God of Neverland is a good read for those of us who haven’t grown up fully and want the chance to re-visit Neverland.

3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
The God of Youth (Peter Pan) has vanished and children around the world are at risk of losing their imagination. Not only that, but Neverland is ceasing to exist (no faeries, everyone is a ghost, etc.) It is up to Michael, former Lost Boy and Knight of the Realm to seek out his old companion and put a stop to what is happening. However, after a tragic incident that caused him to lose his friend - Michael isn't sure he has enough childhood left in him to accomplish the task.

Plot:
I found this one to be a lot more fun than I originally anticipated. The actual synopsis of the book sounds like a mash up of many of my favorite things (King Arthur's Round Table, Mythology, Peter Pan, etc.) but I wasn't sure how it would all mesh together. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it did.

Characters:
I found the characters to be fairly true to their original counterparts. However, I'm not sure how much I enjoyed Vanessa and Will's characters. At times it felt like their characters were there just for the sake of the plot having conflict/drama rather than them actually needing to be there. I feel the same about the knights of the round table.

Setting:
I think this was my favorite part of the book. I loved being introduced to the underworld of Neverland and all the creatures it inhabits. It was super intriguing to learn how each dust would impact the characters in their journeys as well.

Overall, this book kept my attention well and was really entertaining. I don't think it is my favorite book ever written but it is definitely worth the read!


<<SPOILER>>

The only thing keeping it from a 4 stars for me is I wish the element of grief/loss of childhood/letting go of the past to defeat the wraith would've been explored a bit more!

I am always looking for stories about petter pan and this was right up my alley. It wasn’t my favorite book on this subject, but I enjoyed it and will be reading more by this author.

Underwhelming but not terrible.

The cover and premise really had me excited for this. As someone who grew up with Peter Pan and loved it, I was excited to see what an adult Neverland would be like. Michael being the focus instead of Wendy is an incredibly smart and gripping idea. Unfortunately, this wasn't for me. The world-building is very fast and clunky. You're given information very quickly and as if this is well known knowledge. Same with same character introductions. No one is as fleshed out as I wanted. Michael himself is very dry. I was disappointed with Wendy's introduction, as I felt she's so essential to Peter Pan I wanted her to have almost a grand entrance, instead she felt underwhelming. Everything in a sense felt entirely too casual. There's no anticipation or need to tense up.

There's a lot of great ideas. Peter being a God of another man is brilliant. I really liked the addition. Neverland's prosperity being tied to Peter is another great add, however, the plot really loves to remind you of it over and over and over again. Like I said, so many good ideas but nothing felt development. I didn't feel the danger or the severity of this plot. And because of that, you're not gripped by the story, there's no want to read. I kept putting it down and forgetting about it.

As to not be too harsh, I'll repeat the ideas are excellent but it wasn't for me. I don't think the writing itself was bad, fairly descriptive, and quick. I didn't mind the pacing but it did start off too quickly for my likely.

Definitely didn't feel "adult" but more as YA- which isn't a negative, just an observation.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read this arc.

This was a did not finish for me. I absolutely love Peter Pan and thought I’d enjoy a retelling and new take on the story. This one just didn’t keep me interested and was rather juvenile/boring.

This was a new and interesting take on the Peter Pan mythos. This book took the originally story and let it grow to mythological status, classifying Peter as an ancient trickster God taking the form of a boy who had created Neverland. I enjoyed the fresh perspective of this story as told from the point of view of one of Wendy's Brother's. The addition of a secret society to protect humanity against gods and monsters is always a great idea. The character's were well fleshed out and seemed ready to step off of the page. The plot started very strong with the main challenge being Peter's disappearance and the threat of Neverland disappearing. Once the characters make it back to Neverland is where things start to get complicated. More and more mythos is added with every page including a trip to the underworld and new rules about pixie dust. It was harder to make it to the end but overall a fun read.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read this arc.

I'm not much for retellings, but this one intrigued me since it wasn't a normal retelling with Wendy or Jane as the lead character.

Michael, the youngest of the Darling children, is now a grown up who wants to leave mystical and magical things behind him. Only something horrible has happened and he must return to Neverland to rescue Peter Pan. His journey is fraught with danger excitement as he tries to find a way back to a place he wants to forget.

I enjoyed the book a lot. I like that it expanded on the mythos of Peter Pan and the world of Neverland. The characters both original and new were not flat. They had facets and flaws.

I did think that it read more like a Young Adult book than an Adult Fantasy. There's nothing wrong with that, but other than the age of the characters (being adults above 20) I could have easily read Michael and Vanessa as teenagers.

For anyone who loves Peter Pan, I recommend this retelling.

With a subtitle like Defenders of Lore, this may very well be a series beginner. If it is, I would definitely try the next book.

Thank you again NetGalley and Harper Voyager.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC.

You do NOT understand how badly I wanted to like this book!!! I wanted a magical read as I returned to a loosely based-upon story of Neverland. But there was literally nothing magical about it. I’m so disappointed.

I honestly could not get into this story and sadly DNF. What i did read was well written, but the Neverland Mythos was not a strong enough pull for me.

