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It Came From Neverland
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Expected 9 Jun 26Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.
1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher, and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who, despite all the care they’ve given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.
When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy is convinced that Peter Pan, the entity that she believes killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.
When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all.
1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher, and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who, despite all the care they’ve given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.
When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy is convinced that Peter Pan, the entity that she believes killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.
When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 9, 2026
About the author
Cynthia Pelayo
71 books677 followersCynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award winning and International Latino Book Award winning author and poet.
Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and cycles of violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of standalone short stories and poems.
Loteria, which was her MFA in Writing thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was re-released to praise with Esquire calling it one of the ‘Best Horror Books of 2023.’ Santa Muerte and The Missing, her young adult horror novels were each nominated for International Latino Book Awards. Poems of My Night was nominated for an Elgin Award. Into the Forest and All the Way Through was nominated for an Elgin Award and was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Children of Chicago was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a Novel and won an International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery. Crime Scene won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. The Shoemaker’s Magician has been released to praise with Library Journal awarding it a starred review.
Her forthcoming novel, The Forgotten Sisters, will be released by Thomas and Mercer in 2024 and is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
Her works have been reviewed in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Review of Books, and more.
Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and cycles of violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of standalone short stories and poems.
Loteria, which was her MFA in Writing thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was re-released to praise with Esquire calling it one of the ‘Best Horror Books of 2023.’ Santa Muerte and The Missing, her young adult horror novels were each nominated for International Latino Book Awards. Poems of My Night was nominated for an Elgin Award. Into the Forest and All the Way Through was nominated for an Elgin Award and was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Children of Chicago was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a Novel and won an International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery. Crime Scene won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. The Shoemaker’s Magician has been released to praise with Library Journal awarding it a starred review.
Her forthcoming novel, The Forgotten Sisters, will be released by Thomas and Mercer in 2024 and is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
Her works have been reviewed in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Review of Books, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
April 12, 2026
For those of you who don’t know, I am a SUCKER for any type of Peter Pan retelling. So when I saw this on my feed and then on NetGalley, I knew I had to request it!
They were not kidding when they said this book was if IT and Peter Pan had a love child! This was such a wonderful and unique retelling of what we thought we knew about Peter Pan. The story was a well executed slow burn that constantly had me looking over my shoulder and checking every shadow. Cynthia Pelayo does a wonderful job with her smooth transitions between past and present and connecting the story for the bigger picture. The lost boys seemed so primal and animalistic and painted such a good picture in my head. Listen, idk what it is but I also loved the way Cynthia describes smells. I swear, the descriptions were tricking my mind that the smells were really there! If you’re looking for an eerie and dread-filled fairytale retelling, then this book is for you!
Lastly, I’d like to give huge thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC!
They were not kidding when they said this book was if IT and Peter Pan had a love child! This was such a wonderful and unique retelling of what we thought we knew about Peter Pan. The story was a well executed slow burn that constantly had me looking over my shoulder and checking every shadow. Cynthia Pelayo does a wonderful job with her smooth transitions between past and present and connecting the story for the bigger picture. The lost boys seemed so primal and animalistic and painted such a good picture in my head. Listen, idk what it is but I also loved the way Cynthia describes smells. I swear, the descriptions were tricking my mind that the smells were really there! If you’re looking for an eerie and dread-filled fairytale retelling, then this book is for you!
Lastly, I’d like to give huge thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
STARRED review in the May 2026 issue of Booklist and on the blog: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2026/05...
Three Words That Describe This Book: Strong Sense of Place, Meaning, Psychological Horror
Other words: dark retelling, trauma, PTSD, survivor guilt, historical horror, books about books, the reader knows how much worse things are going to get after the story ends.
You will never be able to look at Peter Pan the saw way again after reading this book. I need to lead with this because the Peter we are presented with here is in the vein of Charlie Manx (from Joe Hill's NOS4A2).
Wendy has PTSD from what Peter did to her. She has guilt and grief over the boys she could not save. She has the trauma of an abused partner. She is a classic victim of abuse in a time when no one understood that. Readers understand that PTSD really wasn't considered a medical condition until AFTER WWI.
In Pelayo's hands, Barrie's stories about the Darling children are the happy version of what was a TRUE CRIME mystery that rocked Pelayos alternate London. The Darling's are famous for disappearing and reappearing, but they are also infamous because of the "crazy" things Wendy claims happened. But the world knows the story Barrie wrote. Barrie took her pain and turned it into joy. She has read everything he has written. People know it is about her. It is awful for her, every single day. She is like today's famous victims of evil men.
Kensington Garden as a place of MANY child abductions, no one believing or listening to Wendy, her being put into a mental hospital during her teen years to protect her from herself and her derangements. Her estrangement from her brothers because they all were told to push their trauma and feelings down.
But now it is 12 years later. Wendy is functioning, barely. She works at the orphanage where she lived after her stay in the hospital. She is the children's teacher. It is 1914 and WWI is just starting to ramp up. The specter of the war we know is to come overshadows everything. It is bad now with young men dying and being injured, children being given to the orphanages because their fathers have been killed and the mothers cannot raise all of their children alone.
Readers know things are bad but they will get worse. There is one mention of some coughing and it is enough to remind readers that after the war, the 1917 flu will come. The atmosphere is oppressive to start, so that everything that Wendy is experiencing is menacing right off the bat.
Pelayo uses the atmosphere and history of the time and place, overlays it with the "true" horror of what happened to the Darling children, and then slowly builds the horror. The whole book is like a pot of water that begins on low as Pelayo begins to turn up the heat. Once it is simmering, the boiling comes quick. But here is the thing, even as it clams down after almost boiling over, it is still simmering, rather fast. Why? because the end resolution of this book is a pause. Michael is off to war, the war will come to London, everyone will be affected, and then the flu will kill many. Oh, and a Second World War will come next. Readers know this. So even with a pleasant outcome to this story, the horror of what will come lingers on this story. That was so very well done.
Wendy is developed perfectly. She is bookish and anxious and so isolated. She has very few friends because she is not allowed to share her truth. That labels her as insane. So when she starts to see the signs in the children (from the first lines, Agnes, one of her charges, is during a bird skull because "he" told her to) that Peter is trying to entice them to Neverland she is on edge. But no one will deliver her, she knows that. And then more things happen, crows are attacking, her shadow is acting strange.
Pelayo moves Wendy in and out of her present and into her past. She enriches the Peter Pan story we all know with details that make us all think long and hard about how dark it really is. And then she adds the overlay that Peter is not a fun young man, but rather, he is a monster who uses the children to stay young and alive... (That is mentioned early)
This book is DARK., The writing though is beautiful. It draws you through as the true horror of Wendy's experiences as a 12 year old and her life now are built up. As she rejoins forces with her brothers to try to finally end Peter's reign of terror, things move faster, but they also get way more terrifying. And again, the ending will leave you satisfied but extremely uneasy because everyone's world in London is about to get a whole lot worse.
This is not your typical Peter Pan retelling. There is no romance here. It is the opposite. And it is very dark and terrifying. The only retelling I can compare it to is Wendy, Darling by AC Wise. But again, this is more Wedny vs Peter as Vic vs Manx in NOS4A2. Also this is a great option for fans of Maguire's Wayward Children series. For Pelayo fans who loved Children of Chicago, this is a great option to pair with that as well.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Strong Sense of Place, Meaning, Psychological Horror
Other words: dark retelling, trauma, PTSD, survivor guilt, historical horror, books about books, the reader knows how much worse things are going to get after the story ends.
You will never be able to look at Peter Pan the saw way again after reading this book. I need to lead with this because the Peter we are presented with here is in the vein of Charlie Manx (from Joe Hill's NOS4A2).
Wendy has PTSD from what Peter did to her. She has guilt and grief over the boys she could not save. She has the trauma of an abused partner. She is a classic victim of abuse in a time when no one understood that. Readers understand that PTSD really wasn't considered a medical condition until AFTER WWI.
In Pelayo's hands, Barrie's stories about the Darling children are the happy version of what was a TRUE CRIME mystery that rocked Pelayos alternate London. The Darling's are famous for disappearing and reappearing, but they are also infamous because of the "crazy" things Wendy claims happened. But the world knows the story Barrie wrote. Barrie took her pain and turned it into joy. She has read everything he has written. People know it is about her. It is awful for her, every single day. She is like today's famous victims of evil men.
Kensington Garden as a place of MANY child abductions, no one believing or listening to Wendy, her being put into a mental hospital during her teen years to protect her from herself and her derangements. Her estrangement from her brothers because they all were told to push their trauma and feelings down.
But now it is 12 years later. Wendy is functioning, barely. She works at the orphanage where she lived after her stay in the hospital. She is the children's teacher. It is 1914 and WWI is just starting to ramp up. The specter of the war we know is to come overshadows everything. It is bad now with young men dying and being injured, children being given to the orphanages because their fathers have been killed and the mothers cannot raise all of their children alone.
Readers know things are bad but they will get worse. There is one mention of some coughing and it is enough to remind readers that after the war, the 1917 flu will come. The atmosphere is oppressive to start, so that everything that Wendy is experiencing is menacing right off the bat.
