A review by allisonwonderlandreads
God of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez

adventurous medium-paced

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

1.0

In this continuation of the familiar Peter Pan story, Michael's all grown up and headed back to Neverland. Peter's been captured and his power drained, so Michael will need all his childhood adventures and adult expertise as a Knight to set him free. 

The more I read this book, the more frustrated I got. The first encounter in Neverland set a bad tone early. Michael is captured by Tiger Lily and her tribe. While this book avoids the most blatant racism of the source material, it doesn't do anything to distance itself either. The "natives" are single-minded vicious thugs with no further elaboration. To be fair, all the characters are remarkably flat, so that aspect isn't targeted at them. The worst part comes after the meeting when it is explained that because the tribe comes from Peter's imagination, they and several other creatures on the island lack independent thought. So get your pompoms for a rah-rah colonialism. 

A consistently annoying theme is the treatment of women throughout. The women in Neverland largely just orbit Peter and to a lesser extent, Michael. They are described as petty and fight over Peter Pan's affection even though he's straight up a child... Like that's his whole thing in case you haven't heard. Tinker Bell once tried to kill Wendy for stealing Peter's interest. For his part, Peter only acknowledges Tinker Bell when he needs something and doesn't listen to her unless one of the boys confirms what she's saying. Mermaids are indifferent to everyone but Pan and are seductresses who wish death on anyone who challenges their claim to him, apparently. The only bargaining chip that works with Tiger Lily is the opportunity to remove her major competitor for Pan's interest. In a misguided, surface-level attempt at rounding her character out, we hear what a talented, fierce warrior she is as if that balances out her obsessive behavior. This same treatment is given to Michael's sister-in-arms, Vanessa. We hear about how magnificent she is in battle and how she had to work harder to reach her position "due to her gender." Which we can charitably assume is a vague but well-intentioned attempt to address structural sexism, but it could also be taken as a sexist comment on ability. And there's no way to tell because one iffy sentence is all we get. When Hook calls Vanessa a wench and tells her to be quiet "while the men talk," Michael prioritizes diplomacy with the pirate and asks Vanessa to put aside her anger. And then there's no further acknowledgment of what happened. FUN. 

All of this supposedly comes from Peter, the pure spirit of childhood. So in addition to the faults of a child that the book readily recognizes (short attention span, illogical confidence, no concept of consequences for one's actions), we're meant to accept colonialism, sexism, and racism as parts of every child's natural makeup. And I think that's a terrible, white man-centric message. Adults shape children that way; there isn't a natural affinity toward white boys taking the lead with no real care for anyone else. 

My final notes are that Michael is an annoying, broody protagonist, and the adventure lacked depth or a unique spark of life. I did not like this book.