The Neverland Wars has an interesting concept, and there was a lot of promise, but unfortunately it fell flat. Actually, it barely had any buildup, let alone some epic war you assume will happen from the title.

We start off with Gwen going to school, which is merely done to introduce us to her crush, Jay, and the idea of this party of his that she really wants to go to. Then her sister goes missing and she finds out about magic and the evil Peter Pan who steals children. She follows Peter back to Neverland the next night despite knowing it’s a bad idea, and from there we get filler chapters and information about Neverland (how mermaids can read the skies and are greedy for mirrors, how Neverlanders can eat stars but they each have a specific effect such as blowing up like a balloon in your mouth, how a deer’s hooves are a magical tracking device ect).

Neverland is a beautiful forest -or is it a jungle, Gwen isn’t sure- filled with peaceful animals, mermaids, noisy children, and magic. There’s a threat of a war, at least that’s what the synopsis says, so I was definitely let down when we got two short warnings about the upcoming battle, and had one scene with bombing (which didn’t quite fit the tone of the story, as if it were thrown in suddenly merely to prove war is imminent), and yes men who have living shadows do search for them in reality, but there’s no epic action; where is the war we were promised?

*Read my full review here
*Thank you NetGalley for the free eARC