Never Never: Sunday Street Team

I got the book Never Never free for review thanks to the Sunday Street Team!

Synopsis (GR):

James Hook is a child who only wants to grow up.

When he meets Peter Pan, a boy who loves to pretend and is intent on never becoming a man, James decides he could try being a child—at least briefly. James joins Peter Pan on a holiday to Neverland, a place of adventure created by children’s dreams, but Neverland is not for the faint of heart. Soon James finds himself longing for home, determined that he is destined to be a man. But Peter refuses to take him back, leaving James trapped in a world just beyond the one he loves. A world where children are to never grow up.

But grow up he does.

And thus begins the epic adventure of a Lost Boy and a Pirate.

This story isn’t about Peter Pan; it’s about the boy whose life he stole. It’s about a man in a world that hates men. It’s about the feared Captain James Hook and his passionate quest to kill the Pan, an impossible feat in a magical land where everyone loves Peter Pan.

Except one.

About the Author:

Brianna Shrum lives in Colorado with her high-school-sweetheart turned husband and her two little boys. She’s been writing since she could scrawl letters, and has worked with teens since she graduated out of teenager-hood, either in the writing classes she taught, or working with the youth group. Brianna digs all things YA, all things geeky, superhero-y, gamery, magical, and strange.

Her debut YA, Never Never, releases in September of this year. Her second YA, How to Make Out, releases in Fall 2016. She’d totally love to connect with you, so come say hi on her website or Twitter!

Visit her Website at briannashrum.com

Follow her on Twitter @briannashrum

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My Thoughts On The Book

I absolutely adored this book! Usually, I do these things just to give an author some constructive criticism (and because who doesn’t love free books?) But this is the kind of the book I’ll read again, just for fun…

This book is the opposite of what we usually see; Peter Pan is the bad guy, and Captain James Hook is the guy you sympathise with. At the start, we see Peter exactly how his movie portrays him. He’s a kid that never wants to grow up, and the way he talks about it, who would? In Neverland, your dreams literally come true. James wants to grow up, but he figures a little holiday in Neverland wouldn’t hurt. Peter promises that if he just wants a holiday, that’s what he’ll get. No problem. 

Except, of course, it doesn’t go down like that.

Peter treats his Lost Boys terribly. There’s a rule that states you can never be taller than Peter, and when James breaks that rule, Peter threatens to kill him. He doesn’t feed his boys, they have to “just pretend”. And God, does he get mad if you don’t pretend. He has one hell of a temper, and it’s terrifying, and sometimes life-threatening, for whoever is on the receiving end. He brutally kills pirates to kill his boredom. At times, I wanted to throw the book across the room, or jump in the book and punch Peter in the face. Or, like James, kill him.

And there’s the problem. James wanted to kill Peter, and that was all he wanted. For over half the book, that was all he focussed on. He came so close to killing him a million times, but he chickened out most of the time. He didn’t try and fail; he decided he couldn’t kill a child. I wanted a big fight scene, but just one. Not a hundred that were exactly the same, and very predictable. I would’ve liked this book a lot more if it had a purpose. The first half, we got to see James’ life as a Lost Boy. Then, Shrum lost her mojo. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book. There was just potential for me to enjoy it a lot more. 

The best part would have to be the character development of James. He went from a kid with big dreams, to an adult who knew he had no future. He’d been bested by a kid, and you could see him losing hope. He went from James, to Captain Hook. From someone fun-loving, to someone ruthless and bent on revenge. Not in a boring, malicious way. In a clever way, that brought a whole new side to our favourite villain. 

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars. I loved it, I just wish the plot had made a bit more sense