It’s been four months since seventeen-year-old Livy Cloud lost her younger sister, but she isn’t quite ready to move on with her life — not even close. She’d rather spend her time at the Seattle Children’s hospital, reading to the patients and holding onto memories of the sister who was everything to her and more.
But when she meets the mysterious and illusive Meyer she is drawn into a world of adventure, a world where questions abound.
Is she ready to live life without her sister? Or more importantly, is she brave enough to love again?
In this modern reimagining of Peter Pan, will Livy lose herself to Neverland or will she find what she’s been searching for?
To be honest, and I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of eye rolls here, I never really liked the Peter Pan stories. Of course, my first taste of Peter Pan was the Disney movie, and I hated Tinkerbell because she was kind of a witch and then Peter just takes kids from their homes and brings them back to Neverland, and that's kind of weird. When I watched the movie, I was terrified that Peter Pan would snatch me out of my bed and force me to this strange island with jerk mermaids, a ticking alligator, and a guy with a hook and a vendetta.
So to say that Peter Pan books are not my thing is an understatement. I have no idea what compelled me to request this book from NetGalley, but I'm sure glad I did. This is a reimagining of the Peter Pan tale, but with so many twists and modern updates that it's like a whole other story. Livy just lost her little sister to cancer, and now she reads to the kids in the cancer ward, as if this can relieve the guilt she feels about not being able to save her sister. Livy is sad, serious, and has lost almost everything from her former life. When she meets Meyer, however, he reteaches her that life is about being happy and having fun, and that she can still do those things without her sister.
I don't want to get into the last 20% of this book because it would be a massive spoiler, but let's just say that there's a Neverland here and it's amazing, if not terribly sad. There's also a Hook character, disguised as Livy's new tutor, but even he isn't what he seems. Shari Arnold did an amazing job using the tale that we all know, but turning it slightly on its head so that Neverland - and Peter Pan - will never be the same again. In a good way! I loved this book, mainly, I think, because of the sweetness o Livy and Meyer. I think I've been burned out on too many YA novels that have the characters fall in love immediately and jump into the sack, that never happens here. Even though you know the story and prepare yourself for the inevitable ending (it can't last, Peter has to go back to Neverland, he's too impulsive for this to be a long term thing), you slowly fall in love with Meyer, just like Livy does. For awhile, he's crazy and risky, and it's kind of a turn off. But then you see how wonderful he can be and what good things he's trying to do for Livy, and you're done for, just like Livy. I didn't even realize it until near the end that I wanted Meyer to stay forever. It sneaks up on you.
The good news is that you won't have to wait long for this book, because it comes out tomorrow. The even better news is that I just found out that it's $2.99 (for Kindle), which is a fantastic price for this story. I also just realized that I never include buy links for these books, and that's totally rude, especially if you're lazy like me. So, here is the Amazon link (US):
http://www.amazon.com/Neverland-Shari-Arnold-ebook/dp/B00UM9HZ3E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428335746&sr=8-1&keywords=neverland+shari+arnold
Go forth and buy it. Really. I know, you're broke because of me. Welcome to my world. At least we'll all have book to sleep on when we're homeless. See you Friday!
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