When Gwen Hoffman's little sister Rosemary disappears from her bedroom in the middle of the night, she is shocked to discover the ongoing battle between that of grown-up reality and technology and the dangers of magic. When she gets the chance to follow her sister to Neverland, Gwen takes it and discovers the entrancing idea of never having to grow up and the irresistible adventures of Peter Pan.

As Neverland/Peter Pan stories go, I thought this one was written pretty well with all the whimsy and fairytale elements I would expect from a story about everlasting childhood. There was enough in the story that kept the original story alive while also new elements were added to freshen up the idea of Neverland, Peter Pan and the Lost Children.

Unfortunately this story was very character-focused as we followed Gwen's experience in Neverland and her ever contradictory thoughts about growing up and her conflicting feelings about being a teenager. I thought Gwen was just a boring, bland and sometimes annoying character (honestly, preferring to go to a party of pot-smoking teens than flying around Neverland with faeries - questionable) who thought one thing and then acted out another. There wasn't really a plot to the story and once things did seem to get going with the Neverland bombing, the story was over. The book felt more of a build-up to whatever the author hopes to do in the next book.

Sadly, I didn't get along with those. I wanted to, but it just didn't capture me like I hoped it was going to, and the writing didn't feel like it flowed very well.

I received this ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Ive posted a full review on Goodreads, I'm looking forward to reading more from this author

This book was okay. For some reason I struggled with the modern setting versus Neverland in this book, perhaps because of my attachment to the more traditional Peter Pan story and it's time period. I think some will really enjoy it, but it's not for me.

Gwen's just a normal girl when Peter Pan kidnaps her younger sister. Suddenly, Gwen's world is turned upside down and she ends up flying away to Neverland. There's a war going on between Neverland and reality because the real world's been taking the magic of Neverland and reverse engineering it, then presenting their findings as technological advancements.

I tried. I really really really tried. I wanted to like this book because I like everything about Neverland and the reverse engenieering with the magic seemed awesome. But I wasn't compeled with the story, I didn't really cared about the characters and their fates and, most important for me, I couldn't stand the narrative voice. The point of view of the narrator changes without explanation several times, and that pulls me totally out of the story.

I ended the book. I read the whole story, but I'm not going to keep up with the next books. I was expecting some magic that never really came into the story, although I looked for it.

This is a captivating story. We follow Gwen as she follows her sister to Neverland. This story is filled with adventure and struggles. Including Gwen's internal struggle with growing up or keeping her child-like mindset.

Good day! Before anything else, I would like to extend my deepest, sincerest gratitude for sending me a digital review copy of this book (via NetGalley). Thank you very much for the opportunity!

Unfortunately, I am sad to say that I have lost interest in this particular title, and consequently, I have decided against finishing it. Forcing myself to finish a book I am disinterested in (solely for the sake of finishing it) can only negatively impact the entirety of my reading experience, which, in turn, could result in me writing an unfairly negative review. That is a circumstance I hope to avoid. With that said, I believe that the best course of action is for me to simply not read it and to refrain from publicly posting any feedback regarding this book.

I hope you understand where I'm coming from. Again, thank you for the lovely opportunity!

I suppose one DNF wasn’t enough and the universe had to be cruel enough for me to DNF two books in a row last year, including The Neverland Wars.

It’s a horrible, horrible curse to have. *sigh* This might have been payback for having a good reading streak. (I swear, I tried my best to suffer through 27 Hours and this one, but it DID NOT HAPPEN.)

Why You Should Skip Past The Neverland Wars and Never Look Back
Granted if you can deal with the things I found annoying, I won’t stop you, but I found so many issues in The Neverland Wars that I just couldn’t continue past the point I actually finished (which was 10% I think…).

Actually, props to you.

Gwen is so unemotional
She’s more unemotional than ME! And I’ve been told I’m very cold, but I’m secretly a soft and fuzzy bean who is sensitive and emotional. But Gwen… Gwen is robotic – she doesn’t care about makeup, clothes, school, math, etc. etc. You can’t be that impassive, can you? Or can you.

Honestly, about 5% and onward I wanted to throw a shit pillow at Gwen and ask DO YOU CARE ABOUT ANYTHING. WHAT IS WORTH YOUR TIME.

Also yes, I’m shouting into the void… because it’s what I would do to Gwen probably.

