I was SO excited to read this Peter Pan retelling! I LOVED this. This story had some triggering/dark moments but it was SUPER inclusive. Characters with disabilities, eating disorders, addictions and LGBTQ+!

“They had both knew from the beginning that they would not save each other.”

“These Deathless Shores,” by P.H. Low

A peter pan retelling with addiction to dust magic and dark themes. I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, I just didn’t vibe with it. I was bored at many parts of the book and the dark concept was written in a way that was poetic but strange and not in a good way for me. Check out trigger warnings before reading. 2 out of 5 stars.

Thank you for the ARC, Netaglley.

This is not the Peter Pan your grandmother read to you.
In this dark reimagining of Peter Pan we see what the repercussions of living as a lost boy has when they return to the world. I can honestly say that the way the author dealt with the addiction the dust causes was written very well. It was fast paced with just enough time between the action to catch your breath then it's pedal to the metal again. This was a very well written novel that dealt with a few dark topics. I really enjoyed this book, just be aware there are several topics you may be triggered by such as addiction, eating disorders and thoughts of self harm. All in all a solid read l.

I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reading this.

I give books usually until the 25% mark to find out if I want to join them on this ride they're taking me on to the end. Sadly, this was an awfully big (and too confusing) adventure for me.

While I am all for Peter Pan re-imaginings the world building was confusing and felt half-baked. There was some sort of insta love with Tier and the 'mother' character of the island. Jordan was too brash, angry and unfeeling with her friend that joined her on the island as well.

The book didn't seem to really have a purpose and a end-game of why they were on the island except to get high again ('dust').

Thanks, but no thanks.

I really enjoyed the writing in this, it felt very fresh. The story really grabs you at the beginning and does not let you go. This feels like a book I will be coming back to.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I love fairytale retellings, and Peter Pan is one of my favorite types of retellings. The first chapter was amazingly written, and I found Jordan so exciting. Then, it went downhill. This is such an intricate world PH created, but there was no world building. We were just expected to know all the intricacies without any explanation, and the constant jumps between 4 different POVs without any warning only further confused me. Ultimately, I DNF’d around 25% but I’m definitely interested in trying more of this author’s work in the future. I truly believe once they finesse their skill set and improve on their world building, then the sky is the limit for them.

These Deathless Shores is a dark revisiting to Neverland and the truth behind the boy who never grows up. I was very drawn in by the premise, but the story as a whole wasn’t quite for me. I do think there are many who will love it.

The author’s writing is beautiful, and they cover many important conversations (addiction, anxiety, eating disorders). For me, a little more levity, in addition to the serious dark subject matter, would have added to the story and characters.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

These Deathless Shores was a book that I think most people would love, it just never clicked for me. It is the story of two former Lost Boys who return to the Island (Neverland) to face the trauma of their past. The story also focuses on the ama (mother) of the current Lost Boys and the pilot who carries the other two back. This story has stunning prose and deals with some very heavy topics in a very lived in way.

This book is full of representation, in particular I found Jordan’s story the most compelling. The struggle of addiction was done with care and it had a major impact on every action and every relationship.

I think if I were to give this book a second chance it would rank higher for me just because I would have understood a bit more of the world building that I did not get at first.

3.75/5

Didn’t really care for this book as much as I had hoped to. The story was a little dark and had multiple issues spoken about.

While I loved the writing and how the author used their words skillfully to set the mood and maintain the grimdark tone throughout the novel, ultimately, this was just an okay read for me.

But I'm now very interested in reading the author's short stories and any of their future works, so at least something good came out of this arc.

I really like how this is a Southeast Asian twist on Peter Pan, and the analogues to our actual world are easily comparable. You're reading about a fantasy world, yet you can place San Jukong in real life Southeast Asia, maybe give or take a few years into the future.

There are some hints of geopolitics that included imperialism, and while I would've loved to read more on that, sadly, we don't spend enough time there.

Instead, most of the story takes place on the Island where Peter and the Lost Boys live, along with the pirates and the Pales. This is where it sort of lost me.

I didn't really understand how big or small the Island is supposed to be. In one scene, a character allied with the pirates happens to stumble upon another character who's part of Peter's crew. So, is the Island so small that you can easily go from the pirates' territory to Peter's hideout that easily? Then, wouldn't it be easy to spy on each other? (Which no one really did...) None of the MCs ever went to the Pales' territory, so does that mean that the Pales are physically far away from the Pirates and Peter's crew? Idek.

I also didn't understand what Peter and Tink were supposed to look like. I'm someone who can picture things in cinematic quality, but all I could work with were the Disney versions.

There were no decent descriptions of Peter, and the only description of Tink felt very lite ("tiny face, gossamer wings, faint ridges of exoskeleton tracing its abdomen and shoulders"). Since Peter was technically the Big Bad (of sorts), I expected a lot more.

I didn't like the romances at all. Maybe this is just a me thing, but the relationship between Jordan and Baron felt oddly predatory, as in Jordan was only preying on Baron's good nature. Baron's character was written like he had no backbone, while Jordan was very domineering. Idk. It gave me bad vibes. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to root for them or not. It was strange and at times, weirdly uncomfortable to read.

The insta love between Tier and Chay? Oh boy. I was having a great time with the arc until that came out of nowhere. It was so unbelievable. I actually flipped through my Kindle to see if I missed something. Maybe there was a scene or two that actually built on their relationship before the insta love?

Nope.

