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saltylane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked the book okay, but the “final battle” ending felt… idk, like it didn’t really make sense? I don’t know why, but even when things were going on—like action/fighting—I would sometimes get bored. I’ve noticed this author tends to describe things excessively with interiority, sometimes repeating the information in slightly different ways multiple times… I don’t know if it counts as “telling” rather than showing, though, since it can be important to get a character’s feelings on what’s happening.
The author also often includes a “best friend” who would be great to get to know more about and get to interact with in the story… but then gives them very little “screen time” and focuses on the two characters with a romantic connection. Maybe they have a hard time juggling multiple character interactions at once?
Overall, I think this book has a very interesting and unique spin on the “Peter Pan” story. I feel like the author struggled to find a believable way to end the main conflict, which is a shame because the surrounding plot seemed pretty solid. The writing style wasn’t for me, but I’m sure others can easily enjoy the book regardless.
The author also often includes a “best friend” who would be great to get to know more about and get to interact with in the story… but then gives them very little “screen time” and focuses on the two characters with a romantic connection. Maybe they have a hard time juggling multiple character interactions at once?
Overall, I think this book has a very interesting and unique spin on the “Peter Pan” story. I feel like the author struggled to find a believable way to end the main conflict, which is a shame because the surrounding plot seemed pretty solid. The writing style wasn’t for me, but I’m sure others can easily enjoy the book regardless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Child death
Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Medical content, Stalking, Vomit, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
micheala's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
After reading and loving Cemetery Boys earlier this year, I was super excited to pick this up even though based on the summary I wasn't sure if it was going to fit my reading preferences. (The cover was so stunning that I pre-ordered it anyways)
In general: I'm not a YA reader, I don't tend to like contemporary novels and I disliked the Disney Peter Pan movie, hence why I was a little apprehensive going in. I do think that keeping in mind that this story is almost completely outside of what I normally enjoy reading is important while discussing my feelings about this book.
This is a very slow paced book in terms of plot. At the 40% in we are just starting to get to the point in the synopsis. Prior to that it's just setting the stage and introducing Wendy and a tiny bit of Peter. At the same time I wouldn't say that it's a slow read, just that not much was happening. to be fair, I'm a plot-driven reader and the only character-driven books I've read are the Wayfarer's novels.
Overall I did like Wendy as a character, even though she makes some choices about lying to/shutting out her best friend that made me roll my eyes. On the one hand I got why she did (the text explicitly tells you why she's doing it every time she does it), but also it made me question how strong their supposedly rock solid friendship really was.
This is really a story about trauma and the very slow process of healing from it - once you accept that shoving all your feelings down and ignoring your trauma is not going to allow you to heal.
I think if you enjoy contemporaries with a touch of magic (kinda magical realism vibes) and/or Peter Pan retellings, I think that you'll really end up enjoying this book. I loved what Thomas did with the ending, it hit just the right note for me.
The author mentioned on twitter that this was the first book they wrote and that Cemetery Boys was his option book but that their team was so excited by CB that they made it his debut. I think that knowing this was a first novel helps explain what to me felt like a few weird pacing scenes - there were a few scenes that felt almost like filler IMO, as well as the fact that the first 300 pages felt super slow paced and meandering while the last 70 pages felt super fast paced as that was were all the plot progression happened.
In general: I'm not a YA reader, I don't tend to like contemporary novels and I disliked the Disney Peter Pan movie, hence why I was a little apprehensive going in. I do think that keeping in mind that this story is almost completely outside of what I normally enjoy reading is important while discussing my feelings about this book.
This is a very slow paced book in terms of plot. At the 40% in we are just starting to get to the point in the synopsis. Prior to that it's just setting the stage and introducing Wendy and a tiny bit of Peter. At the same time I wouldn't say that it's a slow read, just that not much was happening. to be fair, I'm a plot-driven reader and the only character-driven books I've read are the Wayfarer's novels.
Overall I did like Wendy as a character, even though she makes some choices about lying to/shutting out her best friend that made me roll my eyes. On the one hand I got why she did (the text explicitly tells you why she's doing it every time she does it), but also it made me question how strong their supposedly rock solid friendship really was.
This is really a story about trauma and the very slow process of healing from it - once you accept that shoving all your feelings down and ignoring your trauma is not going to allow you to heal.
I think if you enjoy contemporaries with a touch of magic (kinda magical realism vibes) and/or Peter Pan retellings, I think that you'll really end up enjoying this book. I loved what Thomas did with the ending, it hit just the right note for me.
The author mentioned on twitter that this was the first book they wrote and that Cemetery Boys was his option book but that their team was so excited by CB that they made it his debut. I think that knowing this was a first novel helps explain what to me felt like a few weird pacing scenes - there were a few scenes that felt almost like filler IMO, as well as the fact that the first 300 pages felt super slow paced and meandering while the last 70 pages felt super fast paced as that was were all the plot progression happened.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Violence
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