Review: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

Unhooked
For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home—all because her mother believes that monsters are hunting them. Now these delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. The only saving grace is her best friend, Olivia, who’s coming with them for the summer.

But when Gwen and Olivia are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and taken to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey, Gwen realizes her mom might have been sane all along.

The world Gwen finds herself in is called Neverland, yet it’s nothing like the stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through her fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the roguish young pirate who promises to keep her safe.

With time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But will she be able to save Neverland without losing herself?

All of these Peter Pan retellings coming out next year are soooo exciting. If Unhooked is any representation of how the rest are going to be, it's going to be an absolutely brilliant year.

From the start of this book I knew it was something very special. It immediately reminded me of Splintered by A.G. Howard with the Mother being a little crazy (except maybe not) and the daughter having to live with that. Then, Unhooked changed settings into Neverland and it really came into it's own - this book takes everything you know about Neverland and Peter Pan and Hook and flips it entirely on it's head. Pan isn't what he seems and Hook (aka Rowan) is one of the most swoonworthy heroes in the book. The romance developed at a really natural pace and I supported it so much!

Maxwell writes so well and I was absorbed in this beautiful, dangerous world that she wrote. I was on the edge, wondering who was the good and who was the bad and how things were going to work. Maybe the ending was a bit safe - a bit of a cop out - but the climax was brilliant and I loved how it went. 

Gosh, seriously, Rowand and Gwen and Pan and Olivia and all of these people here... this was such a brilliant book weaving such a gorgeous story and I enjoyed it so much. I cannot wait for the other Peter Pan retelling, but I do have to wonder if any of them will stand up to this one. 


Book released 2nd February 2016 by Simon Pulse
Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

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