5 years after Wendy is found after going missing with her brothers for 6 months she is suddenly face to face with a familiar face that she just can't believe is real. She has been trying to return her her normal life, she is on the swim team, has a best friend, volunteers and is making her plans for college next year.

Wendy can't remember anything that happened during her missing time but she lately she has been drawing his face....Peter's face and a tree, obsessively, without consciously doing so. When children start going missing, and suddenly she finds him injured on the side of the road in the woods, Wendy must find out what is going on.

Peter insists she is the only one that can help to save the missing children but to do that she is going to have to face her greatest fears.

The story itself was fine for me but it just seemed the book could have been pared down quite a bit as it just drug on and the pacing felt rather slow. I didn't really care much about most of the characters and they felt like background noise for the most part. The last 20% of the book (or so) contained the vast majority of the action and while I felt like that was quite a ride the 80% leading up to it just fell flat.

As for the romance aspect of this book Wendy is 19, Peter is never supposed to grow old and in his mind he is still a young boy but his body continue aging. The lusting after him and his body just felt wrong in the context of the book and I feel like that aspect was one of those that could have been left on the cutting room floor.

Perhaps more pure Peter Pan fans may find more to this book than I did but unfortunately it gets a meh from me. I'm glad I read it but was glad to be done with it.

I did love Cemetery Boys so I will continue to watch and follow and read from Aiden Thomas in the future though.

I enjoyed seeing a revitalized version of the Peter Pan story. The language was really visceral and put you in Wendy's body. I read this at the same time as Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune, and there were some interesting parallels.

Unfortunately, I could not bring myself to finish this one. I like giving everything a chance, but Peter Pan retellings just really aren’t my thing.

There was a time that I read every Peter Pan book I could get my hands on. I love them all. I must have neglected to read the plot summary for this book, Lost in the Never Woods, because I didn't realize I had found another Peter Pan retelling until I was through the first chapter. But man, did I love this book.

This is a much darker take on one of my favorite childhood books. Wendy's brothers, John and Michael, disappeared with Wendy five years ago. Wendy returned six months later. Her brothers did not. Now kids have started disappearing again. And Wendy's family is reliving that loss and heartbreak. And Wendy wants to do something about it.

What I think this book does so well is the tangible loss the Darling family feels after John and Michael go missing. The whole family has lost its sense of purpose. Mr. and Mrs. Darling and Wendy do not know who they are as seperate people or as a unit due to this loss. And because the boys went missing but were never found, they have no closure either. Their grief is central to the plot, and is so beautifully written. It feels real to the reader. I had to stop and close my kindle down for a little while at points because it felt so heavy and so real. The mystery within the story is dark and terrifying too. Small children go missing. That is heavy stuff.

Wendy as a young woman trying to decide who she wants to be in college, what she wants for her future self, is a pleasure to read about. Aiden Thomas understands teenagers. I remember feeling that uncertainty. Wendy cannot imagine growing up because that means leaving her brothers behind. And meeting Peter as a teenager was a pleasure too. It really did feel like I was getting to know my old friends all over again.

I loved the setting of this book. I loved the characters and the writing. It was a pleasure, but it was difficult too. I know what it's like to grieve a missing person. And I think Aiden Thomas nailed it.

There were also several Easter eggs that referenced one of the 1990s cinematic classics, Hook, which I promptly rewatched as soon as I finished this book.

A great retelling of Peter Pan with a true crime twist. Wendy Darling and her brothers disappear into the woods and are missing for a month, but only Wendy comes back. Ten years later, more kids are disappearing, and she has a strange feeling it's history repeating.

I enjoyed reading the book. I heard so much hype about Aiden Thomas' s first book Cemetery boys, ( which I have not read yet) I think I went in with my expectations a little too high. While I found the book a fun and cute read , I figured out the twist well before the reveal. I also found the characters a little flat. The romance while not the main focus was cute and what kept me reading. I felt the story did deal with grief well. I would recommend this book for anyone who likes retellings. I gave it 3.5 stars

After reading Cemetery Boys I eagerly jumped onto this book waiting to once again feel the thrill of adventure and character development that the author was able to create in their other work. But sadly this book missed the spot for me. For starters the pacing was off for me and I felt myself at times having to force myself through the story. It seemed like the book was sprinkled with some plot building here and there, but overall nothing really happened until the last quarter of the book.
What i did like was how the author was able to bring up loss and grief in the book. And yet while we are dealing with such heavy and much needed topics, the characters felt one dimensional, most of the characters didn't feel like they were really flushed out. Maybe the author was relying on us to have read Peter Pan or at least watched a few movies to understand the depth and personalities of the character, but the mark was missed on that.

I was so excited for this dark, YA Peter Pan retelling after hearing so many great things about Cemetery Boys but unfortunately, Lost in the Never Woods didn’t work for me. I found the pacing was a little off; about 80% of the story is spent following Wendy and Peter wander around aimlessly while they ‘try’ to find/save boys that have gone missing in her town and then stuff actually happens in the last 20% of the book. Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of the ‘relationship’ that’s hinted at between the two, since Peter is introduced as a maybe 13 year old and she’s 18 (over the course of a few days he does age to be around 18 too, but it’s still a bit cringe-y to think about).
I will say, I did appreciate how Aiden Thomas handled the topic of grief and losing a loved one,
All in all, I would still recommend this to people looking for a different take on Peter Pan. Sadly, it wasn’t a new favorite of mine but it doesn’t mean it won’t work for others!

