Title: Never Never
Author: Brianna R. Shrum
Genre: Fairy-tale retelling
How I got the book: I bought it
Summary (from Amazon):
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.
My Review (may contain spoilers!):
Peter Pan is my absolute favorite Disney character ever. In this re-telling of the story, James Hook is the main character whereas Peter is more of the villain.
Hook is brought to Neverland by Peter with the intent on only staying for a little while. When Hook realizes that Neverland is not for him and that he wants to go home, Peter refuses to bring him back to London.
Hook is thus stuck in Neverland as a Lost Boy, but his longing for home and hatred for Peter grows causing him to grow up. Peter bans him once Hook is grown, but he still can’t leave Neverland.
Hook becomes Captain Hook of the Spanish Main and seeks revenge on Peter, hoping to kill him.
The book was well-written and told a great story with interesting twists.
With Hook as the protagonist and technically the “hero” you would think it would end in his favor happily. The ending was bittersweet. I can see how some people would think Peter won, but I can also see how some people would think Hook won. I’ll leave it at that so I don’t spoil too much. But it would be a great topic for a book club, is all I’m saying.
There were a few things in the novel that I wanted more of, though. For example, Peter had his flute and it’s revealed that no one touches it but him. It’s special to Peter because it was given to him by his mother. Hook steals it at one point, but Peter gets it back (very easily, may I add). We never hear anything more about the flute. To be honest, I thought it was brought up because I thought we would get to know Peter a little bit more. We would get to know his mother, maybe about the life he lives before Neverland, but that never happened.
Never Never by Brianna R. Shrum gets 4 out of 5 stars.
Favorite Quote:
“Another crow, haunting and soft, and James steeled his nerves, preparing his mind to murder a child.” –Brianna R. Shrum, Never Never
Be sure to check out my Goodreads to see what I’ll be reading next!
