My review was requested by the online review site called Shelf Awareness, and was published there in the release month. Please locate it on that website

I do think there's a good story here, about going back to a place of childhood wonder as an adult. Ultimately, the world isn't really developed enough for me to understand who the Knights are and what they do in order to keep me engaged. This is a good 'YA not ready for adult' book though, so I'll keep that in my back pocket.

I loved this re-telling/adaptation of the Peter Pan story. Really, it's more of a continuation as the story opens up on a grown-up Michael in a train. He was part of an order of Knights that worked in secrecy. One day they approach him to try and find Peter Pan. He visits is his sister and his niece and is able to get back to Neverland with a little pixie dust and a member of the order. We find many things have changed since Michael had last been there, and most of it was because Peter was nowhere to be found. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I initially received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, but ultimately read the audiobook version. to help me keep pace.

Enjoyed the narrator. For what feels like the tens of thousands of different versions and retellings of Peter Pan, having one that was mostly focused on Michael (not Wendy, John or Wendy's daughter), was really refreshing.

This book is great for all ages and full of adventure and I would recommend it.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2023 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2023/01/2023-reading-list-announced-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

This was not what I expected but still very enjoyable. The idea of Pan being a God and Michael being a knight of the round table was a little wild but I feel it was a fun take on this classical tale. It's very easy to get into and the worldbuilding was excellent. Overall a very fun read.

This was a really interesting "retelling" of Peter Pan. The characters are great and the twist of the story is really original and a must read for fans of the original story. The world building is great and the whimsy is top notch.

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

3/5 Stars

I wanted to enjoy this book, Unfortunately it fell flat for me. I really didn't vibe well with the pacing of the book. I also lacked a real connection to the book and characters. I personally think I just went in with different expectations so my enjoyment suffered. I do think this book is perfect for the right person, I know several people who would absolutely adore this book. My recommendation is if you're interested, give it a go.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. This honest review was based off my experience reading this eARC, which in no way biased me. All opinions are my own.

I have to say I love Peter Pan retellings and that is exactly why I chose to request this book. The cover shows a modern-ish man (Michael Darling) sword fighting with a classically dressed Captain Hook so I could tell this was going to be enjoyable. The art of the cover is wonderful.

For those looking for a more Wendy/Peter/Hook Peter Pan retelling this is not that. This features Michael Darling, the youngest of the Darling siblings having to save Peter Pan, or Maponos. Maponos is a god and he’s been captured, and its Michael’s job to rescue him and bring children’s dreams back to normal and save Neverland.

Peter Pan being a god is a new way to spin this retelling. I wish we would have gotten more information on that, and that’s why I think it might have fell a bit flat. Its not all well rounded, we get a lot of info of the “now” but not a lot on the past as to why the now is actually happening. There isn’t much on Michael’s back story either.

Overall this was an okay time.

God of Neverland is a Peter Pan story done in a Dresden File’s style. It’s a decently fun read, though a little more fast paced than is necessarily pleasant. It almost reads like it could have been a Young Adult title as well, with some popular YA tropes coming on pretty strong.

That being said, it’s a Peter Pan story but not a retelling. A grown up Michael Darling is the last hope of an order of ancient knights to find and rescue Peter Pan before childhood dreams are ruined forever. Michael is forced to face old foes and old nightmares, team up with old friends, and wield dangerous and sometimes unruly magics to do so. It’s fun, fast paced, and actioned packed. However, there were times where it felt the story reached a good place to let reader and characters all take a breath but the pacing didn’t actually allow that to happen. And there were some moments that felt unnecessary overall, like maybe they were used purely for shock factor or “ooh” factor. It took away from the overall story a bit but not enough to make it something that can’t be enjoyed.

