Lost in the Never Woods

I saw Lost in the Never Woods at work and thought it sounded fun. I like fairy tale retellings, and have really enjoyed the Peter Pan stories I've read (specifically The Child Thief by Brom and Lost Boy by Christina Henry). So I was quite excited, especially for a story about a more grown up Wendy trying to remember her time in Neverland.

Lost in the Never Woods opens with a very traumatized Wendy trying to finish her volunteer shift at the hospital. But when the police show up to ask questions about a child who went missing, she is, of course, under suspicion. Five years previously, Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods; only Wendy returned, and she has no memory of what happened during that time. But when, on her way home, she nearly hits a strange boy with her truck, and recognizes him as the boy who she has been secretly drawing for years, she begins to piece together what exactly happened to her family all those years ago.

I really enjoyed Thomas' version of Peter Pan (the character). Out of the Peter Pan retellings I've read, this Peter is the most wholesome. He is upbeat, friendly, brave, and just a really wonderful guy.

I also quite liked the ending of the story, when you find out exactly what is happening (spoilers here): What Peter's Shadow is (the manifestation of the fear and anger of a person) and how he is gaining power (he has been kidnapping local kids and feeding off their fear). What happened to Wendy's brothers (they tragically passed five years ago), what Peter is (he is like a guardian spirit who brings the souls of children who meet tragic ends to Neverland where they can recover and finally move on), what happened to Wendy all those years ago (she was the one and only living girl to go to Neverland; her presence, and also that Peter likes her (she is the only person he has ever really wanted for himself) are what caused Peter's Shadow to start to gain power and split off from Peter), all of that was really well done.

....unfortunately, it is a SLOG to get there. I wasn't prepared for that at all...pretty much nothing happens for a good 50-60% of the book. I very nearly stopped reading it multiple times (and wouldn't have felt bad if I had because it was so boring). A friend of mine suggested I keep trying because Thomas is an author she likes, so I did decide to persevere. The end was good, but you honestly could skip the first 200 pages and wouldn't miss a whole lot. This really should have been a novella, or a Murderbot-sized book; coming in at nearly 400 pages, Lost in the Never Woods should have lost a lot of the excess bloat.

While the end of Into the Never Woods was rather good, I do not recommend this book as a whole. I am proud of myself for making it through though. Unfortunately, having read it, I have no desire to read anything else by Thomas (at least at this time).