Book Review: Shadow by Kara Swanson

Peter Pan has crash-landed back on Neverland. But this is not the island he remembers.

Desperate to rescue Claire and the fractured Lost Boys, Peter must unravel what truly tore his dreamland apart. But with each step, he is haunted by more of his own broken memories. Not even Pan himself is what he seems.

Claire Kenton is chained to a pirate ship, watching the wreckage of Neverland rocked by tempests. When she finally finds her brother, Connor is every bit as shattered as the island. Claire may have pixie dust flowing in her veins—but the light of Neverland is flickering dangerously close to going out forever.

To rescue Neverland from the inescapable shadow, the boy who never grew up and the girl who grew up too fast will have to sacrifice the only thing they have left: each other.

Series: Heirs of Neverland, Book 1 (I'd definitely say read Dust first, particularly if you don't normally read fantasy)

My rating:

What a fantastic conclusion to the Heirs of Neverland duology! I was so curious to see how Swanson would pull it off, and I was definitely not disappointed. 

I'll start off by saying that in my review of Dust, while I said that I loved Peter's character...I also failed to convey just how annoying he was. He refused to grow up. Treated it like a disease to be avoided at all costs. I said that his character growth was amazing, and I still stand by that. But I also think that his real growth came in the sequel.

And let me tell you...I loved it.

I adored seeing him struggle with responsibility and the consequences of wrong actions. (Like Shadow. Shadow was the most irritating character on the planet and I'm glad he got what he had coming to him. But I digress.) 

So...that brings us to Connor. The character we've long waited to meet. Claire's loyalty to him was understandable, even admirable, yet...even while I wanted to throttle her, I completely understood her feelings and reasoning, and that should tell you just how well-written the story is. *trying to avoid spoilers* Connor was a hard character to love; more like one we all love to hate. But I loved him because Claire loved him.

The reason I docked it a star is because it was...confusing. So many plot twists that my mind was spinning and could hardly keep up with them (Hook and that other secret character? Kinda overplayed in my humble opinion). Plus, since Shadow takes place in Neverland (whereas Dust took place in London), I knew to expect some worldbuilding. It was just...I don't know. I don't wanna say confusing because that's honestly expected, especially for someone like me who doesn't make it a habit of reading fantasy. But there were certain parts that still left me scratching my head and wondering what in the world was going on.

I also didn't like the epilogue. Y'all can fight me on this, but there are very, very few books that wouldn't be just as good—or even better—without the epilogue. And, in my opinion, this was one such book. I get so invested in the characters throughout the entire book, I don't want to skip ahead several years to see how everything's changed, thank you. Even if it's a good change.

The plot...it was hard for me to keep up with all the pieces, but bit by bit, it all came together. And it was inspiring. And painful. And suspenseful. And...*sigh* okay. Y'all. That bit with Lily's people? Dude. Yesssss. The battle. The sirens. Even for a fantasy, it was all pretty epic.

Also, I love Tiger Lily. And the Guardian.

Also, Claire and Peter are pretty cute.

And I hope y'all enjoyed my late-night disjointed review. *halo*

*I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

Have you read Shadow yet?? Sorry, my brain is too dead to come up with a better question. *shrugs*

3 Tips for Authentically Writing Characters with Depression: A Guest Post

Have I forgotten about this series? No! It's time for the second installment (do I have a title for this series yet? No. No, I do not.), and today the topic is something y'all know is close to my heart. I'm pleased (see? still trying to avoid the 'I'm so excited' line) to hand the stage over to Victoria Penning! Victoria is a sweetheart with a whole lot of spunk that graciously agreed to write a guest post on a subject that is so sensitive for a lot of people.

Hello! I'm Victoria!

I had the great privilege of being asked to write a guest post for Kaitlyn’s blog on a topic that I am very passionate about and love to write. Characters with depression. 

Why? Because I struggled with my own depression and suicidal thoughts and I love to share about it with people now that I have overcome my own struggles. 

A little more in-depth about me, I’m nineteen, I come from a large, Christian, homeschool family, and yes, I struggled with depression. That was something that not many people understood. 

“You haven’t had a rough life. You have a great family. You’ve lived a sheltered life. What do you have to be depressed about?”

Well, I won’t go into all the details because that’s not really what this post is for, but this is a very common thing for Christian homeschoolers who struggle with depression. 


1) My BIGGEST piece of advice for writing a character who deals with depression is: life doesn’t suddenly get better after the climax. Life isn’t all sunshine and roses for that character after they see the light or are saved. They aren’t suddenly healed and everything is great. 

Nuh uh. It comes and goes in waves. And one thing that comes along in the package of depression is the voice inside the head. That little voice that gives sugared up and painted over lies, making them seem so real that we end believing them. That never just “goes away”. It takes so. Much. TIME. 

So, tip #1: don’t make your character suddenly “get better”. 



2) When you have depression, but are around people who don’t understand why, you learn how to fake a smile and laugh suuuper well. A best friend might be able to pick up something if the mask slips a little bit, but most of the time if that person who is struggling doesn’t want other people to know, no one will know. I’m not kidding. For example:

Your character is in a group setting and is feeling kind of down, maybe playing with the straw in their drink. Someone says something to them and a smile quickly lights their face, knowing they have to look happy as they talk with them. 

Try something different. Anyone could look over and see this friend looking kind of down and ask if they’re okay. While that really is great, and I wish it was that easy, if your character really doesn’t want people to know, something like this might happen:

Carly laughed at her friend's story, wiping tears from her eyes and biting her lips together in an attempt to trap the giggles as a waiter approached the table. She could feel her face turning red with the suppressed laughter.

Sounds totally normal when you’re with a best friend, right? But then continue it. 

