Rating: 5/5

Before Peter Pan and Wendy. Before the Lost Boys. There was just a boy named James who wanted to get back to Neverland.

As a baby, James Bartholomew fell out of his pram and was taken to Neverland. James is claimed by his parents just shy of seven days―after which he would have officially become a Lost Boy. Once he returns to London, he never stops thinking about Neverland. As he grows up, he hates his life in London, and everything to do with growing up and eventually becoming a gentleman. So, he seeks a position on the ship of the infamous pirate, Blackbeard. In hopes to find a way back there but returning to Neverland comes at a price―and now that he’s grown up, the whole world seems to be rooting for his demise…

I love when we get backstories on the famous villains, we have grown up to hate or even fear, for me it really brings to life the characters. It helps us connect to the characters and truly understand their reasons even though we may not agree with them. For me I always thought Captain Hook was so annoying, like a fly that would not leave you alone no matter what, but having Valentino show us what caused Captain Hook to be the way he was really helped me bond with him. I know that in my life there were times growing up that I wanted to be a child again, adulting is hard. Valentino did a wonderful job with details, so much so that you are taken back in time to see the world of Neverland and London at that time. This book is plot based, there was a means to an end with Hook but really it was the character development that I loved the most. To see how he was so determined to get to Neverland but once there and nothing was going right you started to see his change of heart. I was given the audiobook to review, and I loved the John York. I thought his narrating really brought the whole fairytale together for me. He made is so much to listen to.
Overall, this book is a must if you’re a Disney fan, if you love YA books with fantasy and magic of course.

I want to thank NetGalley and Disney Audiobooks/Disney press for allowing me the chance to review this audiobook.

Never Never by Serena Valentino was one of the better books in this series. It was quick and fast paced. I really enjoyed the origin story of Captain Hook. I might be somewhat bias as I love the story of Peter Pan, so this story naturally fit into that. I thought the twist in the last chapter between Peter Pan and Captain Hook was incredibly interesting.

John York’s narration was spectacular! His voices were each distinct and unique, so I knew exactly which character was talking. His voice for Peter Pan was the best I have heard, and I quite enjoyed his voices for Captain Hook and Smee as well. Incredibly well narrated, and I hope to listen to more narrations by John York in the future.

If you love a quick, fun origin story, Captain Hook and Peter Pan, and Disney, I think you would enjoy this. I highly recommend the audiobook. Being a fairytale, I think it is a nice touch to listen to it in an oral tradition.

I received an advanced audiobook from Disney Audiobooks through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

Fun, quick, and interesting! I didn’t know I would like Hook so much, but here I am. We all know the story of Peter Pan, we know Captain Hook, but do we know how he went from the intelligent James to the cowardly Hook? This was just so wholesome and fun. Would recommend!


Thanks to NetGalley for the audio book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

I'm in love with this Villains series. This was only the second or third I've read from the series, but it had me asking so many questions and immediately checking the rest out from the library. It is super engaging and intriguing to get some back story on Captain Hook. I can't wait to read all of them!

Synopsis:
Before Peter Pan and Wendy. Before the Lost Boys. There was just a boy named James who wanted to get back to Neverland.

As a baby, James Bartholomew fell out of his pram and was taken to Neverland. James is claimed by his parents just shy of seven days—after which he would have officially become a Lost Boy. Once he returns to London, he never stops thinking about Neverland. As he grows up, he hates his life in London, and everything to do with growing up and eventually becoming a gentleman. So he seeks a position on the ship of the infamous pirate, Blackbeard.

On Blackbeard’s ship he learns to be a cutthroat pirate, and eventually becomes captain of his own ship, which James is determined to sail to Neverland. With the help of the Odd Sisters and a bit of magic, he just might get his wish. But returning to Neverland comes at a price—and now that he’s grown up, the whole world seems to be rooting for his demise…
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First off im giving this a 3.5 because it wasn't what i expected. There were characters there that didn't fit and maybe if i read the others it would've made more since but to my knowledge it was a standalone. Im not sure feels like things were missing. Now, my take on the narration. The narrator did a good job considering he had to voice so many different characters in the book. Well done.
Rating:
Narrator: 4 star
Storyline: 3 star
Overall: 3.5 star

Would recommend this to teachers as well as those reading for enjoyment. Great alternate point of view. I loved it

Valentino does it again with this incredible continuation of the Villains series! I didn't think I could love her work more but this book proved me wrong. Never Never is my new favorite of the series!

I was smiling through this entire book and my jaw continually dropping with the connections to the rest of the series. The timeline clear up, the magical items, the ODD SISTERS!! I was fully invested in every single page.

Love love love this series and author!

This book fulfilled my millenial need for all things Disney. I think my 8th-grade students would love this book. It was my least favorite in the series, but that's only because I'm not a huge Peter Pan/Captain Hook fan. Somehow this book was still captivating and it actually made me care about a character that I didn't have much previous fondness for.

