I love Peter Pan. I’m a sucker for a fairytale reimagined or revisited. And I thoroughly enjoyed Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas when I read it earlier this year. So, when Lost in the Never Woods found itself on my TBR, it was an insta-read for me.

Wendy Darling has just turned 18. Her younger brothers have been missing for five years, and Wendy herself was missing for months as well, but returned with no memory of what happened. It’s a safe quiet town, but when other children start disappearing, the police come knocking on Wendy’s door to see if she has any answers. She doesn’t- but the boy she finds in the middle of the road might. Peter, who she thought only existed in her stories, needs her help. But in order to do so, Wendy is going to need to face her fears in the woods, and to revisit the traumas of her past … is she really ready for that?

This is a fabulous book, examining the impacts of trauma on the dynamic of the family and the people it touches. The last few chapters felt a little rushed to me, with some monologuing filling in details to get us to the end, but it didn’t detract overly from my enjoyment of it. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the purpose of Neverland and Peter’s role in caring for the lost boys. A solid 4.5/5 read for me, which solidifies Aiden Thomas as one of my favourite new author finds for 2021.

And, just an aside – this is book 111 for the year, which is as many books as I read in 2020! I wonder what this year’s total will be?