Reviews tagging Medical trauma

Lost in the Never Woods, by Aiden Thomas

10 reviews

ka_ke's review against another edition

Too triggering. As an oldest sibling/child myself I found Wendy’s character to be too real. The anxiety, and the panic attacks all caused by her overwhelming sense of shame, failure and guilt hit too close to home. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Mental illness

chemicalcain's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Once again, Aiden Thomas has managed to write a book I couldn't put down. I don't normally blaze through print books this fast! There were a few things that disappointed me about this book, mostly because of how much I loved Cemetery Boys. I didn't vibe with Wendy as a protagonist; her firmly internalized guilt and need to fill every waking moment of her time are trauma responses that hit a little too close to home for me. (She was written quite well, though.) I also wish we could have explored the ending twist in a little more detail!

Spoiler

I'm absolutely fascinated by the idea of Neverland as a world of the dead, and the visible collapse of the place when a living person stays too long. I would have loved to see some more scenes within Neverland itself.

Music to listen to while reading: "Astoria" and "End of an Era" by Marianas Trench

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical trauma, Child death, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Blood

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Medical content

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Alcohol, and Violence

Minor: Medical content, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

althea_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I think Aiden Thomas did a pretty good job with this retelling of my favorite story, Peter Pan. They added such a dark feel to this and I was admittedly so creeped out at times (then again, that's not saying much because I get creeped out fairly easily). 
.
At first, I was wary about how a modern take on this would go, especially with how popular it is and with how many theories surround Peter Pan himself exist as it is, but I was more surprised than not. The fantastical element of this story was really intriguing and yet surprisingly minimal, which I think worked well with the mystery element of this book. 
.
What I didn't like was just how hard I personally found it to stay invested in the story as a whole. There were times I felt like the characters were just repeating themselves unnecessarily, which I found to be dragging, and doing things out of their established character norms. 
.
Overall, I liked it, but didn't necessarily love it. Still, it was a pretty good modernized take on a classic story 😊
.
Also, couldn't help picturing Jeremy Sumpter in the role. No other live-action Peter Pan for me!
.
CW: trauma, murder, kidnapping, PTSD, depression, 
.
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨/5

Instagram | @althea.reads

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Blood and Vomit

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

2.5

It's not a bad book; I just didn't particularly enjoy it.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Child death, and Death

kharlan3's review

dark emotional slow-paced

3.25

i wanted to like this book. i liked the author's other book. i.... did not like this book.


(YA, fairy tale retelling).  Honestly, this one didn't super work for me. The protagonist felt immature (but like she was supposed to seem mature) and the story felt fairly predictable. Usually I like YA but this felt... too YA. I didn't like that the MC cut herself off from her best friend for the whole book and that that was portrayed as the right choice, and though most of the characters in the book didn't like/are scared of cops, it still felt like the BOOK likes cops.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

wanderonwards's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

maisierosereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, and Death

ehmannky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was lovely but oh, it was so much more sad than I thought it would be. Thomas does a really good job reimagining Peter Pan for a contemporary audience. Oh, and the last 70 pages or so had me in tears they were so heartfelt and sad and lovely. It hit me right in my Oldest Sister Feelings, and I 100% got Wendy's feelings that as the oldest she is always responsible for the actions. 

I felt that some of the side characters were a little underrealized (for example, Jordan, Wendy's best friend, felt a little underdeveloped) and it took me about the first 1/3 of the book before I really got into it. But those may just be my personal readings. Wendy's interactions with Peter sparkled, and I just loved the pair. Overall, it was a beautiful exploration of grief, growing up, and the impacts of familial loss on a family. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma

Minor: Forced institutionalization

jams's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I’ve spent almost two months trying to find a remotely coherent way to articulate my feelings on this book seeing as most my reactions while reading amounted to “dude, mood” “wait what” “oh Damn” and “please can every character just get some therapy”. This book absolutely destroyed me emotionally. In the best way possible. Peter Pan has always been a favourite of mine and Cemetery Boys my favourite book of 2020 so when I found out about this adaption it shot to the very top of my most anticipated releases and did not disappoint. In fact it exceeded my expectations.

Wendy as a character is so loveable and her anxiety, fear and guilt are so real that I truly felt every emotional hit as they came. Pair that with Peter’s lightness, his unending love and need to care for others and you get this really sweet dynamic of two teens trying to do better and get each other through a really awful time. I truly think LITNW is some of the best written trauma I have seen in YA.

This is a book about trauma, grief and having to grow up too soon. Yet it balances these heavier themes with amazing moments of humour and fluff, and ultimately feels incredibly hopeful.

Anyway I think it's safe to say that Aiden Thomas is a favourite author of mine now and I absolutely cannot wait for his future releases.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Gun violence

content warnings: loss of family members, grief, severe trauma/ptsd, anxiety/anxiety attacks, compulsion, night terrors and insomnia, kidnapping, some descriptions of injury and violence