Island of Dreams by Jaye Viner is such a good book. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.

This book was great! This book is a retelling of Peter Pan. It is quite dark and I would definitely read the content warning. But the story was very well written.

Love the comparison to the original story we know and love! The depth of learning about the island and characters. Such a new interesting story in a classic we never want to let go of!.

In The Island of Dreams, Jaye Viner offers a bold and dark reinvention of the classic tale of Peter Pan. This novel introduces us to Justine, a young woman living in London at the end of the 19th century. If she hopes to escape her miserable fate — cleaning floors in the orphanage that took her in — she must turn to magic. She decides to cast a love spell meant to attract an ideal man, but instead she accidentally draws Peter Pan to her — here known as Mak. To save her friend Sarah, she agrees to follow him.

Mak takes her to Neverland, a place that initially appears to be paradise but gradually reveals a far more disturbing truth. This dreamlike realm manipulates time, blurs the boundary between life and death, and forces Justine to confront unsettling revelations about both Mak and the island itself.

The story explores powerful themes such as death, disability, and the disillusionment with utopias. Justine is swept into a quest where her sense of reality falters, and every decision brings her closer to a point of no return.

Jaye Viner’s writing is rich and immersive, transporting the reader into a world that feels both familiar and profoundly transformed.

All in all, The Island of Dreams is a haunting and gripping read — one that invites us to revisit the fairy tales of our childhood through a darker, more adult lens.

The content warning is where I'm DNFing the book. Really appreciate being told upfront what this book wants to discuss, and can now make the informed decision of not continuing since the content seems to be drastically different than what I expected based on the synopsis.

The cover of this book is stunning and that’s what initially drew me in to read it 🤩 I was sceptical at first as I’m not a big fan of retellings, and this book is a retelling of Peter Pan…

However, I really enjoyed this 🫶🏻 This was a great dark fantasy take on Peter Pan with so much to offer like pirates, mermaids, fae, an untrustworthy Peter Pan, Captain Black Hook, and a magical island. It follows the story of Justine and her time in Neverland as mother to the lost boys.

I loved the depth given to Black Hook and his back story/love story. I also loved the disability representation this book had and the strength and character of the FMC!

Overall, a great read and I’m intrigued to see where the story goes in the second part of this duology! This book is available from July 22nd 🌟

I read this advanced reader copy from NetGalley, and this is my honest review. Thank you to the author and publisher ✨

This was a retelling of Peter Pan but in a dark way, with gods of death, lost memories, and games that are actually not fit for young children.
Amazing dark fantasy about a magical island, a questionable dishonest Peter Pan, pirates, a Captain "Black Hook", fairies, lost boys, disability rep and a tragic love story.
I really loved the book cover, I think is beautiful and was drawn by it.
I recommend this book, and would love to read how the story continues.
I read this advanced copy from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

Island of Dreams by Jaye Viner

Let me start off by saying what I think are the positives of this book:
The concept is so incredibly creative. It is a retelling, yes, but this author brought their own unique spin to so many concepts of this story, and I really appreciated that. Some retellings stick too closely to the story they are based on, and this one found a way to stand out!
The cover art is gorgeous, and the mysterious parts of this story are very intriguing, as are the creatures scattered within this world.

I normally can enjoy the dark fantasy genre. However there were too many parts of this story that didn't quite sit right with me.
The FMC's obsession with who she could bed, in a land filled with mostly children, rubbed me the wrong way.
After her bonding with "Pan", she was compelled to seek out his affections and approval, yet his character was pretty infantilized, so that was a little bit creepy.
I think the trigger warnings should be made very clear to any potential reader, particularly the racist and ableist undertones. I can understand where the author was coming from by including these themes, and ultimately where the views ended up changing, however at times it was a bit much and made me uncomfortable.

Overall it was an entertaining story, and I really appreciated how unique it ended up being, despite being a retelling!
I will not be sharing this review anywhere else at this time, prior to the book's release. Thank you for the opportunity to review!

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read. I loved the dark twist to Peter Pan. Being taken to Neverland but darker and eerie than what we grew up with. All in all i liked this book from Black Hook, The Island, Characters and the Land Acknowledgement!

So, I’m not a big fan of Peter Pan retellings. I am however a fan of dark fantasy, and was also drawn to the beautiful cover, which is why I decided to give this a try. And I’m happy I did. It was well written and once the story gets going I did find myself wanting to know what happens next. It had some odd parts, but I kind of go for reading things a bit off-beat. It also didn’t hurt that there were pirates, and a Captain Hook type character (aka the Black Hook). I had forgotten that there are pirates in Neverland, and you really can’t go wrong with pirates, 😍
Overall I did enjoy!

What I loved-
🏴‍☠️ Black Hook’s back story
🏴‍☠️ The magical-ness of the island
🏴‍☠️ The creatures, especially the Mermaids, the very cool scary mermaids
🏴‍☠️ Pirates of course
🏴‍☠️ Creepy Peter Pan
🏴‍☠️ Disability rep
🏴‍☠️ Time traveling.