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Navigating the Absurdity | 'The Never King' by Nikki St. Crowe

"The Never King" by Nikki St. Crowe is an incredibly absurd book. I mean, while reading it, I found myself perplexed, cringing, and wondering what on earth I was actually reading. These rollercoaster emotions I experienced throughout the book.

The story revolves around Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, with Winnie, a member of the Darling family line, whose mother is clearly mentally unstable. Her mother's bizarre and neglectful behavior towards her is maddening. When Winnie turns 18, her mother's insanity escalates as she believes Peter Pan is coming to kidnap Winnie, and indeed, he does just that. He takes her to Neverland, where he inexplicably chains her to a bed and watches over her while she's unconscious. The frequent mention of Winnie being different from other Darlings without a clear explanation becomes rather tiresome. Meanwhile, Peter's shadow is lost, causing Neverland to wither slowly. So his main goal is to find his shadow and secure his power over Neveland. There are also two fae princes and a dark one, all portrayed as ridiculously attractive. Winnie is the heroine of the book who seems to be preoccupied with more carnal thoughts than anything else. The book is filled with explicit and cringe-inducing intimate scenes, and the plot seems chaotic, leaving me in the dark until the very end. 

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My Review:

My Rating: 
2 stars.
Spice Level: ðŸŒ¶ðŸŒ¶ðŸŒ¶
3/5, Mild.

I understand that there's a readership for books with steamy content, but it's essential to weave it into a compelling plot. The book could benefit from a more coherent backstory at the beginning, gradually revealing the unfolding events. Neverland itself comes across as implausible, housing an indeterminate number of Lost Boys in a gigantic tree, which is ridiculous. Personally, I found it hard to enjoy the book, and I almost gave up halfway through. It left me wanting to cleanse my mind. Still, I managed to continue to the end.

Winnie's character feels one-dimensional, without any clear goals or satisfaction in her life. She constantly blames her mother in her thoughts, even though she knows when her mother is not in a stable state. It's perplexing how, suddenly, towards the end of the book, she wants her mother to come to Neverland, but her mother declines, and Winnie is surprisingly okay with it. Her primary focus seems to be seeking intimate encounters and accepting subpar treatment, which is frustrating.

Peter Pan is somewhat logical and driven by his goals, avoiding being clouded by attraction to Winnie. I found his character more likable to some extent. However, the two fairy princes appear shallow and vain, creating additional frustration.  And Vane (the dark one) omg!!! I don't even want to talk about him. The way they abruptly switch from disliking Winnie to being protective and claiming she's different and strong is baffling.

There are multiple instances where Winnie initially resists doing something because she is scared and shouldn't trust anyone in Neverland, but Peter and the other guys simply tell her she's different, and she instantly agrees and starts doing whatever they tell her to. It was rather exasperating.

The story did not engage me at all throughout the book, I could not understand what is the goal what is exactly happening why they kidnapped Winnie but in the end, everything became clear. To be honest, I heard great things about this book and I went into it with very high hopes but It turned my mind into scrambled eggs!!! that is the expression. lol. Maybe some people like this kind of read where the plot is all over the place. What am I saying!!!!!!....judging from booktok a lot of people liked this book. It has an above 97000 rating on GoodReads. So, I guess people are into chaotic reads. I do not know if I will read the other books in the series or not. I am kind of a moody reader so maybe I will. 

P.S. I love the book covers of this series. so dark and mysterious and amazing. Whoever designed it did an amazing job.

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