Tuesday 14 June 2016

REVIEW: Everland by Wendy Spinale


Genre: Fantasy/Re-telling/Steampunk

Publisher: Scholastic 

ISBN: 0545836948


Available: Bookstores including Chapters, Barnes & Noble. Also available in e-book format.

Rating: 7/10

Links: Goodreads. Amazon.com, Website
             B&N, Indigo


Synopsis:


London has been destroyed in the blitz of bombs and the attack of a deadly disease. Only children have managed to survive the outbreak, including Gwen Darling, the protagonist of this story, and her two younger siblings: Joanna and Mikey.

Gwen often spends nights scavenging for food and supplies, avoiding the deadly Marauders and their leader: Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.
After Joanna is snatched away by the Marauders, Gwen sets on a quest to rescue her sister, before meeting Pete Pan and Bella.


Meeting the gang on Lost Boys they set off together to rescue Gwen's sister and perhaps find the cure for the disease that has wiped out almost the entire nation,




Review:



This book was amazing!

It has everything you loved about Peter Pan retold in a darker, steampunk universe. Retellings have become more and more popular and I'm more than happy to include this novel as one of my top favourites. 

I had a lot of fun reading this story and picking out the details that reference the original story: from gold dust, floating ships and Bella's wings. 

The story is told from both Gwen Darlings point of view and Hook's, which gives an insight into both sides of the post-war events that occur. Although I know switching point-of-views does not appeal to every reader (I myself am not always a fan), I feel as though Spinale did it well without causing confusion or annoyance.


The steampunk, post-war England known as Everland is interesting in itself. Big Ben still stands tall, while the underground has mostly been destroyed and become a safe-haven for the Lost Boys.

The characters themselves played a resemblance to the original story and I especially liked Bella (Tinkerbell) and her steampunk wings and use of gold dust to scale the buildings in London. Hook has perhaps a different persona to the story and in my case I was left feeling partially sorry for him and angry at him by the end of the novel. Gwen herself was a strong character with a Mother-like need to protect her siblings at any cost.

I finished Everland in two days, though I could easily have finished it quicker had I had the time. If anything that's the one thing I didn't like. The book was fast-paced (not necessarily a bad thing) and I wish there had perhaps been more to the story, whether that be a story leading up to the post-war England or something else I'm not sure. 

Overall, I did enjoy this novel and it was a fantastic steampunk retelling. I'm sure their will be a sequel (at least there needs to be!) and I can't wait to read it when it is published. This book won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who love steampunk, Peter Pan or retellings in general then this is a great book to dive into.


I'd love to know your thoughts on the novel and characters! Let me know in the comments :)


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