Pelayo uses the atmosphere and history of the time and place, overlays it with the "true" horror of what happened to the Darling children, and then slowly builds the horror. The whole book is like a pot of water that begins on low as Pelayo begins to turn up the heat. Once it is simmering, the boiling comes quick. But here is the thing, even as it clams down after almost boiling over, it is still simmering, rather fast. Why? because the end resolution of this book is a pause. Michael is off to war, the war will come to London, everyone will be affected, and then the flu will kill many. Oh, and a Second World War will come next. Readers know this. So even with a pleasant outcome to this story, the horror of what will come lingers on this story. That was so very well done.
Wendy is developed perfectly. She is bookish and anxious and so isolated. She has very few friends because she is not allowed to share her truth. That labels her as insane. So when she starts to see the signs in the children (from the first lines, Agnes, one of her charges, is during a bird skull because "he" told her to) that Peter is trying to entice them to Neverland she is on edge. But no one will deliver her, she knows that. And then more things happen, crows are attacking, her shadow is acting strange.
Pelayo moves Wendy in and out of her present and into her past. She enriches the Peter Pan story we all know with details that make us all think long and hard about how dark it really is. And then she adds the overlay that Peter is not a fun young man, but rather, he is a monster who uses the children to stay young and alive... (That is mentioned early)
This book is DARK., The writing though is beautiful. It draws you through as the true horror of Wendy's experiences as a 12 year old and her life now are built up. As she rejoins forces with her brothers to try to finally end Peter's reign of terror, things move faster, but they also get way more terrifying. And again, the ending will leave you satisfied but extremely uneasy because everyone's world in London is about to get a whole lot worse.
This is not your typical Peter Pan retelling. There is no romance here. It is the opposite. And it is very dark and terrifying. The only retelling I can compare it to is Wendy, Darling by AC Wise. But again, this is more Wedny vs Peter as Vic vs Manx in NOS4A2. Also this is a great option for fans of Maguire's Wayward Children series. For Pelayo fans who loved Children of Chicago, this is a great option to pair with that as well.
May 12, 2026
Review to come upon release
May 10, 2026
While this one held promise and was atmospheric, bringing the time period and location fully alive in the reader’s mind, it was too much; too full on which had the effect of diffusing the horror.
Upon opening this book, I was immediately drawn in. I thought the concept of Peter Pan being a scary story was excellent. It is not the sort of thing I would normally read but I was here for it.
Some of the spooky moments were excellent, the crows etc. But there was no subtlety. There was too much going on, tapping, feathers, whispering. There was barely a moment’s break which had the opposite effect and began to feel a lot less creepy and a bit more silly.
It kind of fizzled for me. For a horror, I have to be fully convinced and all in or it just doesn’t work. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.
Upon opening this book, I was immediately drawn in. I thought the concept of Peter Pan being a scary story was excellent. It is not the sort of thing I would normally read but I was here for it.
Some of the spooky moments were excellent, the crows etc. But there was no subtlety. There was too much going on, tapping, feathers, whispering. There was barely a moment’s break which had the opposite effect and began to feel a lot less creepy and a bit more silly.
It kind of fizzled for me. For a horror, I have to be fully convinced and all in or it just doesn’t work. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.
April 24, 2026
• BOOK REVIEW •
NEW ARC READ!
DATE OF RELEASE : 9TH JUNE 2026
Date : 24th April 2026
Book : It Came From Neverland
Author : Cynthia Pelayo
Genre : Dark Fantasy
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love love love a good retelling of a story that I’ve read as a kid. And this so happens to be about Peter Pan, although this Peter Pan is kinda creepy. (P/s: who else had a crush on that Peter Pan actor when it first came out?)
Imagine back then as a kid, you’d probably wanna head to Neverland and think that not growing up is so much fun, right? But in this book, you might wanna think of it as a horrible curse because this Peter is more of a predator who has a role as both Pennywise (from IT) and a dementor (from Harry Potter) rather than a fun playmate.
So from this book, you have Wendy, John and Michael Darling who are terrified over what happened to them all those years ago. And this book now fast forwards to a many years later, where they each have their own lives, are estranged and are living with a whole lotta trauma.
Thank you so much, @crookedlanebooks for my #gifted physical and ebook arc! This was definitely a book that was on my reading goal for the year. So thank you for letting me read this and allowing me to give my honest review.
#itcamefromneverland #bookstagram #peterpan bookrecommendations •dark fantasy• horror •retelling•
NEW ARC READ!
DATE OF RELEASE : 9TH JUNE 2026
Date : 24th April 2026
Book : It Came From Neverland
Author : Cynthia Pelayo
Genre : Dark Fantasy
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love love love a good retelling of a story that I’ve read as a kid. And this so happens to be about Peter Pan, although this Peter Pan is kinda creepy. (P/s: who else had a crush on that Peter Pan actor when it first came out?)
Imagine back then as a kid, you’d probably wanna head to Neverland and think that not growing up is so much fun, right? But in this book, you might wanna think of it as a horrible curse because this Peter is more of a predator who has a role as both Pennywise (from IT) and a dementor (from Harry Potter) rather than a fun playmate.
So from this book, you have Wendy, John and Michael Darling who are terrified over what happened to them all those years ago. And this book now fast forwards to a many years later, where they each have their own lives, are estranged and are living with a whole lotta trauma.
Thank you so much, @crookedlanebooks for my #gifted physical and ebook arc! This was definitely a book that was on my reading goal for the year. So thank you for letting me read this and allowing me to give my honest review.
#itcamefromneverland #bookstagram #peterpan bookrecommendations •dark fantasy• horror •retelling•
April 9, 2026
Add this to your TBR!
Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.
This story takes something familiar and twists it into something far more unsettling. It blends folklore, grief, and horror in a way that feels both haunting and strangely poetic, creating an atmosphere that lingers long after you’ve stopped reading.
The writing leans into mood over action, building a sense of unease through imagery and emotion rather than constant scares. It’s the kind of horror that quietly creeps in, layering tension until it becomes impossible to ignore.
What stood out most was how it balances beauty with darkness — there’s a rawness to the themes that adds depth beyond the horror elements. It’s not always an easy read, but it’s a memorable one.
🖤 A haunting, lyrical story that feels as unsettling as it is beautiful.
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this advanced readers copy of It Came From Neverland in exchange for my honest review.
Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.
This story takes something familiar and twists it into something far more unsettling. It blends folklore, grief, and horror in a way that feels both haunting and strangely poetic, creating an atmosphere that lingers long after you’ve stopped reading.
The writing leans into mood over action, building a sense of unease through imagery and emotion rather than constant scares. It’s the kind of horror that quietly creeps in, layering tension until it becomes impossible to ignore.
What stood out most was how it balances beauty with darkness — there’s a rawness to the themes that adds depth beyond the horror elements. It’s not always an easy read, but it’s a memorable one.
🖤 A haunting, lyrical story that feels as unsettling as it is beautiful.
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this advanced readers copy of It Came From Neverland in exchange for my honest review.
April 25, 2026
Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for my arc in return for an honest review!
Cynthia Pelayo I was unfamiliar with your work but you just gained a STAN! Not only was the prose in this absolutely STUNNING, dreamy, and effervescent, I was fully carried through this story both visually and emotionally! Pelayo’s writing is masterful and evokes a feeling of dread and anxiety that reminded me why I LOVE horror!! I went through several emotional fugues reliving my childhood as a Darling child through Wendy’s eyes. This retelling is brilliant, sensational, and impactful.
Cynthia Pelayo I was unfamiliar with your work but you just gained a STAN! Not only was the prose in this absolutely STUNNING, dreamy, and effervescent, I was fully carried through this story both visually and emotionally! Pelayo’s writing is masterful and evokes a feeling of dread and anxiety that reminded me why I LOVE horror!! I went through several emotional fugues reliving my childhood as a Darling child through Wendy’s eyes. This retelling is brilliant, sensational, and impactful.
Want to Read
May 13, 2026I don't know what it is about this premise but I'm obsessed with it. Can't wait to dive into the ARC!
March 26, 2026
First and foremost to the author.
There are multiple typos early on. Chapter 3 and 8 believe. And a couple of others I made notes on for myself.
Also, I ran coating and laminating machines that produced sports cards, book covers, etc. The copy I received was curled pretty significantly making it a challenge to turn the pages.
These issues did not reflect my rating for the book.
Now as far as my review for the books. I thought it was ok. I liked the horror spin to Peter Pan and I think it actually makes sense. Kids forgetting who they are and where they come from. An older kid basically is kidnapping other children to be friends with. Love the concept turned to reality.
I think it just took way too long to start turning the corner of what was going on. The author did a good job keeping me interested chapter to chapter, but at one point at half way or past half way, I realized this is a bit slower for my taste. Almost like the paranormal activity movies. You something is going on, there’s a small sign here and there, but to me nothing big happened or had me tense up and speed reading to figure the scary entity or ‘horror’ portion.
The ending and epilogue disappointed me. As always, this is my opinion and mine alone and will always differ from others.
It’s an ok ready though, I read it in one day.
There are multiple typos early on. Chapter 3 and 8 believe. And a couple of others I made notes on for myself.
Also, I ran coating and laminating machines that produced sports cards, book covers, etc. The copy I received was curled pretty significantly making it a challenge to turn the pages.
These issues did not reflect my rating for the book.
Now as far as my review for the books. I thought it was ok. I liked the horror spin to Peter Pan and I think it actually makes sense. Kids forgetting who they are and where they come from. An older kid basically is kidnapping other children to be friends with. Love the concept turned to reality.
