Nowhere Burning is gory, weird, disturbing, and psychologically violent. In this version of Neverland, there are monsters doing brutal murders, and normal people making soul-destroying choices. The story is a complex weave of timelines, carefully hung on a reimagining of the Peter Pan myth, complete with a crocodile and a ghostly Tinkerbell. You’ll feel a thud in your chest when you realize what eternal youth means here, and what the kids who refuse to grow up have to sacrifice for the privilege of sticking around.
But this book is much more than horror spectacle. It's the story of a brother and sister, deep duty and dependence, and what it really means to have to take care of another person. You can wind a lot of grisly Rocky Mountain horror around that central core, and still have my full attention.
Because essentially, that's what the Peter Pan story is about. It's not about Peter, who defeats Captain Hook and lives forever. It's about Wendy, who is responsible, and strong, and fragile, and does what's necessary to get her brothers back home. Peter won’t ever change, because he can’t, but Wendy is transformed because she wills it.
This is a rough story that covers a lot of difficult territory. You're going to need to talk about the ending with people. But it's worth the journey through darkness to see the resolution of the puzzle Catriona Ward has crafted here.
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