4.5 stars!
(mild spoilers)
Having learnt the truth about Peter from Captain Hook, Wendy has returned to Peter's side with a clear goal in mind - get the Song of the Shadow and Peter's golden pipes. But though Peter welcomes her back eagerly, he no longer fully trusts her and Wendy must play a dangerous game of pretense - especially as Peter now holds Booth prisoner thanks to John's betrayal at the end of Seas.
Convincing Tink to give her the information she needs is no small task either, as the fairy remains stubbornly loyal despite Peter's cruelty to her. But she finally reveals to Wendy that she does not infact know the Song - and that there is one other fairy yet living in Neverland who does. Knowing that there is nothing else she can do there, Wendy flees Pan Island, with Booth and an unwilling John in tow and Peter in pursuit. War has come to Neverland, and both the pirates and the Lost Boys are gearing up for the seemingly inevitable battle.
This final installment in the Wendy Darling trilogy is the best of the three in my opinion. I really liked the scene where John and Wendy are finally talking things out and remembering their parents and home. But my favourite part was definitely the ending. There was of course the expected epic mid-sea battle that was an excellent action scene. The closing scenes however, were beautifully written, touching and emotional. It made sense that it had to end that way, but it was still really sad. Redeeming the villian is not always a plot device I'm fond of, but in this situation, it definitely worked and it was lovely to see a glimpse of the Peter from our childhood stories at the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this conclusion to a very intriguing retelling of the famous story of Peter Pan and Wendy and would definitely recommend it.

This was magical! I love retellings and twists on old classics!

The final installment of the Wendy Darling series, Shadow takes on a an action packed tone, riddled with danger, magic and obsession. The Wendy Darling series takes the children's story of Peter Pan to its logical and dark conclusion. Peter is a murderous sociopath that kidnaps children and is utterly obsessed with Wendy. In this final installment, Wendy, trying to save her brothers, the kidnapped/brainwashed Lost boys, the man she loves and the people of Neverland; Wendy goes straight into the lions den. This choice risks her life... her very soul. She goes into the arms of the evil Peter.


Similar to the previous novels in the series, Wendy is a strong and determined character in the face of overwhelming odds and certain death. This story is the conclusion to the series and is just as dark as the last two novels in the series, with a strong villain and an even more determined heroine. Wendy's capacity for love, even through and after immense trauma is astounding. She truly has a pure heart. She is the spark of light in this novel of incredible darkness. I will warn you, this series is incredibly graphic and violent, many die in brutal ways throughout the story. But I will give this novel this, it made me cry for it's villain, which is a first. It made me cry for a character that I was brought to loath for their monstrous murderous behavior. That is quite an incredible literary feat, so I applaud Colleen for writing such a strong story, one that I will be sharing with others for many years to come. Ultimately, extreme darkness aside, I loved Shadow and the full Wendy Darling series and give Shadow the rating of FOUR AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

This book opens up with Wendy and Peter pan floating around in the skies, but as the story continues you come to understand that Wendy hates Peter. You also learn that Wendy is working with Captain Hook to defeat Pan. Pan is convince that he and Wendy will be parents to the lost boys but he really uses the Lost boys as Slaves. Peter is very cunning and charming that it he can easily convince people to do what he wants. Many believe that a War will happen between Peter and Hook to save or end Neverland. Then there's Tinkerbell who supports Peter and his craziness. she believes herself to be in love with Peter. Wendy end up back with Pan because of her brother John darling who betrays her after all she has done to save him. Peter is clearly a crazy magic man who believes everyone should love him, and if he doesn’t have their love, then he goes off into madness. Meanwhile Peter holds control over Wendy family and love of her life. So who will win this final battle of Magical power. Well I can’t clearly tell you everything other wise that would be Spoilers sweetie. So I suggest to know the final battle you go buy Colleen’s Wendy Darling Series as soon as possible.

I love Colleen writing of Neverland and Wendy darling, it reminds me of Once upon a time. Peter Pan reminds me very much of Once Upon a time Peter Pan, which is an evil guy set out to control Neverland. Except Once Upon a time Peter Pan was a father and wanted to be young forever, thats not the case with Colleen's Pan. Colleen Pan is just a psycho who wants to control everyone and change them to be like how he wants them to be. I do believe that Oncer Fans would love this series though. I really love this book although it is the third and its the only one I read so far because of how much its like Once Upon a time, yet different. I love how in Colleen story she makes “Wendy the hero.”I love how Colleen takes a classic like Peter Pan and just gives it all of this awesome evil magic that needs to be fix Wendy. I just really love different versions of classic fairy tales, like this more modern version Colleen has created with the Wendy Darling series. Usually you will hear different modern stories about Peter or Tinkerbell, but Wendy and Hook are not often the focus of their own stories, so I love when the author takes one of the supporting characters and makes them the main lead. I will for sure be reading the rest of this series, to enjoy this third book even more now. This series will be one of my favorites for years to come, I can already tell.

I have loved this series from the first paragraph. I'm not sure why I keep coming back to Peter Pan reimaginings since I was never a huge fan of the original book but this trilogy captures an underlying sinister aspect that I'd always felt was there in J.M.Barrie's classic. Wendy is intelligent and resourceful and faced with a near impossibld task. This is a complete emotional rollercoaster and has left me with quite a book hangover. What a fitting ending to a glorious trilogy though.

I received an ARC copy of this book via Netgalley and SparkPress (a BookSparks imprint) in exchange for an honest review. I'm going to need a few days to emotionally process this whole trilogy and how good it was. This, I think, was a fitting ending but I'm going to think it over before leaving a longer review.

Think of your current favourite trilogy. Think of the ideal and perfect way that trilogy could have ended, and how incredibly that book could have been executed. That is what Shadow is - the most fitting, perfect and well-written conclusion the trilogy could ever have hoped for.

I was a wreck by the end. It was one of those infuriating moments when you're sitting there, itching to know what's going to happen, but simultaneously not wanting the book/trilogy to end. And once it was done, I was happy that it had the ending it deserved, but broken that there were no more Wendy Darling novels. Oakes carried out the entire trilogy with such finesse, balancing soft characters with a grisly environment, some dark plot lines and some amazingly executed suspense. It's no wonder this trilogy has quickly become one of my all-time favourite trilogies.

Thank you, publisher for granting me access to this review copy. I did not download it because I mistook it for a first in the series. It was, by all means, my bad. I didn't see the small letters on the cover that said it's book 3. I'm sorry to have wasted your time, and maybe, caused you to decline a request so you could approve mine.