I think it just took way too long to start turning the corner of what was going on. The author did a good job keeping me interested chapter to chapter, but at one point at half way or past half way, I realized this is a bit slower for my taste. Almost like the paranormal activity movies. You something is going on, there’s a small sign here and there, but to me nothing big happened or had me tense up and speed reading to figure the scary entity or ‘horror’ portion.
The ending and epilogue disappointed me. As always, this is my opinion and mine alone and will always differ from others.
It’s an ok ready though, I read it in one day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"I've spent my entire life dreaming of Neverland." (Unknown)
Mischievous and playful? Not hardly in the mind of Wendy Darling.
Cast aside every childhood memory you've had painted with the brush of Walt Disney. Little fairies that fly and careen through the air. Captain Hook and Peter Pan and most certainly those Lost Boys. Cynthia Pelayo draws life with dark ink in It Came from Neverland. Wicked things creep steadily in shadowy corners.
Wendy Darling of Peter Pan fame is now an adult. Her parents have long passed and she is estranged from her two brothers, John and Michael, who had accompanied her in their childhood trip to Neverland. That nursery at the top of the stairs where this adventure began is locked and bolted. We'll soon find out as to why.
Wendy serves as a teacher at Marigold House where children are taken in without question. It is Wendy's gift of storytelling that keep these young ones engaged. It's 1914 as World War I blazes on and young men return shattered. Wendy offers her time at a local army hospital to read to the wounded. She's taken with one soldier, Edward, who has been left in a trance-like state. Wendy's hope is to reach inside Edward and bring him forward to heal.
But Wendy herself needs healing. She and her brothers tapped down their memories of Neverland never to speak of it again. But in that effort, it has taken its toll. Wendy walks to the children's home each morning and is met with clusters of black crows perched high in the trees. Their squawking is ear-piercing and leaves Wendy very unsettled. And it's the appearance of long black feathers out of nowhere that find their way to Wendy. She feels a presence of Evil day after day. And Wendy is aware......very aware.
Cynthia Pelayo has created one tightly rendered novel in It Came from Neverland. Pelayo has a gift for turning the already known into a galloping unknown. The sweet-faced Peter Pan drops his facade ever so slightly to reveal a highly unexpected nature......a nature that Wendy met up with close and personal. A nature that leaned into the missing children from Kensington Garden for so long. Peter is certainly not the Peter of fairytales. And Wendy knows this even more when one of the children in her school goes missing. Wendy must act even though her own mind is as fragile as fine crystal.
Check out one mind-boggling read lined in dread from beginning to end. Clever and creative and determined to give you sleepless nights. Don't open that door, Wendy.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to the talented Cynthia Pelayo for the opportunity.
Mischievous and playful? Not hardly in the mind of Wendy Darling.
Cast aside every childhood memory you've had painted with the brush of Walt Disney. Little fairies that fly and careen through the air. Captain Hook and Peter Pan and most certainly those Lost Boys. Cynthia Pelayo draws life with dark ink in It Came from Neverland. Wicked things creep steadily in shadowy corners.
Wendy Darling of Peter Pan fame is now an adult. Her parents have long passed and she is estranged from her two brothers, John and Michael, who had accompanied her in their childhood trip to Neverland. That nursery at the top of the stairs where this adventure began is locked and bolted. We'll soon find out as to why.
Wendy serves as a teacher at Marigold House where children are taken in without question. It is Wendy's gift of storytelling that keep these young ones engaged. It's 1914 as World War I blazes on and young men return shattered. Wendy offers her time at a local army hospital to read to the wounded. She's taken with one soldier, Edward, who has been left in a trance-like state. Wendy's hope is to reach inside Edward and bring him forward to heal.
But Wendy herself needs healing. She and her brothers tapped down their memories of Neverland never to speak of it again. But in that effort, it has taken its toll. Wendy walks to the children's home each morning and is met with clusters of black crows perched high in the trees. Their squawking is ear-piercing and leaves Wendy very unsettled. And it's the appearance of long black feathers out of nowhere that find their way to Wendy. She feels a presence of Evil day after day. And Wendy is aware......very aware.
Cynthia Pelayo has created one tightly rendered novel in It Came from Neverland. Pelayo has a gift for turning the already known into a galloping unknown. The sweet-faced Peter Pan drops his facade ever so slightly to reveal a highly unexpected nature......a nature that Wendy met up with close and personal. A nature that leaned into the missing children from Kensington Garden for so long. Peter is certainly not the Peter of fairytales. And Wendy knows this even more when one of the children in her school goes missing. Wendy must act even though her own mind is as fragile as fine crystal.
Check out one mind-boggling read lined in dread from beginning to end. Clever and creative and determined to give you sleepless nights. Don't open that door, Wendy.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to the talented Cynthia Pelayo for the opportunity.
Review of advance copy
I received the ARC of this book from Crook Lane Books and LibraryThing in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I enjoyed reading “It Came from Neverland” and believe it is an entertaining enough horror-tinged take on the Peter Pan mythos. The problem is that it feels like it never fully commits to developing its characters beyond their basic roles in the story, their back story doesn’t go much beyond what we already know about them from the J.M. Barrie story. The atmosphere and idea behind the story are interesting, especially for those who enjoy darker reinterpretations of familiar childhood worlds, yet the emotional side of the novel feels underdeveloped.
One of the biggest issues is that the characters never become as layered or memorable as they could have been. Their motivations and personalities are sketched out rather than deeply explored, which makes it harder to feel invested in their struggles. The story moves quickly, sometimes at the expense of meaningful character development. I would like to know more of their backstory, more about the events in Neverland that causes them such fear and trauma.
The character of James Hook in particular feels as if he is simply dropped into the narrative without enough groundwork. He simply appears at Wendy’s door. It’s implied that there is a history between them but it’s never elaborated on. Surely his presence should carry weight given the associations readers already have with the name, but the book does not spend enough time exploring who he is, where he came from, or what shaped him. I would have liked to have found out how he is different from the Hook we read about in Peter and Wendy. There are hints of a larger backstory and deeper mythology, but they remain mostly unexplored and I feel this is unfortunate.
That becomes one of the more frustrating aspects of the novel: it leaves you wanting to know far more about the history and background of the characters than the story is willing to provide. I really want an author to write the backstory to this book. If the Peter and Wendy tale is supposedly untrue and covers up what really happened in Neverland, then please tell the “true” tale. The world of this book has potential, and there are moments where the mystery surrounding Neverland becomes genuinely intriguing, but the book often feels like it is only scratching the surface of ideas that deserved more depth.
Overall, the novel has an imaginative premise and some enjoyable eerie moments, but the lack of fully developed characters keeps it from being as emotionally engaging or memorable as it could have been.
I enjoyed reading “It Came from Neverland” and believe it is an entertaining enough horror-tinged take on the Peter Pan mythos. The problem is that it feels like it never fully commits to developing its characters beyond their basic roles in the story, their back story doesn’t go much beyond what we already know about them from the J.M. Barrie story. The atmosphere and idea behind the story are interesting, especially for those who enjoy darker reinterpretations of familiar childhood worlds, yet the emotional side of the novel feels underdeveloped.
One of the biggest issues is that the characters never become as layered or memorable as they could have been. Their motivations and personalities are sketched out rather than deeply explored, which makes it harder to feel invested in their struggles. The story moves quickly, sometimes at the expense of meaningful character development. I would like to know more of their backstory, more about the events in Neverland that causes them such fear and trauma.
The character of James Hook in particular feels as if he is simply dropped into the narrative without enough groundwork. He simply appears at Wendy’s door. It’s implied that there is a history between them but it’s never elaborated on. Surely his presence should carry weight given the associations readers already have with the name, but the book does not spend enough time exploring who he is, where he came from, or what shaped him. I would have liked to have found out how he is different from the Hook we read about in Peter and Wendy. There are hints of a larger backstory and deeper mythology, but they remain mostly unexplored and I feel this is unfortunate.
That becomes one of the more frustrating aspects of the novel: it leaves you wanting to know far more about the history and background of the characters than the story is willing to provide. I really want an author to write the backstory to this book. If the Peter and Wendy tale is supposedly untrue and covers up what really happened in Neverland, then please tell the “true” tale. The world of this book has potential, and there are moments where the mystery surrounding Neverland becomes genuinely intriguing, but the book often feels like it is only scratching the surface of ideas that deserved more depth.
Overall, the novel has an imaginative premise and some enjoyable eerie moments, but the lack of fully developed characters keeps it from being as emotionally engaging or memorable as it could have been.
May 15, 2026
It Came from the Nether Land by Cynthia Pelayo is a stunning blend of psychological horror, dark fantasy, and gothic fairy-tale retelling that completely consumed me from beginning to end. This eerie reimagining of Peter Pan takes everything familiar about childhood fantasy and transforms it into something haunting, unsettling, and unforgettable.
The story explores grief, trauma, fear, and the dangerous comfort of escaping reality. What begins as a beautifully mysterious tale slowly unravels into something darker and far more psychological. The tension builds so naturally that I found myself unable to put it down, needing to know where the story would lead next.
What truly made this book extraordinary for me was Cynthia Pelayo’s writing style. Her prose is mesmerizing. Every scene feels alive. I could hear sounds echoing through the darkness, smell decay and rain in the air, and feel the chilling atmosphere wrapping around each page. It takes incredible skill to make a reader experience a story through all the senses, and Cynthia Pelayo delivers this effortlessly. Her descriptions are poetic yet deeply unsettling, creating a dreamlike horror that lingers long after reading.
