Reviews tagging 'War'

Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise

10 reviews

_annabanana_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, Grief, and War

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Cultural appropriation

thebooksanctum's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A brilliant take on Peter Pan, I loved how creepy the whole thing felt, and the twist around the original tale! Wendy was a badass of a character, and I loved seeing her daughter's POV too!
I'm not entirely sure I understood what Peter was in the end, but such a good book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, War, Kidnapping, Murder, and Racial slurs

oceanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I’ve never actually read Peter Pan and have only seen the play and Disney versions a couple of times, however, I enjoy Peter Pan retellings for some reason. Wendy, Darling has been on my TBR since reading Darling Girl. I can see that this is where some inspiration might have come from for that book, but it didn’t hit me quite the same. 

 

Past her days in Neverland and now a mother to Jane, Wendy is shocked to find Peter Pan looming over her daughter’s bed and watches horrified as Peter whisks her away to be ‘the new Wendy’. Wendy now must return to Neverland to save Jane. As she does so, shadows of the past come back to haunt her. 

 

There was a lot I enjoyed about the book, such as the writing/prose and real-world interpretations. I also liked the mother/daughter aspect. Despite this, I found myself struggling to get into the story past the first few chapters. I don’t think I was in the right mindset, so I would like to try this book again at another time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, and Confinement

Moderate: Grief, Racism, and Death

Minor: Colonisation, Death of parent, and War

silvernfire's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and Child death

Minor: Death of parent and War

kadtide's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Child death

Moderate: Grief and Death

Minor: Death of parent, Blood, Racism, War, and Sexism

jcinf's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have mixed feelings about this book. 

On one hand, I feel icky reading such a creepy retelling of a beloved story that I cherished growing up. 

But on the other hand, the story wouldn’t hit as much if it *weren't* retelling of such a cherished story. 

You kinda need the context of the original story to create the profound message that this novel presents (e.g.: spoiled boys that refuse to grow up are dangerous). 

I do see the feedback of people saying the message was a little heavy-handed. The author could’ve made the point without spelling it out quite so much. But I also didn’t mind it. I read for pleasure and not to analyze a book down to its details, so sometimes (not all the times), I miss a message if it’s not delivered in a more literal way. 

Regardless, I enjoyed her writing style. I enjoyed the twisted take on Peter Pan — even if it did feel icky to read at times. The icky-ness is, after all, what helps make the point. 

Great world-building and great descriptions. Thoroughly good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: War and Murder

bookmark3brodi's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Gore, and Racism

elena2000rr's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Very good book with an interesting twist to the story. Well written, although it gets a bit heavy with the constant time jumps and the same repetitives ideas of the brothers' personalities, which makes you feel that the characters don't have much background and they end up a bit flat. It is somewhat slower at first but little by little you get more and more hooked. I recommend it, I especially liked the different experiences of Jane and Wendy and how, despite being mother and daughter, the author makes each one have their own personality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical trauma, Violence, Mental illness, Bullying, Racial slurs, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Animal death, Racism, and Torture

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and War

abominablesnowaro's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Violence, Gaslighting, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

anniereads221's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this dark retelling of Peter Pan

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Torture, and Toxic friendship

Minor: War