I tried to read this book twice and for some reason I couldn't get into it.
I don't know if I wasn't in the right head space, if this book just isn't for me, if it was the writing style, or if it was the characters I couldn't connect with.

Maybe someday in the future I'll try to pick it up again for a third-time's-the-charm.

It was alright. I find retellings and reimaginings useful for introducing kids to literature they might find "dusty" or irrelevant haha, but this one just doesn't provide enough for me to dig into to do a unit on. The pacing is also quite slow, the plot doesn't pick up until the last 1/4 of the book. I'd suggest it to a student who likes Peter Pan already to read for fun, but other than that not really.

"Lost In The Never Woods" is a YA Peter Pan retelling.

I loved just how creative this story was. The writing was so descriptive and really made me feel like I was in the world of the story while I was reading it.

This was a very well-written fantasy book, and I believe readers will be captivated by it from the moment they pick it up.

Listen. This book was everything I wanted in a Peter Pan retelling. It was dark and gripping and I could not put it down. The horror that Wendy goes through and the trauma she has to live through is incredible. And the ending!! Ahhh man so good. I did NOT see that coming! Aiden will forever be an auto buy author.

Lost in the Never Woods is the creepy Peter Pan twist I didn't know I needed. It was spooky and thrilling and mysterious. It had me laughing and crying and feeling all the things inbetween. I love Aiden Thomas's work and can't wait to see what they come up with next!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this retelling of Peter Pan. Seeing Wendy and Peter in a different light was very interesting. The chemistry, the drama, the twists were just...wow!! I didn’t know how much I needed to read a retelling of Peter Pan until I started reading Lost In Never Woods. I highly recommend anyone read this! Aiden did a phenomenal job!

A Peter Pan Retelling.. sign me up!!
this is not like your regular retelling oh no this one goes deep, and it takes you on an adventure through the atmospheric setting of a town in Oregon and In the Woods beyond.

We follow the characters we know from the original classic...Wendy Darling being our protagonist and Aiden Thomas has put their own spin on these characters and made them Their own!! This really was such a all Round Great read!! It has that touch of a Magical realism/fantastical Small town Mystery element... like I said at the start it has Atmospheric writing and you can envision in your head just the vibe of the town and the eerie-ness it sometimes had to it aswell.

Lost in the never woods is a very much slow paced novel.. that at times I’ve got to say could maybe have cut some things shorter and picked up it’s pace a little bit But other than that like I said it was such a great novel, touched on quite a lot of topics Some being on Mental health and Grief and in my opinion feel they were handled with care.

One last thing I’d like to say is
I’ve seen a few people say in reviews... this book isn’t like cemetery boys.. it’s completely different and it truly is... I would not expect to be seeing Aiden Thomas to write the same sort of novels each time.. and it’s good that we are seeing the range in What Thomas can produce and the stories they can tell now and in the future.
If your looking for something just like Cemetery boys I feel you won’t get that from this one and be let down.. so I’d say keep expectations low and go into and just enjoy the ride!!

This retelling of Peter Pan is one of the most amazing things I have EVER read. I love the dark tone to it, it's made it mature in a sincerely unique way without losing the original whimsy of the book. The delicate balance between unsettling and reminiscent is just perfection. I love how the cast of characters were translated into this story, especially the gritty edge that Wendy gained. This was such a fun and nostalgic read!

This book was so magical.

The symbolism and callbacks to Peter Pan meant the world to me.

It also really takes trauma and turns it on it's head

A retelling of Peter Pan, Lost in the Never Woods tells the story of Wendy Darling. She went into the woods with her two brothers, but she is the only one who came back out. The whole town of Astoria is baffled by the mystery of the two boys’ disappearance and Wendy remembers nothing about that day. When a young man called Peter appears and asks her to help him find his shadow, Wendy’s world is turned upside down by magic and unexplained events. She and Peter must work together to conquer their worst fears in order to defeat whoever it is who continues to snatch small children from the safety of their homes. The whole time I was reading this book I could hear Mary Martin’s voice in my head: Think. Lovely thoughts. Think. Lovely thoughts... I think Wendy must have heard me.

I ended up enjoying this one! I really liked how the author re-imagined the story of Peter Pan. I do think it got a bit slow in the middle and there were times at the end where I felt like the villain was being a little too over-the-top, but ultimately I really liked the way this ended and how unique it was!

Aiden Thomas has done it again. Ever since I read Cemetery Boys, I've been hooked on his storytelling prose, high stakes plot and character development. Lost in the Never Woods did not disappoint. Thomas made the story of Neverland and Peter Pan his own, adding a dark, spooky twist. From jump, Wendy is a relatable character with past trauma that she carries with her like a second skin. I was immediately rooting for her. I loved how there's a sense of urgency almost on the first page with the plot. This book was definitely a page turner. I wanted to know what was happening not only to the present plot, but also what happened to Wendy. This is the sign of a great writer. The book is descriptive, lyrical, heart wrenching, but also heartwarming. I love a spooky woods, character-driven story, and Thomas delivered. This book lives up to its hype. It's everything you need wrapped in a pretty purple cover.