The characters were another highlight. They felt emotionally raw and authentic, carrying pain and vulnerability that made their journeys feel real. Every interaction added another layer to the growing psychological unease, and I became deeply invested in what would happen to them. No character felt unnecessary—each one contributed to the haunting atmosphere.
What I loved most was how the horror was handled. This is not a book that relies on gore or jump scares. The fear comes from atmosphere, emotion, and the slow unraveling of the mind. It creeps under your skin and stays there, creating a constant sense of unease that becomes almost suffocating in the best way.
And then there’s the ending—absolutely brilliant. Beautifully crafted, emotional, shocking, and deeply satisfying, it brings everything together in a way that left me speechless.
It Came from the Nether Lands is one of those rare books that is both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Cynthia Pelayo has created something darkly magical, emotionally powerful, and completely immersive. If you love psychological horror with rich atmosphere, unforgettable writing, and fairy tales twisted into nightmares, this book deserves a place at the top of your reading list.
Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Publishers, and Cynthia Pelayo for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publishing Date: June 9th, 2026
The story explores grief, trauma, fear, and the dangerous comfort of escaping reality. What begins as a beautifully mysterious tale slowly unravels into something darker and far more psychological. The tension builds so naturally that I found myself unable to put it down, needing to know where the story would lead next.
What truly made this book extraordinary for me was Cynthia Pelayo’s writing style. Her prose is mesmerizing. Every scene feels alive. I could hear sounds echoing through the darkness, smell decay and rain in the air, and feel the chilling atmosphere wrapping around each page. It takes incredible skill to make a reader experience a story through all the senses, and Cynthia Pelayo delivers this effortlessly. Her descriptions are poetic yet deeply unsettling, creating a dreamlike horror that lingers long after reading.
The characters were another highlight. They felt emotionally raw and authentic, carrying pain and vulnerability that made their journeys feel real. Every interaction added another layer to the growing psychological unease, and I became deeply invested in what would happen to them. No character felt unnecessary—each one contributed to the haunting atmosphere.
What I loved most was how the horror was handled. This is not a book that relies on gore or jump scares. The fear comes from atmosphere, emotion, and the slow unraveling of the mind. It creeps under your skin and stays there, creating a constant sense of unease that becomes almost suffocating in the best way.
And then there’s the ending—absolutely brilliant. Beautifully crafted, emotional, shocking, and deeply satisfying, it brings everything together in a way that left me speechless.
It Came from the Nether Lands is one of those rare books that is both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Cynthia Pelayo has created something darkly magical, emotionally powerful, and completely immersive. If you love psychological horror with rich atmosphere, unforgettable writing, and fairy tales twisted into nightmares, this book deserves a place at the top of your reading list.
Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Publishers, and Cynthia Pelayo for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publishing Date: June 9th, 2026
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.” ― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
I love a good retelling and It Came from Neverland took Peter Pan, put it in a jar, shook the original up, added a dash of horror, menace, and nightmares. What came out was a gripping, shocking, eerie, and hard to put down book that knocked my socks off. Be warned, this is not the childhood story or movie that you may have read or watched in childhood. There will be no pixie dust, but there will be wonderful writing, vivid descriptions, chilling moments, and a brilliantly crafted tale.
1914
Wendy Darling and John and Michael, her two younger brothers, have been to Neverland as children. They were lucky to make it back home, but life will never be the same for Wendy. She is traumatized, not believed, and becomes an outcast. As an adult, she works as a schoolteacher who dazzles children with her storytelling. In the evenings she reads to a soldier who has returned from the war but has never woken up. One day as she is reading, he whispers the words she hoped to never hear again "Peter Pan." When one of the students from her school goes missing, she believes that Peter Pan is to blame....
WOWZA! I loved every single page of this book! I loved the imagination that went into the writing of this brilliantly told book. What if Peter Pan and Neverland are not fantasy but a nightmare? What if Captain Hook was not a villain? What if Peter Pan was not fun and playful? What if his character was dripping with darkness?
I loved the eerie and dark feel of this book. I loved the dread and unease which oozed from the pages. I loved the setting. I also loved how the author wrote trauma and emotional pain so realistically and vividly. I felt for Wendy and her brothers. Wendy cannot let go of the past and the past wont let go of her. She is ever watchful and careful. She is hypervigilant and uneasy. I wanted to scoop her up and give her a big hug. This book had me holding my breath, crossing my fingers, and riding the waves of tension which flowed throughout this book. Don't even get me started on the beautiful writing!
All the stars! Highly Recommend!
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love a good retelling and It Came from Neverland took Peter Pan, put it in a jar, shook the original up, added a dash of horror, menace, and nightmares. What came out was a gripping, shocking, eerie, and hard to put down book that knocked my socks off. Be warned, this is not the childhood story or movie that you may have read or watched in childhood. There will be no pixie dust, but there will be wonderful writing, vivid descriptions, chilling moments, and a brilliantly crafted tale.
1914
Wendy Darling and John and Michael, her two younger brothers, have been to Neverland as children. They were lucky to make it back home, but life will never be the same for Wendy. She is traumatized, not believed, and becomes an outcast. As an adult, she works as a schoolteacher who dazzles children with her storytelling. In the evenings she reads to a soldier who has returned from the war but has never woken up. One day as she is reading, he whispers the words she hoped to never hear again "Peter Pan." When one of the students from her school goes missing, she believes that Peter Pan is to blame....
WOWZA! I loved every single page of this book! I loved the imagination that went into the writing of this brilliantly told book. What if Peter Pan and Neverland are not fantasy but a nightmare? What if Captain Hook was not a villain? What if Peter Pan was not fun and playful? What if his character was dripping with darkness?
I loved the eerie and dark feel of this book. I loved the dread and unease which oozed from the pages. I loved the setting. I also loved how the author wrote trauma and emotional pain so realistically and vividly. I felt for Wendy and her brothers. Wendy cannot let go of the past and the past wont let go of her. She is ever watchful and careful. She is hypervigilant and uneasy. I wanted to scoop her up and give her a big hug. This book had me holding my breath, crossing my fingers, and riding the waves of tension which flowed throughout this book. Don't even get me started on the beautiful writing!
All the stars! Highly Recommend!
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
There’s something deeply unsettling about taking a story you were raised to trust and twisting it into something that watches you back. That’s exactly what It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo does, it got under my skin in that slow, creeping way I didn’t expect.
This isn’t your soft, dreamy Peter Pan. This is something closer to the dread you feel in It—that lurking, shapeshifting horror that preys on children and leaves adults questioning their own memories.
Wendy Darling here isn’t caught in a whimsical adventure. She’s exhausted, haunted, and trying to hold herself together while the world is already falling apart during World War I. Teaching by day, tending to broken soldiers by night, and carrying memories that no one else seems to share in the same way—it all creates this heavy, suffocating atmosphere that never really lets you breathe.
And then the children start disappearing.
That’s where this story really sank its teeth into me. The way the past and present blur, the way Wendy is both witness and suspect, the way no one quite believes her… it feels like being trapped in a nightmare where you’re the only one who knows the monster is real. Or worse, where people start to think you are the monster.
Pelayo leans hard into that psychological horror. You’re constantly questioning what’s real, what’s trauma, and what’s something much darker wearing the mask of a childhood story. And that’s the part that lingered for me—that idea that something you once loved could come back wrong.
Completely wrong.
There’s a quiet grief running through this book too. About growing up. About losing innocence. About the stories we tell ourselves to survive and what happens when those stories turn on us.
This isn’t a fast, jump-scare kind of horror. It’s heavier than that. It sits with you. It whispers. It makes you second guess the shadows in familiar places.
And honestly, it made me look at Neverland a little differently.
If you go into this expecting nostalgia, you’re going to be uncomfortable. If you go into this wanting something eerie, layered, and emotionally sharp, it absolutely delivers.
This isn’t your soft, dreamy Peter Pan. This is something closer to the dread you feel in It—that lurking, shapeshifting horror that preys on children and leaves adults questioning their own memories.
Wendy Darling here isn’t caught in a whimsical adventure. She’s exhausted, haunted, and trying to hold herself together while the world is already falling apart during World War I. Teaching by day, tending to broken soldiers by night, and carrying memories that no one else seems to share in the same way—it all creates this heavy, suffocating atmosphere that never really lets you breathe.
And then the children start disappearing.
That’s where this story really sank its teeth into me. The way the past and present blur, the way Wendy is both witness and suspect, the way no one quite believes her… it feels like being trapped in a nightmare where you’re the only one who knows the monster is real. Or worse, where people start to think you are the monster.
Pelayo leans hard into that psychological horror. You’re constantly questioning what’s real, what’s trauma, and what’s something much darker wearing the mask of a childhood story. And that’s the part that lingered for me—that idea that something you once loved could come back wrong.
Completely wrong.
There’s a quiet grief running through this book too. About growing up. About losing innocence. About the stories we tell ourselves to survive and what happens when those stories turn on us.
This isn’t a fast, jump-scare kind of horror. It’s heavier than that. It sits with you. It whispers. It makes you second guess the shadows in familiar places.
And honestly, it made me look at Neverland a little differently.
