The book Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell is based on the loving fairy tale about Peter Pan and the imaginary world of Neverland.  The main character, Gwendolyn Allister, and her best friend, Olivia, take on this mysterious adventure into Neverland. The mother thinks monsters haunt them, which causes Gwen and her mother to move very often. Olivia came along to visit the new house for a week, due to not being able to see each other, after Gwen officially moves in. Gwen and Olivia both know about Gwen’s mom believing in haunting monsters. They try their best to keep her comforted and safe. Gwen also tries to convince her mom to move back where they used to live. That way Olivia and Gwen will be together like they used to. I would say this book will definitely surprise you and make you have a different perspective on this adoring fairy tale. 

This book focuses on a much more realistic and scary side where the fairy tale isn’t all magical. Gwen and Olivia have different personalities which also reflect on their different perspectives. Gwen shows to be much more of a cautious person and thinks before acting upon the situation. Yet, Olivia shows to be more of an innocent thinker and laid-back. They get taken by monsters but they arrive there separately. We see how desperate Gwen is to find Olivia and how confused she is realizing her mother was right all along. We don’t necessarily see Olivia’s perspective until Gwen finds her yet it does show how Gwen seems to react to everything happening.

One of the huge things about the book is the plot in general. They get taken by monsters while sleeping. Gwen needs to decide deeply on the people she trusts there, she needs to find Olivia, and she needs to get back home. She makes a lot of decisions that affect her journey on discovering this twisted lie. The villain and hero in the story are way different than expected. Our normal hero, Peter Pan, and villain, Captain Hook, aren’t necessarily titled as mean or good. The setting on Neverland when she first arrives was when she wakes up on Rowan’s ship (Captain Hook) and is forced to trust him. This makes him seem like the villain, locking Gwen up and Peter Pan (preferred to be called Pan) comes to save Gwen. Seems like the average fairy tale story right?  Wrong. Before Pan invades the ship, Rowan warns Gwen how things aren’t as they seem. She encounters big adventures that put her to the test on realizing who’s the actual bad guy, Pan or Rowan.

In addition, the book includes a variety of twists and turns, making you anticipate how the story will end. I am a big fan of Peter Pan so this dark turn on the fairy tale really caught my attention. I recommend these to people who like mysteries and adventures. The ending especially is very unexpected. Gwen seems to fall in love with Rowan, she finally finds Olivia but she gets killed, and Pan has a totally different personality. It’s all fairly surprising as she uncovers all the secrets of this hazy world of Neverland. She falls upon a dark realization of her mom being correct, monsters were following them around. She finds out the only reason Pan was being nice was because she was a half Fey, just like the queen of Neverland, the one who had control and took care of the land until Pan overthrew her to take her power. She has some surprising powers as well that help her and Rowan along the journey of finding the buried queen. To save the land they need to release her, though that may cost everyone in Neverland to be dead due to her anger. 

They end up releasing and finding her, meaning everything in her path is going to die. They make it to Pan’s place where he hid Olivia and their time is running out to get out of Neverland, but finally they find her.  They watch as Pan kills her and as the queen comes to kill him as well. They aren’t able to do anything and they pass out.  They end up in the hospital and are in the normal world, and Gwen has survived with Rowan. Olivia is gone: Gwen wasn’t able to save her best friend. However, she was able to save Roman and rushed to see him. They acknowledge each other and that’s practically how the story ends.

The story was enjoyable with the small details, the story taking lots of twists, making you want to know what happens next, and the character development. I would say this book is well written and very interesting when you read it. Peter Pan being such a good hero in the regular fairy tale really amazed me with the big twist of him being the bad guy. I would definitely recommend this book.