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ec_newman's review against another edition
4.0
Darrrrrk. The amount of lost lives in this is horrifying. It’s an excellent story, and creative, but the death toll is intense for YA.
harleyrae's review against another edition
I am officially DNFing this book. I tried, I really did, to finish this book, I just couldn't. I was bored and no longer interested in the story. I don't foresee myself ever picking this book up again. I already know what happens and I don't want to waste anymore time on a book I'm not enjoying.
mickachoo's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book!
Not only do I love old fairytale retellings and Peter Pan but I love Hook! (Thank you, Once Upon A Time.) So boy was I here for the Captain in this book! He just.....HE JUST.
Okay. This is a fairly short book and a standalone so there's a lot that happens in a short span of time and for some I think it may seem kind of rushed but honestly I think it went really smoothly. (The author says this was a NaNoWriMo book.) I love how there's not an extreme amount of depth and world building as there would be in a series or a larger book. It makes this book a quick yet really good read and you're not struggling to keep up with all that's going on. It just shows that fantasy books don't have to be large or a part of a series to be good.
There were a couple of things that weren't completely resolved in the end, not major plot points, but things I personally wondered about. Anything to do with the all around plot though, it was all resolved. Which I was glad to see because once you're getting close to the end, things are still happening and you're like "HOW'S THIS ALL GONNA BE FIXED?" but it is fixed, amazingly.
The characters are wonderful! Like I already said, I loved Rowan. Total ba(b)e. I'm taking him home with me. I LOVE HOOK OKAY!
But I also like Gwen a lot too. She's a little bit of an idiot but, aren't we all? And Pan is....Pan. Anyhow, the main characters are nicely fleshed out and I enjoyed the depth of Rowan's character as well as Gwen's past tellings as they're revealed throughout the book.
(Some spoilers, possibly??)
I almost removed a star because I still feel like some things could've been further explained, such as Gwen's father, Pan's past, and Gwen's mother as well. It's minor things, not absolutely crucial to the plot so it's not like it takes away from anything. I'm just nit-picky.
All in all, this was a beautiful book. I'm not disappointed. Lisa Maxwell is such a wonderful writer.
Not only do I love old fairytale retellings and Peter Pan but I love Hook! (Thank you, Once Upon A Time.) So boy was I here for the Captain in this book! He just.....HE JUST.
Okay. This is a fairly short book and a standalone so there's a lot that happens in a short span of time and for some I think it may seem kind of rushed but honestly I think it went really smoothly. (The author says this was a NaNoWriMo book.) I love how there's not an extreme amount of depth and world building as there would be in a series or a larger book. It makes this book a quick yet really good read and you're not struggling to keep up with all that's going on. It just shows that fantasy books don't have to be large or a part of a series to be good.
There were a couple of things that weren't completely resolved in the end, not major plot points, but things I personally wondered about. Anything to do with the all around plot though, it was all resolved. Which I was glad to see because once you're getting close to the end, things are still happening and you're like "HOW'S THIS ALL GONNA BE FIXED?" but it is fixed, amazingly.
The characters are wonderful! Like I already said, I loved Rowan. Total ba(b)e. I'm taking him home with me. I LOVE HOOK OKAY!
But I also like Gwen a lot too. She's a little bit of an idiot but, aren't we all? And Pan is....Pan. Anyhow, the main characters are nicely fleshed out and I enjoyed the depth of Rowan's character as well as Gwen's past tellings as they're revealed throughout the book.
(Some spoilers, possibly??)
I almost removed a star because I still feel like some things could've been further explained, such as Gwen's father, Pan's past, and Gwen's mother as well. It's minor things, not absolutely crucial to the plot so it's not like it takes away from anything. I'm just nit-picky.
All in all, this was a beautiful book. I'm not disappointed. Lisa Maxwell is such a wonderful writer.
sannelammers's review against another edition
4.0
*4.5 stars⭐️*
This was the first retelling I've ever read. And what beter way to start than by starting with your favorite fairytale.
