The writing in this itself is beautiful, but I can't get into the story. There are too many moving parts too early on, and the POV characters just aren't really that compelling of personalities to me.

These Deathless Shores read like bones of a book. it did not seem fully fleshed out. i was super interested because it is a retelling of peter pan but hooks origin story and i love peter pan. it was just missing something for me and as i continued to read i was just confused.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. The premise and concept is fascinating. I just couldn't feel myself connecting with the story or the characters. The constant talk of withdrawal and seeking a high, and returning to a place that does not sound welcoming in the slightest just to seek a different kind of high... It just fell flat for me. I got 9 chapters in and chose not to continue. I still appreciate the opportunity from the publisher and netgalley to read this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for approving this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 30%

The premise of this book sounded pretty cool, but the execution just wasn't my cup of tea unfortunately.

It isn't a bad book by any means, the first 15% is pretty interesting, but past that point I was just not vibing with it anymore, because there is very little consistency in the pacing of the story.

If the premise sounds like something you would like, make sure to check this out yourself, because you may enjoy it much more than I did!

And it's unfortunately a let-down. I didn't like the writing at all, nor the story, which took a long time to get going in my opinion. Too bad for me but we have many other release book

These Deathless Shores is a retelling of the Captain Hook (from Peter Pan) origin story, set in a SE Asian inspired world that is home to the two protagonists and The Island, you know Neverland, the island we all knew and loved from the original Peter Pan story but, this is where the fairytale ends. These Deathless Shores is a brutal and dark re-imagining that begins in a Southeast Asian inspired world but very quicky migrates to Neverland – The Island.
In terms of tone and weight, P.H. Low creates and maintains a constant level of shadow and darkness throughout the story, this really worked for me with that pervasive sense of doom and heaviness that pervaded both protagonists Jordan and Baron. Jordan very much leads the story, evicted from the Island with a dust addiction that she never recovered from and Baron, in love with Jordan, lost when he was transplanted back to the real world, unable to live up to his childhood promise and manage his crippling anxiety, panic attacks and more.
I was a little disappointed in the world-building, after the way that the SE Asian inspired city was brought to life in the opening chapters, I was sad to hear so little about the Island – a map would have been absolutely amazing and really brought it to life but, irrespective of this I was totally pulled into the story and I have no regrets.
Please be aware that whilst this book is delivers excellent representation including gender-queer and a protagonist with a prosthetic arm, there are a number of triggers that you should be aware of which include alcoholism, drug addiction, anorexia, and more. Low challenges thinking and takes on difficult topics that truly distort a character’s perspective, intentions and actions – Chay, Jordan’s sister is an example of this. Driven by her need to be love she hurts herself and others.
I would love to say more about this book but, in doing so I suspect that there would definitely be spoilers! What I can tell you is that if you are looking for a book that will enthral and challenge you, that will take you to the darkest depths and pull you back again, then These Deathless Shores is the book for you. If you love Asian inspired settings, representation and have a hankering for a retelling, or simply want to revisit your childhood fairytales, magic and love, then again pick this book up, you won’t regret it.

Usually I love a dark take on Peter Pan, but this one overall just didn't work for me. The world building was stellar - a really satisfying mix of familiar elements and the authors own twist - but I couldn't stand a single one of the characters. So things were a little bit up and down for me! Definitely worth giving a go if the blurb appeals though - I suspect this book will find a lot of fans!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Oh this was a lot of fun!
(Quick disclosure, I was given an ARC of this, but I do not let that affect my reviews)
This is very much Dark Neverland, which is my favourite type of Neverland! Peter Pan is full of horror and brutality, smoothed over by games and Pretend, These Deathless Shores embraces that brutality and brings it out into the light.
It's told from the POV of two Lost Boys who left the Island, but Dust is addictive and withdrawal is killing Jordan, so she and Baron return once more. But they're all grown up now, which means they're no longer Lost Boys, but pirates.
I love how it keeps in a lot of elements of the original tale - Peter not being human, the Lost Boys growing up and being 'thinned out' by Peter - whilst weaving them into this wholly new and original tale. It's set in a Malaysian-based world and the changes are subtle but the culture is woven throughout the story and just brings a whole new richness to it.
It's got genderbent Captain Hook and I am obsessed with all things Captain Hook so I needed this book as soon as I heard that and it did not disappoint.
The start hooked me in immediately and whisked me off to this amazing world. The middle felt a little slow at times, but the ending came with more than a few surprises! There were a lot of points where you felt you knew where it was going and it just didn't, it trod its own path while still tipping it's hat to the original.
I love the way the author dealt with limb difference, gender, growing up and PTSD. Respectful without shying away from the wider aspects of any of it.
Overall it was a great adventure. Captain Hook, we love you!

Let me start off by saying that the cover and premise of the story really pulled me and I was so happy to be approved to read an ARC.