I absolutely loved this book! It was such a captivating read! I couldn’t stop reading! I loved the characters and the story! Highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Voyager for sending me the E-arc of God of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez in exchange for an honest review.
The biggest strength of this book was that it was fast paced. The plot never felt slow and I loved how many element of Neverland was brought into the story (Mermaids, Indians, Lost Boys, etc.).
I would have enjoyed some backstory on how the Darling children between when they first came back to Neverland to now. Because of this it felt very jarring when Wendy came into the story and it felt like she was an entirely new person. A lot of the characteristics she had in her youth seemed to have gone. It would have been nice to see what made her this way even if it was just apart of the prologue or a paragraph summing up her life. Peter’s character seemed off as well for a boy who never wanted to grow up. I was also sad that Tinkerbell was hardly mentioned, she brought so much magic and charisma to the original story we all know and love and I would have loved to see how she would act in this book.
I would probably give it a full 4 stars if it was marketed to a younger audience- Middle Grade to YA, this didn’t feel like an Adult book to me.
3.5/5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love good retelling, and Peter Pan is a favorite. I like a story that entwines dark twists, and I went into this asking for a lot because, as I said. Peter Pan is a favorite. All things considered, it delivered.

The world-building is fun, and there was such a delightful adventure packed into this that I didn't feel like I was reading through a book or trudging through an ARC. I felt like the book ending was a bit abrupt and didn't really give me the closure I felt I needed or wanted after such a huge amount of high fantasy but, it was fine. I didn't walk away from the book unhappy, especially because I felt connected and invested in the characters- and maybe I craved a little romance, but I always do. So that's not the book's fault.

4/5 for this one. Really enjoyed it.

A good beginning to a brand new series. I like how Martinez brought us back into Neverland playing off the original Barrie book while also making this feel fresh and new. It feels like there is a lot of room for growth in this series and capability to explore other children's stories in this way! I cannot wait to see what Martinez has in store for us next!

Thanks to NetGalley & Harper Voyager for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Michael Darling of the Peter Pan "story" is real and very much alive. He's been called back to find the legendary Pan who has gone up and vanished. He teams up with unlikely villains and heroes from the story in order to find Peter.

It's a really cool concept but I wasn't feeling the writing style. Michael also felt like an unlikeable protagonist and not the fun kind. It was also blending a ton of mythologies and stories which is cool and all but I had a hard time keeping track of everything...

Honestly, all anyone had to say was "Peter Pan Retelling" and I knew I would like it. I have probably read 5 Peter Pan retellings recently and I absolutely loved this one. I loved the action and the adventure!

I would say this felt more like YA than an adult novel as it is marketed though.

Looking forward to the continuation of this series!

Thank you so much Avon/ Harper Voyager Publishing for sending me an eARC in exchange for a n honest review!

"'Of course I knew. But the thing is that if you know they're there, you can turn things around.'" - Vanessa on traps.

This book was honestly a big letdown. I was so looking forward to a Peter Pan retelling (because I honestly don't know of many), but this book was just not for me. I can't count how many times I wanted to put this book down because I was so uninterested in the story. I started it once before, but I stopped because it didn't hold my attention. When I DID pick it up again, the opening lines, while they gripped me at first, didn't hold me there.

I think it was the mixture of detached third-person narration and the lack of immersive world-building elements. I wasn't attached to any of the characters (honestly, Michael probably could've died and I wouldn't have cared).

The things I DID like about this book were:
1. The action (LOTS of sword fights, as one would expect from a book set in Neverland)
2. The number of elements from the original Peter Pan story (the Indians, the Mermaids, the Faeries, the Lost Boys, etc.)
3. The quest. This book had a GREAT plot, just was poorly executed.

Also, one last note, apparently this was supposed to be an ADULT book? Nah, this book is for middle schoolers. This book isn't graphic, and there aren't any content warnings I can really think of to give it.

God of Neverland is an interesting take on the classic Peter Pan story. I have read many Peter Pan retellings; this is the first one focused on Michael Darling. The worldbuilding is great, however, the characters are a bit weak and the pacing is slow but sometimes rushed.

