Via Goodreads Title: The Neverland Wars
Author: Audrey Greathouse
Genre: Fantasy
How I got the book: I bought it
Summary (from Goodreads):
Magic can do a lot—give you flight, show you mermaids, help you taste the stars, and… solve the budget crisis? That’s what the grown-ups will do with it if they ever make it to Neverland to steal its magic and bring their children home.
However, Gwen doesn’t know this. She’s just a sixteen-year-old girl with a place on the debate team and a powerful crush on Jay, the soon-to-be homecoming king. She doesn’t know her little sister could actually run away with Peter Pan, or that she might have to chase after her to bring her home safe. Gwen will find out though—and when she does, she’ll discover she’s in the middle of a looming war between Neverland and reality.
She’ll be out of place as a teenager in Neverland, but she won’t be the only one. Peter Pan’s constant treks back to the mainland have slowly aged him into adolescence as well. Soon, Gwen will have to decide whether she’s going to join impish, playful Peter in his fight for eternal youth… or if she’s going to scramble back to reality in time for the homecoming dance.
My Review:
This book is not what it seems. No, I’m not talking about the magic. I’m talking about the plot. Or, lack thereof.
While the writing style of this novel was very easy to read and the story flowed well, not too much happened. The summary and the even the title itself was misleading. And when I say misleading, I mean it chalks the story up to be much more than what it was.
Neverland was fun to explore, but that was just about it. There was a lot of worldbuilding, but not too much happened in that world so it seemed to be pointless.
I thought the characters were well done and I enjoyed each and every one of them. However, Gwen, the protagonist, is 16 and acts much younger. She could get slightly annoying at times.
Gwen goes to Neverland to bring her sister, Rosemary home. Rosemary is barely in the story as we focus too much on Gwen. So the ending when Gwen finds out whether Rosemary wants to stay or not, is a little unclear because we didn’t get to know Rosemary at all.
The beginning of the novel was strong. So I got increasingly disappointed as the novel continued. The ending was very abrupt and I don’t know if there will be a sequel or not.
If you know me, you know Peter Pan is my absolute favorite. So while it was fun reading about the author’s interpretation of Neverland, nothing else about the actual story was memorable.
The Neverland Wars by Audrey Greathouse gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Favorite Quote:
“It’s fun to watch how their imaginations run away with them… And how they sometimes end up running away with their imaginations.” –Audrey Greathouse, The Neverland Wars
