YMMV / Peter and the Starcatchers

• Angst? What Angst?: The death of Leonard in Sword of Mercy gets dwelt upon surprisingly little considering his prominent, sympathetic role in all of the previous books and being a loving blood relative of several main characters.
• Contested Sequel: Some people like Bridge to Neverland for being Lighter and Softer, and journeying to modern times. Other fans dislike it for its Trilogy Creep, leaving some loose ends unresolved, being less quick-paced than previous books, and leaving behind the original supporting cast without even featuring their direct descendants. Adding to the controversy is how it retcons the original novel by having Captain Hook still alive long after the Victorian era. While this twist is appreciated by those who don't want to see Hook eaten by Mr. Grin, it is less pleasing to those who like how effective a build-up to the events of the original book The Sword of Mercy is.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Hysterically funny Minion with an F in Evil Smee is a big fan favorite even though he only has a particularly big role in The Secret of Rundoon.
  • Mr. Magill (a Starcatcher who appears in the second and fourth books) is pretty well-liked for providing both some good awesome and funny moments with his skills of The Beastmaster and interactions with the bear and wolves that accompany him.
  • Tubby Ted is probably the best-liked of the Lost Boys for his humorous moments in the first book, his Character Development over the series, and his voice in the audiobook versions.
• Magnificent Bastard: The Sword of Mercy: Cheeky O'Neal is quite the wry, cunning Determinator. He and his respectfully fearful accomplices strand themselves in a lifeboat near the island, posing as helpless, grateful castaways so they'll be rescued by the Mollusks and given access to their starstuff. When the natives become suspicious of them and send them off the island, they steal a boat and head back, with O'Neal triggering a small volcanic eruption to send enough smoke into the air to alert Captain Nezerra and a ship full of henchmen. He then helps hold Fighting Prawn's daughter hostage for the starstuff. When most of his companions flee after an ocean battle, O'Neal opts to swim back to the island, hidden under a tangled piece of sail to continue his quest, accompanied only by Nezerra.
• Moral Event Horizon: In Escape from the Carnivale, the seafaring Circus of Fear could be excused as Obliviously Evil after capturing a mermaid if not for their eagerness at the idea of kidnapping a peaceful native for their sideshow as well.
• Nausea Fuel: It's Played for Laughs, but it's pretty disgusting when Hook makes Smee bite off his dirty, yellowed toenails.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Jeff the archer, a crewman aboard the Wasp, sets Hook's sails on fire with a flaming arrow during a sea chase and then is never seen or mentioned again.
  • A Badass Preacher in just two chapters of The Sword of Mercy, resists physical torture from the villains who are after the eponymous sword before ultimately caving in to save his beloved church from being burned down.
• Replacement Scrappy: Many Bridge to Neverland readers view Aidan and Sarah as being far less competent, well-developed, and mature than Peter's band of friends from the first four books.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Molly's governess Mrs. Bumbrake is a fairly bland and unpleasant character in the original trilogy. She only becomes more interesting and likable in the fourth book due to finally being in the loop about the Starcatchers, being happy to see Peter, and showing care and concern for a sick Leonard.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Preston and Harbuckle, the two pirates set adrift by Hook for being too fat, get enough funny lines and Hidden Depths to feel like they should be secondary characters, and then vanish from the story after being picked up and questioned by Slank. It isn't even revealed if Hook takes them back into his crew after capturing the ''Neverland'' or leaves them to die with the ship's passengers and crew.
  • Slank is just as formidable as Captain Hook in the first book, suffers from Villain Decay in the second book, and then stops appearing. This is especially disappointing to those who feel that Captain Nezerra (who is an interesting character but lacks Slank's resourcefulness and personal history with Peter) gets a story arc that could have worked just as well if it had gone to Slank.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Slank's hulking, whip-wielding henchman Little Richard is treated as The Brute, but he gets some good funny moments, seems fairly overwhelmed and terrified by everything that's happening, doesn't want to hurt the mermaids until they attack him, suggests moving an unconscious Peter so he won't drown, and doesn't seem to use his whip to inflict pain as much as he does to restrain people. This can make his fate of being killed and eaten by Slank between books feel somewhat harsher than Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson probably intended.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The target audience is mostly kids, and the books are a good adventure series with some lighter moments, but when they do get dark, they get really dark.
  • Fighting Prawn describes how one of his sons was eaten by Mr. Grin while trying to free the crocodile from egomaniac hunters. Fighting Prawn and his tribe then attacked the hunters (who watched his son die with amusement) and fed them to Mr. Grin as they begged for mercy.
  • Mr. Slank kills and cannibalizes his faithful sidekick during the Time Skip between the first two books.
  • The Mind Rape Lord Ombra inflicts on people he controls through their shadows can be pretty creepy.
  • King Zarboff has people's fingers cut off just because they don't do a three-fingered salute while saying his name.
  • Captain Nerezza frightens one of his men into essentially committing suicide for falling asleep on lookout duty.
  • Everything about King Zarboff's enormous and ever-hungry pet snake (who gets some very detailed illustrations) is pure Nightmare Fuel.
  • On a lighter note, the sounds from the cabin Slank and Mrs. Bumbrake are in implies that the two are having sex.

---