Here’s what I liked:
- the concept of seeing what happened to the Lost Boys when they become Lost Men is genius, and the backdrop of it against a SE Asian fictional world is great
- the darker twist to the beloved children’s story of Peter Pan
- the unfiltered description of anxiety, addiction, dependence and stammering disability experienced by the characters, in addition to the LGBTQIA+ rep was well done
- the language used to describe the settings and characters really evoked the dark, unsettling nature of the story and that continued throughout

Which brings me to why I rated the book 3 stars:
- there were a number of times where the scenes seemed repetitive (particularly as I read the different POVs - there are 4 even though the intent seems to be that the reader has an omniscient perspective)
- the overall narrative of the story felt disjointed. Like we understood that Jordan’s motive to return to the Island was for Dust, but due to Low’s preference to use fairly minimal dialogue and character introspection, it didn’t make the story flow well for me
- the friends to lovers subplot was not all that believable to me. I accepted Jordan’s steadfastness in wanting to achieve what she wanted, no matter the cost, but it seemed like the romance between her and Baron was more a matter of convenience than anything else. I also didn’t buy in to the romance between Tier and Chay since we only ever see their instant attraction, but I did like the soft moments between them
- apart from Chay’s chapters where it showed her role among the Boys and moments with Tier, it seemed that everything and everyone else served as a plot device to Jordan, in the sense that they couldn’t stand independently and weren’t believable as their own characters without a link to Jordan. As some other reviewers have said, there’s not enough substance to everything else to make the story believable or enthralling. The prologue, interval and epilogue chapters of the Island were good but I found myself wanting more, especially with all the intrigue built up throughout the story.

This book falls into an unfortunate trend I’ve been experiencing this year, where debuts seem to desperately need another round of editing before publication (or even being released to ARC stage). I accept that publishers are working with tighter budgets and more demands than ever, but it’s a concerning look and I can’t help but feel for debut authors whose books are rushed out without being truly ready.

I loved the concept of a dark Peter Pan retelling, and These Deathless Shores certainly delivers on this front, with a cast of main characters battling multiple demons including anxiety, addiction and poverty. There’s also an interesting take on the gender biases inherent in the original story with the relationship between the Lost Boys and Wendy (though I could have done with a little less emphasis on how getting ones’ period is a sign that it’s all over for women on the Island, as I didn’t find it a particularly compelling approach).

Unfortunately despite the great premise, I never got into the actual story - thanks to the editing issues mentioned above. The novel is set in a fictional world inspired by South-East Asia, but the author never stops to explain anything the characters are experiencing; I felt as though I’d been dumped into a story halfway through and never given any context. Similarly, the characters are poorly sketched; the author is so keen to get to the action that the book skips over large sections of character development and gives readers only the barest outlines of who our characters are. (To be fair, all our characters are dealing with some pretty significant issues when we meet them, so maybe it’s hard for them to explain what’s happening themselves).

I’ll keep persevering for now with debuts - because there’s nothing better than finding a new gem - but I can only hope this trend doesn’t continue.

I wanted so badly to love this, but the world building was muddled and the writing felt flabby, it was an effort to read (and not in a pleasant way). A shame, not really awful but just a bit disappointing.

The idea and the synopsis stopped me dead in my tracks with interest because it's an interesting twist on a famous story and characters.
The dark vibe during the whole story was well-made, and it's precisely what you'd expect from a reimagining of Captain Hook—dark, gritty, unapologetic.
But unfortunately, the writing style made it challenging to enjoy the story because it was a little confusing at times and made you flip back wondering if you'd missed something, or you have to reread parts of it to make sense.
To be honest, I struggled to connect with the characters in any way…. I wanted to like Baron because he was a good person, and he cared and loved Jordan so much that he did anything for her. But the predominant feeling that he played a rug for her to use was too much for me, and although at the end he finally held his ground, it was too little too late.
As to Jordan, she was so manipulative, selfish, and cruel ….and I know we are supposed to dislike her, but the way she was using Baron was too much of a turn-off for me.
I was intrigued by the island and would've loved more information about it the coexistence of all the fractions inhibiting it.

when i was younger i was very obsessed with captain hook, and so i knew i needed to read a retelling of his story.

i really enjoyed the setting, it felt very immersive and you could tell it was heavily inspired by southeast Asia. i think the writing was beautiful and definitely helped add to this, i felt very much like i was in the story.

i loved how dark this retelling ended up being - i wasn’t too sure what to expect going in and was pleasantly surprised. while a lot of touch topics are dealt with in the book, i think everything was handled with care.

overall, i really enjoyed this and will definitely be interested in more of the author’s work.

thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc 🫶🏻

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

These Deathless Shores is a reimagining of Captain Hook's origin set in a Southeast Asia inspired world. We're mostly at the Island, but the city where the two main characters lived, was San Jukong. And I could easily imagine that city being located in Southeast Asia.

