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Never Never

Brianna R. Shrum

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Jun 28, 2015 Stacie (Shy Book Nerd) rated it really liked it

Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5

Never Never is a Peter Pan retelling, and like all retellings I have to read them! Whether they're good, bad, or not even remotely close to the original story I have to see how a certain story is played out. This retelling is told from the perspective of Captain James Hook, from the age of 12 to adulthood. Is he really the bad guy, or is Peter Pan the more evil of the two?

Well, it turns out I have a love/hate relationship with this book. In this retelling Peter Pan is Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5

Never Never is a Peter Pan retelling, and like all retellings I have to read them! Whether they're good, bad, or not even remotely close to the original story I have to see how a certain story is played out. This retelling is told from the perspective of Captain James Hook, from the age of 12 to adulthood. Is he really the bad guy, or is Peter Pan the more evil of the two?

Well, it turns out I have a love/hate relationship with this book. In this retelling Peter Pan is made out to be the bad guy of the story. Peter is sinister, cruel, and is no way innocent. I really HATE him in this book. He practically kidnapped James when he was still a child, and showed no mercy to him when he wanted to go home. From the start, Peter was cruel to James. James never wanted to stay a child. He always wanted to grow up. Peter tried making him a Lost Boy so that he could stay a child, but James grew up despite Peter's warning.

I liked that the author gave James a conscience. Where as Peter was merciless and killed for pleasure, James was every bit the remorseful person. Even when he had to kill other pirates he hated that he had to. It made me love and care for the captain all the more.

I love the way the author told the story. She captivated me from the start and made me root for someone who is supposed to be horribly bad. I wasn't sure how I would feel since it started James off as a child, but the transitioning of the story flowed well. I could picture parts of the story from the Disney movie. Those parts really made me think how James felt from his point of view.

My absolute favorite part of the book was the SHIP. By ship I mean the romance between James Hook and Tiger Lily. Oh man, I loved them together and I did not want their romance to stop. Tiger Lily is the only person Hook cared about. She understood him like no else could. They had their moments of disagreements, but they some how found their way back in each other's arms. It was a slow burn romance, but when they finally kiss, boy are there some steamy moments. At one point I had to fan myself.

The one part, and my least favorite part of the book had to be the ending. I was rooting for Hook completely and I felt like the ending was left a little underwhelming for me. As I said before, the latter part of the book follows the movie. And well, most of you know what happens at the end. I was not happy with this ending at all. I felt like it was rushed and left a little open ended. I was just hoping for more. I felt like I was crushed, or more like thrown off the plank of a ship with nothing to grasp on to.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Despite the ending and some slow moments, I thought this was a really fun retelling. There's many fight scenes with not only the Lost Boys, but many pirates too. There's even a small mention of Blackbeard. I rooted for Hook from start to finish, and I'll always have a soft spot for him now. He became bad for reasons that are justified. I really recommend this to anyone who loves retellings. Who knows? Maybe you will become a pirate lover too!

**Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my view of the book.**

...more

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Aug 10, 2015 Pili rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-debut-challenge

I knew it... I knew the ending would destroy me. Brianna did a wonderful job of giving a new life to both Peter Pan and James Hook and gave a villain a story worth of being his own hero. *goes to stuff herself silly with cookies now*

This book had been in my wish list as one of the debuts to keep in mind, and after my very talented friend Sarah made her book trailer SEE HERE and then I got super excited and requested it from NG as soon as I saw it there! Thank you so much to Spencer Hill Press fo I knew it... I knew the ending would destroy me. Brianna did a wonderful job of giving a new life to both Peter Pan and James Hook and gave a villain a story worth of being his own hero. *goes to stuff herself silly with cookies now*

This book had been in my wish list as one of the debuts to keep in mind, and after my very talented friend Sarah made her book trailer SEE HERE and then I got super excited and requested it from NG as soon as I saw it there! Thank you so much to Spencer Hill Press for approving me!

Never Never is a fascinating story with a voice that change and progresses as the story does and grows as James does. The writing is very visual and it wraps you into the story with ease. Sometimes I was a bit confused because it seemed we switched from first person to third person for small periods of time and that was a bit disconcerting, but served also as a way to enhance the storytelling quality of the story.

Retellings aren't exactly my favourite thing to read, but when they are done from a different POV and even more if the POV is from the villain of the story... I'm all in! And Never Never succeeded in giving us a new perspective on not just James Hook but the entire Neverland story and of course, Peter Pan!

I've never read the original story (I know, I know...) so my only Peter Pan knowledge comes from two movies: the Disney version and Hook with a grown up Peter. Now reading Never Never made me think of how we sometimes lighten up tales that were darker in origin and I wonder if the original story also had this darker undertones.

Peter is an intriguing character, a forever child, one that has not grown to learn compassion or empathy and that is selfish and egotistical and doesn't see further that his own wants and needs. Even with a certain selective memory to forget what he doesn't like and no remorse for his choices. I feel like he is a mix of the worse qualities from a toddler and teenager mixed together!

We meet James Hook as a child and one that doesn't want to remain a child but wants to grow up, so him going to Neverland seemed like a bit of a doomed choice, one destined for unhappiness. He is fascinated by Peter Pan but he is never a Lost Boy, so he finds himself growing apart from Peter & the boy and growing up into a pirate, with an unhappy heart full of resentment.

He's not exactly the hero nor the villain of his own story, not really. He hates Peter Pan and not without reason, but he finds himself in a position with very limited choices and he doesn't always make the best ones either. He's such a nuanced character, full of hate, love, longing and remorse.

Tiger Lily is a much more present character that I ever saw in the movies and so glad of it, because she's a very strong female character that also has to make some really hard choices. Some that would even touch on the clash between destiny, purpose and free will.

The ending of the book can't be considered a surprise, given how it follows the original story, but after everything that we went through in the book it does pack quite the emotional punch!

A very much deserving 4 stars for this stunning debut! Looking forward to reading more from Brianna Shrum for sure! ...more

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Apr 24, 2015 Lauren marked it as to-read

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