I am a Peter Pan enthusiast at heart, and I always will be. My heart will forever lie in Neverland, and authors like Gama Ray Martinez keep the spirit of Peter Pan alive with novels just like this! "God of Neverland" picks up with Michael Darling's journey back to Neverland as an adult. The fate of the land rests on him, as Peter Pan is nowhere to be found, and Michael is challenged with defending humanity from magical threats endangering our world.

DNF’ed early on. I normally love a good Peter Pan retelling but unfortunately this one didn’t cut it for me.

I have never been a fan of Peter Pan when I was younger but when I read this one I think it has changed everything that I ever knew about it. This story was so good. It grabbed my attention right away and never let go. We see how Michael Darling continued his adventuring ways by joining this organization to help keep humanity safe from magical and mythological threats and creatures. But after a mission goes wrong he gives it up to take a normal day job. But now that Peter Pan is missing and Neverland is on the brink of oblivion he has no choice to go back and save it. This was so well done.

This book isn't four stars, it's actually a solid 3.5, but the Goodreads rating is so low I thought I'd bump it up to be nice. BUT that said, the book has a huge issue with Tiger Lily, the racist character from the O.G. Peter Pan, as in: the author doesn't change anything about her for contemporary audiences... which is weird. See K. Ancrum's Darling for a contemporary Peter Pan retelling that does this well!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC copy of God of Neverland.

I do want to inform that I DNF at 50% of the way through the book. So this review will be of what I read up to that point in time.

What do you do when Peter Pan goes missing?

This is the answer Michael Darling - the youngest of the Darling siblings and former Lost Boy, now grown up - must answer when he is asked to return to the place of his childhood adventures, Neverland. Despite vowing never to return to his former line of work with the Knights of the Roundtable, Michael becomes sucked back in when he realizes he is the only person with the knowledge to not only find Peter Pan, but to save Neverland as well.

When I first saw the title and read the summary for God of Neverland, I was extremely excited. This was a different take on J.M Barrie's classic tale and it also gave me vibes of the movie Hook. We were no longer revisiting the relationship of Wendy and Peter Pan, but rather the relationship that one of her siblings had during his time in the magical world. There was, as mentioned before, Hook vibes of the main character returning as an adult rather than a child and having to re-find the feeling of being a child once again. However, the excitement for God of Neverland slowly faded for me over time.

As mentioned previously, I DNF'd the book at 50%. I had set aside the novel multiple times with attempts of going back with a clear mind, but honestly this wasn't the book for me. I found it hard to both relate and attached to both Michael and Vanessa whose relationship was left for wanting. There was never a growth in personality or details that would clear up minor plot holes. Not to mention, as their group grew, others were constantly pushed aside or were there to make minor quips about how Neverland had been changing since Peters disappearance. For me, there was just too many aspects development wise that just fell flat and were revisited could make the novel a lot better.

I would also disagree that this novel is for adults. God of Neverland read so much more like a Young Adult novel and if I were in that age group it would be a lot easier for me to look past certain things that as an adult I really cannot. It would be worth it for the marketing team to look into how they want to present the novel, especially since this is the first book being published by a publisher by Gama Ray Martinez who has previously self published four books previously within the Young Adult genre.

I'm not sure that I would re-read this book upon the release to finish it, but there may be someone else out there who would enjoy it for what the novel is.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book - the writing wasn't super great but honestly wasn't bad. If you want a loosely interpreted tale of Neverland this is the book for you. I think the idea of going back to Neverland and save the magical world just fell flat.

I really enjoyed this fantastic story! Michael Darling, all grown up, is sent back to Neverland to rescue Peter Pan (aka Maponos). He has been summoned in dreams and by Pan's shadow. He has the help of Vanessa, a Knight of the Round, and others he encounters along the way. It's fast-paced and interesting. I loved the take-off from the original Peter Pan as well as other mythological characters. Looking forward to reading more from this author!

This book was fun, well-written, and a great take on a Neverland ever-after adventure story, with interesting options for an expansion into additional magical and mythological hijinks. I definitely hope to see more of this world and these characters in future books.

Ghosts, gremlins, fairies, oh my!

Three words: fantastical, unique, and adventurous. There are many aspects of the Peter Pan story that we know and love included in Gods of Neverland. It kept me engaged and was full of different legends and folklore I’ve never seen paired with Peter Pan. It was almost too unbelievable but what can I say? This is a fantasy novel. I recommend to anyone who has an open mind and loves spies and adventure.

This was a fun retelling of Peter Pan, but it has quite a few flaws. The writing is a bit disjointed and lacks depth, especially with its main characters' stories. We know virtually nothing about them and it was hard to build a love for them. Overall, it was fun but I probably will not be revisiting this.

While I will say this book did a good job taking inspiration from the original work Barrie wrote, I also wonder if that's where it could fall flat. I believe this is supposed to be an adult book, but it very much feels like it is meant for a younger audience. Particularly in its discomfort taking risks. Peter Pan retellings are popular this year, and subverting a lot of the original tropes of the story is what sets these apart and makes them feel mature enough to stand up with other adult works.

I think there is room for earnest interpretations of fairy tales, but there needs to be enough calculation to understand WHO wants that. This would have been a good concept for middle grade.