I really liked this book and I did'nt want it to end😢.
This was the first retelling I've ever read. And what beter way to start than by starting with your favorite fairytale.
I really liked this book and I did'nt want it to end😢.
organizedxchaos's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
sofia_gabrielle's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, I loved the idea of Peter Pan being the bad guy and Hook being the good guy. It's a nice twist on the classic tale and I watched Once Upon a Time which had this story line in it and it was great! So, I went into this book with high hopes with this same twist. The story was going great until the end.
For me, an ending can make or break a book. The book can be this boring, hard to continue book, but if the ending makes all the other things that happened in the book come full circle or is just so fantastic, the book has a good chance of becoming a favorite or four star book. However, it is the same the other way. The book can be so fantastic, great, and intriguing, but the ending falls flat and the whole book just crumbles. This book crumbled at the end for me.
The concept of Pan being the bad guy and Hook being the good and love interest was going great! The main character was doing some questionable things and believing in things I would have questioned, but that what was making the story work. I loved all of those things, however, the ending and along with a few other things made me dislike the book.
However, before I get to that, I just want to say, the things I liked in the book — like the romance (even though it was a little unrealistically fast), Rowan's character, the short little snip bits before each chapter showing Rowan's past was great, and a different look on Neverland. Although, I gave the story three stars because the ending ruined it for me and I will admit that the third star was given for both Rowan's character and for me spending my money on the book. Sad, but I'm being truthful.
First, the few things that weren't working. Pan, who is the main villain of the story, is talked about the whole book, but is only physically in scenes about a good 1/3 maybe a little more (not more than half the book). I could have forgiven the fact he was barely in the book had he been given a great demised. But he didn't and so his character fell flat of the great role he was given making him seem almost like a background person at the end of the novel.
Second thing was Gwen's best friend, Olivia. They have this great friendship that is talked about almost the whole novel and shown in small bits in the beginning of the novel. However, the friendship stops when Olivia is dazed by Pan and forgets Gwen (repeatedly) throughout the rest of the novel. Olivia is barely in the novel (even less than Pan) and again she is mostly talked about how great she was and their friendship. She seems so important to Gwen (she is the main motivation for the protagonist) and yet, they barely show their love for one another even at the very end which I will get back to a little later on.
The third thing is Gwen's parents. Gwen's relationship with her mother is shown immediately as a rocky one. She wasn't happy about moving again and made no move to lessen her mother's pain in that. Also, when Gwen is finally able to remember everything from her past and remember what her mother did to her, Gwen gets very angry with her mother and hates her a little bit. She finally comes to the realization that she has to get away from her mother and live her own life when she gets back to the real world and turns 18. However, I have problems with this once the ending comes up. Also, Gwen's father who turns out to be Fey (so she's half Fey and half human) is mentioned repeatedly. He seems like a pretty important character as he is the Queen's son, the reason why Pan (a human) is in Neverland, and is Gwen's father. But he is never, never present physically in the story. Perhaps the author wanted to make her father like Big Brother who is a character in the book, 1984, but is never physically there. While it was a good idea, the father (to me, at least) needed to show up physically I think to wrap up the ending.
