Never Never | Book review

Title: Never Never

Author: Brianna Shrum

Published: September 22nd 2015 by Spencer Hill Press

Goodreads summary: James Hook is a child who only wants to grow up.

When he meets Peter Pan, a boy who loves to pretend and is intent on never becoming a man, James decides he could try being a child—at least briefly. James joins Peter Pan on a holiday to Neverland, a place of adventure created by children’s dreams, but Neverland is not for the faint of heart. Soon James finds himself longing for home, determined that he is destined to be a man. But Peter refuses to take him back, leaving James trapped in a world just beyond the one he loves. A world where children are to never grow up.

But grow up he does. And thus begins the epic adventure of a Lost Boy and a Pirate.

This story isn’t about Peter Pan; it’s about the boy whose life he stole. It’s about a man in a world that hates men. It’s about the feared Captain James Hook and his passionate quest to kill the Pan, an impossible feat in a magical land where everyone loves Peter Pan. Except one.

REVIEW

At first, I was really intrigued by this book and really wanted to know more of Hook’s backstory, which was a success, but this book didn’t captivate me, I had a hard time finishing it. I felt the story was a bit slow in the beginning, I wasn’t hooked right away, but it was better when we got into Neverland. I liked that every aspect of Neverland was a child’s dream – James Hook’s is the pirates, of course. It was interesting to see how James starts from being a Lost Boy to the captain we all know about, it’s the aspect I enjoyed the more.

                                                                                  

It was great to see a lot of Tiger Lily, I loved her character. The other characters didn’t really matter, in my opinion, I expected so much more from M. Smee. At first, I really enjoyed the romance, it was original, but at some point it was just DRAMA, it was so frustrating… Ugh. It’s sad because I really shipped the characters together. I had a hard time connecting with Hook, unfortunately. However, the scene with Timothy made me so emotional.

Another problem I had with this book is that it started as middle-grade to switch to young adult. The line between this two genres wasn’t drawn very well, it was a little confusing. Moreover, while reading the book, I was wondering how this would end, because honestly, Hook and Pan’s fight can go on forever, it’s Neverland, after all. The ending was five lines long and I didn’t really care…

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?