And Chay's character? I didn't understand why she wanted to stay on the Island when Peter and the Boys only used her as their maid. It wasn't like she was worst off outside. She was the youngest daughter and her parents loved her. To give that up and live as a maid to immature boys? I was so confused the entire time even though I knew I was supposed to sympathize with her situation.

And for Chay, someone who was living on the Island for a decade or so, to randomly fall in love with some mediocre white guy whose life she saved? What?? The author tried really hard to get readers to sympathize with Tier (insert poor little rich kid trope), but I didn't care much for him, his POV, or his love for Chay.

I wasn't sure if this was set up as some kind of dichotomy between Chay vs. Peter and the Boys (as in, Chay's a good person while Peter and the Boys are antagonistic and territorial), but it was so unbelievable. I couldn't get through their chapters fast enough.

For a grimdark fantasy, the ending wrapped up way too easily and with a pretty pink bow on top. I guess I'm too cynical for all of this.

But, on the plus side, I did really like the limb difference rep and how the author portrayed issues such as panic attacks, eating disorders, and drug addiction. I can't speak for any of them though, so I'd suggest reading reviews from users with personal experience for more insight on those topics.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

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In many ways, this book is firing on all cylinders. The prose is lovely, the setting is interesting, the characters are three-dimensional and diverse, and the representation of that diversity is superb.

So why didn't I like it more?

Truth is, I couldn't get past the grimy joylessness pervading the narrative and sapping my will to keep reading. While the characters were well-realized, I did not find them likable in their nigh-universal misery and self-pity. In particular, Jordan and Baron's relationship, which could have been a great source of respite and triumph instead felt like a repetitive masochism tango.

There are a ton of other people who will love this book, and Low is clearly very skilled. But I'm just glad I finished it.

Jordan and Baron were former Lost Boys, but the Island isn't as magical as the stories we grew up on. Peter is evil and pixie Dust is addictive. After suffering from unbearable Dust withdrawal, Jordan convinces her best friend Baron to return to the Island to kill Peter and capture Tink, the source of Dust.

I loved the premise of this story. I've wanted to read a more adult version of Peter Pan and this had some of the elements I was looking for. It was brutal and gory in what the Lost Boys do to the adults they capture. Peter is the absolute worst and you root for his demise. Beyond that, this story fell flat for me. It was very repetitive. Jordan and Baron's relationship switches between loving and hating each other every other chapter. While I understand that they both suffered their own traumatic experiences when they were Lost Boys, it was very underwhelming. Halfway through the story I found myself skimming the pages just to get through their internal struggles. The action was spread out too far and I felt this could have been about 100 pages shorter.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed how dark this retelling went. While at times confusing for the most part it worked.

Thank you to Orbit Books for my arc!

I'm so sad. I had such high hopes for this but i could not for the life of me around the 75% mark keep going so i'm going to review what i have read. I love Peter Pan and how they're are so many different takes on the same story but with this it felt like this was overly long for no reason. the characters are so one dimensional that i was more interested in their relationship with peter as a children then themselves as adults. i feel like if the story started off when they were children and you see them gradually told in flashbacks. i would've loved it more.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an arc. I wanted to love this soo bad but this unfortunately didn't really work for me.

I'm very torn on how to rate this. On one hand there were aspects that I really enjoyed but some others fell a bit flat and were confusing at times and left me wanting more clarity.

Despite not being fully engaged in the book, this was a worthwhile read imo. I'll definitely be on the lookout for future works from the author!

3.25 ⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc!

Dark, raw, and beautifully written, These Deathless Shores lodged its hook in me and simply would not let go. I've never read a fairytale retelling quite like this one - and will never think of Peter Pan, Wendy, and Neverland in the same way again.

Through the eyes of former Lost Boys (and one Girl), this book asks: what happens to the Lost Boys who grow up? What is the cost of magic and flight? Who pays the price? Content warnings for some grim topics like addiction/withdrawal, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, and a whole lot of violence. But at its core, These Deathless Shores is a paean to stories, and a deeply, painfully human one.

I was not expecting a retelling like this, and it was amazing!
The horror really pulls you in and keeps you reading even through the slower parts of the book, I loved the pacing but the ending felt like there could have been more.
Overall I'll be reading future works from Low, as well as hoping that there is more dark fairytale retellings to come!

This was way gorier than I expected. I don’t usually like Peter Pan stories, but this was surprisingly good. I feel like Peter Pan as a concept is overused and just generally not very interesting. Maybe it’s because it’s been overdone? Regardless, and it’s strange to say, this was good because of the violence.

I really liked the cyber-punk setting that then moved to magic-scary-island. It was a versatile range of settings and it was fun seeing both. I’d have loved to see more of the cyber-punk world though.

The violence and horror kept me entertained, though I felt like there were times when this got too flowery with the prose. I was also pretty confused with the ending. I thought this was going to be a Captain Hook origin story but… it wasn’t? It seemed to fall short considering how good the beginning and middle were.

Engaging worldbuilding from the beginning that wants for just a little more detail and color, though the most important setting is richly drawn. Brutal and dreamy writing that slips frequently from the main action to imbue the Island (Neverland) with smells and textures and pulsating foreboding. Jordan and Baron are likable, with the added bonus of being realistically portrayed young people grappling with pasts/presents/futures. Incisive portrayals of the bitter tragedies that come with any youth, recollection, and adulthood; Low writes to these themes with intensity and respect. This is a very graphically violent book, which I didn’t anticipate, but did not have trouble with personally. There are a few story points that I was left confused by or disappointed in, but overall, I can say that it satisfied greatly on its central premise. Real rating: 3.5 stars.