So, those small details (haha) wouldn't have been as noticeable to me, had the ending been different. First, about the fifth chapter to the end (yes, the ending is rushed), Gwen awakens the Fey Queen (her grandmother) thinking it would help save Olivia and doom Pan. However, the Queen turns out to be evil (surprise, surprise) and try's to kill Gwen and Rowan (who is the "Hook" character and Gwen's love interest). Then, Pan tricks Gwen into giving up her life force to him only to end up have another Fey kill him as Gwen is about to die. Then that Fey dies, who tried to save Rowan by giving him Gwen life force (for unknown reasons), by the Queen. Then the Queen ends up getting killed by Olivia (her motivation is unclear if it was to avenge Pan or to save Gwen as she was still in a daze) who ends up almost taking all of Olivia's life force. Then, once everyone is dead or dying, Gwen try's to save Olivia who she's been trying to save the whole book and was she whole motivation to not leaving Neverland this whole time, only to have Olivia disintegrate (it's a Neverland thing that happens to people who age) thus failing to save her in the end. I feel as if the death was unnecessary and aggravating, but I guess that was just to put some irony in the story. Then Gwen is given a choice, save Neverland and become its ruler as she is an heir to both the light and dark side of the Fey (the Queen was of Light and her grandfather was of Dark). However, she declines the offer and goes back to the real world. I agree with her choice, however, this would have been a great opportunity for her father to show up and save Neverland as he was also of Light and Dark, but he doesn't. So, once Gwen and Rowan make it to the real world (being the only survivors of Neverland) they find out a year has gone by since Gwen has left. There was a serious Shakespeare thing going on where everyone died but two people, but instead of two side characters surviving, the couple in love lived. When she gets back, she stays with her mother whom she said she wanted to get away from and thought her mother hated what she was. Makes so much sense! I was so mad because it seemed out of character and just plain strange that she raged about how much she was upset with her mother and would live her life away from her mother once she and Olivia got back, but neither happened, so... *sigh* Then, her father is once again given a great opportunity to become a real character again, but again, he never shows up and the story ends with her and Rowan in a cemetery. Rowan is only able to get out of his depression and self-loathing state when Gwen is able to will his metal arm to work again in the real world. Not the worst scene to end on, but a little depressing.
For me, an ending can make or break a book. The book can be this boring, hard to continue book, but if the ending makes all the other things that happened in the book come full circle or is just so fantastic, the book has a good chance of becoming a favorite or four star book. However, it is the same the other way. The book can be so fantastic, great, and intriguing, but the ending falls flat and the whole book just crumbles. This book crumbled at the end for me.
The concept of Pan being the bad guy and Hook being the good and love interest was going great! The main character was doing some questionable things and believing in things I would have questioned, but that what was making the story work. I loved all of those things, however, the ending and along with a few other things made me dislike the book.
However, before I get to that, I just want to say, the things I liked in the book — like the romance (even though it was a little unrealistically fast), Rowan's character, the short little snip bits before each chapter showing Rowan's past was great, and a different look on Neverland. Although, I gave the story three stars because the ending ruined it for me and I will admit that the third star was given for both Rowan's character and for me spending my money on the book. Sad, but I'm being truthful.
First, the few things that weren't working. Pan, who is the main villain of the story, is talked about the whole book, but is only physically in scenes about a good 1/3 maybe a little more (not more than half the book). I could have forgiven the fact he was barely in the book had he been given a great demised. But he didn't and so his character fell flat of the great role he was given making him seem almost like a background person at the end of the novel.
Second thing was Gwen's best friend, Olivia. They have this great friendship that is talked about almost the whole novel and shown in small bits in the beginning of the novel. However, the friendship stops when Olivia is dazed by Pan and forgets Gwen (repeatedly) throughout the rest of the novel. Olivia is barely in the novel (even less than Pan) and again she is mostly talked about how great she was and their friendship. She seems so important to Gwen (she is the main motivation for the protagonist) and yet, they barely show their love for one another even at the very end which I will get back to a little later on.
The third thing is Gwen's parents. Gwen's relationship with her mother is shown immediately as a rocky one. She wasn't happy about moving again and made no move to lessen her mother's pain in that. Also, when Gwen is finally able to remember everything from her past and remember what her mother did to her, Gwen gets very angry with her mother and hates her a little bit. She finally comes to the realization that she has to get away from her mother and live her own life when she gets back to the real world and turns 18. However, I have problems with this once the ending comes up. Also, Gwen's father who turns out to be Fey (so she's half Fey and half human) is mentioned repeatedly. He seems like a pretty important character as he is the Queen's son, the reason why Pan (a human) is in Neverland, and is Gwen's father. But he is never, never present physically in the story. Perhaps the author wanted to make her father like Big Brother who is a character in the book, 1984, but is never physically there. While it was a good idea, the father (to me, at least) needed to show up physically I think to wrap up the ending.
