Never Never by Brianna Shrum: Book Review and Book Trailer

Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Tuesday, September 29, 2015 12:00 AM

Never Never

Brianna Shrum

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Synopsis: 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.

My Thoughts 5 Stars

Why?

Everything that James loves, Peter and the Lost Boys try to take away.
I never would have pegged myself as someone who would want a child dead, but I will never see Pan in the same way ever again and I wanted him dead so hard.

Neverland!

I LOVE the world building in this book. Neverland was created and built out of dreams and it exists to create the dreams of children.

Many things you visualize when you think of Neverland such as the mermaid lagoon, the forests, Tiger Lily's tribe, the sea, the pirates, the fairies are all there BUT the world is also alive. Everything in Neverland has it's pulse connected to Peter Pan. His moods, and even his presence effect how it looks and even how people feel. This was fascinating.

Romance! 

This was one of the reasons why I was so excited about this book. I love seeing Tiger Lily's character brought more to life than we've seen in the book, play and movies. She's always there, but not given any spotlight time.

• Tiger Lily is strong, speaks truth and she and James are so HOT together. Just saying. 

The Writing Style

This was one of my favorite aspects of the book. James is young, 11 or 12 when Peter convinces him to come to Neverland. The book reminded me so much of a classical fairy tale in it's style. It was gorgeous to read.

The writing also matures throughout the book because James begins to grow up. The book starts off almost middle grade in content but progressively moves more and more mature in violence, romance, and other adult content. I wouldn't say it goes over the top in any way but I wouldn't let my kids read it until they were teens.

But, as for me, YES LOVED IT!

Side Characters

To me, all good books have great side or secondary characters. This was true of Never Never. When James was with the Lost Boys, he builds friendships with them and some more than others. I loved how they truly seemed and acted like children.

Mermaids: The mermaids were very cool in Never Never. They were beautiful, playful but also a bit sinister. Much like a lot of things in Neverland.

The pirates! Yay! We get the pleasure to meet many pirates aboard The Spanish Main, Hook's ship. Starkey is James' first mate and he's always there to set Hook straight when he's making or about to make a foolish choice. Smee is also here and is a delightful character.

Hook

It developed a character who was given an opportunity to tell his story, one in which deserves to be told.

I loved this book to pieces and I will forever encourage everyone I know to read it. I was emotionally invested throughout the entire book. This story was truly was life changing.