Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas

18 reviews

kerrygibbons's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

1 rainbow 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Car accident, Confinement, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Stalking, Bullying, and Addiction

The themes of this book are dark and involve children going missing, emotional abuse, and

child death

historyoftape's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I struggled to get into this book after having super high expectations for the premise. I'm glad I ended up picking it up again, because the story started picking up a bit just after where I'd stopped. I really enjoyed how it set up my initial suspicions, then made me question them over & over again by

giving what seemed to be clearcut answers that contradicted them, only to have them confirmed in the end

Sometimes I felt the book leaned too much into previous characterizations of Wendy and Peter, but the further on it went the more I could feel the characters becoming the author's own. The ending came about

a little contrived, the fact that all of a sudden she could just decide that now was a good time to remember what happened, but then again, she did just get information that changed what she thought she might remember so I'm not quite sure about how to feel about that

Everything after that point was well thought out, the twist was great, the ending truly bittersweet. And the epilogue was just open enough for me to start spinning my own possibilities.

also, kind of a cool parallel how as a pediatrician Wendy will be helping kids on this side of the afterlife, and Peter will take care of the ones she might not be able to save... A comfort?

One thing I found slightly unrealistic though was that none of the kids spilled the beans on Peter Pan.

The lie of there being a different kidnapper leaves them with a heap of trauma they can't really talk about-at least to their parents. I mean sure, being consistently scared by a shadow to feed it seems hard to explain, but man is that different from mere confinement.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Gun violence, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Addiction

Minor: Stalking and Chronic illness

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Child death, Grief, Blood, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Moderate: Murder, Medical trauma, and Cursing

Minor: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, and Vomit

lastcomment314's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A haunting story, Lost in the Never Woods tells the story of one girl coming to terms with a party she has forgotten while the world around her tries to save the children who have recently gone missing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Death, and Gun violence

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

3.5

3.5 rounded up! This wasn't quite my thing (Peter Pan isn't my fave), but Aiden's writing definitely made it enjoyable! IDK if this is a spoiler but the vibes of this book were

SO TRAGIC. I almost cried near the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Car accident and Confinement

purrson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I was surprised at how quickly I got sucked into this book, as I’m not a fan of Peter Pan stories—I came to this after loving Cemetery Boys. A lot of this book is about trauma, and choosing to move forward and choosing your own survival. The small town setting feels a bit static, but Thomas really captured that feeling of the last gasp of childhood well, as well as the excited energy adolescent love can bring. The MC’s trauma, grief, anxiety, and loss, is all handled with care, and it pays off. I definitely rooted for the love interests here, even though the choices made make sense for the story, I love where the epilogue leaves things. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Confinement and Animal cruelty

ang_mendoza's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I found it a bit surprising that Aiden Thomas failed to make this book at all diverse. With the exception of a few side-characters, all the characters are White and cishet as far as canon goes. Most of the book feels like a standard enough retelling but I'll say I really liked the ending.

I don't think this is the only version of Peter Pan to do this, but I loved the reveal that Peter is like a grim reaper for kids. His relationship with Wendy was pretty well written but there is some inherent weirdness to it and some unclarity abiut how that caused everything.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcohol and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Confinement

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The ending of this book is what saves it. I was going to rate this read two stars before the resolution came about and I saw what Thomas was trying to do with the story. But for the most part, I didn't really enjoy reading this book. The pacing was not it - there was no sense of mystery, tension or urgency despite the high stakes because those stakes were relegated to the background. Most of the plot ended up being Peter and Wendy essentially going on dates. Yet I couldn't feel invested in the romance because Peter is this kind of immortal being and Wendy is 18. Finally, I thought that the book lacked the magic and whimsy which made the original story so memorable.

But like I said, the ending saved this book. It provided a satisfying resolution. Apart from this I also liked Wendy as a narrator and I enjoyed the detail Thomas put into their description. I'm still going to keep reading their books as they always have intriguing and original premises, I just hope I can click more with their books in the future! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, Child death, Death, Blood, Gun violence, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Vomit, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Confinement, and Torture

rini's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I love Aiden Thomas' work and Avi Roque is such an excellent narrator!
This book had all the feels and the big reveal near the end really came as a shock and... I'm still processing it really.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, and Gun violence

Minor: Abandonment and Alcoholism

nefariousbee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

awfully slow and overtly descriptive. maybe less of a YA and more of a middle grade read? the ending was quite enjoyable and the plot made more sense than the movie which made it a bit better for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement and Injury/Injury detail