So, those small details (haha) wouldn't have been as noticeable to me, had the ending been different. First, about the fifth chapter to the end (yes, the ending is rushed), Gwen awakens the Fey Queen (her grandmother) thinking it would help save Olivia and doom Pan. However, the Queen turns out to be evil (surprise, surprise) and try's to kill Gwen and Rowan (who is the "Hook" character and Gwen's love interest). Then, Pan tricks Gwen into giving up her life force to him only to end up have another Fey kill him as Gwen is about to die. Then that Fey dies, who tried to save Rowan by giving him Gwen life force (for unknown reasons), by the Queen. Then the Queen ends up getting killed by Olivia (her motivation is unclear if it was to avenge Pan or to save Gwen as she was still in a daze) who ends up almost taking all of Olivia's life force. Then, once everyone is dead or dying, Gwen try's to save Olivia who she's been trying to save the whole book and was she whole motivation to not leaving Neverland this whole time, only to have Olivia disintegrate (it's a Neverland thing that happens to people who age) thus failing to save her in the end. I feel as if the death was unnecessary and aggravating, but I guess that was just to put some irony in the story. Then Gwen is given a choice, save Neverland and become its ruler as she is an heir to both the light and dark side of the Fey (the Queen was of Light and her grandfather was of Dark). However, she declines the offer and goes back to the real world. I agree with her choice, however, this would have been a great opportunity for her father to show up and save Neverland as he was also of Light and Dark, but he doesn't. So, once Gwen and Rowan make it to the real world (being the only survivors of Neverland) they find out a year has gone by since Gwen has left. There was a serious Shakespeare thing going on where everyone died but two people, but instead of two side characters surviving, the couple in love lived. When she gets back, she stays with her mother whom she said she wanted to get away from and thought her mother hated what she was. Makes so much sense! I was so mad because it seemed out of character and just plain strange that she raged about how much she was upset with her mother and would live her life away from her mother once she and Olivia got back, but neither happened, so... *sigh* Then, her father is once again given a great opportunity to become a real character again, but again, he never shows up and the story ends with her and Rowan in a cemetery. Rowan is only able to get out of his depression and self-loathing state when Gwen is able to will his metal arm to work again in the real world. Not the worst scene to end on, but a little depressing.
12harria's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I liked the writing, as it was descriptive but not too much so. I could see everything from the characters to the scenery vividly in my mind. While the visuals of the story were detailed, I did feel some plot points were lacking in explanation. I didn't feel lost but I also didn't always feel completely sure I knew what was going on.
I enjoyed the characters for the most part. However, I wish we could have gotten to know the Captain's crew a bit better. I also wish more time had been spent on the ship instead of on Neverland, but that may just be because of my love for stories set on pirate ships.
I felt as though the major climactic moments happened at the very end and all at once. The resolution of everything felt rushed. I don't feel as though the conclusion was drawn out enough. Though I think all loose ends were tied up (hard to say since the end-tying all happened at once), I still feel like I need some sort of closure.
Overall I enjoyed the writing, (some of) the characters, the setting, and the overall story line.
I liked the writing, as it was descriptive but not too much so. I could see everything from the characters to the scenery vividly in my mind. While the visuals of the story were detailed, I did feel some plot points were lacking in explanation. I didn't feel lost but I also didn't always feel completely sure I knew what was going on.
I enjoyed the characters for the most part. However, I wish we could have gotten to know the Captain's crew a bit better. I also wish more time had been spent on the ship instead of on Neverland, but that may just be because of my love for stories set on pirate ships.
I felt as though the major climactic moments happened at the very end and all at once. The resolution of everything felt rushed. I don't feel as though the conclusion was drawn out enough. Though I think all loose ends were tied up (hard to say since the end-tying all happened at once), I still feel like I need some sort of closure.
Overall I enjoyed the writing, (some of) the characters, the setting, and the overall story line.
steph01924's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this (loose) retelling of Peter Pan, but it had some problems I couldn't get around. Check out my review on Forever Young Adult.