Summary: Northern was supposed to be a fresh start—a place where people didn’t know who I was or how I had spent years in and out of mental institutes. People didn't know about my parents death or the island no one heard of. But when Peter sits next to me in lit class, I can’t stop the memories, and I don’t want to. He looks too much like the boy from the island, and despite my best intentions, coaxes my secrets from me.
He’s gorgeous, irresistible, a little mad, and completely lost—we are a pair of broken cogs in a world neither of us truly fits into. He is somehow gentle and fierce, heartbreaking in his devotion and savage in his defense.
When Belle, his best friend, shows up, pale and lovely and sick, Peter pulls away from me, a startling withdrawal. It’s a relationship that scares and confuses me. She is at times warm and friendly, and other times is violent and unpredictable.Peter says that he wants me, but refuses to let himself get close. And there are secrets, surrounding both of us, that border on nightmares. As the memories close in, as Belle gets sicker and more violent, I’m torn between what is true and what I believe, and what this magical boy knows about my mysterious past.
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Initial Thoughts: It was an interesting take on what happened when Peter Pan grows up. It was a bit different than I was expecting but the story was still good and entertaining and definitely got me riled up over parts of the story.
The Characters: Gwendolyn is a pretty fragile character because for years she thought she was crazy and was always wary with reality. But she becomes less fragile as the story goes on as she gets more comfortable being in the real world and around other people. Which I thought was good on her part but she would also act irrationally or overreact I think in some of the situations she was put in. Peter, is a difficult character I think. He really cared for Gwen because he's been seeing her for years even though she doesn't think it was real. But he also came off as moody I think. Sometimes he would spend a lot of time with Gwen and be all sweet and then next he wouldn't see her for a week or something and was always vague or withholding info, even though the reader knows mostly what's going on.
The Story: When Gwendolyn was around twelve, she went on a little sailing trip with her parents on their boat. During that time, pirates came onto the ship and murdered her parents. She was left adrift for awhile and as she was their alone, a boy came and stayed with her and eventually brought her to his island with other boys who were pretty wild. She stayed there for a couple weeks before she decided that she needed to go home to her brother and aunt. When the boy let her go back, she told her aunt about what happened and everyone thought she was crazy. So she then spent years in an institution thinking she was crazy because "the boy" would still visit her and she thought he was real, even though no one else did.
Flash forward and it's her first year of college where she's finally let out to be in the real world. In one of her classes, Peter happens to sit next to her. At first it's really hard for her to be around him because he reminds her about the boy. She keeps reminding herself that Peter is real and "the boy" wasn't and that she needs to move on and get better. For Peter, he had always been in love with Gwen because her time with "the boy" had been real. It was hard for Gwen at first, but she really did like Peter and seemed to have a connection with him (since he's "the boy" even if she refuses to believe it is thinking she's just been crazy!). But things only get better for so long before everything starts to spiral and Gwen starts to have a hard time with reality and trying to figure out what the heck is going on with Peter and his band of boy followers and his friend Belle.
End Thoughts: I liked that it was a take on Peter Pan grown up because I've always wanted to know what if would be like. The book ended a bit abruptly and left many questions unanswered which I'm hoping will be answered in the next book because I really do want to know what happens next. Overall it was a fun and entertaining read. 3 stars.