Weird descriptions
There is this one paragraph or two about hormones and tiny bugs and while it might be really accurate, I quote Elena: IT’S STRANGE. (You’re likely to find this in a book excerpt somewhere.)

“Gwen found herself wondering if skin-tight jeans and sex on the beach really were supposed to be the height of teenage ambition.”
Honestly, this whole quote is an entire reason because first of all, teenagers are not all about sex. Second, sex isn’t necessarily done on a beach (and there’s all that sand…). Third, as a teenager, I preferred loose pants that were warm and comfy. Fourth, sex and skin-tight jeans are not the height of teenage ambition. In fact, this is extremely false.

The amount of repetition
I get it, Gwen doesn’t care about anything. She has no emotion. She doesn’t like makeup, she doesn’t like school (I think?), she doesn’t like anything! Big whoop. There was a certain point in the book that I started counting exactly how many times in how many ways Gwen was telling us how she didn’t care or how she found it unnecessary, etc. etc.

Gwen just cared about one thing
If Gwen ever showed signs of caring about something or someone, it was fantasizing over a crush. (And wait for it… he’s Mr. Most Popular Boy at School. Why am I not surprised?)

I wish I could have enjoyed The Neverland Wars, but that’s not happening. On the bright side, at least all of my reads of 2017 had some pretty covers.

I love me a good Peter Pan story so I was expecting a lot from this retelling/continuation/book in the spirit of. But maybe I was expecting too much? It tried to stick with the same themes and feel of the original books but with the war infusion lost that innocence and I don't think handled the warp as well.

Always here for Peter Pan retellings and this was no exception.

Book was not quite as good as I think it could have been and i am not interested in writing a full review on it.

While the synopsis sounds interesting, the book itself is not. It's has an incredibly boring plot with flat, childish characters. The explanation about magic doesn't make sense AT ALL and Neverland is also not enchanting. The implied romance in this book has no build up. The characters felt immature- Gwen supposed to be 16 but acts like 13, while Rosemary is 8 but acts like 5. I mean, 8 years old and still can't read? I'm mildly interested in the mermaids and Jay, but other than that, I don't like the book.

As you can probably guess, The Neverland Wars is a modern-day retelling of Peter Pan. It had the main aspects of the original throughout the story, however, there were still many differences that helped keep the story original. It's a light and quick read.

The Neverland Wars is mainly set in Neverland (no surprise), but there are also significant parts of the story set in America (I'm not sure where exactly though). I think The Neverland Wars definitely captures the magic of Neverland and it holds true to the original too. We visit the mermaids and the natives, for instance, however, there is no sign of any pirates and I was kind of disappointed by this.

I thought the characters were okay. Peter's cockiness is definitely still a big part of his character, and there's a bit of a caring side. However, I did think he was a bit overly brash. Gwen is definitely based on Wendy (Peter even calls her Gwendy). She's definitely a concerned older sister, however, I just didn't really warm to her at all. She was pretty doom and gloom a lot of the time, especially in the first few chapters. She just didn't give a great first impression. I did find Rosemary pretty adorable though. Gwen and Rosemary were great at showing how our view of the world changes as we get older.

The Neverland Wars is told from the perspective of Gwen. I know she is only sixteen, but I felt the way the story was told was a lot more immature than her age. I just felt she was quite naive and her character should have been described as slightly younger. The story just had such an innocent feel to it and it made the setting of the climax feel so out of place.

I felt the pace of The Neverland Wars was a bit too slow. Not much really happens and I think the whole book is just an introduction for the sequel. There just wasn't much in the way of wars. However, I definitely found the ending climatic and action-packed - maybe a bit too much though as a lot is packed into so few chapters. The ending was a bit unexpected too and abrupt.

The Neverland Wars was an okay read. It was probably just a bit too immature for me now, unfortunately, but I would definitely still recommend it to teenagers though. This is also a series that I don't think I will be continuing.

This was an interesting take on the classic Peter Pan story. I enjoyed the modern day twists, however there was were of the book that felt rushed or like they went really hashed out. Also the ending to the book was rather abrupt. I understand this is part of a series, but I would have appreciated it if it could stand alone more.

I did not get to this in time and didn't get a chance to review it as I had hoped.

I was looking forward to reading this but as I read I was mostly bored. I read a lot of juvenile and YA books but this one didn't capture me. I stopped about half way because I have so many other books to read and I don't have time to read one I wasn't invested in.