Lost Boi

The book discussion group met in April 2017 with a small but interesting discussion that split the group down the middle about this book.One of the readers thought that reading "Lost Boi" was like tumbling down the rabbit hole (to mix up our children's classics). "Lost Boi" presents a sexuality that is far more radical than gender fluidity and the standard gender non-conformity so that ultimately you can't quite tell who's what gender or orientation, but it sort of doesn't matter. It does, however, throw you off guard and make reading a slightly disorienting and dangerous activity.A few of the readers actively dislike this kind of re-envisioning of classic books. They believe that it's not helpful or enlightening, and that writers should just write their own damn novels. It's not helpful to "modernize" and re-interpret these stories, especially those based on children's books. I understand that but love how clever this version is.A few of the readers found the s&m sex unpleasant and the relationships (especially between "mommy" Wendi and "best boi" Tootles) creepy, even if it is supposed to be extreme fantasy play. And this is the crux of the issue: The novel "Lost Boi" is an extreme fantasy and some people just aren't going to like it. While I was glad to see real character development and changes throughout the novel, it's ultimately a sexual fantasy that can be uncomfortable.A few of the readers got into the rhythms of the writing and speech so that the novel grew on them. A few of the readers got tired of it. I started enjoying it about half way through and was completely weepy by the final chapters.But we can make some things clear, which may help new readers get started:+ Mr. and Mrs. Darling are the only "straights" in the book.+ Pan is truly genderless. They're just childish, boastful, and forgetful. In some ways, never growing up is to be unaware of your own life. This isn't a happy picture.+ Erebos, Pan's bulldog, is the god of the undead, literally "a shadow."+ The "lost bois" are butch girls, dykes, and tomboys. They are not transgender or pre-transgender.+ The mermaids are ultra-femmes; they're whores, and drug dealers who support each other very strongly, but they're not mothering.+ Hook and the pirates are gay s&m leather men. (This stereotype seems to be disappearing lately.)+ Wendi is warm but also demanding and organizing, a real "mommy." She serves the same purpose among the "lost bois" as Hook does among the pirates.+ The Crocodile is heroin and "drowning" is getting high.+ To "fall out of their pram" is to enter the fantasy life that makes up the majority of the novel.Interesting note: In the end notes, Lowery notes that she copied Barrie's "Peter Pan" chapter for chapter. Comparing a few of the chapter titles reveal such differences as "Peter Breaks Through" in the original and "Pan Breaks the Ice" in Lowery's opening chapter, "Come Away, Come Away" in the original and "Runaway! Runaway!" in Lowery's, "The Mermaids' Lagoon" in the original and "Party at the Lagoon" when one of the big sex-fantasy parties takes place, and finally "When Wendy Grew Up" in the original and "We Grew Up" in Lowery's novel.If you enjoy very wildly fantastic and slightly kinky stories (and also have a fairly high tolerance for alternative approaches to sex and lit), you'll probably like "Lost Boi." If you're more traditional about lit and perhaps squeamish at kink and sex play, you'll be less impressed.

I wish I could give this less than one star. I'm sending it back to get my money refunded as soon as I can. Poorly written, poorly researched, and even more poorly executed, this book is a car wreck that's impossible to look away from. As a queer person deeply invested in the healing and clarifying aspects of BDSM, this book let me down on every possible level.Firstly, the prose. It is ham-fisted at best and lecherous at worst. In the acknowledgments the author states that ze wrote a significant portion of it on hir iPad. It shows. It's nothing more, and even nothing better, than a story one could find completely for free on a website like Wattpad or FanFiction dot Net. Secondly, if you're coming here for kink, I hope you're prepared to swallow some of the most disgusting and poorly executed discussion of kink and kink culture. If the ridiculous spelling of "boy" and "girl" throughout the entire book isn't enough to turn you away, the overt sexualization of child-like behavior certainly will.Some people may choose to defend the book as an exploration of queer identity, but even this aspect isn't done right, or even respectfully. The implication that comes at the end that all of this depraved (decidedly not in a good way), off-putting sexualization was supposed to be an empowering learning lesson for the characters is absurd. This book does nothing for anyone, except, I'm assuming, for the author, for whom this seems to be a long, drawn-out sexual fantasy with some inspirational neo-liberal nonsense tacked onto the end to try and make up for the fact that the author outright equates innocence and childlike characteristics with making one ripe and willing for hardcore kinky sex.At the end of the book, a character named Jane is introduced. She is clearly based upon Wendy's actual daughter in the sequel "Return to Neverland" and is introduced as appearing childlike, with pigtails and a teddy bear. She is then taken into Wendi's new subgroup, and the sexual encounters the narrator and Wendi have with her are described in detail. I should not have to explain to an adult, the target audience for this kind of book, why this is not only incredibly inappropriate, but truly, undoubtedly disturbing. The realization of who her character was based on actually made me sick to my stomach. The author has an extreme, overarching problem with the sexualization of childlike behavior and appearances to an entirely unacceptable degree.Do not buy this book. Do not support this author. Read queer stories by people who aren't trying to make a buck off of their age-play sexual fantasies.

I’ve never read a book like this. I’m truly at a loss for words with how much this book cracked open my world.

Now, this book is pretty specific to the type of reader that has a variety of interests focused queer and leather communities, so I was immediately interested. The story formatting was delightfully formatted like the original story, so the chapters and story had to stay pretty short. The problems I have are mostly that this reads a lot like internet fanfic that focuses on clothing descriptions, the "yuppies," and using repetitive vocabulary that I wish I'd been spared from.It was a bizarre romp, and it left me hungry for more description of the people's faces, surroundings, and more in-depth character interactions.

I struggled a little with the story telling but overall this book was a really cool take on Peter Pan. As a little/leather boi myself it was really cool to see the queer/kink spin on it. Wasn’t prepared for how dark it got at some points.I struggled also with the fact it wasn’t too explicit on descriptors and maybe this is my own bias but as a person of color, some of this did scream white people white peopling. Still a good read. Would definitely read again.Also I don’t quite know how to feel about Pan in general...

I loved the fast delivery, the condition of the book, and the book itself.

It's one of those kink books that ignores mentions of negotiation and informed consent, the story is all fantasy and scene. I hated most of the characters but grew to love them.

A delightful reimagining. A perfect example of respectful text adaptation or queering. It was an easy read without being simplistic, and provided my bookclub with plenty of topics of discussion. Highly recommend it. For those who enjoyed Stone Butch Blues, take this as an easier access point for many of the issues young, impoverish queer youths deal with. A great example of how fiction can give us access and understanding of otherwise difficult to approach subjects.

fantastic book written for the leather dyke community - worth a read!

I've been reading this book on the train on my commutes to/from work, and it's every bit as awesome as it sounds. I started taking detours just to spend longer on the train to read this. From the moment Pan and Wendy met right to the end, I felt completely immersed in the story. A queer punk reimagining of Peter Pan could have been done really badly, so I'm so pleased with how well this was written.I must admit the book's use of grrl/boi as something separate to gender was a little confusing to me at first. But after spending some time with it I actually really like it. And I wish we could get everybody using it more.I would definitely look out for other books from this author, and recommend this book to anyone vaguely queer.