Girl Lost (Neverland Lost #1) by Nazarea Andrews
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: A&A Literary
Format: eARC
Source: ARC for Tour
Goodreads • Amazon • B&N
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.
Gwen Barrie is trying to escape her past. At 12 years old, what was supposed to be a simple vacation with her parents ended with them dead and Gwen alone on their boat, drifting at sea for 3 weeks. When she was found, she was full of stories of an island that didn't seem to exist, where she claim to have spent months with a wild boy and his companions.
A boy she continues to see when no one else can.
Time in a mental institution and lots of therapy later, Gwen has accepted that the Boy and his island were nothing but a figment of her own delusions. She's taking control of her life: going away to college, trying to get out from under the thumb of her family and doctors.
Then she meets Peter, who just so happens to look like her boy all-grown-up. Even though she knows that, for her own fragile sanity, it would be best to stay away, Gwen can't help but to be drawn to him.
And suddenly the line between what she knows is and isn't real is getting less clear...
The Peter Pan story line in Girl Lost is immediately apparent. With that said, trying to figure out just how the old story meshes with this new take was a lot of fun. Gwen certainly poses an interesting question about just what happens when you leave Neverland—her struggle with what she sees as her own insanity makes her narrative all the more complex. Navigating through life with the near-suffocation of her well-meaning family coupled with her own self doubt makes it easy to feel as Gwen does—overwhelmed and more than a little lost.
Cue Peter, who serves to only throw her further off. He's certainly not the typical book boy character—Gwen hold's no illusions about his stability and sanity, but she can't help but feel connected to him. As a result, they're more than a little codependent (understatement). And it just makes you want to figure out Peter's origins all the more.
Overall, the story a good flow and kept me interested up until the (abrupt) end. With how sudden the ending is, I feel like there has to be another book after, but I haven't seen anything either way. Regardless, if you're a fun of classic fairy tale re-vamps (especially with a more adult twist), Girl Lost is just what you're looking for!
Giveaway!
Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog.
You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Nazarea Andrews is agented, and all inquiries about rights should be directed to Michelle Johsnon of Inklings Literary.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We'd love to hear what you think!