cheesy. There was no real reason why Ombra would do so, and although it was interesting to discover that Peter might be half alien, the method of it's delivery was bad.
Also, Ombra was far too vague when it came to his motives. And instead of telling them, we should have seen hints of his motives. Maybe learned about his past.
DEATH OF A LOVED ONE
For the majority of the books, only villains and side characters we barely know die. But when Aster sacrifices himself for Wendy and Peter I found it really moving. It made me wonder if perhaps other characters might die in the future. I wanted more stories.
REPEATING THEMES?
In every book, Peter leaves the Island and there is side story on it. It always involves either the lost boys or the Mollusk tribe. Sometimes both. One of my complaints is that Mr. Grin is used quite a lot. He is often lured and used to trap the enemies. It just gets a little predictable.
A SIDE STORY UNEQUAL TO THE MAIN ONE
One of my complaints is that the side stories don't always seem very important. If fact, it wasn't until the third book when the Scorpions arrived that I generally felt it was an important story. I knew in the second book that the lost boys would not be harmed, and that Peter would save them. So I was always eager to get back to the main plot.
AN ORIGINAL IDEA
Neverland gets an origin story with the crashing of the ship “Neverland” as well as a birth from star stuff. Not to mention the importance of the mermaids, who time and time again remain an ally to Peter and his friends.
Indians become the Mollusk tribe while star stuff gets it's own story. Not from any pixies, but from another planet, it seems. The only part where this suffers is when Ombra tries to tell more than we need to know.
CONCLUSION
The pacing is so fast that I never felt bored, and was always eager to read. The suspense was always there, drawing out my interest in every book. And the story is surprisingly original for one based off a classic. As for the main characters they are all likable for the most part; fleshed out with strengths and weaknesses.
Peter does develop slightly, but Molly not as much. And the relationship between them is interesting and believable.
My criticisms are mostly subjective, such as my distaste for the vague origin story of Ombra and the lack of Hook as anything to be taken seriously (or any development). Although objectively, the side story is never equal to the main one, until the third book. Overall, I would rate the series as a whole four stars.
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