If you go into this expecting nostalgia, you’re going to be uncomfortable. If you go into this wanting something eerie, layered, and emotionally sharp, it absolutely delivers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cynthia Pelayo’s It Came From Neverland is a chilling and imaginative reworking of Peter Pan that leans fully into horror, and for the most part, it absolutely delivers.
Set against the bleak backdrop of World War I, the novel follows Wendy Darling as she becomes entangled in a series of child disappearances that echo a string of brutal murders from her past. The premise, often described as “Peter Pan meets Stephen King’s It,” captures the tone perfectly. A familiar childhood fantasy is twisted into something deeply unsettling, not by completely reinventing Peter, but by reframing him. Pelayo doesn’t so much change Peter Pan as she forces the reader to reconsider what he has always been. His refusal to grow up, his detachment from consequences, and his pull on children take on a far more sinister meaning when viewed through an adult lens shaped by trauma and loss.
One of the strongest elements is how effectively the novel shifts perspective. Peter himself feels eerily consistent with the original myth, but his actions land differently in this darker context. What once read as whimsical now feels predatory, even cruel. This reinterpretation is where the horror truly lives. The atmosphere is tense throughout, and the idea that something so familiar could have always been this dangerous gives the story a lingering unease. Wendy’s perspective anchors the narrative, adding emotional depth as she struggles to separate reality from nightmare while under suspicion herself.
The novel isn’t perfect. The pacing can feel uneven, particularly in the middle sections, and the narrative’s ambiguity, while thematically appropriate, may leave some readers wanting clearer answers. At times, the story leans more into mood than forward momentum.
Still, this is a bold and memorable horror novel. Pelayo’s blend of fairy tale, crime, and psychological horror makes for an eerie, emotionally charged read that stands out in the genre. If you’re drawn to dark reinterpretations that reveal the shadows already present in familiar stories, this one is well worth picking up.
Set against the bleak backdrop of World War I, the novel follows Wendy Darling as she becomes entangled in a series of child disappearances that echo a string of brutal murders from her past. The premise, often described as “Peter Pan meets Stephen King’s It,” captures the tone perfectly. A familiar childhood fantasy is twisted into something deeply unsettling, not by completely reinventing Peter, but by reframing him. Pelayo doesn’t so much change Peter Pan as she forces the reader to reconsider what he has always been. His refusal to grow up, his detachment from consequences, and his pull on children take on a far more sinister meaning when viewed through an adult lens shaped by trauma and loss.
One of the strongest elements is how effectively the novel shifts perspective. Peter himself feels eerily consistent with the original myth, but his actions land differently in this darker context. What once read as whimsical now feels predatory, even cruel. This reinterpretation is where the horror truly lives. The atmosphere is tense throughout, and the idea that something so familiar could have always been this dangerous gives the story a lingering unease. Wendy’s perspective anchors the narrative, adding emotional depth as she struggles to separate reality from nightmare while under suspicion herself.
The novel isn’t perfect. The pacing can feel uneven, particularly in the middle sections, and the narrative’s ambiguity, while thematically appropriate, may leave some readers wanting clearer answers. At times, the story leans more into mood than forward momentum.
Still, this is a bold and memorable horror novel. Pelayo’s blend of fairy tale, crime, and psychological horror makes for an eerie, emotionally charged read that stands out in the genre. If you’re drawn to dark reinterpretations that reveal the shadows already present in familiar stories, this one is well worth picking up.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Wow. It Came from Neverland was a truly beautiful book. There were so many beautiful lines and deep thoughts about childhood, storytelling, and the nature of trauma that I want to get some of them made into tattoos.
This story is a dark, horror fairytale retelling about the aftermath of traveling to Neverland with Peter Pan. It takes place during World War I, but the story extends back further in time with nods to earlier child disappearances from the late Victorian period, the nature of mental health in pre-WWI times, and long-kept crime records by Scotland Yard. This narrative offers commentary on trauma, war, child exploitation, mental health, the pains of growing up, and the terrible consequences of trusting the wrong person, but it does so tastefully through the lens of fantasy and well-paced character development.
It's best to go into this without knowing too much, but the book is centered around Wendy Darling's flashbacks to when she was taken to Neverland with her brothers by Peter Pan and the ways that the past still follows her, even after her return to the normal human world. Cynthia Pelayo skillfully weaves a story that embeds dread and nostalgia into every page without losing the lessons endemic to fairytale retellings.
I loved every moment of this book because of its thoughtfulness and insights. Growing up itself is often traumatic, because we lose our wonder and sense of joy. We get lost in the suffering and labor of everyday life. This story is an allegory for so many different things, but it has an eerie undertone regarding what happens when a child trusts the wrong person and loses their innocence and future to empty promises. This is one of my favorite fairytale retellings of all time!
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for sending me an e-ARC for review! I cannot wait to buy a hard copy and get it signed one day. This book is in my top ten favorite horror reads of 2026!
This story is a dark, horror fairytale retelling about the aftermath of traveling to Neverland with Peter Pan. It takes place during World War I, but the story extends back further in time with nods to earlier child disappearances from the late Victorian period, the nature of mental health in pre-WWI times, and long-kept crime records by Scotland Yard. This narrative offers commentary on trauma, war, child exploitation, mental health, the pains of growing up, and the terrible consequences of trusting the wrong person, but it does so tastefully through the lens of fantasy and well-paced character development.
It's best to go into this without knowing too much, but the book is centered around Wendy Darling's flashbacks to when she was taken to Neverland with her brothers by Peter Pan and the ways that the past still follows her, even after her return to the normal human world. Cynthia Pelayo skillfully weaves a story that embeds dread and nostalgia into every page without losing the lessons endemic to fairytale retellings.
I loved every moment of this book because of its thoughtfulness and insights. Growing up itself is often traumatic, because we lose our wonder and sense of joy. We get lost in the suffering and labor of everyday life. This story is an allegory for so many different things, but it has an eerie undertone regarding what happens when a child trusts the wrong person and loses their innocence and future to empty promises. This is one of my favorite fairytale retellings of all time!
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for sending me an e-ARC for review! I cannot wait to buy a hard copy and get it signed one day. This book is in my top ten favorite horror reads of 2026!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5 Stars
It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo is a dark, horror-leaning reimagining of Peter Pan set in 1914 London. The story follows Wendy Darling as an adult, still deeply affected by her traumatic childhood encounters with Peter Pan, who is portrayed not as a whimsical boy, but as a sinister, manipulative entity tied to child disappearances. When a child goes missing, Wendy is forced to confront her past and try to stop Peter Pan.
This was such an atmospheric and unsettling read, especially in the way it reimagines a familiar childhood story into something much darker. The imagery was easily one of the strongest aspects of the book, it created a vivid, almost haunting vibe that pulled me in right away. There were multiple moments that felt genuinely creepy and threatening, and the “Peter Pan meets IT” comparison is honestly very accurate. I really appreciated how effortlessly the story twisted something nostalgic into something sinister.
That said, the pacing held it back for me. There was a lot of repetition of specific traits and objects relating to Wendy and it constantly alluded to past events rather than actually expanding on them. At first, this added to the eerie atmosphere, but over time it became frustrating and slowed the momentum. I found myself wishing we spent more time getting to know the characters in a deeper way instead of revisiting the same ideas over and over. Because of that, it also felt like it took too long for the main action to really kick in, which I felt was around the 50-60% mark. I also felt that the summary given wasn't accurate to the plot of the book, it isn't really about Wendy trying to prove her innocence, so that felt misleading.
Overall, this is a creative and creepy take on a classic tale with standout atmosphere, but uneven pacing and repetition made it less engaging than it could have been.
It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo is a dark, horror-leaning reimagining of Peter Pan set in 1914 London. The story follows Wendy Darling as an adult, still deeply affected by her traumatic childhood encounters with Peter Pan, who is portrayed not as a whimsical boy, but as a sinister, manipulative entity tied to child disappearances. When a child goes missing, Wendy is forced to confront her past and try to stop Peter Pan.
This was such an atmospheric and unsettling read, especially in the way it reimagines a familiar childhood story into something much darker. The imagery was easily one of the strongest aspects of the book, it created a vivid, almost haunting vibe that pulled me in right away. There were multiple moments that felt genuinely creepy and threatening, and the “Peter Pan meets IT” comparison is honestly very accurate. I really appreciated how effortlessly the story twisted something nostalgic into something sinister.
That said, the pacing held it back for me. There was a lot of repetition of specific traits and objects relating to Wendy and it constantly alluded to past events rather than actually expanding on them. At first, this added to the eerie atmosphere, but over time it became frustrating and slowed the momentum. I found myself wishing we spent more time getting to know the characters in a deeper way instead of revisiting the same ideas over and over. Because of that, it also felt like it took too long for the main action to really kick in, which I felt was around the 50-60% mark. I also felt that the summary given wasn't accurate to the plot of the book, it isn't really about Wendy trying to prove her innocence, so that felt misleading.
Overall, this is a creative and creepy take on a classic tale with standout atmosphere, but uneven pacing and repetition made it less engaging than it could have been.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Actual rating of 3.5
I love Peter Pan retellings. They're one of my favourite things. So, when I came across one that leaned towards a horror retelling, I was instantly sold. I loved that this one is actually historical. I tend to struggle with historical novels but this one I didn't at all. I actually was breezing through it for the most part. The narration was fantastic and it was a nice easy read. For a big portion of the story, I could feel the climax building in the words and the plot, but it hit a point where it felt like we plateaued. All these things were happening, signs and creepy incidences, we got back story about why Wendy was afraid and why we should be too, it just got to a point where it felt like we were going around in circles and the pacing stalled. When the story DID progress, I enjoyed where it went and I enjoyed the way the story continued on and really ramped up again. I just felt like the flame began to burn low and the story didn't hit how I would have liked it to. One thing I did notice and that I quite enjoyed, whether it was intentional or not from Pelayo, was how the relationship between Wendy and Peter mirrored a true to life narcissistic relationship. As I said whether intentional or not, that really resonated with me.
