Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Darling Girl

I received this book as a gift and was excited to read a new take on the Peter Pan story.
"Darling Girl" follows Holly Darling, the granddaughter of the infamous Wendy Darling. Holly's life is going as well as can be expected, until she receives a phone call that her daughter, Eden, who has been in a coma for the last decade, is missing. Desperate to find Eden, and to protect her son, Jack, Holly might just have to face Peter Pan himself.
This was a really fun, new take on the Peter Pan story. In the original "Peter Pan" story, Peter Pan is much more sinister than the Disney story, so I enjoyed seeing a story play more into that side of Peter Pan. I also really appreciated that this is not a retelling, but rather a new story that expands upon what could have happened years after the original story. No matter how the original "Peter Pan" ended, the Darling family would have been greatly impacted by what happened for decades afterwards, and I really enjoyed getting to see a new generation of Darlings have to face Peter Pan and his evil ways.
Holly's life has been filled with a lot of tragedy, and her reasoning for her decisions felt a little skewed in my opinion. The reader learns fairly early on that something about Eden is helping to keep Jack alive. This small fact feels kind of wrong, and it made me question Holly as a mother. Why did she value Jack's life over Eden's? I wish she would have fought harder to figure out what was going on with Eden and try to help her more. Additionally, I do not understand why she had to keep Eden from Jack. Jack was too young when the accident occurred to remember Eden, but I feel like Holly could have talked about Eden with Jack as he got older.
This story was fine, and I had a fine time reading it, but I probably will not think about it much in the future.

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katieimre's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

0.5

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mccutiereads's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

“To the Darling women. The stars are not only above us, they are in us. May we shine brightly, dream deeply, and fly high all on our own.”

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” - J.M. Barrie

This was a very interesting take on the original Peter Pan tale! Dark, but different than most modern retellings. Stay with me now - I’ll explain!

SUMMARY

We follow Holly, daughter of Jane (yes that Jane) and grand daughter of Wendy (YES that Wendy), as she copes with the aftermath of an ancient family tragedy. Holly has longed to escape the infamous Darling name and its legacy. From the extravagant balls to the ever looming prescience of Peter Pan (and yes, I do mean that Peter Pan).

While the world may delight in the tale of the charming young boy who never grows up, Holly Darling knows the sinister truth. And she is willing to do anything to keep her son from finding it. She has done unspeakable and questionable things in the name of protecting her child, all while going to the ends of the earth to hide away her comatose, and magical, daughter. When another tragedy strikes the Darling house, Holly takes matters into her own hands and sets out to track down the only person who might have an answer: Peter Pan.

REVIEW

This book was not at all what I thought it was going to be. And that’s not a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t know how to feel about our star Holly Darling. After losing a husband, son, and daughter (basically) all while trying to hide from the Darling curse, she protected herself and her surviving son from everything. Including Peter Pan. And she went to CONSIDERABLE lengths to protect Jack. Now, seeing as I am not a mom I don’t know how well I can weigh in on what a mother would do in her shoes… but I did feel strongly that she was taking things a bit too far 🤐

But, strangely enough, I was singing a different tune about three quarters of the way through the book. Could Holly have saved herself, and son, heartbreak and pain by being honest from the beginning? Absolutely. But I finally understood that motherly instinct to care and protect. To nurture and keep your loved ones from harm. Hell, I do that to my friends AND family.

I’m going to go ahead and say that there was no “right” way for Holly to raise her son and cope with her losses. Because, after reading this book and sitting with the themes of motherhood, sacrifice, loss of innocence, and fear of growing up I realized that despite all the parenting books and guides out there there is no right way to 1) mother and 2) live your life. We will all go about it the best way we can. And we will ultimately fail, because we’re human.

Anywho, I promise this review has a point. I wouldn’t say this book is about Peter Pan. It’s about MUCH more than that. And I’m glad. So go read this book!!!

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