4/5 stars, a super unique retelling with some great elements

<i> Thank you to Harper Voyager for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review! </i>

Going into this story, I had never read a Peter Pan or Neverland retelling, though they seem to be popping up a lot more recently. I didn't have any expectations and I frankly had no idea what to expect in this story, besides elements of the original story. While I got such a great retelling of the original, that had some very dark twists, I also got something else. The world built in this story was one that had many tales of lore, gods, and ancient legends as well as fairytales. Maybe I should have expected this considering the series title, Defender of Lore, but it was so fun! There were Knights of this secret group, that watched over these ancient artifacts (like the bow of Artemis, or the trident of Neptune) as well as had contact and observed the ancient gods and other beings. There was magic, ancient beings, and so much more built into this world that was so exciting.

Speaking of the amazing worldbuilding, with how much information and world was set up in this book it makes me so excited to see what's next. That was probably my favorite part of the book, especially considering how many directions the author could go in after this. I love books that have easter eggs of lore and legends in them, so that definitely did the trick for me. While some parts of the magic system were a little confusing, I felt that most of it was explained thoroughly. Sometimes there were info dumps, but honestly in high-fantasy, I don't mind, I could read info dumps for days about lore of a world.

One of my only complaints of this story was that it felt stuck in between young adult and adult writing style or tone. I couldn't tell which one it was trying to be. In all honesty, it feels as if this was marketed as a young adult but read much more like an adult style. All of the characters were adult, the fighting scenes and things felt much more mature, and more. It wasn't a large issue, and I'm sure the author will continue to ease into their writing style with their series and find a common ground. The writing style was very polished, which meant that in my opinion the writing style fell into the realm of less prose and more straight scenes of fighting, telling, and things like that. Overall it wasn't a problem, and I still enjoyed the story, there just wasn't a lot of prose.

I did not see the twist that the whole story led up to coming at the end, it was one of those where there was probably no way that I was going to guess anyways. Sometimes this bothers me, but considering how large this world is, and how this story just scratched the surface, I was fine with it. I do think there could have been more done towards the end to elevate the twist, but overall it was a fine one and I didn't have any major problems with it.

Michael Darling was the main character in this story, the youngest Darling sibling and a former Knight of this secret group. While he joined the Knights after his time in Neverland, he gave up his rights in the group after a disastrous mission. He decided to become a civilian, but he is approached again when it is revealed that Peter Pan has gone missing, or as they refer to him, Maponos the god of youth. He must help the Knights find him or Neverland will be gone forever, and it's already suffering. As a whole, I really liked his character, he might have been a bit of a classic main character but that wasn't always a bad thing. His determination to protect those he loved was admirable, and I really enjoyed seeing him discover his youth again. I think that was an important message to the story as well.

Vanessa was arguably the other main character in the story, as she was there for the entire story. The reader never saw from her perspective, but she made lots of vital decisions that propelled the story forward. She was a very badass woman character that I felt was not sexualized, something that I am also very grateful for. Too often the women in these kinds of stories, nitty-gritty adultish fantasy, are sexualized for the main character's (often male) pleasure. She was her own person and had her own motivations, but was a good teammate to Michael as well. I hope she shows up in future books.

The side characters were very entertaining as well, anyone from the people of neverland to the other people from the real world all had interesting personalities. There were so many side characters to keep track of, but it was so fun to get to know all of them, especially as most of them were characters from the Peter Pan story. I honestly really enjoyed Wendy and The Lost Boys in this story, as well as the various pixies and nixies that the characters encountered.

Another one of my favorite parts of this book was that there was no romance (there were two side characters but not any main romance). That's something that rarely happens in any book really and it was honestly very refreshing to see. I appreciate that the author recognized that there was really no need for romance, and honestly no room for it in the already action-packed story.

Overall, this was a really fun retelling of both Peter Pan and other elements of stories, mythology, and fairytales. If this is truly a series, I cannot wait to see what else the author includes in the stories and I'm very excited to see where they go next. There's so much potential for this world and I hope it continues.

[TW: death of loved ones, blood and gore (heavy), gun violence, imprisonment, sword violence, manipulation]