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A BDSM Review of Hook & Jill
By Satyr, Witches & Pagans Magazine
October 22, 2009
Hook & Jill
Andrea Jones
Reginetta Press, 2009
This Monday, I finished reading a new novel: Hook & Jill, by Andrea Jones. Released last month, this novel follows Wendy Darling's transformation into Red-Handed Jill, courtesy of a ruthless "training" by Captain Hook, the clueless cruelty of Peter Pan, and a dawning awareness of her own feminine power.
Although it lacks explicit sexuality, this is one of the hottest books I've read in ages. Finally, someone nailed the dynamic involved in an ideal DS relationship! Jones' portrayal of Hook, in many ways, is a magnificent Alpha Male Master at the top of his game, while Wendy/Jill becomes both a willing submissive and a budding Master in her own right. As she outgrows the tiresome selfishness of Pan, Wendy embarks on a journey of self-realization that includes whips, mind games, magic spells, and - of course - that razor-sharp hook.
Much as I enjoyed the novel's overt Pagan themes, unconventional sexuality, emotional rawness and occasional humor, I was most taken by the vivid, multi-layered characterizations of Hook, Jill, Peter and Tinker Bell...soon rechristened "Jewel" during her own seduction by the masterful Hook. Other minor characters get new depth as well - most notably Smee, who departs from his usual bumbling goofball antics to become an endearing and sometimes ominous figure "strong and sweet as rum." It's the pivotal four characters, however, who make this book so worth the read. In Jones' hands, Hook becomes a velvet predator whose cunning is unmatched in Neverland; Wendy rejects her ownership by the obnoxious Pan, who vacillates between charm and viciousness just like a real kid. Jewel, meanwhile, becomes a beautiful creature, a moody outcast of Faerieland whose temperamental nature provides Hook with his greatest victories.
This is no cheap hommage or bodice-ripping romance crap. Hook & Jill provides a literary alternative to the wasteland of superficial "urban fantasy" tropes, and I heartily recommend it.
Avast!
- Satyr