It took me so long to finish this because the story drags sooo long. It picks up in the last third of the book. But sadly the first 200 pages felt like were just a filler, nothing happens and we just run in circles.
Half the ending was lacking, more specifically what happened to Wendy and her brothers. I had very high expectations from this, as Cemetery boys from the same author has so breathtaking.

Wendy’s brothers, John and Michael, have been missing for five years and Wendy can’t remember the circumstance of their disappearance. While trying to live around the loss of her brothers, Wendy focuses on helping others and preparing for college. But when other children start to disappear and a boy named Peter appears in her town, Wendy starts to consider that her mother’s stories about Peter Pan are true and that Wendy and her brothers have been to Neverland before. This book has a little bit of everything-- child-like innocence, a little bit of romance, mystery, family drama, and acceptance. I can never guess how Aiden Thomas’ books are going to end and this one SHOCKED me. He can write a twist that both destroys me and impresses me. I’ve already convinced two friends to read it and I regret nothing.

Aiden Thomas’s YA Peter Pan retelling is moody and entrancing. It’s been five years since Wendy and her brothers went missing and only she came back with no memory of her time away, and now someone is snatching kids from her small town again. A mysterious boy who claims to be Peter Pan lands at Wendy’s feet and slowly her memory returns as they unravel the mysterious disappearances. I thought the twist/explanation at the end was brilliant and answers so many questions about the original Peter Pan as well.

Even though I enjoyed Thomas’ debut more, this was still such an amazing read. I loved the dark and twisty elements which tied to the original Peter Pan more than the Disney version. I adored all the characters, especially with how morally grey they all were. This was genuinely so much fun and I need ten thousand more books by Aiden Thomas.

This book was wonderful, full of mystery. As someone who loves a new look at fairy tale classics such as Peter Pan, this book was perfect for me, plus the cover is beautiful. It kept me interested until the very last page. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and is looking to escape their world for a few hours.

This young adult rewrite of Peter Pan was full of mystery and romance. Although it didn't end up being my personal favorite, I appreciated the creativity and unique story that Aiden Thomas was able to bring to this classic story. Wendy and Peter were able to come alive as young adults and still hold on to their childhood dreams and innocence.

Without giving anything away, Lost in the Never Woods is a perfect read for someone looking for mystery mixed with a classic tale, topped with a dash of romance.

This book had me wanting to find out what happens in the end desperately. Aiden Thomas can tell a story very well (there were a few spots that felt slow or repetitive but very few). The interactions & relationships between the characters weren't consistently build up well. Some relationships were more developed than others. Wendy's family was in a bit of shambles & I wish that there had been a proper support system for them. My copy on NetGalley expired before I could finish, but I will be taking it out of the library because I need to know how it ends!

First thig I have to see is this book has such a beautiful cover!! This book was so good, I loved that it had a bit of creepiness and romance all in one. I loved how the author changed peter pan completely. It was unlike any other retelling I have ever read.

I’ve heard such great things about Aiden Thomas from my friends who have read Cemetery Boys (so much so that I bought a copy for myself, but haven’t gotten to it yet), so I was super excited to receive a digital ARC of this one. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed.

I was looking forward to the Peter Pan retelling aspect, but a lot of it was confusing and/or inconsistent. It made sense to me that by leaving Neverland, Peter’s power weakened, but the growing up really really quickly part felt unnecessary to me, and the romantic tension between him and Wendy weirded me out a lot. Also, since everyone could actually see Peter, how did no one figure out that Barry was just Peter in disguise? I thought that maybe eventually someone would put two and two together, especially Wendy’s mother, but no one ever did. I will say, though, I did really like the shadow as an evil alter ego of Peter, that was cool.

Aside from all of this, I found the book to be incredibly slow-paced, which is why it took me so long to finish it. I did want to finish it though, because in my experience, sometimes the slowest books have the biggest unexpected surprise endings, and this was certainly true for Lost in the Never Woods. I certainly did not expect this ending - the reveal of what happened to John and Michael and what Neverland really is and what it represents in this retelling - and that was when I finally was on the edge of my seat, turning and turning the pages until I reached the end. I’m not sure the rest of the book was worth the ending, but I’m personally glad I stuck it out until the end.

