A review by theespressoedition
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas

dark emotional mysterious fast-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? No

5.0

"I think people are more frightening than the dark," he said. "A person can stand right in front of you and be dangerous without you even knowing it."

I was only 36% of the way through this book when I determined that it would be going on my favorites list. What a story!!!

Honestly, I picked this up because it was talked about pretty frequently on bookstagram and I hadn't read many Peter Pan "retellings" (which - this isn't so much a retelling as it is a magical realism that happens to include Peter Pan in it). It blew me away!

At the beginning of the book, I thought I would be spending my time rolling my eyes at the silly youth and their silly flirting or something like that - but instead, I was completely sucked into a creative story with a wicked twist and a whole lot of imagination.

There were moments that gave me goosebumps, which was unexpected in the best way. It wasn't "scary" so much as it had a creepy factor to it (there were parts of it that reminded me of The Near Witch by VE Schwab, since it had children disappearing/being kidnapped and taken to the woods).

I loved the fact that while Peter was heroic, he was also flawed, and throughout the book, he had much more character development than I initially expected from a children's fairytale being that is already so well-known. It made him relatable.

The romance was really well done because it was minimal and sweet. Rather than trying to make you feel all swoony over a children's character (who is usually depicted as a child himself), you look at him through the eyes of Wendy, who has literally been crushing on him since she was actually a child. It almost felt like a "celebrity crush" in a way. It was her meeting someone that she had treasured as a story for so long and then realizing they were tangible and reciprocated feelings as well. I digress. It was sweet.

The twist at the end was one I did not see coming at all. And let me tell you, I can usually sniff out a twist from a mile away, so if you were to go to my kindle right now, you'd literally see that I annotated "OH.MY.GOSH" when everything went down because I literally didn't know how to process it. I was so emotional and I absolutely love how Wendy handled everything.

I do wish that this had a sequel. I know that it's silly because it "wrapped up" at the end, but I became so enveloped in this story that I never wanted it to end. So much love!
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