Lost In The Never Woods Review

Hi friends! Today I’m bringing you my Lost In The Never Woods Review! This is the latest book from Aiden Thomas and I was lucky enough to receive the audiobook from Libro.FM. This dark Peter Pan retelling really had me feeling some feels. Let’s dive in!

New Adult SFF Book Recs!

Title: Lost in the Never Woods

Author: Aiden Thomas

Rating: 3 Stars

CAWPILE: 6.2/10

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling

Content Warnings: Death, Trauma, Kidnapping, Anxiety, Murder, Gun Violence

Format: Audiobook

Publisher: Swoon Reads

Date Published: March 23rd 2021

Goodreads Description: It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road, and gets pulled into the mystery haunting the town.

Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, claims that if they don’t do something, the missing children will meet the same fate as her brothers. In order to find them and rescue the missing kids, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.

I received a review copy from Libro.FM. All opinions are my own.

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Lost In The Never Woods Review

Characters – 6/10

I’m conflicted about the characters. On the one hand, Thomas writes about their grief and pain very well. But on the other hand, I felt as if there wasn’t much debt to them besides their pain.

Let’s start with Wendy, our main protagonist. She’s (for a lack of a better word) pretty bland. But you can clearly see the way her grief has affected her. Grief is such a powerful emotion and Thomas really does an amazing job of conveying it.

Peter just annoyed me. I found him to be really childish most of the time, even though he was supposed to be “growing up”. It made his relationship with Wendy also feel a little weird since she is 18 and he’s supposed to be an immortal child.

Overall the characters just felt a little lacklustre to me.

Atmosphere – 7/10

Lost in the Never Woods had some truly creepy scenes. So much so that I didn’t listen to it at night. And that’s awesome. The tone of this book is supposed to be darker and Thomas conveyed it really well. The woods felt like this imposing, menacing character always looming over Wendy.

This is such a sad story, with a bit of hope at the end. Thomas makes you feel all the emotions and I loved that.

Writing – 7/10

I don’t have any strong feelings about the writing either way. It was easy to read, though at some places the audiobook narrator’s voice really grated on me. I can’t blame him though, since I listened to this book right after my surgery and I was super sensitive.

Plot – 5/10

The plot was really just too slow for my tastes. We started off great, and it seemed like the plot was going to move really fast considering the inciting incident happens at the end of the first chapter. However, it just slowed down so much. There was no real urgency, even though the situation of the missing children was very urgent.

Most of the “action” happens at about the 80% mark, which is just too slow for me.

Lost in the Never Woods Review

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Intrigue – 5/10

The main conflict in the book was sort of Wendy and her parents learning to accept her grief, but also the more tangible conflict between Peter and his shadow. I wish we had gotten a bit more lore and information about Peter and his shadow. However, I did enjoy the themes of this book. Accepting your grief is never easy and Thomas handled those aspects of the conflict very well.

Logic – 7/10

I really enjoyed how this retelling took the Peter Pan story back to its roots. If you know the original story the ending of this book wouldn’t surprise you, but it was still a good read. The story does get really dark, so check the CW before reading.

Enjoyment – 7/10

Overall I really enjoyed Lost in the Never Woods. Peter Pan retellings are some of my favourite retellings and I’m glad that Thomas wrote this book.

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