Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell // Darkness & Adventure in Neverland

Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell
Genres: Fantasy (YA), Fairy Tale Retelling
Pages: 342
Goodreads

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?

Unhooked is a retelling of the childhood classic we all know and love, Peter Pan. It is very loosely based on the classic. Maxwell took a concept and turned it into a story of her own — and it is absolutely wonderful. The plot is so dark and exciting that I couldn’t help but get consumed in the story. From the very first page there is already a somewhat gloomy mood set that continues throughout the story.

Just to note, I have never read Peter Pan; I have only seen the Disney animated film (and a few live-action ones as well).

Oh, man. I really have nothing negative to say about any of the characters. They are all so interesting. Each character serves a very distinct purpose to the story — which may seem odd to say, but you know how sometimes there are characters in a story that really don’t need to be there? Well, that doesn’t happen in this book.

I loved the personalities created for each character from “Hook” to “Pan” to Gwendolyn herself. Gwen is observant and determined, but she is not completely immune to the temptations of Neverland and, well, boys. I liked that balance of her character, and by the end, her strength is really shown. I very much enjoyed her as the main character.

Maxwell also included brief paragraphs that tell a story about one of the characters’ experiences. I usually dislike added material before paragraphs (sorry to some of my favorite authors who do this, I just hate reading things outside of the regular story…during the story). Anywho, in this book, I actually enjoyed it! It provided background that I thought really helped develop said character.

Oh, and her love interest is pretty good, too 😉

Nearly perfect.

Not 100% perfect. It was a little slow at the start, but once it picked up it really got interesting. I also thoroughly enjoyed Maxwell’s writing. She did a fantastic job at world building, especially since she had to build a world that was constantly changing. Her writing is also just lovely — that’s the best word I can think of to describe it. It’s smooth and effortless. It makes for a beautiful and imaginative read.

Besides the beginning being slow, my only other complaint is that I felt like the final battle was a tad rushed. I wanted a bit more out of it. I’ll spoil it if I go into too much detail, so I’ll just leave that there. However, this issue isn’t enough for me to remove a star because I still absolutely loved the story.

I’ll sum it up simply: Exciting. Dark. A bit “swoon-worthy”. Magical. 

This is a wonderful story that I recommend to everyone — especially if you love retellings. I’m pretty sure this is a standalone, so if you’re looking for a quick, fun fantasy, definitely read this one.

Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Overall:	5 / 5