Aiden Thomas, Lost in the Never Woods (2021)
Content warning:
Kidnapping, hospitalization, mental illness (trauma, anxiety, PTSD), substance abuse (alcohol), violence
Synopsis
Lost in the Never Woods is a young adult fantasy novel that reimagines Peter Pan in a dark and contemporary setting. In the secluded town of Astoria, children have gradually been going missing, prompting alarm from the locals. Wendy Darling, whose two younger brothers went missing a few years ago during a period of time that left her with amnesia, is about to graduate high school when, driving home one night, she nearly hits a mysterious boy lying in the middle of the road who calls himself Peter. Local police believe Wendy and Peter are somehow connected to the missing children, but Peter escapes the hospital and Wendy's amnesia precludes her from offering any clues as to what is happening. Through repeated encounters with Peter, she unravels the mystery and meaning behind the disappearances.
Essay
I found this to be an extremely tense, anxiety-inducing novel. Thomas centers trauma and mental health issues in a way that avoids mentions of specific common, real-life traumas. The novel is written exclusively in third-person limited narration from Wendy's perspective, and as she exists in a near-constant state of panic, the result is a story that can at times be painful to read. Wendy's inner voice describes the physical symptoms of her anxiety as she wades through the suffocating fog of repressed memories. The tension reduces in moments of respite when Wendy hangs out with her best friend, Jordan. When Jordan exits a scene, Wendy's anxiety flares up again, reinforcing a contrast in moods. Peter's function is more complex, both adding to and relieving Wendy's stress, depending on the time and place in which he pops up unexpectedly.
The novel centers themes of toxic relationships and negative thinking. Peter is at first framed as an enigmatic trickster spirit, until he reveals that the missing children are the fault of his disembodied shadow, an entity representing a human darkness that must be disowned to be rationalized. Without his shadow, Peter ages rapidly, his ability to fly is impaired, his youth is waning. The shadow is a sort of patron saint of negativity, and as things get worse, human misery causes more kids to go missing, which compounds the misery; a negative feedback loop. Peter himself is apparently not a bad person—he brings joy—but the circumstances of characters who meet him (a girl with an anxiety disorder, kids in a hospital...) position him at the center of a lot of misfortune. Neverland, Peter's island in the sky, functions as a safe space for young people struggling with trauma, in which Peter is almost a caregiver. Neverland is inaccessible to adults because they have shed the ability to believe in fantasy so as to avoid amplifying the negative feelings that build up in life over time; growing up involves sacrificing whimsy in order to cope with near-omnipresent trauma. All of this feels rather heavy, and the stress sharpens to a fine point numerous times. When Wendy witnesses the shadow drag a delirious and terror-stricken child into the woods like a scene in a horror film, the symbolism is of the child and the rest of the community stuck on trajectory of escalating destruction, internal and external; they are all trapped in a downward spiral.
As much as Peter's shadow symbolizes negativity, it also represents coming of age. Halfway through the novel, it gains the ability to speak, and through its exposition Wendy and Peter lose morale and thus feed the darkness. Without spoiling too much of the plot, the shadow stands to gain from Peter's reunion with Wendy. When Peter is with her, he neglects his duties to Neverland and those who would otherwise be in his care, thus the suffering of others grows, feeding the shadow. This can be read as an adolescent move toward eros and away from all the things that represent childhood innocence, family, responsibility, and any other such distractions. His obsession with Wendy consumes all, and as much as he values her, the loss of everything else causes him more pain. All of this could have been avoided if no one grew up; growing up is the central tension of the book.
As for the story's connections to Oregon, the Astoria setting is pertinent. Thomas is a resident of Portland, a city far larger than Astoria's 10,000 people. Surrounded by woods and water, the small coastal town represents Oregon's general vibe of remoteness, an edge-of-the-world kind of place. In contrast to Portland's anonymous urban character, Astoria is smaller and more remote than the average Oregon town, yet still within reach of other places. I feel that this setting heightens Wendy's sense of otherness at the far edge of a larger world. Neverland is close enough to touch, while day-to-day life is unremarkable.
Author Bio
Aiden Thomas was born in California and moved to Oregon at some point before the publication of Lost in the Never Woods, a story that originated as his MFA thesis at Mills College. He is best known as a young adult novelist. He is Latinx and transgender, and all of his currently published novels except his Peter Pan reimagining feature trans characters. His first published novel was Cemetary Boys in 2020. He currently lives in Portland.
Further Reading
Aiden Thomas, Cemetary Boys (2020)
- Thomas's most famous young adult fantasy novel