Shadow by Colleen Oakes

Wendy Darling #3

Publisher: Sparkpress

Publication Date: July 18th, 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Netgalley

Format: eARC

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Wendy Darling has found herself once again in the arms of charming Peter Pan, the god-child who desires power above all things. This time, though, Wendy burns not with passion but with a secret: with Hook as her ally, she is there to defeat the evil that lies inside of Peter, the evil that holds all Neverland hostage: the Shadow.
To do this, Wendy must quietly undo Peter from inside his heart while at the same time convincing Tink to betray the twisted love that binds them together. This is a task made nearly impossible by the arrival of Booth, her sweetheart from London and a new pawn in Peter's manipulative game, a boy whose heart she must break in order to save his life. As all of Neverland prepares to fight, Wendy races to untangle Peter's connection to the Shadow, a secret long buried in the Forsaken Garden. When the time comes, pirates, mermaids, Lost Boys, and the Darling family will all rise, but if Wendy can't call the Shadow, they will all be destroyed by Peter's dark soul. War has come to paradise, and Neverland will never be the same. Wendy Darling: Shadow is the thrilling final installment in Colleen Oakes' Wendy Darling Trilogy."

Shadow by Colleen Oakes picks up right where Seas left off. Wendy has just returned to Pan Island armed with a plan that she and her ally, Captain Hook, came up with. She has to convince Peter that she still loves him so that she can steal his pipes. Then she has to get Tink to teach her the song to call the shadow from Peter so she can destroy it and save Neverland from the war that is brewing.

The plan gets altered a little bit when Wendy arrives back to Pan Island to discover that Booth, the boy from London that she loves, is Peter's prisoner. Now she has to get the pipes, the information she needs from Tink, Booth AND John and escape Pan Island.

I want to say that this is probably my favorite installment in this series. I don't remember a lot about what has gone on in the previous books, but this book seems to have the highest stakes and the most action. If Wendy's plan doesn't work, she stands to lose everything. Her brothers, the boy she loves, the Lost Boys she has come to love, and any chance she might ever have to make it back home to London.

Wendy is as brave as ever in this book. She is determined to save Neverland, and even Peter. She puts herself in harm's way over and over again for these people that she barely knows.

Through this whole series I have pretty much hated John. But I loved that he and Wendy kind of repaired their relationship in this book. Even if he is a brat, he's still Wendy's little brother and she loves him. He's still kind of a brat in this book, but you understand his feelings more and I didn't actually hate him in this one.

Booth is a character that we haven't really since since Wendy was taken from London in book one. I really like Booth and I really like Wendy and Booth together. But I felt like their relationship in this book was too easy. 

John flies back to London and kidnaps Booth, brings him to Neverland where Peter holds him prisoner and he has to watch Peter and Wendy be all lovey-dovey and listen to Wendy say such horrible things about him. Then he pretty much just accepts her apology and explanation at face value? I just feel like there should have been more work involved to make their relationship work again.

Something else I would have liked in this book would have been more interaction between Wendy and Captain Hook and his crew. I feel like their reunion left a lot to be desired for me after all that they went through together in book two. I don't know. I just felt like there could have been more with the pirates.

Then we have the ending. It isn't a bad ending. There's nothing wrong with it, it isn't disappointing. I just don't know how I feel about it! Nothing that happened is totally unexpected from this story, but it isn't really a happy ending. I feel like after everything that happened to EVERYONE in this story, they should have gotten at least a semi-happy ending!!

Overall, I really enjoyed this series. It had a fun twist on a classic fairytale. If you're a fan of Peter Pan, I think that you would like this series. If you like pirate stories you would probably like this series as well.

Have you read the Wendy Darling series? What did you think of it? What's your favorite Peter Pan retelling?

Review: Seas by Colleen Oakes

Seas by Colleen Oakes

Wendy Darling #2

Publisher: Sparkpress

Publication Date: September 20th, 2016

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Source: Netgalley

Format: eARC

Pages: 274

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Summary (from Goodreads):

From the author of Queen of Hearts comes the much anticipated sequel to Wendy Darling.

Wendy Darling: Seas finds Wendy and Michael aboard the dreaded Sudden Night, a dangerous behemoth sailed by the infamous Captain Hook and his blood-thirsty crew. In this exotic world of mermaids, spies and pirate-feuds, Wendy finds herself struggling to keep her family above the waves. Hunted by the twisted boy who once stole her heart and struggling to survive in the whimsical Neverland sea, returning home to London now seems like a distant dream - and the betrayals have just begun. 

Will Wendy find shelter with Peter's greatest enemy, or is she a pawn in a much darker game, one that could forever alter not only her family's future, but also the soul of Neverland itself?

Likes:

I think the thing that I liked the most about this series is that Peter is the villain and the pirates are the 'heroes'. I liked learning about life aboard the Sudden Night and seeing Wendy and Michael create relationships with the different pirates. I feel like the only pirate that was actually scary was Smith, the first mate, and I think at a certain point in the book, it becomes all for show.

I like how brave Wendy has to be in this book. She has to be brave with the pirates for Michael. She has to make some tough decisions when it comes to Michael's safety and how far she's willing to go to help Hook save Neverland.

I liked that there wasn't really any romance in this book. Wendy still thinks about and has feelings for Booth. But there is no love interest for her in this book. It was really REALLY weird, but I swear when I was reading this I kept expecting Wendy and Hook to get together. I'm glad that they didn't because that would be kinda wrong, but I feel like I'm just trained to expect romance in everything I read, I was just waiting for it.

The cliffhanger at the end makes my heart hurt. I need the last installment in this series. Like now.

