Second Star: A Neverland Novella

by Bree Moore

“All children, except one, grow up.”

Two years after her flight to Neverland, Wendy Darling pretends that Neverland doesn’t exist. She claims that she never knew a boy named Peter Pan. And most devastating of all, she starts to grow up. That is, until Tinkerbell shows up in Wendy’s bedroom, asking her to return to Neverland.

Wendy leaps from her window and follows the stars a second time, only to discover the lost boys are drunken teenagers, the Jolly Roger has a new captain, and Peter Pan wants her to give him the one thing that has the power to destroy Neverland for good: a kiss.

Wendy must decide whether she would rather die with Neverland or come to terms with growing up before the last fairy falls.

Embark on the great adventure again with Peter Pan and Wendy in this epic re-told sequel to the classic by James Barrie. Readers of Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson will thoroughly enjoy Second Star.

Genres: Retellings, Young Adult, Fairy Tales

132 pages, ebook

First published March 19, 2020

About the author

Bree Moore lives in Iowa with her amazing husband and six children. When she's not busy homeschooling or folding laundry, she sneaks off to write more urban fantasy.

Bree has a passion for pregnancy and childbirth, which influences her female-led stories. She loves shopping for groceries like other women like shopping for shoes (no, seriously), movies that make her cry, and Celtic music. She likes both her chocolate and her novels dark.

Get THIEF OF LIES: A Shadowed Minds prequel for free when you sign up for her newsletter. Go to www.authorbreemoore.com and click on "Get a Free Book".

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This retelling is absolutely gorgeous. Bree Moore has a voice that I absolutely adore. Sitting down with one of her books is like eating gourmet chocolate. This retelling was very different than I expected, instead of a childlike adventure, imagine returning to Neverland and finding out that the fun and games have turned a bit darker, that life is a little more complicated, and that time changes even your dearest friends. If anything, Bree knows how to make you feel deeply as you read her stories. I was genuinely afraid of the pirates and mermaids, pining for her and Peter, and hopeful that Wendy would find her way through the perils of Neverland. Thank you Bree for the beautiful novella!

[Karma Chesnut · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful retelling that doesn't just gloss over big issues because the main characters are children. This novella actually delves deep into the heart of recovery, parenthood, and growing up. A fantastic read for anyone who loves, or even is just familiar with, the original Peter Pan story and wonders "what happened next?"

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as an advanced reader copy.
Bree Moore has done it again. In a similar way that she can take a familiar story, like in Woven and the story of King Arthur, in this novella, Moore takes readers back to Neverland and Peter Pan with Wendy, but with dark twists and deeper character motivations than you get in the original. I thoroughly enjoyed this novella—it was a quick, captivating read. Even with its dark undertones, it still end with hope, just like the original message of Peter Pan.

[Reah N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a darker, more grown up feeling continuation to Peter Pan which was much heavier than Peter Pan in Scarlet.
Wendy was suspected of being mentally unstable. Too many pages were focused on womanly bleedings and why Wendy didn’t want to grow up. And, I didn’t appreciate the sinister tone that overtook Neverland. Nor Peter’s complete and total oblivious attitude towards the people around him or the abrupt way he physically grew up, then remained his same bratty child self and ultimately died that way.
At the same time, most of these darker details felt right.
It read as a sad but real continuation to Wendy’s story from Peter Pan with a hopeful and bittersweet ending.

Similar:


Content:
Romance: discussions of Wendy growing up, getting her period and dealing with it once it arrived. Attraction and one kiss and an herb "to prevent babies. In case Peter Pan does notice [you grew up]."
Violence:
Killing and dying. Scary but not graphic. Wendy was said to have been hurt and drugged, and Neverland was their way of coping. The doctor wanted to send her to an asylum for the insane.
Religion:
Tiger Lily shared a story about Grandmother Ocean being the cause for their period.
Other:
Wendy’s father drank to deal with the pain.

[Chad Barrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wendy hasn’t forgotten Neverland or Peter or the others she met while there and instead is growing up.
One night Tinkerbell comes and she understands that Peter needs here there and goes with Tinkerbell to Neverland but finds it changed. It is dying and everyone is growing up. With chaos all around and the land changing and disappearing, Wendy tried to get Peter to come with her to escape Neverland but he refuses. She finds herself, Peter, Tiger Lily all very old as she and Tiger Lily step through a portal leaving
Peter behind only to find that the portal puts her back in front of her home as young as she was when she left that night with Tinkerbell to go to Peter the last time.

This is a darker version of Neverland and the idea that when one doesn’t believe in it anymore it starts to fade and crumble until in the end it disappears completely. I always have liked fairy tales but I didn’t
like this one because of the darkness that persisted everywhere in the land that was fast disappearing.
Perhaps that’s how it is when people believe they’re too old for fairy tales anymore but I luckily have never
grown up then because I still enjoy the magic of reading and rereading them again and again. So I’ll
never see the day that the stories I love will all crumble and fall to dust and ruin like this story foretells.

