An orphan with a strange "skin disease".
An exiled boy who must hide his identity to help her.
The dark secret--a sibling and friend--that binds them.
Okay, so I'm done creating a blurb for an already-perfect blurb. I recently read Dust by Kara Swanson, a fellow young author. She has also written The Girl Who Could See and is working on a few other projects, too. In fact, you can see them for yourself at https://www.karaswanson.com/ (which is WAY better than this site).
Anyways, Dust was one of the best books I've read in a while. Seriously. I'd put it in there with my top ten. For reference, that includes Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.
I never really was a fan of Peter Pan when I was younger. It didn't attract me, draw me in. Its only been recently that I can actually enjoy the fantasy genre at all. But Dust is one of the best that I've read yet.
Dust is a YA fantasy retelling of Peter Pan. When Neverland is destroyed, he has to go to England. The more Neverland is ripped apart, the more his powers are destroyed and the more pain he feels. But not only that--the one thing he swore would never happen, is happening.
He's growing up.
Claire Kenton, on the other hand, hates Peter Pan with a passion--a passion based off of the loss of her brother. But he introduces himself as Ben Kensington, and a bond is formed.
But how long can a bond built on lies last?
Okay, it's official. I can't do a book review--only a book report. Don't expect another one of these for a while.
So, since I suck, here's a review from Lorie Langdon, author of the Doon Series. "Dust sparkles with hope, magic, and a little bit of pixie dust. If you loved Peter Pan as a child, you'll devour every gorgeous page of this romantic adventure! I can't wait to see what happens next!"
Still not convinced after reading this badly-written book review? (Man, if I ever do one of these again, I'm looking at examples.) Here's Kara's synopsis:
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞.
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.
I only had one problem with the book--it ended. Kara, just think about that next time, will ya?
Maybe, because of--or, more likely, despite--my ramblings, you are interested in reading Dust. It's an amazing book. But, I would recommend waiting a little while... like until July 2021... because you might get mad when you realize that there is a sequel. A necessary sequel. Don't you just love it when books end on cliffhangers? (I admit, I'm guilty too, but still...)
Anyways, I would suggest looking into it on Amazon or Goodreads. Here's the Amazon preorder link: https://www.amazon.com/Dust-Heirs-Neverland-Kara-Swanson/dp/162184126X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dust+kara+swanson&qid=1583876441&sr=8-1
And I promise, if I ever do one of these again, it will be a legitimate book review. I hope. We'll just have to wait and see ;)