ARC Review: Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

  

Title: Unhooked
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Series: N/A, Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Retelling
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 2nd 2016
Pages: 342
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
  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?

  Let me tell you something about myself - as much as I love fairytale retellings, Peter Pan retellings are just something I couldn’t get into. I’ve tried starting a number of books such as The Lost Boys and Second Star but I’ve never been able to get past a few chapters. Unhooked, on the other hand, just got me hooked (no pun intended).

  Seeing as I’ve never finished a Peter Pan retelling before, I’m not fit to judge the originality of this retelling. However, as I was reading it, it felt very unique. What I really loved about this novel is how the roles they (Pan, Hook and the others) play are not so black and white. Even until the end, there were still surprises, and I just loved that in this book. There are times when that gets annoying, but the author made it work with this one. Plus points, too because the author was able to make it work in a retelling in which we are supposed to know what happens.

  Despite my bad history with Peter Pan retellings, I’m just so glad that I felt so compelled to request this, because it’s one of the most enjoyable retellings I’ve read in a while. It was almost perfect. And ahh, the romance! There was so much tension and so much feels, and I just loved it! Gosh, I don’t even know how to put all my feelings into words about how amazing the romance in this book is!

  Through this novel, Lisa Maxwell has created a whole new Neverland where everything is grey and nothing is black or white. Clever, gripping and moving, this one is truly worth the read!

4.5 kept-me-hooked stars. 


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