Pages: 474
Release Date: June 11, 2019
Preorder the book here!
Synopsis from Parliament House Press:
You’ve heard of Neverland and its inhabitants… Fairies, pirates, mermaids and a boy who didn’t want to grow up. But you can’t always believe the stories.
Elena Hart arrives in London, bound for a new boarding school operated by her estranged uncle. A fresh start is exactly what she needs. But when strange things begin happening, things she can’t explain, she begins to wonder if she has lost her mind.
Until the night a strange girl appears in her room, claiming to be a fairy from Neverland, come to take her to the fantasy world at the request of its ruler.
Skeptical, Elena refuses. But the following night, a young man with strange green eyes appears, and though she tries to resist his charms, something about him draws her in and Elena is whisked away from the world she knows, to a world she always thought was make believe.
But when she arrives in Neverland, it is nothing like the stories and Elena realizes that she must figure out for herself who the true heroes and villains are.
Disclaimer: Before I begin my review, I would like to thank Parliament House Press and Nicole Knapp for providing me with an eARC of this magical book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are completely my own.
Hook & Crown is a Peter Pan retelling with a dark twist on the classic tale where our heroes and villains aren’t who we think they are.
I was excited to get a chance to review this book because Peter Pan is a beloved classic story of mine. From reading the book to watching Hook, the Disney cartoon movie and the few remakes I have always had a fondness for Peter Pan and Neverland. Getting a chance to read a darker side of Neverland and the reversed hero/villain roles really sold me on this book.
I won’t lie to you guys, I devoured this book in a 24 hour span. That is something I haven’t done in such a long time. The author has created such an intriguing story that could turn into a potential series from a beloved classic. While a few things fall short in the beginning they are soon made up for with the development of Neverland and the introduction of our secondary and tertiary characters, Will and Aiden.
What did I like? (NOTE: Possibly contains spoilers.)
- I cannot stress how much I loved the idea of switched hero/villain roles.
- Dark backstories that both Will and Aiden hide from Elena. Who doesn’t love a good, dark and twisty origin story?
- References to the original Peter Pan stories — the author clearly enjoys Peter Pan and cleverly inserted appropriate Easter Eggs and references at the right times.
- Neverland was described and built up beautifully in this story. The author did a wonderful job writing these scenes.
- I loved the 3rd person narratives from Will and Aiden — they felt more believable and much more in depth than the main first person narrative.
- All of the Jolly Roger scenes — a good chunk of the book is set on the ship and I love it. I want to live on it. A pirates life for me!
- Despite the story feeling extremely rushed at times, I loved the action in this book and the final stand between our hero, villain, and leading lady.
- The ending tugged at my heart. I am a sucker for a happy ending and honestly Will deserves everything.
What I didn’t like? (NOTE: Possibly contains spoilers.)
- Elena was a character that seriously annoyed me at times. She is extremely naive and makes some pretty odd and questionable decisions.
- Elena’s insta-love personality. She went from being completely smitten with Aiden and ready to be his Queen, to jumping in to bed, and giving up her virginity, to Will on their second night together.
- I felt like I was experiencing deja vu from reading scenes in Elena’s POV and then reading them again in third person, I wouldn’t have been mad if the entire book switched from Aiden’s POV to Will’s POV.
- While I LOVED Will so much, I don’t like how he took advantage of a drunken Elena. He states in his narrative that she’s young and clearly drunk, but he still sleeps with her despite her state.
- SPOILER: Elena’s decision to LEAVE NEVERLAND and Will, after telling him he’s the love of her life and she cant be without him. What? Why? Again, what? How can you leave him. *sobs*
Overall, this was a really great and quick read that puts a dark twist on a fairytale classic. I was left wanting to know more about Will and Aiden — I’m praying for a prequel novel and hopefully a sequel to answer all of the questions this magical book left me with, cause that ending really shook me! There is so much of this book to love and I feel like it will be a great series and fandom that I can get on board with! Anyone who enjoys a good dark twist on fairy tale classics will enjoy Hook & Crown!
You can preorder this book here or on Amazon! Hook & Crown comes out June 11th, 2019!
I just want to thank Parliament House Press again for allowing me to review this eARC. I also want to thank the author for creating such a wonderful and magical story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait for more in this series!
Happy reading,
chelseaareads.wordpress.com 
great review 😍😍
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