Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas

33 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 

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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.

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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

icmcmx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Absolutely not what I expected from Aiden Thomas story-wise, but this was just as good as their other work, and  heartbreakingly beautiful to boot!

A story about loss, dark thoughts and hope. 

Freakin love Peter Pan shit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death and Gun violence

Minor: Alcohol

the6thstorm_hawk's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Car accident

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

Wendy’s life was upended years ago when she and her brothers went missing in the woods, and only she returned (with no memory of what occurred). I enjoyed this Peter Pan-inspired story. It didn’t wow me, but I enjoyed the experience. Wendy’s complicated relationship with Peter, and Peter’s complicated relationship with stories were compelling enough to keep me reading. The ending feels both like a little much and very satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Alcohol, Child death, Medical content, Death, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Grief, and Kidnapping

Parents lost in grief, missing siblings, missing children, trauma

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

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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

rnewk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol and Car accident

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

3.5

Pretty decent book. Enjoyed this Peter Pan retelling even thought I'm not a big fan of Peter Pan in general. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Child death, Grief, and Kidnapping

tea_coffee_sam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, Child death, Death, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Medical content, Alcoholism, and Cancer

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

An atmospheric, contemporary reimagining of J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan that presents a decidedly less light-hearted, darker take on Neverland and it’s lore which definitely (in my opinion) added a whole new depth to Peter and Wendy’s story as we explore life AFTER Neverland. 

Five years ago Wendy and her brothers’ John and Michael disappeared from their small town in Oregon, But only Wendy came back…

With no memories of her time missing, Wendy has spent years coming to terms with the loss of her brothers. But on the night of her eighteenth birthday, local children start disappearing—with similarities to her and her brothers’ own disappearance that has everyone worried. 

And things only get more complicated when a strange boy called Peter Pan arrives, desperate for Wendy to help him track down his shadow before more kids go missing. 

Having read a really slow paced Peter Pan retelling at the end of last year (and which put me into a bit of a reading slump), I was a little hesitant to delve into this. But I’m soo glad I finally did as it was a really enjoyable and intriguing take on Peter Pan. 

The contemporary setting definitely helped to revitalise the source material and I was glad to finally find a reimagining where Peter isn’t some soulless caricature. Here he has nuance and a host of complex feelings that we explore through every interaction with Wendy. 

Wendy, likewise, is also an endearingly complex character grappling with her childhood trauma, and the guilt surrounding her brothers’ disappearance. With no memories whatsoever Wendy has struggled for years to move on— without closure she (and her parents’) are trapped in a cycle of hope and grief that never seems to end. Her journey was genuinely heartbreaking and darker than most of the YA Fantasy/ coming of age books I usually read, but the message (of loss, grief and learning to move on) was really well done.

The pacing was a little slow, but the sheer amount of emotion conveyed (through Peter, Wendy and the people closest to her) more than makes up for it. 

This is the second book by Aiden Thomas that I’ve ever read (the first being The Sunbearer Trials which I LOVED) and I they may have just earned auto-buy status—I’m definitely excited to check out Cemetery Boys now!

And a massive thank you to Bethan over at Macmillan for the wonderful finished copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol