'Never Never' by Brianna Shrum

3.5 stars

‘Never Never’ begins as 12 year old James Hook prepares for his first year away at Eton School in London.  He meets the one and only Peter Pan in Kensington Park and agrees to come away for a one week holiday before he becomes an Eton man.  But Peter Pan has something else in mind…

Readers follow as young James transitions into one of Pan’s Lost Boys, though he continues to dream of going home one day to his parents and growing up.  As the anti-Pan, a boy who *wants* to grow up, Peter is not satisfied with him for long.  Hook escapes from the Lost Boys and their strange past times, and has some adventures on his own before taking his rightful place as Captain of the ship he himself dreamt up as a child in London.

As a big fan of all things Peter Pan related, I was ecstatic when this book arrived in the mail from the publisher.  This is a delightful, different spin on the characters and plot, and I enjoyed learning Hook’s motivations for disliking Peter Pan and Peter’s reasons for wanting Hook dead.  It was a fun read, even if the story did start a little slow and end in familiar territory.  The unexpected events and characters in the middle were most enjoyable for me.  Definitely a great read for fans of Peter Pan and fairy tale retellings.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.