I enjoyed the characters well enough, but they didn't jump off the page for me. I was engaged in Wendy's story, and I did care about what happened to her and those under her care, but there's not too much I can really say about the characters at all. They were satisfactory and did the job. I did enjoy the small amount we got to see between Wendy, Michael and John and how their lives turned out.
All in all, this was a decent story, I just wish there was a bit more horror in it, but overall, a satisfying story and a great twist on the Peter Pan tale.
I love Peter Pan retellings. They're one of my favourite things. So, when I came across one that leaned towards a horror retelling, I was instantly sold. I loved that this one is actually historical. I tend to struggle with historical novels but this one I didn't at all. I actually was breezing through it for the most part. The narration was fantastic and it was a nice easy read. For a big portion of the story, I could feel the climax building in the words and the plot, but it hit a point where it felt like we plateaued. All these things were happening, signs and creepy incidences, we got back story about why Wendy was afraid and why we should be too, it just got to a point where it felt like we were going around in circles and the pacing stalled. When the story DID progress, I enjoyed where it went and I enjoyed the way the story continued on and really ramped up again. I just felt like the flame began to burn low and the story didn't hit how I would have liked it to. One thing I did notice and that I quite enjoyed, whether it was intentional or not from Pelayo, was how the relationship between Wendy and Peter mirrored a true to life narcissistic relationship. As I said whether intentional or not, that really resonated with me.
I enjoyed the characters well enough, but they didn't jump off the page for me. I was engaged in Wendy's story, and I did care about what happened to her and those under her care, but there's not too much I can really say about the characters at all. They were satisfactory and did the job. I did enjoy the small amount we got to see between Wendy, Michael and John and how their lives turned out.
All in all, this was a decent story, I just wish there was a bit more horror in it, but overall, a satisfying story and a great twist on the Peter Pan tale.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
With a much darker twist on a children's story many of us are already familiar with, "It Came From Neverland" presents a version of Peter Pan that is both haunting and predatory while also exploring the long-term effects of childhood trauma.
I really liked how this one was less of an in-your-face gory horror story and leaned more into psychological horror aspects (although there definitely is some gore in here). The Darling children all managed to escape Neverland as children but now it's twelve years later and weird things are starting to happen around them. It starts out with small things such as the appearance of oddly behaving crows and slowly ramps up into bigger and more threatening scares. I personally enjoyed the slower pace so the tension was given full time to grow throughout the story, although I will admit some parts did get a little bit repetitive at times. I also kind of wish there had been a little more detail about what the siblings experienced back in Neverland, but the flashbacks that we do get were pretty good at painting a picture of a Peter who was cruel and sadistic.
I don't want to give too much away because I think that the sense of creeping dread is the shining star here. In some ways the escalation might seem a tad predictable, but I think that also goes to show that the story develops at a sensible level instead of trying to rely on things like shock value and crazy plot twists in order to keep the reader's attention.
Overall I enjoyed this one a lot and would definitely recommend it to other readers who enjoy stories that portray a darker side of the children's stories and fairy tales we all grew up with!
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)
I really liked how this one was less of an in-your-face gory horror story and leaned more into psychological horror aspects (although there definitely is some gore in here). The Darling children all managed to escape Neverland as children but now it's twelve years later and weird things are starting to happen around them. It starts out with small things such as the appearance of oddly behaving crows and slowly ramps up into bigger and more threatening scares. I personally enjoyed the slower pace so the tension was given full time to grow throughout the story, although I will admit some parts did get a little bit repetitive at times. I also kind of wish there had been a little more detail about what the siblings experienced back in Neverland, but the flashbacks that we do get were pretty good at painting a picture of a Peter who was cruel and sadistic.
I don't want to give too much away because I think that the sense of creeping dread is the shining star here. In some ways the escalation might seem a tad predictable, but I think that also goes to show that the story develops at a sensible level instead of trying to rely on things like shock value and crazy plot twists in order to keep the reader's attention.
Overall I enjoyed this one a lot and would definitely recommend it to other readers who enjoy stories that portray a darker side of the children's stories and fairy tales we all grew up with!
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you, NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books, for the ARC to review.
I am absolutely and irrevocably in love with this book, but think “Peter Pan” meets “Stephen King’s It” with a touch of “Jim Henson's Labyrinth.” I have been in such a reading slump, craving a book to pull me in and make me forget, if only for a little while. I wanted a book that made me ache when I HAD to put it down. This was THAT book. I cannot thank the author, Pelayo, enough for writing this book. This is the book… I so needed this book when my grief was so bad.
It Came From Neverland is more of a continuation of the Peter Pan fairy tale than a retelling in my opinion, as the Darling Children are all grown up, and boy did J.M. Barrie get it all wrong. In fact, he is mentioned in the book, which I found witty. Peter Pan is not what Barrie portrays. He is a creature, and every 12 years, he awakens to lure children to the magical world of Neverland to feed. Neverland is more horrifying than magical. The Lost Boys are literally lost, missing children, including Captain Hook, who is a tragic hero and not the villain.
When the Darling Children regather to return to Neverland to put Peter down, Peter Pan is all grown up for Wendy if ya know what I mean. I also loved Pelayo’s portrayals of Wendy Darling as an adult; it was spot on. She also beautifully captured the setting of 1914’s England, with World War II looming in the background. It gave the story a sense of grounding. A sort of dark realism between the fantasy horror and the real-life horror of WWII in England, where young boys were going off to war thinking it was an adventure, not knowing the horrors of war that awaited them. Like the children, Peter Pan lured them with adventure and magic, only to find out the horror that awaits them. This is my new book brag!
I am absolutely and irrevocably in love with this book, but think “Peter Pan” meets “Stephen King’s It” with a touch of “Jim Henson's Labyrinth.” I have been in such a reading slump, craving a book to pull me in and make me forget, if only for a little while. I wanted a book that made me ache when I HAD to put it down. This was THAT book. I cannot thank the author, Pelayo, enough for writing this book. This is the book… I so needed this book when my grief was so bad.
It Came From Neverland is more of a continuation of the Peter Pan fairy tale than a retelling in my opinion, as the Darling Children are all grown up, and boy did J.M. Barrie get it all wrong. In fact, he is mentioned in the book, which I found witty. Peter Pan is not what Barrie portrays. He is a creature, and every 12 years, he awakens to lure children to the magical world of Neverland to feed. Neverland is more horrifying than magical. The Lost Boys are literally lost, missing children, including Captain Hook, who is a tragic hero and not the villain.
When the Darling Children regather to return to Neverland to put Peter down, Peter Pan is all grown up for Wendy if ya know what I mean. I also loved Pelayo’s portrayals of Wendy Darling as an adult; it was spot on. She also beautifully captured the setting of 1914’s England, with World War II looming in the background. It gave the story a sense of grounding. A sort of dark realism between the fantasy horror and the real-life horror of WWII in England, where young boys were going off to war thinking it was an adventure, not knowing the horrors of war that awaited them. Like the children, Peter Pan lured them with adventure and magic, only to find out the horror that awaits them. This is my new book brag!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is one of those books that sticks with you after you finish it.
I went into this because I love Peter Pan and anything that leans darker (Hook is one of my childhood favorite movies), but I wasn’t expecting it to hit the way it did. It takes something familiar and slowly turns it into something unsettling in a way that feels both nostalgic and completely “off” at the same time.
The “shadow” element really pulled me in—it’s one of those details that whispers in the background and keeps building until you realize it’s something much deeper. One of the many moments of nostalgia was the emotional layers underneath it all. Turning a classic childhood fairytale classic, into a more sinister version.
It’s not just a dark retelling—it’s about memory, fear, and what we tell ourselves to make sense of things. And by the end, it honestly made me question how I’ve always seen Peter Pan. Which is a huge plus for the author!
I love when a book does that.
How the characters in this book are polar opposites of the original story (and movie)… I was simply smitten!
If you like darker, more psychological takes on classic stories that leave you thinking after the last page, this one is absolutely worth picking up.
There were only three chapters out of this entire book that was slow paced in my opinion (chapters: 12, 19, 20).. Which is GREAT for me, because most of the chapters kept me wanting more! This is definitely a screen adaption I would LOVE to view. A deeper meaning of the story to me (as an adult, who read the original fairytale) shows how you can lose yourself when you’re willing to do anything when you’re looking for love, acceptance - anywhere - when you feel you’re missing it, and that alone can make you vulnerable pray. What a great read.
I went into this because I love Peter Pan and anything that leans darker (Hook is one of my childhood favorite movies), but I wasn’t expecting it to hit the way it did. It takes something familiar and slowly turns it into something unsettling in a way that feels both nostalgic and completely “off” at the same time.
The “shadow” element really pulled me in—it’s one of those details that whispers in the background and keeps building until you realize it’s something much deeper. One of the many moments of nostalgia was the emotional layers underneath it all. Turning a classic childhood fairytale classic, into a more sinister version.