🪝🪝🪝🪝 out of 5

Book in Emojis
🪝🏝🏴‍☠️🧚🏼‍♀️👶🏼⚓️🐙🌊🧜🏼‍♀️

What can I say? I love a good villain, heck, a villain PERIOD and Hook is one of my favorites! This is the story of James a young boy who stumbled into Neverland and was retrieved a day before his stay would have been made permanent. From this brief stay a love of Neverland blossomed into an obsession with returning. Never Never is about James and his journey to becoming Hook, returning to Neverland and achieving is Ultimate goal. Serena Valentino took me on an adventure that I’m sad had to end. Her writing painted a beautiful picture of far off lands and truly captured the whimsical nature of the characters. I also really enjoyed John York as the narrator for this fairytale. He definitely made listening loads of fun!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Serena Valentino, and the publisher for the eARC copy of "Never Never" in exchange for an honest review.
Who was Captain Hook before he was Captain Hook? His name was James and the only place he wanted to go was back to Neverland. James had been to Neverland after falling out of his pram but had to leave when he was claimed by his parents.
Once James grows, he leaves London and joins Blackbeard's ship and learns to be a pirate. After an event where James saves Blackbeard's life, the ship is given to him and James sets off to find Neverland.
Will James be successful in his attempt to find Neverland or will be searching the seas for the rest of his life?

I could have written so much more in my description, but I didn't want to give anything away. I thought this was a great read and it definitely made me see Captain Hook in a different way. If you are a Disney fan, this is a book for you!

"I suppose it's like the ticking crocodile, isn't it? Time is chasing after all of us!"
To become a lost boy, your parents mustn't claim you within seven days of falling out of your pram. Unfortunately for James, his mom claimed him just before time was up. Throughout his childhood, James longed to go back to Neverland and despised his life in London. After growing up and becoming a gentleman, James made it his mission to become part of Blackbeard's crew, leaving his old London life behind. Eventually, James becomes captain of his own ship and is determined to find his way back to Neverland. With a little bit of magic and help from those meddling odd sisters, James may get his wish afterall. Is returning to Neverland worth the price he'll pay?
I flew through this story so fast, loving every second of it. I enjoyed learning about Captain Hook's background and seeing the events that led to him becoming the villain we all know and love. The narrator, John York, did a great job voicing each character. I highly recommend experiencing this series through the audiobooks, as the narrators all do a wonderful job bringing these stories to life. I can't wait to find out which villain's story we will be getting next. If you're a Disney fan, this series is a must read!
I received a free copy of this audiobook via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Another great addition to this villains series! I had felt the other two previous to this one were more spin offs but the author has managed to tie them in again and one wonders what will happen with the main plot. The narrator also does an excellent job evolving James’s voice as he slowly becomes the Captain Hook we know. This is one of the stories that has been done so well that I could easily accept it as cannon and I very well might anyway. This can also be read alone for those that want to jump into the tale but haven’t read the previous books in the series. If Ms Valentino continues to write them I will continue reading them!

While I am not the biggest fan of Captain Hook, I really appreciate the intricacies of Serena's weaving of these stories. I forgot I was listening to a story about Captain Hook. I can also really appreciate how well these people get set into motion to be the villains they are. Bring on the next one!!!!

3.5 stars
The reason this isn't higher rated is because I thought all the books in this series were standalone villain stories. This is the first one I have read so while most of it was fine, there was one part where some of the other villains were brought in and it would have made more sense as a whole if I had already read the other books. So that was just confusion on my part, but now I really want to go back and read the other books so this one makes more sense!
I think villain origin stories are so much fun. We meet these villains already as villains and sometimes they don't start out that way, but that's something we never think about.
Captain Hook (James) traveled to Neverland when he was a child after falling out of his pram. If he had been lost one more day he would have stayed in Neverland forever as a Lost Boy. But his mother found him after 6 days and he spent the rest of his life trying to get back to Neverland. He just wants to be a Lost Boy and have friends. He ends up joining Blackbeard's crew which gets him closer and closer to returning to Neverland.
Like I said, parts of this book didn't make sense because these are NOT standalones as I thought, but from how they all kind of seemed connected, I am really interested to see how everything played out up until this point. It seems very intricate between all the different villains so far. This book did kind of go back and do a quick replay of what happened, but it would have made so much more sense to have read this as a series.
Moral of the story, check if a series you think are standalones are actually standalones before jumping in at book 9! But definitely check this series out if you are a Disney or villain fan!

James Bartholomew fell out of his pram as a baby and was taken to Neverland. When a baby goes to Neverland, the parents have seven days to get them or they become Lost Boys. The Bartholomews came just shy of the seven days so James was taken back to London.

Neverland becomes and obsession for James as he grows up. Always trying to figure out how to get back to Neverland so he can be a Lost Boy. He gets a position on Blackbeards ship and learns to become a pirate. He gets his own ship and goes on a quest to find the Odd Sisters and a way to Neverland.

