Book Reviews

Book Blurb

How Do You Get to Neverland? Second Star to the Right and Straight on to – Brooklyn

In a subway tunnel at 2AM, buttoned-up Wendell Darling comes face to face with his divergent opposite, red-headed, elven-faced Peter Panachek.

Where Wen works 70 hours a week in an ad agency to support his brother and sister, Peter paints graffiti masterpieces on walls and sings rock and roll when he feels like it – just the kind of wacko that got Wen into his drudge of a life in the first place.

But Wen needs Peter desperately, and not just that way. With Peter’s art and rock band, Wen just might create an ad fabulous enough to keep the agency’s biggest client and his job.

Real life’s way different than Neverland, and Peter’s secrets and enemies threaten everything Wen loves. Everything Wen loves – including Peter.

 

 

First edition published by Dreamspinner Press, November 2017.

 

Book Review

"Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard." ~ Colin Powell

Being responsible is a good thing, but giving up your whole life for someone else is detrimental to you and those around you. Wen Darling's entire life revolves around his sister and brother, whom he has had custody of since his father died and his mother left years ago. Wen never has time for himself. He doesn't resent it, but it does have an effect on how he relates to his siblings. He can't seem to find a balance between work and relaxation. When an important client rejects an advertising campaign he's worked hard on, Wen fears that he will lose his job. When he's given a second chance, the pressure ramps up even more. Wen needs something new and exciting that will catch the client's eye and save his position at the company. On the way home, he notices some awesome graffiti, art on a scale he's never seen before. Wen is desperate to find the artist. He tells his sister and brother about what he discovered and they encourage him to go back to the subway and “catch” the artist in action. Reluctantly, but desperate, Wen follows their advice.

The artist turns out to be Peter Panachek who hangs out in Neverland with his lost boys and Tink. Wen needs Peter's help, but Peter blows him off.  His anti-establishment attitude makes it below him to commercialize his work for any reason, but when Wen tells him why he's so insistent on help, i.e, he needs his job to support his siblings, it gives Peter pause. He prides himself on living a carpe deum existence, having no ties and worries. His concern for Wen's family leads him to go against his normal nature and agree to paint for Wen under one condition: no one knows who the artist is. Naturally, Wen is ecstatic and greatly relieved. He's sure when his client sees Peter's work, he will be so impressed that he will agree to let them conduct the campaign.

Along with Peter being in his apartment, Wen also “inherits” Tink and the rest of the lost boys, who hang out most of the time, to Wen's distain. His sister and brother, who hardly have any fun since Wen is so busy working all the time, think it's wonderful! They become attached to the gang, especially Peter. Wen is baffled about how he can be so attracted to someone who seems to be so irresponsible, yet, he continued to become involved with him. When things get physical, they also become more complicated. Peter feels like he's going against his nature and so does Wen, but opposites can attract. Wen is frustrated with Peter. He wonders why Peter is always so guarded about his past, and shies away from being exposed in any way. Wen suspects that he's hiding something, but doesn't want to push him too hard. When Wen finally wanders into Peter's world at the club called Neverland, he's confronted by the sleazy Vadon Hooker, who manages the club. Hooker is bad news and Peter wants him nowhere near Wen. Peter has become very attached to Wen and he's important to him. Peter is terrified that Hooker will find a way to hurt Wen by using him to get to Peter.

Tara has done an excellent job creating her version of the Peter Pan story with Wen as Wendy, Tink as Tinkerbell, Vadon Hooker as Captain Hook, Peter's band as the lost boys who look up to him just as in the original, and the incomparable Peter himself. Tara also adds the special magic that only Mr. Pennymaker has with his ability to make almost anything happen. The basic theme is still the same. Life is a balance and neither extreme makes for a happy life. Everyone has to grow up and be responsible sometime, but it doesn't have to all be drudgery and seriousness. If you can find a job you love and make sure you don't take life too seriously, then the happy ending everyone dreams of can happen. Thanks, Tara, for this delightful tale, retold.

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 251 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-September-2020
Price	$4.99 ebook, $12.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Never-Opposites-Attract-Retelling-Pennymaker-ebook/dp/B08GJ77RV1