In this 9th book in the Villains series, James Bartholomew transforms into Captain Hook. All James ever wanted was to get back to Neverland and be friends with Peter. However, his encounters with the Odd Sisters sends him on his own path.
Opinion
This is the first book that I have read. I found it to be both enchanting and mesmerizing. By the end of the book, James/Captain Hook, to me, was not quite the villain I thought he was. This book offered insight into the fairy tale that allows the reader to have some empathy for the notorious villain.
Having read this book has piqued my interest in the rest of the books (and books to come in the future.) I have seen them in bookstores but now plan on picking them up. I loved the twist and cannot wait to see what other backstories await me and what the Odd Sisters have done to manipulate the stories.
I did listen to the audiobook. The narrator had a soft quality about his voice that kept the flow of the book moving quite nicely.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Disney Audiobooks for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I love the Villains series. The ties that Serena Valentino can create between all the Disney villains is just such perfect artistry. To keep all the different key stone magical items in mind and then be able to tie them back to another story is just stunning. It is not something my mind can do even on a good day. I feel like Serena would have had to map out all the villains’ tales’ way ahead of time to tie them together so smoothly. This is honestly one of my favorite series to recommend to any Disney villain fan and is a perfect series to recommend to emerging readers who might want to branch out of the kid’s room, but still don’t want to delve into too many teen topics. Never Never totally lives up to the rest of the series. Hook’s secret desire to go back to Neverland and join the lost boys is just so heart breaking. Having his classic pirate look broken down into being so meaningful not only with its connection to Blackbeard, but also with him coming full circle and becoming the pirate he has always longed to be was just so beautiful. This book is just so fun. And does such a great job showing us how James becomes Captain Hook.
Thank you so very much to Disney Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Captain Hook origin story. It even had me rooting for James throughout despite knowing how he turns out in the end. This was a fast paced story, with a great narrator which made for a quick listen.

🎧⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I do love a twisted fairy tale! “Never Never” is the origin story of Captain Hook, how he became a pirate and his obsession with returning to Neverland. I really enjoyed it and it was short and sweet and was a great listen.

Thank you @netgalley and Disney Audiobooks and Press for choosing me to listen to #NeverNever.

#netgalley
#readmorebooks
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This was pretty entertaining, but it didn't quite it the mark for me. To me, what makes a good villain retelling is either giving a previously one-dimensional villain more depth and sympathetic motivations or retelling the story such that the original villain is now the hero and the original hero is now the villain.

This book felt like it was trying to do a little bit of both, but when everything is being manipulated behind the scenes by the "real" villains, the characterizations just fell a little flat. Because of this James's transformation into Peter's "villain" felt a little too rushed and unsatisfying for me.

I think I would have liked it more if Lucinda and the Odd Sisters hadn't been used. I haven't read all the books in this series, so I didn't really know the whole backstory on the Odd Sisters who seem to be similarly involved in other books, but I think the predetermination parts would still have prevented me from loving this, even if I did have a better background on the Sisters.

That being said, it was still an entertaining read, and I really liked the idea of Captain Hook being a former Lost Boy who just wanted to get back to Neverland.

Arrggh!! I love this series because of the creativity and careful thought about the back stories of classic villains, but … can’t ANYONE get a break? I mean, obviously I knew the end, because I’ve seen and read Peter Pan. But, the story is so, so sad! I just wanted James to get his happy ending. But, of course, he couldn’t. Because then they would never be Captain Hook, and there wouldn’t be a story. That said, I really enjoyed hearing all the pieces come together. The explanations about the animosity between Peter Pan and Captain Hook, the origins of Smee, THE hook, and the ticking clock in the belly were believable and creative. James’s incentive was heartbreaking and his ill-fated moment of potential redemption almost made me cry.
Despite my despair, I’ll still read the next installment … and the one after. I’ll still add them to my classroom library and I’ll still use them as examples of alternate perspectives, among other topics.
The voice narrator did a great job of giving personality to each character, his voice taking on a variety of scents and dialects and tones (and his American sounding voice for Peter sounded authentic!).
Thank you to #NetGalley and #DisneyAudiobooks #DisneyPress for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I love this series: it's always interesting to get the backstory on the villains in stories. Like how did they get the way they did and did they know they were going down the path to being considered the villain? And the fairy odd sisters are always up to no good (even from behind their banishment).

In this one, your heart can't help but break for James Hook. He was doomed from the start of his life ever since he fell out of his pram the first time and made it to Never Land. *Warning: beware, there be pirates in this story and villains most foul (and surprisingly the foulest of them all is not James Hook).

What I loved:
Circe tries with all her might to change Jame's fate.
Mr. Smee is painted in a whole new light and I can't help but adore him in these pages.
You get the full scoop on the ticking crocodile.
Peter Pan is not as innocent as he seems.
Black Beard is in this story and I LOVE the inclusion of this pirate and his backstory (even though it is very tragic).
The reader gets to see how James grew up, became a pirate and WHY he wants to get to Neverland so badly.

Thank you for this book in exchange for my honest review.

What drew me to Never Never by Serena Valentino was the cover and the title, knowing that this would be about Peter Pan and Captain Hook. I am a huge fantasy fan! However, I was disappointed by the author’s writing style almost immediately. I found myself really trying to pull through and bored by the story line almost from the first page.

Oh my gosh I really, really enjoyed this audiobook! It was my first of these books and it definitely won’t be my last!

This is such a fun series. In Never Never, we get the origins of Captain James Hook, how he made it to Neverland and why he became the archnemesis of Peter Pan. Fans of this series will enjoy this new installment.