Review – Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN-13 : 978-1250313973
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 3/5 stars
“It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into the light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road…
Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, asks for Wendy’s help to rescue the missing kids. But, in order to find them, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book, I got a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley to review. Previous to reading this book I read Thomas’s “Cemetery Boys” and thought it was okay but not great.
Story (3/5): I wasn’t a huge fan of this book and almost stopped reading it about 60% of the way through. Things just move really slow in this book and are very predictable. I am usually a huge fan of Peter Pan retellings, but this was just so slow and I had a lot of trouble relating to the characters here.
Most of this story isn’t really about magic but about Wendy learning to accept events in her past and move on. She is on the cusp of going to college and needs to start looking forward.
Characters (3/5): The story is told completely from Wendy’s perspective and I had trouble relating to her. She just kind of floats through her life, interacting very little with anyone until she is forced to. She is supposed to be entering college soon but felt more like she was in middle school or just starting high school; she just seems really immature at times. I didn’t even enjoy Peter all that much and I thought he would be my favorite. There is a supposed type of budding romance between the two that feels a bit off because Peter is used to being a young kid and generally acts a lot younger than his age.
Setting (3/5): I loved that there is a dark woods type of setting here The story takes place in a modern day small town setting. The mysterious woods are used as a backdrop for some of the more intense scenes (if you can call anything in here intense) but most of the book takes place at Wendy’s house or at the hospital she volunteers at.
Writing Style (3/5): Technically this is well written. I like the precise language Thomas uses but there are just such large portions where nothing much happens. I was hoping for something more mysterious and fast-paced. This is much more introspective and the reader spends a long time watching things unravel very slowly only to get to a “big” reveal that feels predictable and abrupt. I was left feeling like, ”I stuck with this book for so long for that??!!” To be fair I wasn’t a huge fan of “Cemetary Boys” either so Thomas’s story style just doesn’t seem to mesh well with my expectations. If you want to start reading Thomas, “Cemetery Boys” was definitely the better book.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this is a Peter Pan retelling I could have done without. The story just creeps along and the reveal was disappointing. I have read a bevy of Peter Pan retellings and this was among the weaker of them. This is the second Aiden Thomas book I have felt very mediocre about and don’t plan on continuing to read Thomas’s future books.
If you are looking for some good Peter Pan retellings I would recommend the following: “Peter and the Starcatchers” by Dave Berry and Ridley Pearson (pre story trilogy to Peter Pan, middle grade reading level), “The Child Thief” by Brom (very dark and adult retelling but amazing!), “Neverland” by Joe Brusha (very dark and adult graphic novel retelling, beautiful illustration), “Alias Hook” by Lisa Jensen (wonderful Peter Pan tale from Hook’s perspective, a bit of time travel, really loved it), and “The Wendy Project” by Osborne and Fish (YA graphic novel, loved the illustration, neat blend of fantasy and reality),
I have also read a few Peter Pan retellings that have been very mediocre: “Wendy Darling” by Colleen Oakes (kind of follows the Disney version of Peter Pan, pretty boring and not that well written) and “Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook” by Chistine Henry (moves very slow and an anti-climatic reveal), “The Promised Neverland” by Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (YA manga series that is a blend of fantasy and horror, decent and I enjoyed the first few volumes I read).
Hopefully you find the above list of Peter Pan retellings helpful. I also have “Wendy, Darling” by A.C Wise on my plate to review soon…so keep your eyes out for that in the next month or so.
