Review: Hooked

 

Title: Hooked

Series: Never After novel

Author: Emily McIntire

Release Date: September 2021

He wants revenge, but he wants her more. 

Once Upon A Time, there was a little boy. 

His belly full of laughter, his life full of joy. 

Until one day, something changed; stripped his innocence away.

The hole inside making space for the devil to come and play. 

His dreams gone forever, he grew up way too fast. 

An endless night of crocodiles, and watches made of glass. 

He grew into a villain, the taste of vengeance on his tongue. 

Craving to make his enemies pay for the misdeeds they had done. 

Instead he found a darling girl, and refused to let her go. 

For what better way to make the man pay, than to steal his little shadow. 

*Hooked is a full-length, complete standalone and the first in The Never After Series: A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy ever after. This is a DARK Contemporary romance (not a literal retelling and not fantasy) featuring mature themes and content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised.* 

I went into Hooked almost completely blind. I didn't know what to expect, and I was riding a book slump. I was distracted, and at the beginning couldn't get into anything no matter how much I wanted to. Well, finally I broke through my slump long enough to read this book, & I enjoyed it, well enough. 

So let's preface by saying this is a dark romance (trigger warnings will be listed at the bottom of my review) where the villain stays the villain but still gets the girl. It's Mafia or gang-esque but a loose peter pan retelling from Hook's & Wendy's POV. 

James grew up way too fast, becoming the infomous Hook. He's set on vengeance, prepared to go after the one who took everything from him. Peter. And what better way to seek his revenge then with Peter's little shadow. Wendy. Wendy is sweet, innocent, darling. Naive & easy to get into her good graces. Will Hook be able to extract his vengeance on those who wronged him, or has his feelings for Wendy gotten in the way? 

This book was a quick dark read, and while this was very insta-love feeling & sometimes felt like some opponents or events came out of no where, I loved the take on this Peter Pan retelling. Hook isn't a good guy- yeah he went through stuff to make him the way he is, but in the end he is still the villain. A villain who has made a ton of enemies in his lifetime. - ones he doesn't care much about, until there is someone in his life worth giving a damn about. 

Wendy is Peter's daughter. She has put her loyalty into her family, even dispite the many misgivings it has provided her. But at the end of the day they are still her family. But when she meets James some things come to light, and she can't help the way he makes her feel. 

4⭐ out of 5⭐

Trigger Warnings: NatashaReadsBooks: Trigger Warnings (natashareadsbooksbookblog.blogspot.com)