Just to preface…
This is my third book I’ve read from Jessa. I’ve read MP and DH and enjoyed them both enough to continue the series. I HATE talking negatively about someone’s work because it takes a lot to create an entire story. I really didn’t like this though.

The good things…
The cover is absolutely stunning & some of the concepts that Jessa created for Neverland were pretty neat.

The bad things…
Literally everything else.
There was not a single likeable character in this story. Peter was the most annoying & infuriating character I’ve ever read. I know he doesn’t want to be grown & blah blah blah but he was written so immaturely & so annoying. I hated him. Hook’s character probably would have annoyed me to had I been able to understand what he was even saying. The accent that his dialogue was written in was just kind of dumb to me.
I didn’t enjoy the plot at all & to top it all off the topic of sex in this book were ICK. So so so ICK. There were multiple scenes that were just repulsive and toxic [not in the good way].

I almost put this book down MULTIPLE times. I’m typically a 2-3 books a week girlie but this bad boy took an entire week. I genuinely just did not want to pick it up & I kind of wish I never had.

I have such mixed feelings about this book still.

I can see what Jessa was trying to convey with the childlike mannerisms Peter had and the waiting until Daphne was 18 before Jem took their relationship to the next step, but there were points where this felt uncomfortable. Having said that, 500 year age gaps don’t bother me and neither did Edward being more than 100 years older than Bella when she was 17…

The chemistry between Jem and Daphne was flawless and had me rooting for them the whole way through.

Though the storyline was flimsy at best, however there are elements of mystery around the memory loss that have got me wanting to know more, as well as whether Peter is the hero or the villian….

Jessa did get it wrong when it came to the description of Peter’s skin colour at the beginning of the book, and the lack of explanation surrounding Gaelic folklore (specifically house elves)though I don’t think there was any intention to cause offence with this. She should have done a broader beta reading to get feedback which may have prevented some of the backlash she received.

I have not read Magnolia Parks and from what I’ve read this is nothing like it (phew cuz I’m excited to eventually read that series). I am all for a good entertaining toxic love triangle but this was ridiculous. I would have left Neverland faster than you can say “pixie dust” the first time Peter or Jamison were being assholes. Daphne was just not a good FMC. I was kind of rooting for Jamison but idk the whole “counting down the days until you’re 18” bit was creepy. Also this gif sums up his dialogue perfectly.

Idk how to make gifs work on here…standby its funny I promise

Plot: 2/5
Spice: Mentions of sex, but no actual spice.