Dislikes:

The biggest complaint I have about this book is that I didn't feel like it did a really great job of recapping what happened in the first book. I know that Wendy left Pan Island because Peter is an actual monster, but I don't remember much of anything else. I don't remember how the Darling children ended up in Neverland. I don't remember how she actually escaped Pan Island. I don't remember how Wendy and Michael got onto the Sudden Night. I don't really remember anything about Wendy's time on Pan Island.

I mean, there are a few mentions of things that happened in book one, but 90% of the mentions of book one events are Wendy remembering how Smith slit Kitoko's neck when they were looting one of Hook's caves or whatever.

Then for as dangerous as EVERYTHING is made out to be in this book, there seemed to be a distinct lack of actual danger. I can think of two events in this book that struck me as actually dangerous. The pirates on the Sudden Night were marshmallows and Peter barely makes an appearance.

I also didn't really feel like a whole lot happened in this book.

Overall, this wasn't a terribly exciting book. It was a decent sequel and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend this series if you are a big fan of Peter Pan. I am super excited to read the next book, Shadow, next year!

Have you read Stars, the first book in this series? Do you like Peter Pan retellings?

Review: Wendy Darling: Stars by Colleen Oakes

Wendy Darling #1

Publisher: Sparks Press

Publication Date: October 13, 2015 

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Pages: 256

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Summary (from Goodreads):

From the Best-Selling Author of Queen of Hearts comes a dark and mesmerizing twist on the beloved Children's Classic, Peter Pan.

Wendy Darling has a perfectly agreeable life with her parents and brothers in wealthy London, as well as a budding romance with Booth, the neighborhood bookseller’s son. But while their parents are at a ball, the charmingly beautiful Peter Pan comes to the Darling children’s nursery and—dazzled by this flying boy with god-like powers—they follow him out of the window and straight on to morning, to Neverland, a intoxicating island of feral freedom.

As time passes in Neverland, Wendy realizes that this Lost Boy’s paradise of turquoise seas, mermaids, and pirates holds terrible secrets rooted in blood and greed. As Peter’s grasp on her heart tightens, she struggles to remember where she came from—and begins to suspect that this island of dreams, and the boy who desires her—have the potential to transform into an everlasting nightmare.

Wendy Darling: Stars is a retelling of Peter Pan from the point of view of Wendy. It was a very good retelling of the story with some small differences from the original and a surprising, yet not surprising twist towards the end. I really enjoyed this book! It was definitely a choice I made based mostly on the cover! So gorgeous! 

In the beginning of this fairytale retelling, Wendy is on her way to the bookstore. She frequently visits the bookstore to get a new book and to see Booth, the bookseller's son. They spend a lot of time together and they have fallen in love. It probably won't work out because as a bookseller's son, Booth is rather poor and Wendy is a lady of society. Booth wants her to be brave and tell her parents about their love, but they don't approve.

That night, Wendy and her two younger brothers, John and Michael, are laying down for bed in their nursery. Their parents tuck them in before heading out to a ball. Their housekeeper locks them into the nursery for the night, when a strange boy called Peter Pan shows up in their room and offers them a life of adventure in Neverland! They fly off into the London night sky until they reach the beautiful island of Neverland! A magical place full of pirates, treasure, and Lost Boys! And Tink, the last fairy on Neverland. 

Wendy Darling is a pretty decent main character. She is scared to tell her parents about Booth because she knows they won't approve. I think she doesn't want to have to choose between her love for Booth and her love for her family. She needs to learn to be brave. She fiercely loves her two younger brothers, John who is fourteen and Michael who is 5. She would do anything for them. She can pretty much take on anything. She's tough. She deals with so much in this book and makes it through! She deals with a couple hundred Lost Boys who aren't used to seeing girls. Some of them look at her with fascination because there are no girls anywhere on Neverland it seems! Some look at her with sadness, reminded of their mothers. And still others look at her with hatred because she doesn't belong. She deals with it all. She is strong!

Peter Pan is basically just an overgrown child. He seems to be about Wendy's age, around sixteen. He takes care of all the Lost Boys and seems to treat them well. He truly cares for his Lost Boys. He is always up for an adventure and is constantly playing his games. But the cost of games and adventure can be rather high on Neverland. I didn't really care for Peter Pan. He was just too much of a child for me.

Wendy's little brothers are the other two main characters. I really hated John. There is not a single moment in this book where he is pleasant at all. Back in London, John didn't have any friends. He was bitter and full of hate. It intensifies when he gets to Neverland and he finally fits in somewhere, he immediately gets put into a high position in Neverland, and there are no rules. He takes that to mean that he can basically be an ass to Wendy at EVERY turn. I wanted to slap him. Michael is adorable, he tries to be a big boy around the other Lost Boys and won't let Wendy fuss over him, but when the other Lost Boys try to crowd around her and get her attention, he gets really clingy. He's a cutie.

There is romance in this book. I don't think that I will talk all that much about it just because I don't want to give too much away. There is the mentioned forbidden romance between Wendy and Booth and then there is more romance that begins in Neverland. I bet you can about imagine what that romance is, but if you want to know more about it, you better read it because I don't know what to say about it to keep it nonspoilery. 

For the most part, this book seems to be fairly true to the fairytale (or at least the Disney movie, which is the only Peter Pan story I've ever read/seen). The plot is similar without feeling like you're reading the script of the movie. There was more violence than I would have expected to see in this book. I didn't find it to be bad or anything, it just wasn't what I was expecting! The end has a twist that strays from what I know of Peter Pan, that like I said, was surprising, yet not surprising. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I think that anyone who likes Peter Pan or books about pirates would like this book! There wasn't THAT much pirate action in this book, but you can bet there will be more in the next book, Wendy Darling: Seas! I can't wait!

This book is written by an author that shares my first initial!