Carly closed the door of her bathroom, the silence finally surrounding her and digging its fingernails into her brain. The smile slipped from her face and exhaustion flooded her soul. Her throat clogged, the suppressed tears begging to be released. The familiar weight settled on her shoulders and all of the voices crept back into her mind.

Carly could be totally fine with friends, but when she gets home and is alone, the joy of being with people fades and the crushing weight returns with way too much joy. 

So, tip #2: Depression can be easily hidden. 

3) Things can stick in a person’s brain for a long time. Especially if your character has depression and is an overthinker. You just doubled the pain and difficulty for that poor character. That character will remember pretty much every mistake and awkward moment they’ve ever had, and they will stress about it way too often. It will enforce the voice in their head telling them that they are a mistake, and that they aren’t wanted or that they shouldn’t even be alive so they wouldn’t mess something up for that person or be a burden to their family. Thoughts mess with a person's head so much, it’s hard to even describe it. 

So, tip #3: the inner thought process of your character is super important to know, and they need to have situations in their past or even present that fuel their wrong decision of how they don’t deserve life. 

All of this has been pretty depressing sounding. (Hm, I wonder why, Vic). Now, here’s my last piece of advice, although this is more a personal story. 

I struggled with all of this. Every single thing that you have read here, I have drawn from my own personal experiences. Yes, I went through all of this. I contemplated suicide so many times, and almost went through with it one time. 

BUT! 

But God sent along this incredible friend that I met awkwardly. I never imagined that we would become best friends, or that this person would so effectively make my walls crumble. I told this friend everything. Still do, and this friend is the reason why I am still alive. This one person saw through my masks and made me feel like I honestly come and talk to them. 

If you want to save your character, put them through a heck of a rough life, and then give them that one person who saw something that no one else did. Because that’s often how life works. There’s just one person who might notice something that no one else will. And that can save your character’s life.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my life, I hope that this helps you write your character with depression, and if you are struggling and don’t have that one person yet, come find me. I will be that one person for you. Or even if you’re struggling with writing your character, send me questions! I am not shy or sensitive about this topic at all and love to answer questions! 

Lastly, thank you to Kaitlyn for giving me this opportunity to share what I’m passionate about. She’s an incredible human being!

~Victoria

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to give us a bit of insight into this subject, Victoria, and for being so open to such a sensitive subject. (If y'all are interested checking out Victoria's book, A Tasteful Christmas, you can find it on Goodreads here!)

I'm loving this blog series so far! Do you have any topics you'd like to see discussed in the future?

Book Review: Dust by Kara Swanson

The truth about Neverland is far more dangerous than a fairy tale.

Claire Kenton believes the world is too dark for magic to be real—since her twin brother was stolen away as a child. Now Claire's desperate search points to London... and a boy who shouldn't exist.

Peter Pan is having a beastly time getting back to Neverland. Grounded in London and hunted by his own Lost Boys, Peter searches for the last hope of restoring his crumbling island: a lass with magic in her veins.

The girl who fears her own destiny is on a collision course with the boy who never wanted to grow up. The truth behind this fairy tale is about to unravel everything Claire thought she knew about Peter Pan—and herself.

Series: Heirs of Neverland, #1

My rating:

So. First of all, I've never read Peter Pan, nor have I seen the entire movie, so maybe that's why, even after seeing friends' reviews that bemoaned the fact that "the innocence of Peter Pan was lost," I enjoyed the reimagining of the childhood fairytale.

Pretty much everything I'd heard about Peter Pan annoyed me. A brat with zero responsibilities, never understanding why people were mad at him because every bad thing he did was blocked from his memory? Uhhhh, no thank you. So when Swanson took Dust and turned it into a story about a boy who was forced to grow up...yes. A thousand yeses. (is that even a word though??) His memory attacks, his efforts to hide them, and his reluctance to grow up added a depth of character that honestly made me love him. He had his moments, of course; he pouted when things didn't go his way, he didn't always listen to people who knew better (*cough* Tiger Lily *cough*), he didn't know how to read people and therefore stuck his foot in his mouth a million times. But...it was Peter. And he learned his lesson. Even if it came at a huge price.

Claire...hm. Claire. The girl with anxiety. The girl with insecurity. The girl that always looks for the best in people (with the exception being Peter Pan). Her character transformation was incredible. I adored watching her go from the girl fearfully clutching a childhood edition of Peter Pan to the girl that learned to fly. From being terrified of the dust that she couldn't control, to using that dust for good. Loyal to a fault. After being left for Neverland by her brother, she still sold everything she had to find him. And, honestly, that spoke volumes more than all the arguments she got into defending him.

Tiger Lily and the Guardian were fantastic characters—steady, dependable, keeping Peter accountable (specifically Lily). But the other character I'd like to really dive into is Captain Hook. Swanson did an absolutely amazing job with his character. Because while I can't say that his character was exactly endearing...I was honestly questioning who the real bad guy was. Because we know the story: Peter Pan is the hero, Captain Hook is the villain. But what made this so notable was the fact that I was asking, is that really true? Who's the real bad guy? And isn't that how it always is? We hear so many sides of a story that soon we can't even tell what is right and what is wrong. And this book is such a good example of that.

The paranormal aspects were interesting. I actually enjoyed it for the most part. The pixies were fun to read about, and the flying, and just...yeah. Super cool. Peter and Claire, though I'm not a romance fan, were actually super cute. It wasn't enemies-to-lovers, but...it wasn't friends-to-lovers either. Whichever it was, I liked it. Like, that scene with the ashen dust and stuff? Y'alllll that was the sweetest thing. *sniffs*

There were a couple of scenes that I personally think could've been done better, but honestly, if you're a fan of fantasy/paranormal and fairytales, this is definitely the book for you.

What book have you read recently to branch into a different genre than usual?