Lost in the Never Woods

By Aiden Thomas

From the instant New York Times-bestselling author Aiden Thomas, comes Lost in the Never Woods, an atmospheric, supernatural Peter Pan retelling . . .

It has 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 the light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road. . .

Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, asks for Wendy’s help to rescue the missing kids. But, in order to find them, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Jun 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781035011247

Aiden Thomas

Aiden Thomas is a trans, Latinx, New York Times Bestselling Author with an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, OR. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color. Their books include Cemetery Boys and Lost in the Never Woods.

Reviews for Lost in the Never Woods

[mousegrl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

***Contains Spoilers***

I really wasn’t a fan of this book. I was surprised because I thought I would. I heard such wonderful things about Aiden Thomas’ Cemetery Boys that I had high expectations. I found that I had to force myself to keep reading. A lot of the plot could have been removed and it would not have affected the story at all. I felt a lot of the story was so predictable. Much of the story had plot holes. The character development was nonexistent.

While reading this book, I kept thinking about the movie Hook with Robin Williams. I kept wondering if the author was going in that direction and to explain how Peter ended up in our world. It seemed like the author was setting up the story to show that Peter wanted a change in his life. Plus why would he spend so much of the book developing a relationship between Wendy and Peter. If Peter stayed, I was interested to see how another Lost Boy would take over. Thinking about all this helped me to keep reading. Only to find out that Peter went back to his old life. Maybe if the author left them as friends instead of a love interest I would have felt differently about this book.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thomas' reimagining of Peter Pan and Wendy Darling brings such a sense of reality and danger into the childhood story, it's truly breathtaking. Almost from the moment I picked this book up, I felt as if I was holding my breath--I was entranced by the story and Thomas' dynamic take on the characters, while at the same time somewhat heartbroken for whatever might be coming, knowing that the characters' very identities and situations meant that any possible ending would be difficult for someone, on some level. Around two thirds of the way in, I found myself clutching the book with tears running down my face, though there was nothing so sad going on the page, and I had to make myself take a break--I wasn't ready to come to the end.The odd thing about this book is that it almost demands too much of a reader in some ways--it asks that you open yourself back up to the wonder of the story of Peter Pan, and engage with a child's wonder, while at the same time seeing everything as an adult--with attendant adult realities and heartbreaks sitting in the wings, demanding attention. As such, there's a weight to this book that I haven't often encountered, and at times it felt almost unbearable, in the most powerful way possible.Thomas is undoubtedly a talented storyteller, and I look forward to reading more of his works, powerful as this one was. Granted, I wish the editors had taken a heavier red pen in cutting out some adverbs/telling, but for the most part, I really enjoyed his writing and style--particularly once I was a few pages in and the story picked up. Especially since this one relied quite a bit on the original characters built into the Peter Pan story, I'm anxious to see what he'll do with characters that are 100% his own creation. Meanwhile, I absolutely recommend this book.