I loved getting the backstory of Captain Hook. Made me kind of on team Captain Hook after reading this. Will definitely read the rest of the series.

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Like the other books in this series we get a sort of origin story for Captain Hook. James accidentally found himself in Neverland when he was little and is determined to make it back and live there one day. He is very book smart and uses his smarts to find his way into a pirate ship, his lifelong dream as he believes that is how he will get back to Neverland.

I'm not a super fan of the original Peter Pan but for some reason I love Peter Pan retellings. Since I also love this series I was very excited about this book. Unfortunately, overall it was not my favorite. I did listen to the audio which I thought was extremely well done though. There were parts for me that just seemed unrealistic. For example, all of the books in this series aim to bridge a villain's previous life with the villainous ways that we know them to have. In many cases they try to take us from an innocent person often with a rough background and slowly turn them into a hard hearted villain. That transformation didn't happen organically to be in this story. On a positive note, there was another part that I felt was entirely unbelievable until the backstory behind it was explained later and that explanation was very satisfying.

I think fans of Peter Pan and Disney/fairy tale retelling would enjoy this book. Even though it wasn't my favorite, I did enjoy my time with it and liked its additional to this series. I also just realized I think I liked Blackbeard's character better than James.. hmmm

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC audiobook.


Description from NetGalley:
Before Peter Pan and Wendy. Before the Lost Boys. There was just a boy named James who wanted to get back to Neverland.

As a baby, James Bartholomew fell out of his pram and was taken to Neverland. James is claimed by his parents just shy of seven days—after which he would have officially become a Lost Boy. Once he returns to London, he never stops thinking about Neverland. As he grows up, he hates his life in London, and everything to do with growing up and eventually becoming a gentleman. So he seeks a position on the ship of the infamous pirate, Blackbeard.

On Blackbeard’s ship he learns to be a cutthroat pirate, and eventually becomes captain of his own ship, which James is determined to sail to Neverland. With the help of the Odd Sisters and a bit of magic, he just might get his wish. But returning to Neverland comes at a price—and now that he’s grown up, the whole world seems to be rooting for his demise…

This is my first book of these villain background books. I really liked it. It felt like a natural origin for Captain Hook. I liked seeing the origins of Mr. Smee too. The book is fast paced, and the narrator does a good job.

Overall: 4/5

Serena Valentina has done it again and better than ever! “Never, Never” is the backstory of the infamous Captain Hook and how he become such a vicious villian. While we all think we know the story of Captain Hook, you’ve only learned one side of the story. Serena has an amazing way of teleporting you into the backstory of this villian and making the reader feel terrible for them! I have read all of Serena Valentina’s stories and “Never, Never” truly is at home with this villians series. You will not regret reading this book and learning the real man l story of Captain Hook. Remember there are always two sides to every story and that person you think is evil may be who you least expect it. 5 STARS ALL THE WAY!

When James unwillingly returned from Neverland as a wee child, he made up his mind to get back by any means necessary. What better way to return to the land of his dreams than by becoming a pirate? Little does he know that his dreams are falling right into the hands of the Odd Sisters, witches who have been sowing chaos throughout the worlds and creating villains everywhere.

I've read quite a few Peter Pan spinoffs and retellings. This one is quite the doozy. It has some great moments, and I love Smee's role, but this book has pretty much nothing to do with the original Peter Pan story, the film or the book. I had a lot of trouble making sense of these conniving witches, the Odd Sisters, which I assume is because I haven't read the other 9 books in this series, but it seemed like a real stretch. As a standalone, this book was fun enough. I enjoyed getting to know James and Blackbeard, and the pirate adventures and magical lands they find themselves in were creative and fun. The narration in the audiobook was pleasant to listen to and had a good amount of feeling. The narrator's American accent felt a bit forced, but it could be worse. The book simply didn't end in a place that logically leads to James changing his character to become the villainous Captain Hook, though, so it kind of fell apart for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audio ARC. All opinions are my own.

Never, Never by Serena Valentio is the 9th book in her Villains series. It gives the back story of Captain Hook and how he ended up in Neverland.

The story follows James Bartholomew as he transforms into Captain Hook. James found himself in Neverland as a child after falling out of his pram. He loved Neverland and all of his friends. Unfortunately for him, he was found by his mother and brought back to his family. He then spends the rest of his time trying to get back to Neverland. James sets off on an adventure to get back to Neverland that takes him on pirate ships, deep forests and running into the Odd Sisters.

I loved how this story gave a different side to Captain Hook and gave the villain more depth. Another this I liked was Valentio’s version of Peter Pan. She was able to portray him in a light that felt similar to the original story by balancing his relationship with the lost boys, attitude, and childish cruelty.

I would give this book 4 stars and is a perfect read for emerging readers and middle-grade readers who love Disney. someone in the mood for a sweet slow-burn romance.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Disney Audiobooks for providing me with an ARC of this book.