Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas

14 reviews

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Child death, Grief, Blood, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Moderate: Murder, Medical trauma, and Cursing

Minor: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, and Vomit

_haggis_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

sarah_shelf's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I really wanted to like this book. I’ve adored Aiden Thomas’ other books and was so excited when I realized his next book was a fairytale retelling. It’s always been one of my favorite genres, and reading the Peter and the Starcatchers series got me into the genre, so I was happy to dive into another Peter Pan story. However, I was bored throughout so much of this book. The beginning and the end, especially, were entertaining but the middle just seemed to drag on. 

I started losing interest somewhere around the time Wendy confronted Peter in the hunting shack and confirmed he was in fact trying to help the missing kids not hurt them. After that, so much of the novel was just Wendy trying to hide her activities from her family and friends because no one would believe her (which makes sense but also just got more annoying every time she brought it up and delivered a new lie) or her and Peter wandering around the town and woods with no real idea of how to help. 

I will admit, the last few chapters were entertaining and fun. I suspected part of the plot twist, but didn’t quite grasp the scope of it until the big reveal. And while the lack of communication that exacerbated the reveal was annoying, I was so happy to see some out there theories make it into this version’s lore. However, I can’t help thinking so much of the novel was unnecessary to reach that point. Yes, technically all the development between Peter and Wendy was required for the climax of the story, but again it was all just so slow. It doesn’t fit into the supposed deadline and terrible consequences everyone will face if they fail to find the kids and stop their kidnapper. The ending, and it really was a fantastic ending in my eyes, can’t make up for my lackluster opinion of the rest of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

tea_coffee_sam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, Child death, Death, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Medical content, Alcoholism, and Cancer

lastcomment314's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A haunting story, Lost in the Never Woods tells the story of one girl coming to terms with a party she has forgotten while the world around her tries to save the children who have recently gone missing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Death, and Gun violence

saltylane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked the book okay, but the “final battle” ending felt… idk, like it didn’t really make sense?  I don’t know why, but even when things were going on—like action/fighting—I would sometimes get bored. I’ve noticed this author tends to describe things excessively with interiority, sometimes repeating the information in slightly different ways multiple times… I don’t know if it counts as “telling” rather than showing, though, since it can be important to get a character’s feelings on what’s happening. 
The author also often includes a “best friend” who would be great to get to know more about and get to interact with in the story… but then gives them very little “screen time” and focuses on the two characters with a romantic connection. Maybe they have a hard time juggling multiple character interactions at once? 
Overall, I think this book has a very interesting and unique spin on the “Peter Pan” story. I feel like the author struggled to find a believable way to end the main conflict, which is a shame because the surrounding plot seemed pretty solid. The writing style wasn’t for me, but I’m sure others can easily enjoy the book regardless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Medical content, Stalking, Vomit, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

love_bookswillbetheendofme's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

allygator's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was such a unique Peter Pan adaptation. Aiden Thomas is a genius for making such a classic story into a YA horror/mystery -- it works so well. I couldn't put this down, it was so engaging and fast-paced and I was so invested in how the story was going to end. I loved the characters, and I was so tense trying to figure out what was happening to them. I was so nervous to pick this up after loving Cemetery Boys so much, but I was not disappointed. This has definitely cemented Thomas as an auto-buy author for me, and I can't wait to read what he puts out next.
I loved how well this book touched on trauma and PTSD, it felt very authentic and it made Wendy a much more compelling character than she was in the original story. I wasn't sure how much I would love her romance with Peter, but it wasn't overwhelming in the story and I honestly kind of enjoyed it. The trauma within Wendy's parents was really well-written and had me crying at some points.

When Peter speaks to Mrs. Darling in John and Michael's voices when she sleep talks??? I had a whole crisis.

I also really enjoyed Jordan's character, though I wish she had more page time. In general, this was a lot less diverse than Thomas' debut, but it didn't really detract from the story for me. The ending had me shaking it was so good, it was so bold and scary because it definitely could happen in today's world.
All in all, this was such a good retelling; I highly recommend picking it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

ali_k0's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical content, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment

zythnillawafer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder