The Neverland Wars by Audrey Greathouse

Amazon/Barnes&Noble/Goodreads

Published by: Clean Teen Publishing

Review by: Dani Hoots

Magic can do a lot―give you flight, show you mermaids, help you taste the stars, and… solve the budget crisis? That’s what the grown-ups will do with it if they ever make it to Neverland to steal its magic and bring their children home.

However, Gwen doesn’t know this. She’s just a sixteen-year-old girl with a place on the debate team and a powerful crush on Jay, the soon-to-be homecoming king. She doesn’t know her little sister could actually run away with Peter Pan, or that she might have to chase after her to bring her home safe. Gwen will find out though―and when she does, she’ll discover she’s in the middle of a looming war between Neverland and reality.

She’ll be out of place as a teenager in Neverland, but she won’t be the only one. Peter Pan’s constant treks back to the mainland have slowly aged him into adolescence as well. Soon, Gwen will have to decide whether she’s going to join impish, playful Peter in his fight for eternal youth… or if she’s going to scramble back to reality in time for the homecoming dance.

An interesting take on Peter Pan, this book brings back the wonders of every child. We all dream that we will have Peter fly to our room and take us to Neverland, but for Gwen, it didn’t seem like a reality. Sure, when she was a kid, she believed in fairy tales, but now she was in High School and things like that didn’t happen. At least, that’s what she thought, until her sister was kidnapped by Peter and taken to Neverland. Now she must save her and the only way to do that is to be taken by Peter to Neverland.

I found this book to be very interesting, although slow in some areas. It felt a lot like the Disney movie that came out when I was in middle school, but with Peter being a bit older. In this story he is high school age, because every time he went to the real world, it started to take a toll. I liked this idea and it made perfect sense to me.

I did want to know more about the war, what the reason behind it was, and why Gwen found herself in the middle of it. I also didn’t care for the ending, and didn’t understand why she would go to there (won’t spoil it) so it felt a little rushed and off to me, especially after everything that had happened. I do want to know what happens and can’t wait to read the next book.

All in all, if you love Neverland, definitely read this book. I give it 3.5/5 stars, as I think it got have a little substance to it and a little better ending, but it is still really entertaining and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t want to grow up. Also, the mermaids were pretty cool…