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*