Book Review: Hooked on ‘Unhooked’

Hope Martin, Editor in Chief

Do you enjoy the tales of Neverland? The place where children can run wild and be as crazed as they please? The good guy, Peter Pan going against the bad guy, Captain Hook? But what if Peter Pan wasn’t completely the good guy and Captain Hook wasn’t completely the bad guy? If this interests you, then the book Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell is the book for you.

Unhooked is a novel that was published February 2, 2016. It fits into several different categories such as fantasy, romance, horror, and young adult. This story does include some topics that may be uncomfortable for readers. 

The novel focuses on a teenage girl, Gwen, who has spent her entire life running from something she never believed to exist: Monsters. From Gwen’s young age, her mother had always been paranoid. They were constantly moving and starting over. They finally settled in a place that she considered home. She made friends and began to form roots. However, after two years her mother decided it was time to run again. 

Gwen moves with her mother to the middle of nowhere accompanied by her best friend, Olivia. She is now living in a small dark house with a creepy man as the owner. When she goes to turn off the lamp, the owner flips his lid, telling her to never shut off the light. Gwen was beginning to grow irritated with her mother’s insane beliefs… that is until she got a glimpse of them herself.

One night, without much thought, she shut off the lamp. It would prove to be a grave mistake and a brutal awakening. Olivia and Gwen are captured by strange, dark, deformed creatures. Gwen begins to realize that her mother may not have been lying after all. 

She later finds herself in Neverland… or at least that is what Captain Hook says after he rescued her from the sea. At first, she doesn’t believe him, but the more she is there the more realistic it becomes. 

After some disturbing encounters, she meets the famous Peter Pan. While Hook warned her that he is not all he seems, she still can’t help the funny feeling in her core when she meets him. She finds that Olivia is staying with Pan, but Olivia doesn’t seem to remember Gwen. It appeared that she had fallen to Pan’s charm. Gwen begins to realize that something may be wrong. Her memories are slipping through her fingers and while she is able to catch a few, Olivia is losing them all. 

As an overall rating of the book I would give it a 9.5/10. The book has many unexpected twists and turns that keep you turning the pages. I definitely recommend this book for people who would die for adventure and romance.