First Line Friday 22.8 Featuring Dust by Kara Swanson

The simple fact is, I have too many books checked out from the library at the moment. There was a time when having around 15 books and 5 movies checked out was completely reasonable for me – but that time has passed. But all of the books that I have checked out look and sound so good! They are diverse and exciting and engaging. I want to read and talk about them! And still, at this point I cannot read five books at a time, so many of the books I have are languishing. This, unfortunately, is the case for the copy of Dust by Kara Swanson that I eagerly checked out a few weeks ago. I’m probably going to return it to the library soon (sadly unread) so that someone else has a chance to read it, but I wanted to use this First Line Friday as an opportunity to talk about it at least a little before releasing it back into the wild.

First Line Friday is a weekly linkup hosted at Reading Is My Superpower. To participate, share the first line of a book of your choice, add the link to the linkup on the host’s page, and check out what others are reading and sharing!

When did this fairy tale become a nightmare?

-Dust by Kara Swanson

About the Book

Title: Dust (Heirs of Neverland #1)

Author: Kara Swanson

Genre: YA Fantasy / Fairytale Retelling

Publication Date: July 2020

Synopsis: Claire Kenton believes the world is too dark for magic to be real—since her twin brother was stolen away as a child. Now Claire’s desperate search points to London… and a boy who shouldn’t exist.

Peter Pan is having a beastly time getting back to Neverland. Grounded in London and hunted by his own Lost Boys, Peter searches for the last hope of restoring his crumbling island: a lass with magic in her veins.

The girl who fears her own destiny is on a collision course with the boy who never wanted to grow up. The truth behind this fairy tale is about to unravel everything Claire thought she knew about Peter Pan—and herself.

Are you familiar with the Peter and the Starcatchers series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson? Those books started being published around the time that I was in junior high school, and they were some of the few “popular” books that I actually enjoyed reading. Although I never finished the series, the books that I did read were influential. I don’t think I have ever been much into fairy tales, except for Peter Pan and The Chronicles of Narnia. I still have a soft spot for them today despite rarely reading the genre. So, Swanson’s book has drawn me in. I want to know what happens and how things work out (or don’t?). This book has also received really good reviews from bloggers and bookstagrammers who I respect, so I have fairly high expectations. However, as I said at the beginning of this post, I currently have more books checked out from the library than I can keep up with, so this one is going back soon. Someday, God willing, I’ll return.

Have you read Dust or any other Peter Pan retellings?

Until the next chapter,

Jana