Overall, this book really wasn’t for me and I wouldn’t recommend it, though I think people who like slow-paced atmospheric mystery will appreciate it more. I do still want to read Cemetery Boys because I have seen so much love for it, and I hope that I enjoy it more than I did Lost in the Never Woods.

After reading Cemetery Boys I was over the moon to receive this arc and to get cracking on it. However I felt disconnected from it and it did not hold the same fire that the authors debut held. It was interesting and a fun new take on an old classic.

Children start to go missing in the woods. Wendy and her two brothers also disappeared, but 5 years later Wendy reappeared without her brothers. No children are disappearing again and Wendy works with Peter to try and bring them home.

Full disclosure, I recently read Cemetery Boys and he has become one of my favorite authors. So I had preordered Lost in the Never Woods before I was even approved to review the copy through Netgalley. The cover is beautiful. Between the shades of purple and the silloutes of the boys in the trees it is one of my favorite covers. I want to buy a second copy so I can display the artwork.

Normally I am not a fan of Peter Pan stories, but Aiden Thomas is so talented. I could not put this down and spent a few sleepless nights because I could not put it down to go to sleep. I needed to know what would happen next. And that ending! WOW! I will once again be recommending this book to anyone and everyone, whether they are looking for a book or not.

5 stars

I wasn't expecting a Peter Pan retelling to deal with such heavy topics. The contrast between Peters bright playfully innocent bubble and Wendy guilt and grief was wonderfully done. Never having closure really took a toll on the whole family, leaving the parents withdrawn and echo's dealing with their own trauma. I will always be a sucker for a creepy forest setting.
Overall the book was sweet but heartbreaking and well written.

This retelling of the classic Peter Pan story starts with childlike wonder and magic and blends into an increasingly devastating story of trauma and loss. Five years ago, Wendy’s brothers disappeared in the woods behind their house. Now more children are going missing, and Wendy is forced to confront her missing memories about her brothers’ disappearance as well as the sudden appearance of the magical boy from her childhood stories. Intense and traumatic, a very different retelling but doesn't quite hit the mark for me.

I thought this was a very creative Peter Pan retelling. I didn’t see where it was going which was great.

This is a story about a found girl in search of lost boys.

I went into this expecting similarities to the author’s prior work, and as somewhat thrown to find a middle grade fairy tale telling. I’m not mad, just disappointed. It was fine- the writing is lovely, none of the characters are awful and it does function well enough as a unique reimagining…. But it also didn’t feel compelling in the way I anticipated. Also, Peter is described as a child, a rather dirty one- and then is suddenly attractive? I do get that he’s aging by the day but that felt particularly awkward.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Macmillan for this eArc!

Helllooooooo gorgeous cover! If I'd never read anything else by this author, this cover alone, would've drawn me in. The colors, the eeriness, the fonts, the silhouettes... EVERYTHING! 🙌🏼
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Lost in the Never Woods is a fairytale with a dark twist. The characters from the classic Peter Pan tale are revisited, after children from the small town of Astoria, Oregon go missing. 👀 Five years ago, Wendy Darling and her two little brothers went into the woods one night, but only she returned bruised & bloodied. She'd been unable to recall anything from that fateful night, but when children start to disappear once again and she meets a certain lost boy by chance, her memory is triggered. Could it hold the answers to where her little brothers are? It has to, because accepting anything else is unfathomable.
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Y'all think THAT was dark? The ending had me bawling & it completely changed my view of Peter Pan. 😧😰😢😩
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Overall, this book was good. It kept me entertained and the creepiness was there. However, there were some things that I felt could've been done differently with the delivery & in turn, created a better flow and more of an impact upon the reader.