It’s not just a dark retelling—it’s about memory, fear, and what we tell ourselves to make sense of things. And by the end, it honestly made me question how I’ve always seen Peter Pan. Which is a huge plus for the author!
I love when a book does that.
How the characters in this book are polar opposites of the original story (and movie)… I was simply smitten!
If you like darker, more psychological takes on classic stories that leave you thinking after the last page, this one is absolutely worth picking up.
There were only three chapters out of this entire book that was slow paced in my opinion (chapters: 12, 19, 20).. Which is GREAT for me, because most of the chapters kept me wanting more! This is definitely a screen adaption I would LOVE to view. A deeper meaning of the story to me (as an adult, who read the original fairytale) shows how you can lose yourself when you’re willing to do anything when you’re looking for love, acceptance - anywhere - when you feel you’re missing it, and that alone can make you vulnerable pray. What a great read.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
2.5/5
When NetGalley invited me to review an upcoming horror twist on Peter Pan, I hoped it would do something to make itself stand out from other dark Peter Pan takes. Unfortunately, not only did it feel like all the others, but both the past timeline and current timeline felt undershot, the characters felt underdeveloped and our nostalgia for their story is the only thing propelling this retelling. There is no character building or real explanation of what has happened in the twelve years since Wendy and her brothers returned, and even the flashbacks to their time with Peter as children tell only a very small part of the story. The author's prose was good, and I would be willing to read another book by her, but this novel was not original or engaging to me.
It's 1914 and Wendy Darling works as a teacher at a local group home during the day while helping out a friend who works at the hospital by assisting with soldiers there at night. One patient she spends a lot of time with, Edward, is in a coma, but one night he says the name "Peter Pan", and Wendy is forced to remember her own experiences with that shadowy figure. When one of her students goes missing, Wendy is convinced that Peter is back, and she knows he is responsible for the murders of children twelve years prior. As more children go missing, Scotland Yard turns their attention to Wendy, who had a connection to all of the children. As Wendy has to make her brothers remember the truth fo their experience and prove her innocence, she must also find a way to stop Peter Pan for good.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
When NetGalley invited me to review an upcoming horror twist on Peter Pan, I hoped it would do something to make itself stand out from other dark Peter Pan takes. Unfortunately, not only did it feel like all the others, but both the past timeline and current timeline felt undershot, the characters felt underdeveloped and our nostalgia for their story is the only thing propelling this retelling. There is no character building or real explanation of what has happened in the twelve years since Wendy and her brothers returned, and even the flashbacks to their time with Peter as children tell only a very small part of the story. The author's prose was good, and I would be willing to read another book by her, but this novel was not original or engaging to me.
It's 1914 and Wendy Darling works as a teacher at a local group home during the day while helping out a friend who works at the hospital by assisting with soldiers there at night. One patient she spends a lot of time with, Edward, is in a coma, but one night he says the name "Peter Pan", and Wendy is forced to remember her own experiences with that shadowy figure. When one of her students goes missing, Wendy is convinced that Peter is back, and she knows he is responsible for the murders of children twelve years prior. As more children go missing, Scotland Yard turns their attention to Wendy, who had a connection to all of the children. As Wendy has to make her brothers remember the truth fo their experience and prove her innocence, she must also find a way to stop Peter Pan for good.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
May 8, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane/Alcove Press for this eARC, all thoughts voiced in this review are my own.
It Came From Neverland was definitely not the Peter Pan you know from watching a Disney VHS. This Peter is dark, and he's not even a "he" Peter is more like an "it", which makes the story even more terrifying. This was psychological and supernatural horror at it's finest.
I loved that origin of the Peter Pan we think of today, the one written by Barry, was actually woven into It Came From Neverland. That Barry took Wendy's horrific ordeal of surviving a nightmarish fantasy world that is part Hunger Games part Lord of the Flies, and ruled by sadistic entity that feeds off the youth and innocence of children.
Wendy was a character you felt connected to and very scared for. As her past comes back to haunt her, stealing her shadow and causing her to fear for not only her own safety but the safety of all of London's children you are right there with her. You can feel the dread slowly building, the shadows changing, and the feeling of unease growing into something much more wild and fierce.
The entire book was paced to keep you reading. It was a steady creepiness that kept getting more unsettling as it wore on. You actually felt Wendy's exhaustion of being taunted by Peter and even though you knew the most terrifying part was coming up you still weren't prepared for it. This was atmospheric horror at it's best.
Overall, I think I much prefer this version of Peter Pan. Though I admit it has me side eying my shadow to make sure I'm still okay.
It Came From Neverland was definitely not the Peter Pan you know from watching a Disney VHS. This Peter is dark, and he's not even a "he" Peter is more like an "it", which makes the story even more terrifying. This was psychological and supernatural horror at it's finest.
I loved that origin of the Peter Pan we think of today, the one written by Barry, was actually woven into It Came From Neverland. That Barry took Wendy's horrific ordeal of surviving a nightmarish fantasy world that is part Hunger Games part Lord of the Flies, and ruled by sadistic entity that feeds off the youth and innocence of children.
Wendy was a character you felt connected to and very scared for. As her past comes back to haunt her, stealing her shadow and causing her to fear for not only her own safety but the safety of all of London's children you are right there with her. You can feel the dread slowly building, the shadows changing, and the feeling of unease growing into something much more wild and fierce.
The entire book was paced to keep you reading. It was a steady creepiness that kept getting more unsettling as it wore on. You actually felt Wendy's exhaustion of being taunted by Peter and even though you knew the most terrifying part was coming up you still weren't prepared for it. This was atmospheric horror at it's best.
Overall, I think I much prefer this version of Peter Pan. Though I admit it has me side eying my shadow to make sure I'm still okay.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It Came From Neverland isn't quite a retelling of Peter Pan—it's more of a haunting sequel. In this dark, psychological twist on the classic tale, we meet Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael, all grown up. The siblings are still reeling from the loss of their parents and the deep scars left by their time in Neverland.
In Pelayo’s version, Peter Pan isn’t the innocent, mischievous boy we remember. Instead, he’s a master manipulator, a figure of harm who subjected the children to both physical and psychological abuse during their time in Neverland. Pelayo fully embraces this darker interpretation of Peter, portraying him as an abuser whose hold on the children is far more insidious than anyone might expect.
From the very first page, It Came From Neverland immerses readers in a thick atmosphere of dread. The writing is hauntingly beautiful, steeped in the kind of trauma that lingers long after the pages are turned. Wendy, traumatized by her past, desperately wants to forget her time in Neverland but, like all abusers, Peter always returns. This time, his target isn’t Wendy, but the children she now teaches.
The tension builds slowly, gradually shifting from unease to full-blown horror, until it finally erupts in a visceral explosion of rage, blood, and bone. If you're a fan of slow-burn terror that takes its time to seep into your bones, this is an absolute must-read.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a digital copy of this book.
In Pelayo’s version, Peter Pan isn’t the innocent, mischievous boy we remember. Instead, he’s a master manipulator, a figure of harm who subjected the children to both physical and psychological abuse during their time in Neverland. Pelayo fully embraces this darker interpretation of Peter, portraying him as an abuser whose hold on the children is far more insidious than anyone might expect.
From the very first page, It Came From Neverland immerses readers in a thick atmosphere of dread. The writing is hauntingly beautiful, steeped in the kind of trauma that lingers long after the pages are turned. Wendy, traumatized by her past, desperately wants to forget her time in Neverland but, like all abusers, Peter always returns. This time, his target isn’t Wendy, but the children she now teaches.
The tension builds slowly, gradually shifting from unease to full-blown horror, until it finally erupts in a visceral explosion of rage, blood, and bone. If you're a fan of slow-burn terror that takes its time to seep into your bones, this is an absolute must-read.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a digital copy of this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
It Came From Neverland isn’t a retelling or reinvention of Peter Pan so much as a haunting sequel that reframes The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up in a far more sinister light. It imagines what happens when Wendy Darling grows up, and suggests that the tale penned by J.M. Barrie was far removed from the monstrous truth.
“Peter, Peter, shadow eater.”
The book is being marketed as Peter Pan meets Stephen King’s It, and that is a pretty spot-on description. Bizarrely, the rest of the publisher’s synopsis feels wildly inaccurate, but the novel itself is fantastic.
Set against the backdrop of the First World War, Cynthia Pelayo ensures every page drips with tension, and the story is steeped in a moody atmosphere that rarely lets up. The pacing is a little uneven at times, as it tries to balance that sense of mood with a relentless movement from set-piece to set-piece.
Where the book truly shines is in its focus on Wendy’s damaged relationship with Peter and her memories of him. There is a real rawness to the themes of trauma and domestic abuse, which gave the story an unexpected emotional depth. “You belong here. You belong to me.”
This isn’t a particularly scary novel as such, but it is haunting, and as someone who loved Peter Pan in childhood, I suspect this one will stay with me for quite some time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the digital review copy.
“Peter, Peter, shadow eater.”
The book is being marketed as Peter Pan meets Stephen King’s It, and that is a pretty spot-on description. Bizarrely, the rest of the publisher’s synopsis feels wildly inaccurate, but the novel itself is fantastic.
Set against the backdrop of the First World War, Cynthia Pelayo ensures every page drips with tension, and the story is steeped in a moody atmosphere that rarely lets up. The pacing is a little uneven at times, as it tries to balance that sense of mood with a relentless movement from set-piece to set-piece.
