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?