Book Review: Second Star

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publishing Date: Mar 5, 2019

Format Reviewed: ebook

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Wendy Darling worked her entire life to rise through the ranks of the prestigious Londonierre Brigade. Now as a Captain, she has everything she’s always wanted, including a ship and crew of her own. But when the Brigade receives a strange transmission from the legendary James Hooke, lost a hundred years earlier in uncharted space and presumed dead, Wendy is willing to risk it all to rescue her hero. She races to the planet known only as Neverland; her mission to find the long-lost crew and bring them home.

But there is more to Neverland than meets the eye, and more to Hooke than what was written in history books. When Wendy crash lands on the ominous planet, she quickly discovers Neverland’s dark secret; a malevolent being known as The Shadow that’s looking for a host body to escape its eternal prison. To fulfill her mission, Wendy must decide whether to trust the dashing Hooke or the mysterious Fleet mechanic who goes by the name of Pan--and she has to decide quickly...

Before the darkness consumes them all.

Plot (4 Stars): I love fairy tale retellings and this one was definitely not a disappointment. It reminded me a bit of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer in the way that it combines a fairy tale with science fiction. I loved it. I loved the story. It was just so fun to read. Unfortunately, there were a few irritating things about it that seemed very unrealistic. Wendy Darling becomes the captain of a ship while she's an older teen. She had only been to the Academy and never served on a ship as far as the readers know. Also, her entire crew (there are only 6 of them) are made up of more teens. They are the rescue mission for Hooke and his crew.

Characters (3 Stars): The main characters were great, for the most part. I really enjoyed them. I think Johns and Michaels were my favorite. I think Boyce should have been in it more because of the tension and emotions going on in him. I also think we needed more on the Lost Boys. There was so little about them that I couldn't even keep straight of who was who except for Tootles. Also, the love interest thing was a bit annoying. I mean, yeah, they think the other one is hot and it's repeated A LOT in the book so the reader definitely knows. Poor Wendy blushes, well, I don't know how many times. Many, many times though - pretty much any time the poor girl sees Peter.

Writing (4 Stars): The writing is good. I can tell the author is good. However, there were a lot of errors. Small words are often left out and more so toward the end of the book. Besides that, the writing was great.

Overall, I give this book 3.5 stars! ***-

If you'd like to purchase this book, check it out on Amazon.

Teacher by day, award-winning author by night, J.M. Sullivan is a fairy tale fanatic who loves taking classic stories and turning them on their head. Although known to dabble in adulting, J.M. is a big kid at heart who still believes in true love, magic, and most of all, the power of coffee.

To learn more about Sullivan, check out her website HERE.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.