Thank you NetGalley for the ebook arc. I had a hard time keeping interest in the book. While I was excited for another Peter Pan retelling I just don’t think this writing style is for me.

There’s a clamour for representation in fiction—and Low centres this longing to be seen and to belong in These Deathless Shores. It might seem a little overwhelming at times, as if they’ve stuffed in every issue they can think of: disability, abuse, mental health, eating disorders, gender, and sexuality. Yet these are deftly woven into each character’s backstory, and balances out Jordan’s single-minded pursuit of revenge.

So if, like me, you come into this looking for a Malaysian setting, you’ll be sorely disappointed—Burima has a generic Southeast Asian vibe and most of the story is set on the Island, anyway. But if Malaysia were a vibe, a mindset you struggle with, there’s much for anyone living as a minority to identify with. This is a story of two sisters and their terrible fear of being Othered. It’s a story of that need to be chosen, and of fighting for the right to stay. It’s that lump in your throat of not knowing when the land (and people) you love will turn on you and tell you to leave again, and that fire that says this is my home, I’m not going.

And it’s a fairy tale, as bittersweet as it ends, that claims triumphantly that you can find your own way to belong.

Full review on: https://singaporeunbound.org/suspect-journal/2025/5/9/that-longing-to-belong

3.75

This was pitched to me as a queer Southeast Asian reimagining of Peter Pan where an ex-Lost Boy comes back to get revenge on Peter and I was sold even knowing that retellings as a genre tend to have more misses for me than hits. I am happy to report that I really really liked this.

P.H. Low’s writing is so atmospheric and immediately set the stage for a dark and grim story, which I love. I also loved the Southeast Asian lens and wish we would have gotten a little more of that, though I do think my biggest complaint was in the ratio of description to plot. A good chunk of this book felt a bit repetitive as we rehashed Jordan’s withdrawal symptoms and her sister’s eating disorder and so on, so by the end I was ready for the book to be over at the 400 page mark. Despite that bit of editing though, I mostly found this to be really immersive and engaging, and an incredibly strong debut. I look forward to seeing what else they put out and would be interested in checking out some of their short fiction in the meantime.

A creepy Peter Pan retelling where PP is the bad guy and Pixie Dust isn't fun. This was was an interesting read and I will say different from a lot of PP retellings. This book really dove into the dynamics and deeper stories of characters and their relationship with Neverland more so than I've normally read and it was really refreshing.

I was intrigued because this was a peter pan retelling but I'm not even sure where it was set. Was it meant to be current times Earth? It almost felt mildly dystopian but the worldbuilding wasn't clear. The only thing that was clear was Peter was the villian, think was a hostage, and Jordan wanted to kill him. Other than that, not sure what the story was.

I tried reading this many times since I asked for it and sadly, I just could not finish.
The writing is choppy, and the story is both too complicated and way way to similar to others.

The concept of gender-bending the story of Hook was so fascinating! I also loved the Malaysian influence and the exploration of pixie dust as drugs

I feel like this book has such an amazing premise, and the beginning of the book is well done and well thought out. But then by the middle I felt a bit lost and like the plot was both meandering and rushing. The love stories had 0 weight, and the worldbuilding relied on making old stories new and more modern but not setting up the world that we haven't been involved in as much. I wanted to have the book trimmed down so it wasn't as long, or it is was going to be that long, to make sure that it was worth the exposition and explanation. Overall, I was really looking forward to the dark retelling of Peter Pan and to see new characters, but in the end, all it hung its hat on was dark Peter Pan.

These Deathless Shores
By P. H. Low
Narrated by Mirai
4 ⭐️

This hit the mark as a dark revisit to Neverland. It’s a dark, twisted take on Peter Pan all together and focuses on a villain in the making. I enjoyed most of this ride while feeling a bit confused at times - it didn’t pull me out of the story too much, and I found I didn’t care about the confusion most of the time. The audiobook kept the pace going smoothly for me as I enjoyed the narrator. I liked where Low took this, and I want to know more. Please check triggers before diving in - Peter Pan is not who you think he is.

Thank you NetGalley, PH Low, and Orbit Books for this eARC.

DNF @ 5%

This started a lot darker than I expected, and I could tell very quickly that it was not for me.

Thank you for the eARC NetGalley and Orbit. All opinions provided are my own.

