They convince Gwen and Mikey to follow them back to the Lost City – a safe haven hidden under the what once was London – where hundreds of other lost kids are hiding, and this is when readers are introduced to the Lost Boys – a group of boys aged between six and sixteen. This is when Pete Pan and his sidekick Bella enter the story. Jump forward, and Gwen is left scared after Joanna appears to have been taken by the Marauders and she is left with her brother, wondering just how she can get her sister back. However the evil Marauders and their leader, Hook – Captain Hans Otto Oswald Kretschmer, who controls the German army and is desperate to find a cure – patrol the streets of what once was London, searching for kids that might hold the cure to the disease.

This forces Gwen to grow up – contrasting against the idea of the original Peter Pan novel which is effective for fans of the book when reading Everland – and she starts to scavenge London to find food and supplies for them to survive. The book begins from the point of view of Gwen Darling, a young teenager who is taking care of her siblings, Joanna Darling and Mikey Darling, after a disease strikes London and starts to kill off adults and girls of all ages.

It is extremely easy to distinguish the similarity with characters, plots and places between the original Peter Pan and Everland – with myself being such a huge fan of Peter Pan, I absolutely loved those parts of the book. Its steampunk spin on the classic Peter Pan, phenomenally captures the traits of the original characters as well as portraying real world problems such as disease, war and hunger, with a hint of fairytale magic. I don’t even know where to begin with Everland by Wendy Spinale. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it might cost Gwen more than she bargained for. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella. Gwen will stop at nothing to get her sister back, but as she sets out, she crosses paths with a daredevil named Pete. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. Unsure if the outbreak has spread but desperate to leave, Captain Hook is on the hunt for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the surviving children. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the deadly Marauders-the German Army led by the cutthroat Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her younger siblings, Joanna and Mikey. London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease.

Everland by wendy spinale