Lost in the Never Woods

Content Overview

Overall Content
Severity
1.1

Language

1.7/10

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

0.4/10

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

0.3/10

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

0.7/10

Potentially Intense Themes

2.5/10

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Lost in the Never Woods

Aiden Thomas

When children go missing in the small coastal town of Astoria, people look to Wendy for answers.

It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road, and gets pulled into the mystery haunting the town.

Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, claims that if they don’t do something, the missing children will meet the same fate as her brothers. In order to find them and rescue the missing kids, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5) This book caught me off guard. It has a small dark twist, a mystery throughout and I had some serious questions!

We all know the story of Peter Pan, Wendy and her brothers in Neverland. This book was able to take that story and grip me with curiosity while still keeping with the fairy tale. It had a tiny creepy feel mixed with whimsical childhood emotion and I liked it! It’s an element of contemporary mixed with fantasy and it’s done well. That’s hard to do!

I didn’t love the romance. It felt weird and out of place while following the fairy tale so well. However, it was very mild so it’s almost not worth mentioning. I was definitely surprised many times! One twist I didn’t love too much, but then bam, another twist hit and I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it coming. I love a book that can do that!

I listened to the audio along with reading the e-book. The narrator was not my favorite. The voices felt off and a bit too young for being 18. I’m not sure if Wendy’s immaturity came from her “voice” or the writing but she did not feel 18.

Content Summary: I really enjoyed this one and feel most younger teens can read this if they’re ok with the small creepy feel. Most aspects of the book are fantasy so the scary element is less– it doesn’t feel as real. It is labeled as LGBTQ but there is nothing in the book. The author has written Cemetery Boys (queer, trans) and also identifies as queer and trans, so that is probably where that came from. The only aspect I’d be concerned with is the missing kids and the intensity that comes with that. Also, OCD is mentioned.

Thank you to Swoon Reads/Fierce Reads and Libro.FM for the gifted copies in exchange for an honest review.

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***-

H***- 8

S***- 2

A**- 3

B****-

D***- 4

Bas****-

Religious Cursing

J****- 1

Chr***-

G**- 9

L***- 2

Derogatory terms etc-

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A man typically retreats to his study with a bottle of scotch. Beer cans are in the trash. 

A man is drunk outside. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

*No LGBTQ+ aspects included* 

A young woman sneaks a young man into her room to sleep. He takes a shower and she blushes knowing he’s naked. 

A young woman and young man kiss.

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A young man has bruises from getting beat up. 

A young woman and young man are tormented by a young man. He grabs the young woman’s face and squeezes. The young man is in pain on the floor, gasping. 

**BIG SPOILER** Two young boys are shot. They fall, gazes still staring upward. Blood blooms across one chest, one drips from his neck. Both are dead.

A young man is tied in a tree. He is unconscious with eyes rolling. 

Potentially Intense Themes

Many children have gone missing. Search parties and news reports are common.

A dark shadow runs fingers across a young woman’s windshield. She sees a mass in the road and swerves to miss it. It is a young man, unconscious. 

A young woman’s two brothers are missing. She was missing at one point too but was found in the forest without her brothers. She was missing 6 months. They’ve been gone 5 years. 

A young boy is screaming. A young woman tries to help him but he is taken away. She runs after him. She is surrounded by whispers and is being immersed in muck, almost covering her mouth. 

Grief over deaths or missing children is throughout the book.

**SPOILER** A young woman finds many children in a cage. 

**Any quotes from the book are taken from the advanced copy and therefore may not be fully accurate or correctly compare to the final copy of the book.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

4 Comments

  1. I’ve been wanting to check this one out! It seems like if it’s weird and in Oregon there’s only two choices for cities – Portland or Astoria where Goonies was filmed 😅

  2. I love the original Peter Pan story! I have never read a Peter Pan retelling because I’m worried I will have expectations that are too high 😂

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