I don't think I've ever been so disappointed by a book in my entire life. If you know me, you know I LIVE and BREATHE Peter Pan, so I had huge expectations for this...that did not live up to my hopes.
Synopsis: Daphne Darling is fated, just like the rest of her family, to go to Neverland and fall for the Boy Who Never Grows Up. When her time finally comes at 17, she is a little reluctant to leave her life behind. But fate calls and she heads off to a place she's heard in stories her whole life. But once Peter starts to show his true colors, she begins to question if fate is pushing her in a different direction...into the hands of a well-known pirate. Will she follow her heart or have the stars already made up their mind?
Plot: Now, I'm already not a huge love triangle girly, so I am going to look past that in the spirit of loving Peter Pan. And to be honest, the love triangle itself, in theory, was done really well. It was just the reasoning behind the back and forth that was infuriating. To be honest, not a lot happened in general. It was mostly the boys mistreating her and her going back and forth between them. There wasn't a lot of substance to grip onto besides that. I feel like, since this is a series, there will be a lot more plot wise coming, but for now, as a first book and introduction into the series, it was lacking. The setting and writing itself were fantastic and I can't fault Jessa for that. However, her writing does lend itself a lot more towards the 21st Century and the London elite than it does for fantasy 1950 England and that showed in a lot of the diction and Daphen's inner monologue. But Neverland was perfect and the moments that reflected and mimicked previous Peter Pan installments made me giggle and kick my feet. (That dedication got me good.)
Characters: The characters were the hardest thing for me to swallow. I love Peter, and to be fair Jessa did keep him very close to the original...but for a love story, THAT Peter Pan is not a great choice to align with, and I wish she took more creative liberty with making him less insufferable and childish. Both of the men were horrific honestly. From being super interested in her finally turning 18, to being angry when she refuses sex, to the constant cheating, name calling, and just general emotional abuse, I hated them both. Daphne was also hard to read because she had zero self respect and would ping pong between both BOYS (not men) once one hurt her. The only good characters were Rune and Rye and each moment they were on page was like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately for a lot of readers, I don't think this one is a Peter Pan romance. I feel like a lot of people going into this are rooting and wanting that romance, but they are going to be quite disappointed when they figure out that not only does Peter suck, but Daphne definitely would not choose him.
2/5 stars. And only because of my loyalty to Peter.
Not sure if I'll pick up the next one.
Comments