These Deathless Shores is a Peter Pan retelling except it isn’t. Turns out it was a Captain Hook gender-bend retelling. It took me way too long to realize that.

On the Island, Jordan disguised herself as a boy so she could join Peter and the Lost Boys on their adventures. Only the mother figure was allowed to be a girl and Jordan had no desire to fill that role. Unfortunately, she was discovered as a girl when her period started and was forced to flee from the Island to survive. Her trusted friend, Baron, who Jorden pretended to be his twin, escaped with her. Unknown to both of them at the time, Pixie Dust is highly addictive and the need for it would haunt Jordan in the future. The story starts after their escape.

I love fairytale retellings or anything that follows that kind of plot. When I first read the description and saw it was a dark Peter Pan retelling I was excited. The idea that the Island and the world of Peter Pan was dark, gory and having huge consequences for the characters sounded fantastic and I couldn’t wait to read it. Sadly, the story and characters fell flat for me. I found the whole cast to be unlikable and was waiting for them to get killed off. Jordan had tunnel vision for her goals and didn’t care if anyone suffered for her plans; Baron had little to no backbone and I kept waiting for him to die. I struggled to get through the story and even the ending didn’t really leave me satisfied. I was just glad it was over. While the story fell flat for me, I did like how the author tackled and portrayed some issues. Below is what I liked in the story

-Good job in showing how addiction affects everything: body, mind, and relationship
-disability representation with the characters
-Jordan has a prosthetic but never feels less for it, Chay struggles with anorexia, another character has a stutter, Baron has difficulty seeing and is almost blind without the use of Dust.

Overall I did not care for the book. I gave it 3 stars. I usually enjoy fairytale retellings, so I'm sad I didn’t like this one. Hopefully others will enjoy it.

Started off well but... wasn't what I was expecting and I didn't enjoy it.

I was very disappointed and felt like the story veered off the rails and turned dull.

This wasn't really what I was expecting. I thought this was going to be a little more similar to the actual story of Peter Pan; while this retelling was similar to others I've read in which Peter Pan is evil (or at least not a hero of the story), the exposition was way more convoluted than I thought it needed to be. Jordan was not an enjoyable main character to read about, and I didn't like Baron, either. The setting and the rules of the world could have been described a lot better.

Thank you so much for the approval of this book!

I ended up DNF'ing at 10% I was just not vibing with the story, which made me sad because I love a good peter pan retelling. Since I did not finish the book, I will be rating in the middle.

Thank you again!

I did not have time to finish unfortunately thanks to life getting in the way. I have purchased the book however and plan to read it.

Sadly I didn’t connect to the characters. The story itself was interesting but I think I enjoyed the concept better than the execution itself.

I had high hopes for this one and it felt like just an okay read for me. I had a hard time connecting to the characters. I’m not sure if it was due to my preconceived notion of the kids movie characters or the way they were portrayed.

Title: These Deathless Shores by P.H. Low
Genre: Dark Fairytale Retelling
Pub Date: July 9, 2024
464 pages

Substance Abuse
Peter Pan Retelling
Disability Rep (Limb Difference)
Mental Health Disorders
LGBTQ+ Characters
Mild Spice 🌶

Peter Pan retelling where Pan is evil and pixie dust is not only a drug, but it's made from the ground bones of Lost Boys who grew old? Okay!

I feel that These Deathless Shores had a lot of potential, and the author is obviously very talented, but this one wasn't for me. I appreciate that the author was trying to bring diversity into a childhood favorite and making it dark to appeal to an older audience.

I found the premise to be interesting, but I was very disappointed at the lack of world building or character descriptions. I don't think Peter is described at all, and he's literally the villain!

Baron is an anxious mess (which I 1000% identify with bc that's literally me) and Jordan is abrasive, addicted to drugs and seems selfish. I didn't understand the "romance" between them, it felt very forced and wrong, like Jordan was taking advantage of Baron?

Even though I didn't resonate with this particular story, I'll still happily read Low's next works!

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Orbit, for the digital review copy!

while an ambitious and creative peter pan retelling, it was not for me.
i appreciate the representation in it though.

I was not a fan of this book. I had high hopes but the writing seemed rushed and unpolished.
While the premise gave me a lot of interest, the execution simply wasn’t there.