I tried, I really tried. I made it about 60 pages in before I had to put it down and DNF. I really felt zero connection to any of the characters, and nothing was really drawing me in to continue further. I think this book has potential, and perhaps someone who was really a fan of Peter Pan would enjoy it more, but it was a miss for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book was fine. Although I wasn’t sure about the beginning of the book, I did find myself engaged and compelled to finish the story throughout. Now having finished the story I am glad that I stuck it out, however I think it would’ve made a good stand alone bc I don’t think I would continue the series.

I liked the characters for the most part, but they did feel a little flat for me. I also wouldn’t necessarily call this book a romance as the romance is definitely a subplot. I think there are mentions of the fmc wanting to have sex relatively frequently that didn’t really add to the story and felt awkward and out of place. It’s also marketed as dark and the only thing that’s really dark about it is her dying (which isn’t a spoiler, it says right in the blurb that she dies).

The writing was good, and the story was compelling enough. I think there were too many named characters that weren’t really very relevant, and I hated the last chapter. Overall I liked most of the book well enough but I don’t think I would recommend this book to a friend.

2.75 ⭐️
No real spice

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I enjoyed The Island of Dreams by Jaye Viner for its fresh eerie, imaginative take on Peter Pan.

Justines journey had me pulled in from the start with her struggle between the two brothers to her fight to regain her power.

While some pacing issues held this back, the writing was immersive, and the themes of time and childhood added real depth.

Look forward to reading more books by this author!

This is an ARC review. I received an early edition of this book through NetGalley, all thoughts and opinions are true and my own.

3.5 ⭐️

This book is a darker retelling of the classic story Peter Pan. That being said, our protagonist is Justine who fills the shoes of Wendy Darling as mother and storyteller. Makbal replaces Peter Pan as the magical boy that takes boys off to Neverland. Throughout the story, Justine tries to understand where she fits in alongside trying to find out what happened to the "mothers" before her. Enter 'The Black Hook', the apparent villain who has taken the blame for all things wrong with the island.

Overall, if you are as big a fan of the original story as I am, you'll probably find some enjoyment in this book.

That being said, there were some issues with character development. I didn't really understand what the motives were for half of the characters, and the ending to this book didn't really answer any of my questions.

*spoilers beyond here*

When Justine loses her arm her immediate worry is the nobody will want to bed her? I think this is just a ridiculous first worry to come from this big change in her life. To be honest she thought a bit too much about the touch of a man throughout the story that I found myself rolling my eyes sometimes. Other than this, she really cared about the lost boys and I loved seeing her become their "mother".

I appreciated the diversity of the boys, and the added fact of them coming from different points in time as well as place was a really interesting change! I hope the differing times aspect gets included in more detail in the next book.

The look into disability and how Hook handles and overcomes it was an interesting take. You don't often stop to look at Hook and think of him in that regard.

DNF this book, but purely based on my very own perception.

It's really more personal that i couldn't get trough this book.
It started out great though, the island building and background information.
But... never was a big Peter Pan fan, never will, and couldn't get past it.

Gave it a shot since it was nicely written and had a very appealing cover art.
Thanks to NetGalley for the read

This beautifully dark retelling of the Peter Pan and Neverland story had my attention captures all the way through. Viner weaves a complex world of an afterlife with its own struggles. The concept of the island being the chance for children to be children before their final destination is a beautiful thing. The characters were complex and it was easy to feel like you were right there with them with how well you are able to get attached. Thank god for the map or I would’ve gotten turned around as I was taken on the adventure of this book. I look forward to the next one!

Island of Dreams had an intriguing premise and a world I wanted to dive into, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite land for me. I’ve always been a fan of Peter Pan retellings, and while this one had a unique angle, I found the characters a bit flat and struggled to connect with their motivations.

There’s clearly imagination and thought behind the setting, and I do appreciate where the author’s mind is creatively—but this story just didn’t work for me. While I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series, I’m still curious about what else Jaye Viner might write in the future.

This was a really fun and creative Peter Pan retelling! Justine was such a cool character and seeing her journey to the island and dealing with the two brothers was very fun and intriguing. I highly recommend this one!

When I first saw the cover and read that this was a Peter Pan retelling, I just knew I had to read it! I’ve always loved them, and this was no exception!!

It was such a unique story with new twists on certain characters. It’s a dark fantasy, although to me it honestly wasn’t even that dark.

Also, I have to say that I found all the Lost Boys absolutely adorable!!

I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves Peter Pan retellings and dark fantasy!

Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC!! 🫶🏻

This was a creative retelling of Peter Pan that was very interesting. I do wish there was more romance to this story since it's supposed to be a dark romance retelling of Peter Pan, I felt like the romance part was very lost in the story. Just a bit more focus on the romance would've been nice in my opinion. The bond and care the FMC had with the boys was great and I really enjoyed that. The complexity of the FMC'd relationships with both of the MMCs were very interesting. The overall plot was good, I just wish there had been a bit more focus on the romance.