A modern-day Peter Pan retelling with a twist I did not see coming. I loved Cemetery Boys and while this topic was different to Aiden Thomas's first book, the tone was similar and super enjoyable to read.

Much like Alice in Wonderland and the Nutcracker, Peter Pan seems to be one of those stories that doesn’t translate well in a retelling, and Lost in the Neverwoods was unfortunately no exception.

The plot here is intriguing on the surface, but once we find out who is taking the missing kids (yawn) and where they went (not Neverland-sigh), the whole thing feels very dull.

Peter is basically just JM Barrie’s Peter and Wendy is...kind of a drag? Obviously her circumstances explain her sadness, but we don’t get much from her that makes us want to root for her to battle through it other than pity, which isn’t a great primary trait for a protagonist.

The setting too is a letdown. Why are they American rather than British and living in the Pacific Northwest instead of London? I would understand this sort of reimagining if the setting were evocative and important to the book, but it’s just...woods. Again, yawn. We never even make it to Neverland in the book, which probably would have stopped me from picking this up at all if I’d known ahead of time.

The pacing is glacially slow, and it’s mostly just Wendy’s repetitive and not very interesting inner monologue. The exchanges between Peter and Wendy are pretty simplistic. The only other dialogue we get in any kind of volume is between Wendy and Jordan (who is probably the best character in the book despite having very little importance to the plot) and the chatter of the small children at the hospital (which was clearly supposed to be cute but just comes off as insipid and obnoxious).

I’m not sure why Thomas felt the need to turn this into a romance. I don’t think it’s good that we encourage this as a focus for teens to the point where it has to be in every book. Peter Pan is an adventure story, and I don’t see why teens shouldn’t have the opportunity to value things other than romantic relationships in prose. Peter Pan is the perfect opportunity for that because it’s such a terrific story of adventure, bravery, and friendship.

But the thing that really put me off this book is the way it speaks to its audience. This book is listed as age 13 and up, which makes me think that neither the author nor the publisher has ever met a teenager. The tone and wording used in this is very, very young, and I cannot imagine a teenager being even remotely interested in this.

Teens absolutely hate being talked down to by adults, and I imagine most of them would be borderline offended by the almost babyish writing. This is frustrating because Thomas (as we know from their other work) is certainly not a bad writer and is perfectly capable of not pandering.

It’s possible that a tween audience might enjoy this, though the slow pacing makes that seem unlikely. Which leaves me wondering, who is this book really for? I can’t envision a receptive audience for it.

Nostalgic. Insightful. Exasperating. After reading Thomas' debut CEMETERY BOYS, I couldn't not pick up LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS. I have never been so happy with a decision! This is the ultimate fairytale retelling: all of the intensity and magic from the original Peter Pan story was restructured and designed to lure in modern young adults with a heart for the LGBTQ+ community and book boyfriends and/or girlfriends. Every scene, every page, every word of this tale will leave you gasping for air or squealing with joy. I couldn't have asked for a better way to begin my summer than taking a walk down memory lane while simultaneously facing new characters, archetypes, and subplots. There's no other way to describe it: LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS is the most unique retelling I've come across!

A feature I especially appreciate is Thomas' writing style. Intense books where the characters face dangerous situations often trigger my OCD so much that I can't enjoy the book. However, Thomas made the impossible possible: LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS was electrifying and exhilarating but not stressful! I was able to relate to the characters without experiencing second-hand embarrassment or fear, which automatically validates this book as a 5-star read in my eyes. Reading is meant to be a hobby, not a job, and Aiden Thomas succeeded in carrying this out for me a second time.

Overall, I recommend LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS if you're passionate about fairytale retellings, enjoy a bit of fantasy here and there, and are looking for an eventful but relaxing read. When they say reading allows you to escape from reality, this is the book they are referring to.

In this beautifully written and imaginative story Thomas truly takes readers on a journey. I’m a huge fan of Aiden and at this point I will pick up anything he writes. I found this retelling to be so unique. I’ve read a handful of Peter Pan retellings and this one definitely stood out!