[Nicole Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book by Bree Moore that I have read. I was able to combo read this book in physical and in audio format.
This was an enjoyable story, there were a few parts that could be seen as uncomfortable. When we meet Wendy she is obsessed with not growing up and spends a bit of time worried about her womanly bleeding that should come soon. Some readers may think this is a big mutch but the author is setting the scene for us. Wendy is growing up and when she does finally return to Neverland she is astonished to see that Neverland has started to change. The Lost Boys are teens who seem to like liquid from their glass bottles. Smee is now the captain of the Jolly Roger. And Peter Pan has also started to change. I feel like this story was an interesting take on what would have happened if Wendy Darling had started a chain of changes to Neverland and then years later returned.

[Dasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting take on what happened to Wendy Darling once she returned from Neverland. Wendy is suffering from the loss of being in Neverland and the joy of being there with Peter Pan. She is continuing on the best she can but is under a therapist care who likes to use medication instead of believing her. Her parents are pushing her into the world and she just seems to be falling back instead of progressing. Then one night Tinkerbell comes to ask for her help in saving Peter Pan and Neverland. The story gets pretty intense and sometimes dark but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I enjoyed reading the book and the continuation of Wendy's story. I'm glad there was a happpy ending because I was nervous for a bit.

[Inga O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free audio copy of this book directly from the author for an honest review.

This is an interesting retelling of Peter Pan and what would happen if they were to grow up. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting from the description ‘the jolly Roger has a new Captain, and Peter Pan wants her to...’ it kind of implied to me at least that Peter was the new captain so that confused me a little bit! I very much enjoyed this book despite that and can be finished in one sitting.

[Belinda Clemons · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is two years post Neverland and Wendy is starting to grow up, but she doesnt want to. One night Tinkerbell comes and asks Wendy to come back to Neverland which she jumps at the chance. When she gets there she finds things changed alot there is a new captain of the Jolly Roger the Lost boys are teenagers and Peter wants her to Kiss him which will destroy Neverland. Will Wendy choose to grow up and cause Neverlands destruction or will she choose to stay and Die in Neverland.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

She is slowly growing while trying to forget about Peter Pan and never land. Tinklebell comes asking for help so she will travel again and it is not anything like the way she had left it. She will need to decide what the best thing to do. Will she try to save it? Will she kiss Peter Pan? How will it all end? See how she decides

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really connected with this one, since I grew up crushing on the live-action Peter Pan, wishing I was Wendy Darling. This story touched on growing up, as Wendy returns to a changed Neverland, which struck a cord with me, as I've been accepting that life has not gone the way I anticipated. Sad, short, but neat story about growing up.

[Connie McCleve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neverland

Cute and fun retelling of Peter Pan. Ms. Moore puts a whole new twist on the beloved story. There were parts that I wished could have been longer, but do to the novella length I understand. Absolutely loved the ending.

[Red and the Big Wide World · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the perspective of seeing through Wendy's point of view about what was awaiting for her. I was said to read what happened to Peter, but I am glad to read that she grew up and found someone just like Peter for who Wendy is at the point in her life

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella was well written and filled with action. I loved seeing this take of what happens after Wendy returns from Neverland, I was so involved in this story and I couldn’t put it down. This author is amazing and I love her writing, I can’t wait to read more from her.

[Brittney Schauerhamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It was well written and a wonderful continuation of the Neverland story.

[Sheree Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the last two pages, I guess my views of Peter Pan and neverland we're just a little let down!

[Alana (semi ia) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book - a bit too young for me, but I can see tweens/teens liking it.

[labibliofille · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was so much to get through in such a short amount of time. Overall this story felt rush and was just okay.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

[Lee Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Peter Pan and love how the story is being continued in Second Star. I loved Bree’s take on Wendy and Peter’s continuing story in Neverland. This story takes place 2 years after Wendy returns from Neverland, she goes back and sees how it has changed. Full of adventure and some tears.

[Christie Bogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second Star finds Neverland in chaos. But Neverland, as I perceived it, represents what happens when our childhood -- and our childhood stories-- fracture and break down. We love our stories but they are problematic. Like Moore's Neverland, they are at risk to disappear because they do not map with changing generations, and rightly so. Moore takes Wendy and Peter through a dissociation narrative and helps all of us, with Wendy, to reintegrate: Wendy --into an independent mind and the readers-- into a new, healthier path forward from a beloved story.

Update on 12/16/2020
I had already read this novella and reviewed as above. So, the story was not new to me when I previewed the audio book. I am a regular audio book user. Sometimes the reader does a story justice and sometimes they interfere.

In this case, the narrator was a perfect match for this story. The voice was a credible approach to a London accent, albeit modern for the setting. Her character representations were smoothly transitioned so that I was undistracted by any specific character. The story was brought to life by a voice perfectly matched to represent a teen Wendy with appropriate teen angst and sass without losing the propriety of this traditional character.

In short, I loved it. I had to listen three times to be sure. I think I’ll go listen one more time just to firm up my opinion.