Where the book truly shines is in its focus on Wendy’s damaged relationship with Peter and her memories of him. There is a real rawness to the themes of trauma and domestic abuse, which gave the story an unexpected emotional depth. “You belong here. You belong to me.”
This isn’t a particularly scary novel as such, but it is haunting, and as someone who loved Peter Pan in childhood, I suspect this one will stay with me for quite some time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the digital review copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
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📖 Aaron Reads | Book Review
Lost Boy x Cynthia Pelayo
⭐ Star Rating: 4.5
🔪 AT Intensity: 3
Quick Plot Points: Peter Pan retelling, WWI setting, Wendy as an adult, past vs present timelines, missing/harmed children, trauma, unreliable memory, predatory Peter
One-Sentence Take:
A dark, unsettling Peter Pan retelling that turns childhood into something dangerous and growing up into something you don’t walk away from unchanged.
Review
In this retelling, Peter Pan is pure evil and sustains himself on the souls of lost children. There’s nothing nostalgic about him here. He feels closer to something like Pennywise than anything magical, and it’s very scary.
Wendy’s time in Neverland wasn’t an adventure, it was a nightmare, and twenty years later it’s still impacting her life and relationships. When children start being harmed in the present, suspicion turns toward her, forcing her to confront what really happened.
This reads like a mashup of IT and Lord of the Flies with a bit of a crime thriller edge. It’s disturbing, often graphic, and leans into the idea that growing up isn’t just inevitable, it’s something that takes from you.
This is my first book by this author. Cynthia Pelayo’s writing is gorgeous and I already can’t wait for her next release in September. This was such a breath of fresh air!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
📖 Aaron Reads | Book Review
Lost Boy x Cynthia Pelayo
⭐ Star Rating: 4.5
🔪 AT Intensity: 3
Quick Plot Points: Peter Pan retelling, WWI setting, Wendy as an adult, past vs present timelines, missing/harmed children, trauma, unreliable memory, predatory Peter
One-Sentence Take:
A dark, unsettling Peter Pan retelling that turns childhood into something dangerous and growing up into something you don’t walk away from unchanged.
Review
In this retelling, Peter Pan is pure evil and sustains himself on the souls of lost children. There’s nothing nostalgic about him here. He feels closer to something like Pennywise than anything magical, and it’s very scary.
Wendy’s time in Neverland wasn’t an adventure, it was a nightmare, and twenty years later it’s still impacting her life and relationships. When children start being harmed in the present, suspicion turns toward her, forcing her to confront what really happened.
This reads like a mashup of IT and Lord of the Flies with a bit of a crime thriller edge. It’s disturbing, often graphic, and leans into the idea that growing up isn’t just inevitable, it’s something that takes from you.
This is my first book by this author. Cynthia Pelayo’s writing is gorgeous and I already can’t wait for her next release in September. This was such a breath of fresh air!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*Thank you to Crooked Lane for a complimentary arc of It Came From Neverland. All opinions expressed are my own.*
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Peter Pan. I didn’t want to be a Disney princess, I just wanted to be in Neverland, fighting pirates and flying like a bird. So, naturally, this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026.
The way Pelayo retells the story of Peter Pan is hard to describe in a way that’ll do it justice. The story switches between flashbacks and present tense with such smoothness, the flashbacks retelling the classic tale in a twisted way that worked so well that I loved the way she ruined my childhood dream for me.
With the eerie setting being present from the very start of the book, you don’t get bored waiting for things to start happening. Somehow, despite us all knowing what happens in the classic telling of Peter Pan, in It Came From Neverland, even the parts she retells become twists you can’t guess ahead of time - which I loved.
I can’t believe I haven’t cracked the spine of any of Pelayo’s previous works yet, despite having at least one on my reading list already, because her prose and the way she created this plot, is a reading experience that stays with you. I can’t wait to find the time to devour more of her work.
Reading this book felt like giving yourself childhood trauma and being grateful for it, and anyone that dares to open the door to this one are in for a creepily magical reading experience.
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Peter Pan. I didn’t want to be a Disney princess, I just wanted to be in Neverland, fighting pirates and flying like a bird. So, naturally, this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026.
The way Pelayo retells the story of Peter Pan is hard to describe in a way that’ll do it justice. The story switches between flashbacks and present tense with such smoothness, the flashbacks retelling the classic tale in a twisted way that worked so well that I loved the way she ruined my childhood dream for me.
With the eerie setting being present from the very start of the book, you don’t get bored waiting for things to start happening. Somehow, despite us all knowing what happens in the classic telling of Peter Pan, in It Came From Neverland, even the parts she retells become twists you can’t guess ahead of time - which I loved.
I can’t believe I haven’t cracked the spine of any of Pelayo’s previous works yet, despite having at least one on my reading list already, because her prose and the way she created this plot, is a reading experience that stays with you. I can’t wait to find the time to devour more of her work.
Reading this book felt like giving yourself childhood trauma and being grateful for it, and anyone that dares to open the door to this one are in for a creepily magical reading experience.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is less like a simple retelling and more like a haunting continuation of the story we all grew up with. Except this one asks what happens after the story we thought we knew has already ended. Set against the backdrop of World War I, the Darling children are no longer children, and Neverland is no longer a place of wonder. Instead, it hangs over them like a wound. When they’re forced to confront the version of Peter Pan they once left for dead, the novel leans fully into a darker, more unsettling interpretation of that mythology. One where memory, trauma, and time have reshaped everything.
Cynthia Pelayo blends historical fiction with fantastical horror that feels both eerie and grounded. There’s a quiet dread threaded throughout, and her prose carries that weight beautifully, pulling you into a version of this world that feels familiar but deeply wrong. If I have one criticism, it’s that I wanted more. More of the backstory, more of what happened in the years after they left Neverland, and more time spent in the horror itself. The pieces we get are compelling, but they left me wishing the story had stretched just a bit further. Still, this is a beautifully told, atmospheric take on a classic that isn’t afraid to grow up (and darken) alongside its characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Cynthia Pelayo for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Cynthia Pelayo blends historical fiction with fantastical horror that feels both eerie and grounded. There’s a quiet dread threaded throughout, and her prose carries that weight beautifully, pulling you into a version of this world that feels familiar but deeply wrong. If I have one criticism, it’s that I wanted more. More of the backstory, more of what happened in the years after they left Neverland, and more time spent in the horror itself. The pieces we get are compelling, but they left me wishing the story had stretched just a bit further. Still, this is a beautifully told, atmospheric take on a classic that isn’t afraid to grow up (and darken) alongside its characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Cynthia Pelayo for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
This was such a great read! It had the perfect spooky atmosphere and there were plenty of moments that had me staring at the page in shock.
When I was a little girl, I didn't make up my own imaginary friend. Peter Pan was my imaginary friend, and I have always loved him. This version of Peter, however, was everything that nightmares are made of. He was manipulative, violent, and vindictive. Reading his interactions with Wendy and the lost boys made my skin crawl.
Wendy was a wonderful character. She obviously has trauma from her time in Neverland, but the book also deals with the trauma she experienced once she and her brothers returned to London, the only survivors of Peter's games. She is constantly doubting herself because no one believed her story, and she has many habits that she developed as coping mechanisms for her anxiety. These details gave Wendy more depth of character and really drove home the seriousness of what she went through. It also made her caring nature and bravery that much more admirable.
This was a delightfully scary book that I think plenty of horror fans would love to get their hands on.
This was such a great read! It had the perfect spooky atmosphere and there were plenty of moments that had me staring at the page in shock.
When I was a little girl, I didn't make up my own imaginary friend. Peter Pan was my imaginary friend, and I have always loved him. This version of Peter, however, was everything that nightmares are made of. He was manipulative, violent, and vindictive. Reading his interactions with Wendy and the lost boys made my skin crawl.
Wendy was a wonderful character. She obviously has trauma from her time in Neverland, but the book also deals with the trauma she experienced once she and her brothers returned to London, the only survivors of Peter's games. She is constantly doubting herself because no one believed her story, and she has many habits that she developed as coping mechanisms for her anxiety. These details gave Wendy more depth of character and really drove home the seriousness of what she went through. It also made her caring nature and bravery that much more admirable.
This was a delightfully scary book that I think plenty of horror fans would love to get their hands on.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cynthia Pelayo's It Came from Neverland is a terrifying and crushingly poignant reinterpretation of Peter Pan, drawing out all those elements of the original tale that are actually *really* deeply unsettling and dark upon further inspection. I really enjoyed this book—I devoured it in one sitting. There's tight, sharp pacing here and the unease builds in this staccato way from page one that's excellently, unnervingly done. The unexpected shifting between the siblings' POVS did distract me a bit since it sort of came out of left field and didn't stay consistent throughout the narrative; I was already invested in Wendy's voice and the abrupt transition to Michael and John just felt jarring and a little messy, but nonetheless, I still had a good (meaning: pleasantly unsettled) time! I especially found the ways that Peter becomes, in part, a metaphor (without it feeling heavy-handed) for childhood trauma and abuse, in his manipulation of cruelty and exploitation dressed up as love. Parts of the writing fell into a slog for me, especially around the middle part, where the repetition became dull, and that repetition lended itself to cliche sometimes, but these are small nitpicky aspects of a book I definitely would recommend!
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