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book, I got a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley to review. Previous to reading this book I read Thomas’s “Cemetery Boys” and thought it was okay but not great.Story (3/5): I wasn't a huge fan of this book and almost stopped reading it about 60% of the way through. Things just move really slow in this book and are very predictable. I am usually a huge fan of Peter Pan retellings, but this was just so slow and I had a lot of trouble relating to the characters here. Most of this story isn’t really about magic but about Wendy learning to accept events in her past and move on. She is on the cusp of going to college and needs to start looking forward.Characters (3/5): The story is told completely from Wendy’s perspective and I had trouble relating to her. She just kind of floats through her life, interacting very little with anyone until she is forced to. She is supposed to be entering college soon but felt more like she was in middle school or just starting high school; she just seems really immature at times. I didn’t even enjoy Peter all that much and I thought he would be my favorite. There is a supposed type of budding romance between the two that feels a bit off because Peter is used to being a young kid and generally acts a lot younger than his age. Setting (3/5): I loved that there is a dark woods type of setting here The story takes place in a modern day small town setting. The mysterious woods are used as a backdrop for some of the more intense scenes (if you can call anything in here intense) but most of the book takes place at Wendy’s house or at the hospital she volunteers at. Writing Style (3/5): Technically this is well written. I like the precise language Thomas uses but there are just such large portions where nothing much happens. I was hoping for something more mysterious and fast-paced. This is much more introspective and the reader spends a long time watching things unravel very slowly only to get to a “big” reveal that feels predictable and abrupt. I was left feeling like, ”I stuck with this book for so long for that??!!” To be fair I wasn’t a huge fan of “Cemetary Boys” either so Thomas’s story style just doesn’t seem to mesh well with my expectations. If you want to start reading Thomas, “Cemetery Boys” was definitely the better book. My Summary (3/5): Overall this is a Peter Pan retelling I could have done without. The story just creeps along and the reveal was disappointing. I have read a bevy of Peter Pan retellings and this was among the weaker of them. This is the second Aiden Thomas book I have felt very mediocre about and don’t plan on continuing to read Thomas’s future books.If you are looking for some good Peter Pan retellings I would recommend the following: “Peter and the Starcatchers” by Dave Berry and Ridley Pearson (pre story trilogy to Peter Pan, middle grade reading level), “The Child Thief” by Brom (very dark and adult retelling but amazing!), “Neverland” by Joe Brusha (very dark and adult graphic novel retelling, beautiful illustration), “Alias Hook” by Lisa Jensen (wonderful Peter Pan tale from Hook’s perspective, a bit of time travel, really loved it), and “The Wendy Project” by Osborne and Fish (YA graphic novel, loved the illustration, neat blend of fantasy and reality), I have also read a few Peter Pan retellings that have been very mediocre: “Wendy Darling” by Colleen Oakes (kind of follows the Disney version of Peter Pan, pretty boring and not that well written) and “Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook” by Chistine Henry (moves very slow and an anti-climatic reveal), “The Promised Neverland” by Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (YA manga series that is a blend of fantasy and horror, decent and I enjoyed the first few volumes I read).Hopefully you find the above list of Peter Pan retellings helpful. I also have “Wendy, Darling” by A.C Wise on my plate to review soon...so keep your eyes out for that in the next month or so.

[giselled_45 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful continuation on the Peter Pan story. I do love how his character is explained and how important of a being he truly is. This book does deal with trauma and has some horror aspect in the story line. Both of which are needed to appreciate what it is that Peter Pan really does. I suspect that this isn't the last we hear of Peter Pan.

[sennebec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great take-off on Peter Pan. In this instance, Peter's impact spans two generations, Wendy's and her mom's, who is a nurse. This time, Wendy is a shell-shocked high school senior, still unable to get past missing memories and other traumatic effects of what happened to her and her younger brothers five years ago. She reappeared six months after the three of them vanished. Her brothers did not. When Peter appears, or more accurately reappears, he needs her help to capture and re-attach his shadow. What ensues is a mix of scary, evil, hopeful and highly emotional. The ending left me with the same bittersweet sense the I had when I finished reading The Golden Compass, and that's very high praise.

[midnightbex_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lost in the Never Woods takes the bones of Peter Pan and builds around them an horror tinged tale about grief, loss, and dealing with trauma. It's also a hopeful story about facing your fears and healing, about forgiving yourself. On Wendy Darling's 18th birthday she almost hits a boy lying unconscious in the middle of the road. He looks like the boy she keeps compulsively drawing every time there's a pen in her hand. He knows her name. There's just one problem: he can't possibly be real. He's a boy from the stories her mom told her as a kid. The ones she used to tell her brothers before all three of them went missing and only she returned. This impossible boy claiming to know her and her brothers shows up just as more kids are going missing. Now it's up to Wendy to face her biggest fears and confront her past. If she doesn't, more kids may be lost forever in the Never Woods.For the past few months I've been in a huge reading slump and this was just the book I needed to get me out of it. Normally I'm not a big one for Peter Pan stories, but this modern take got me with it's blend of the fantasy and escapism of the original with mystery, horror, and a touch of romance. Thomas deftly weaves together familiar elements from the original story and films with this eerie tale of missing children and evil, both mundane and supernatural. The true heart of the story is Wendy and her trauma. Living with the grief of her missing brothers and how it's changed her family, plus the fact that she returned alone with no memory of what happened made her internalize it. Instead of processing it, she's let it take over. She blames herself. The novel is largely about her learning to face that and come to terms with it. While that sounds like a meditative kind of novel, Thomas manages to marry that story of grief with a fantasy mystery that drags you deep into the action. Overall this is a well paced interesting tale that will appeal to teens and adults alike.An egalley of this title was provided by the publisher via Netgalley