Lost in the Never Woods

ok yeah... a little disappointed (and i don't mean to compare, but since darling was another 2021 YA peter pan release, my expectations were sky high)

this book felt about 100 pages too long with parts of the story that felt like extraneous information that could have been connected to the main mystery but weren't. while i liked the twist, i had predicted it and wasn't too thrilled by it, especially since it left me wondering, “ok, what was the point of this, this and that?”. i guess i'm a gal who likes purpose to every itty bitty detail from every conversation in a book with such a big mystery, and while there were some elements of that, i feel like there were moments when i just kept thinking, “what's the point?” only to learn that there was absolutely no point.

all that being said, i still think this was a book with great writing, an okay plot and believable characters. i think aiden thomas writes teens well as they never feel like the “how do you do fellow kids?” meme and face struggles actual teens face. but in terms of a dark peter pan remix, this fell short of expectations

This was fine, not very ground breaking. It dragged a lot, had way too many scenic descriptions, the story was very slow. I wish Peter had shown up more during the beginning. He kept making cameos. Wendy really dragged the story out.

The ending was same as the movie Rise of The Guardians' (with Wendy instead of Jack Frost).

Trigger warnings: Gun violence.

P.S. Shoutout to the husky named Bucky that showed up halfway through and made my interest spike for exactly 3 pages. You're the MVP, Bucky!!!

It's so hard to describe the range of emotions this book has made me go through. Peter Pan is one of those stories that has been with me since I was little, and having it retold in new books just makes it even more special.

The journey Wendy goes through in this book is so heart wrenching, and at the same time healing, it was so beautiful to see.

Even though at certain points it felt like the characters weren't doing enough to further develop the plot, those moments also showed that not everything has to be serious in the face of problems and that losing a couple of hours to some ice cream might make a diference later ;)

I highly recommend this book to whoever feels it calling to them. But also, side note, might be wise to keep a tissue box near by :')