A dark retelling of Peter Pan, Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas follows 18 year old Wendy Darling who is suddenly reliving a trauma that happened five years ago. When she was 12, Wendy and her brothers John and Michael went missing. Wendy was found alone in the woods 6 months later, but there was no sign of her brothers and she had no memory of what happened. Now, the day after her 18th birthday, local children are going missing and the cops are wondering if it’s somehow connected to her disappearance. What’s weirder, as she’s driving home through the woods, something dark slams into her windshield and she finds a young redheaded boy lying in the middle of the road. When he wakes up he says his name is Peter and he knows who Wendy is, but she has no idea who he is. He does look familiar though, kind of like the boy Peter Pan who her mother used to tell stories about when she was a kid. He claims Wendy needs to help him find his shadow and put them back together like she did when she was a kid. Could this really be THE Peter Pan? And are the missing children somehow connected to his sudden appearance?
I’m a fan of fairy tale retellings so I really enjoyed this book! The writing is very well done – very atmospheric and I really felt like I was deep in the woods of Oregon with Wendy and Peter. The mystery hooks you right in and there are some parts that are truly chilling.
I loved Aiden Thomas’s debut book Cemetery Boys, and he has it hit out of the park once again with Lost in the Never Woods. Thomas is definitely a new name in young adult literature to watch out for!
