Book Review: Never Never

About The Book:

  Title: Never Never

  Author: Brianna Shrum
  Pub. Date: September 22nd, 2015 
  Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
  Pages: 368

  Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads 

  Rate: 1.5/5 stars

Synopsis :

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:

I am apparently in a book slump because I've just reading so-so books. Never Never falls into that category because while it wasn't terrible, it wasn't that great either. While I have never been the hugest fan of Peter Pan in general, I'm always willing to give stories about Peter Pan or Neverland, a shot. I have read some very good stories with this theme before, but unfortunately this one wasn't one of them. 

My main problem with this book was that it was boring. Don't get me wrong, it was very well written, and you can tell that Ms. Shrum has a great talent when it comes to writing. However, she just didn't deliver with this story. There was nothing that really stood out, and I honestly couldn't bring myself to really like any of the characters. One good thing though was that it just reaffirmed my belief that Peter Pan is a twisted, evil boy that is the actual villain of the story. I also didn't really like the fact that the book is basically made up of the same scenes over and over again. By this I mean that almost every single chapter had the same 4 aspects: 

1. Hook was upset/self-deprecating, leading to him wanting to seek revenge on Peter 
2. A quick appearance of Tiger Lily 
3. Peter coming to kill Hook
4. Peter and Hook fight, but Hook doesn't kill Peter because of some reason. 

Again, this just caused the book to be a bit dull and lackluster. 

Lastly, I wasn't sure what this book would be classified as because it started off as a MG book, but then became upper-YA, only to go to YA. So it was kind of all over the place, and it made for some surprising moments for me as a reader because I wasn't expecting certain scenes.

Overall, I just think this wasn't my cup of tea. For die hard Peter Pan fans, this might be a hit for you. But for fans who are like me and not the biggest of fans of the original story, you might want to skip this one. 

                                                      

Happy reading :)

~Cassie