The Heart of Neverland (The Neverwitch Chronicles)
Rating: 4 out of 5
"How does that make you feel, love? To know you have the power to undo men."
One night is all it takes to turn Dani's life upside down. And it's not like she had the most stable childhood, spending most of it on the run from the villains in her mom's head. That is until her mom is murdered right in front of her and those villains become real. Dani learns that she has an uncle she never knew, and after her mom's death she goes to live with him hoping to find answers about who she is. In her search for the truth a guy named Peter shows up and makes it his mission to get in her personal space. Dani finds him gorgeous, flirty and infuriating. She suspects he might not be human or even from this world. Dani thinks the things Peter tells her are insane and she doesn't think she can trust him. Magic, pirates and Peter Pan aren't real... Until they are...
So this book had a lot of potential and I enjoyed reading it for the most part. It starts out super engaging and Dani is a really likable and relatable character, for the most part. She has spent her life moving around with her mother and the latest episode of moving is sparked by her mom losing a special pendant. Dani quickly learns that her mother has been protecting her from something she doesn't understand, and now she is left with even more questions, when her mother dies trying to protect her. Dani finds out about an uncle she didn't know existed, who is just as protective as her mom and just as bad about guarding secrets.
In the quest to find answers it isn't long before Peter pops into the picture and let me tell you he comes off way too strong straight out of the gate. He gave me a creep vibe from the minute we met him and I couldn't figure out why. After some reflection it's because this Peter reminds me way too much of Tamlin from ACOTAR. I really enjoyed the parts of the story where Dani is trying to learn about herself, but like the whole middle part of the book with her weird obsession with Peter, really lagged for me and I was glad when we moved onto something else. Let's not forget Neverland, and boy this is not the Neverland I remember. I must say I wish we had more of it and I can't wait to see what the next book brings for Dani. Because holy cliffhanger...