Review: Never Never by Brianna R. Shrum
SYNOPSIS:
James Hook is a child who only wants to grow up.
When he meets Peter Pan, a boy who loves to pretend and is intent on never becoming a man, James decides he could try being a child—at least briefly. James joins Peter Pan on a holiday to Neverland, a place of adventure created by children’s dreams, but Neverland is not for the faint of heart. Soon James finds himself longing for home, determined that he is destined to be a man. But Peter refuses to take him back, leaving James trapped in a world just beyond the one he loves. A world where children are to never grow up.
But grow up he does.
And thus begins the epic adventure of a Lost Boy and a Pirate.
This story isn’t about Peter Pan; it’s about the boy whose life he stole. It’s about a man in a world that hates men. It’s about the feared Captain James Hook and his passionate quest to kill the Pan, an impossible feat in a magical land where everyone loves Peter Pan.
Except one.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
This book was a struggle to finish, I mean it was bordering on painful, to the point where my first thought upon closing the book was “Thank God that’s over”. Now let me tell you why this retell fell short for me. The cover and synopsis are stunning and intriguing, respectfully. They certainly pull you in and leave you wanting more, unfortunately the story did not.
It is hard to imagine Peter Pan as a villain after a lifetime in which I hear he is a good guy. As you learn about the tragic life of James Hook and the endless lies and deceit of Pan, one thing becomes abundantly clear, Hook will never win and Pan controls the Neverland. Tiger Lily is a fickle character. who starts off as endearing and ends as annoying and problematic. The largest problem I have with this story is that Pan took Wendy and her brothers back to London but he adamantly refused to take James back, why? Why, return one to London but not the other, did Pan learn from his mistakes or did he just hate James Hook?
In a largely growing field of re-tellings, this book seems to struggle to fit in. I struggled to want to read the story, there was nothing captivating me and pulling me in, which is clear in that it took me almost two weeks to read. I guess in the end the story lacked the spark and the ‘wow’ factor that made me want to read and find out what happened.
BUY THE BOOK:
