By Kelly Bridgewater

About the Book

Book: Shadow

Author: Kara Swanson

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Release date: July 13, 2021

Peter Pan has crash-landed back on Neverland. But this is not the island he remembers.

Desperate to rescue Claire and the fractured Lost Boys, Peter must unravel what truly tore his dreamland apart. But with each step, he is haunted by more of his own broken memories. Not even Pan himself is what he seems.

Claire Kenton is chained to a pirate ship, watching the wreckage of Neverland rocked by tempests. When she finally finds her brother, Connor is every bit as shattered as the island. Claire may have pixie dust flowing in her veins—but the light of Neverland is flickering dangerously close to going out forever.

To rescue Neverland from the inescapable shadow, the boy who never grew up and the girl who grew up too fast will have to sacrifice the only thing they have left: each other.

My Thoughts:

Shadow by Kara Swanson begins with a moment on Neverland that jumps off right where Dust ends, so if readers are not familiar with what occurred in Dust, they should go and read the first book. I enjoy the familiarity of Peter Pan and the numerous characters, so of course, the imagination takes me to the Disney's Peter Pan and the colorful Neverland. But Swanson does add a little more depth and creepiness to the island with the Dark Magic element. Not that I minded at all. Connor does have the dark magic trying to crack out of his skin, so his body descriptions are not the most pleasant. Claire, the heroine, learns more about her and Connor's past. Even goes so far as to learn more about Peter's past. The plot was definitely unique and different than the Disney friendly version. This tale was original and really captured and held my attention. I do enjoy the climactic moment. It is a true battle to the end. Overall, Shadow by Kara Swanson is an interesting take on the future of Peter Pan and Neverland. I think all teens who enjoy adventure and the naivety of Peter Pan should pick up this novel. They will definitely learn something about being the light in a dark world.

I received a complimentary copy of Shadow by Kara Swanson that is published by Enclave Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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About the Author:

As the daughter of missionaries, KARA SWANSON spent her childhood running barefoot through the lush jungles of Papua New Guinea. Able to relate with characters dropped into a unique new world, she quickly fell in love with the fantasy genre.

Swanson is the award-winning author of The Girl Who Could See and Peter Pan retelling/sequel Dust (Enclave Publishing, July 2020). She helps young writers explore their passions as a faculty member of the Young Writer’s Workshop and also offers her own author coaching services.

Kara is passionate about crafting stories of light shattering darkness, connecting with readers, and becoming best friends with a mermaid—though not necessarily in that order.

You can connect with Kara online where she chats about coffee, fairy tales and bookish things on Instagram (@karaswansonauthor), Facebook (Kara Swanson, Author), and Twitter (@kswansonauthor).

(Taken from Goodreads.)

More from Kara

One of my favorite CS Lewis quotes is this:

“Some day you’ll be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

There’s something subtly profound about the idea that the very stories which captivate our imagination and shape our perspective on good and evil as children, will reveal more gems when we return to them later. When we’ve conquered some dragons of our own.

This was especially true when I write my Peter Pan retelling duology Dust and Shadow. These YA novels literally return to a fairy tale. I took a familiar story and dug even deeper, pushing Peter himself to grow a little more and see what new bits of pixie dust and hope there may be in a familiar story.

But there is another reason why our hearts gravitate toward fairy tales.

I think GK Chesterton put it brilliantly in a quote that is actually at the very front of Shadow:

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

Because maybe even more than being reminded of the whimsy of a fairy, we need the reminder that even in a world filled with dragons – they can be killed.

We can conquer.

And that simple truth, told a hundred different ways, will always lift our hearts and our chins.

Shadow was not an easy book to write – and it is not a particularly lighthearted tale. It is raw and vulnerable and at times lives up to it’s title in some darker moments. But there is always a sense of courage there too. A reminder that even in the shadowed places, the valleys, the instances that steal our breath and twist our hearts and make us wonder if all is lost –

There is another page to turn. Another step to take.

We are not finished.

No matter how young we are, we can strap on our armor, lift our swords, and fight for the light.

We are not overcome because our strength does not come from us.

It comes from our King.

And in the end, He will make all wrongs right, and there will be a happy ending to our tale, even if it may not be the ending we expect.

Because it may not be easy to slay the dragon, but as the fairy tales do remind us –

The important thing is that they can be slain.