It's a dark novel and I think that the author did a great job setting that tone and also maintaining it throughout the story.

Jordan is our one main character and she's addicted to Dust since she left the Island. She's cruel to everyone, even her poor friend who's done everything for her. She did show some redeeming qualities at the end of the book, but she's so mean and manipulating...

Baron was the other main character. He did everything that Jordan wanted, and he loves her dearly. I think the friends to lovers romance was okay, but Jordan was so cruel that it sometimes felt like she was using Baron and that Baron let himself be used. Their dynamics were complicated, to say the least. However, he did show some backbone when he stood up for his morals against Jordan but it felt too little too late for me.

Chay, Jordan's sister, was also the Mom of Peter's boys. I found it so hard to believe that someone would prefer being some boys' maid to being the parents' favorite and beloved child. I also didn't understand why she hated Jordan so much and at the same time be jealous of Jordan's and Baron's relationship. Later, in the future, a character she met briefly was enough to shake her wants and goals. In the meantime, Peter was a Boy who giggled and killed and tortured others. I hoped we'd see him more and that we'd see his background and reasoning behind all this awful behavior, but I think all we got was that he didn't want to grow up and do boring adult things....

I'm not one for world-building descriptions, but even I wanted more information about the geology of the Island. The pirates and the Boys lived near each other so they could literally stumble upon each other, and yet, no one spied on the other. We also had a third group of people, the Pales, whom we didn't see if I'm not mistaken. I didn't understand how big the Island.

The review may sound mainly negative, but the book was definitely an okay read! I liked the tone, the writing, and how the author explored themes such as panic attacks, eating disorders, drug addiction, cruelty, lost innocence, and found family.

If you like books set in Southeast Asia inspired settings, genderqueer retellings, and like Captain Hook and Peter Pan, you should definitely read this.

An intriguing twist on a fairy tale. Writing is lovely and peppered with some wonderful turns of phrase, although the story, while starting off strong, sagged in the middle for me. Regardless, a solid debut.

A solid 4.5-star read!

I was immediately pulled into the world of this book, a dark retelling of the story of Captain Hook, and Peter Pan isn't all we were brought up to believe he was.
Touching on difficult subjects of cruelty to children and adults, substance abuse, and neglect within the magical world of Neverland, this is a dark story following friends who left the island only to long to return and discover it's not all that they remember it to be, especially now they are adults... they have different roles to play within the story of Peter Pan.

I would have given it 5 stars, however, the fights between the pirates and Lost Boys became predictable and I found myself skimming those as they always finished the same way. Other than that it was a brilliant read, thank you so much for letting me ARC read this.

“These Deathless Shores” is an adult fantasy novel written by P.H Low, which constitutes a sort of retelling of the origin of Captain Hook. A dark book with extremely interesting premises and spellbinding prose, which unfortunately did not convince me in its development. The story proceeds between repetitions and chaotic situations, with events, even important ones, mentioned and then dropped without any additional explanation. Some actions or decisions made by characters seem to come out of nowhere, so much so that on more than one occasion I had the impression that pieces were missing. The characters, main and secondary, seemed to me superficial and poorly delineated, with no real evolution. I was unable to bond with them, to understand them, and this prevented me from becoming interested in their affairs. I'm disappointed because the idea was full of potential and the writing intriguing, but the rest unfortunately did not convince me.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very dark but interesting take on the classic, These Deathless Shores was a brutal read - not least because of my closeness to some topics raised in the story - that I honestly feel compliments the original tale more perfectly than Disney's Peter Pan ever could.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

I just wish this hit for me. The writing was very hard for me to get into. I wanted to like the moody and dark tone, but I found it very hard to focus. It wasn’t bad, too many elements just didn’t work for me. I think it wasn’t quite descriptive enough, I think it was a little too repetitive, I think it had pacing issues, confusing world building... I liked the representation in this, I just wish the character had been a little more vibrant.

Yeah, this is an unfortunate miss for me.

2⭐️

"In stories, as in life, girls who let their hunger consume them did not get what they desired."
These Deathless Shores cannot be summed up in any meaningful way that doesn't involve the above quote. A story of love and hate, of self-loathing and narcissism, of the cruelty of children, and the cruelty of adults who were never allowed to be children. A story of murderous children who grow up to be child murderers, there are no heroes in this book. No good guys. There are survivors, living among the broken shards of themselves and the strictures placed upon them by society - whether that is Peter's society or the wider one.
A story of all the ways people who are perceived as female are forced to shrink and mould themselves into the stories of others as support, comfort, help-meet, mother. And a story of all the ways people are perceived as male are found wanting if they act or speak or breathe wrong.
The book is a shard of glass to the throat; and PH Low is going to go on to do marvellous things.