Okay, I want to start of by saying…I appreciate what I think this book is trying to do. It’s a really good and intriguing concept, and I respect it. The execution however, at least for me, was overall questionable at best.

Personally, I didn’t love the writing style. There was even a “Peter let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding” line. I also wasn’t too fond of Peter as a character for the first 40% of the book. He also didn’t read like a twenty year old to me as he was intended to be-he still read as much younger.

Also, even though it is stated that he is twenty, Hook’s age is never explicitly specified and that made me extremely nervous for most of the book about how big that age gap was, especially since the last time they met in Neverland, Peter was ten and Hook was an adult. Later you find out it may not be as bad, but that didn’t stop me from being concerned for about 75% of the book, and my doubts still aren’t totally assuaged on that.

I also had questions about the relationship development. Enemies-to-lovers is one thing, but they spend a very large chunk of this book actively trying to kill each other before they fall for each other. I would have liked to see slightly less of that and a bit more development and buildup in that department.

The plot and logistics of the world were also incredibly confusing. In this book, Wendy is Peter’s deadname, which is a cool concept, only how does that work, since in the original story, Peter and Wendy were seen together at the same time? There were a few flashback scenes that were clearer and better written, but I would have also changed the order and frequency of some of those within the story.

Lastly, the world, Neverland: it was just SO much more complicated than it needed to be, which only added to my confusion and frustration.

Listen, I do give this book credit: I did not DNF it. It kept me hooked, if only to find out what happened and where it was going. And there were certainly good moments that I really liked. And again, I loved the concept. But I’m going to join the minority here in saying that ultimately, I’m really not a fan.

Would not recommend.