This was a darker retelling of Peter Pan. The writing gave us an amazing world building experience. You could fully picture being a part of the world. The cover is gorgeous as well. Sadly, that is where the good part ended. The character development was lost and only one note. If the Author had put more into the character writing itself, this book could take off. It took a long time to get through this book due to not feeling a connection to characters and plot. Everything felt forced and not a natural flow. Plus, this was supposed to be a dark romance but it barely dipped it's toe into the genre. It was a bit disappointing.

Island of Dreams was beautifully written, with tons of imagery and imagination. The story started out very strong, but it failed to constantly keep my attention, and sometimes left me confused. I would say I liked it, but didn’t love it.

I loved how this book started off (the writing is very poetic!!)but around 30 percent through, I decided to DNF. I'm the type of person that wants to be entertained from the get go and I think I was in the beginning, but then I started getting confused and didn't feel like continuing the story as I wasn't understanding much. It could definitely be a me problem but yeah 😅😅 I gave it a three as I think it has great potential but I didn't really finish so three is a half way mark to 5. I still recommend it, it's not for me though.

Jaye Viner’s The Island of Dreams is a deliciously dark and subversive reimagining of Peter Pan, where Neverland’s whimsy curdles into something far more sinister—and where love spells come with lethal consequences. When Justine, a young woman desperate to escape her mundane life, accidentally ensnares Peter Pan instead of her intended target, she’s whisked away to Neverland under a fatal bargain: her presence there comes at the cost of her own life. What follows is a haunting exploration of disability, misplaced desire, and the toxic underbelly of eternal youth.

Viner’s Neverland is a far cry from the carefree paradise of childhood lore. Here, the island is a gilded cage ruled by capricious death gods and populated by lost souls who’ve traded autonomy for the illusion of freedom. Justine, with her sharp wit and physical disability, makes for a compellingly flawed heroine—her initial vanity giving way to a fight for survival that forces her to confront the true cost of “dreams” built on others’ suffering. The dynamic between her and Peter crackles with tension, blurring the lines between saviour and predator.

The prose is lush and atmospheric, dripping with gothic undertones that evoke Alix E. Harrow’s fairy-tale revisions. Viner excels at twisting familiar lore into fresh horrors (think: Tinker Bell’s loyalty as something monstrous, the Lost Boys as a cult of forgotten casualties). While the pacing lags slightly in the middle, the climax delivers a gut-punch reckoning with themes of bodily autonomy and the violence of utopian delusions.

Island of Dreams by Jaye Viner is such a good book. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.

This book was great! This book is a retelling of Peter Pan. It is quite dark and I would definitely read the content warning. But the story was very well written.

Love the comparison to the original story we know and love! The depth of learning about the island and characters. Such a new interesting story in a classic we never want to let go of!.

In The Island of Dreams, Jaye Viner offers a bold and dark reinvention of the classic tale of Peter Pan. This novel introduces us to Justine, a young woman living in London at the end of the 19th century. If she hopes to escape her miserable fate — cleaning floors in the orphanage that took her in — she must turn to magic. She decides to cast a love spell meant to attract an ideal man, but instead she accidentally draws Peter Pan to her — here known as Mak. To save her friend Sarah, she agrees to follow him.

Mak takes her to Neverland, a place that initially appears to be paradise but gradually reveals a far more disturbing truth. This dreamlike realm manipulates time, blurs the boundary between life and death, and forces Justine to confront unsettling revelations about both Mak and the island itself.

The story explores powerful themes such as death, disability, and the disillusionment with utopias. Justine is swept into a quest where her sense of reality falters, and every decision brings her closer to a point of no return.

Jaye Viner’s writing is rich and immersive, transporting the reader into a world that feels both familiar and profoundly transformed.

All in all, The Island of Dreams is a haunting and gripping read — one that invites us to revisit the fairy tales of our childhood through a darker, more adult lens.

The content warning is where I'm DNFing the book. Really appreciate being told upfront what this book wants to discuss, and can now make the informed decision of not continuing since the content seems to be drastically different than what I expected based on the synopsis.

The cover of this book is stunning and that’s what initially drew me in to read it 🤩 I was sceptical at first as I’m not a big fan of retellings, and this book is a retelling of Peter Pan…

However, I really enjoyed this 🫶🏻 This was a great dark fantasy take on Peter Pan with so much to offer like pirates, mermaids, fae, an untrustworthy Peter Pan, Captain Black Hook, and a magical island. It follows the story of Justine and her time in Neverland as mother to the lost boys.

I loved the depth given to Black Hook and his back story/love story. I also loved the disability representation this book had and the strength and character of the FMC!

Overall, a great read and I’m intrigued to see where the story goes in the second part of this duology! This book is available from July 22nd 🌟

I read this advanced reader copy from NetGalley, and this is my honest review. Thank you to the author and publisher ✨