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libraryofmoss's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
Gothy Peter Pan sequel. Picked it up at the library and was hooked (no pun intended) within the first few pages. Was incredibly dark so do note the content warnings, but sensitively written so there is a lot of bravery and hope woven in there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, and Child abuse
epellicci's review
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Unfortunately, I couldn't get along with Wendy. I found her very meek, her constant two-ing and fro-ing on Peter, her relationships with everyone in her family except Mary, and the repetitiveness of this process left me feeling very uninvested. The Victorian setting and the asylum was a massive missed opportunity to make the whole book much more sinister, and I found Wendy's eventual return to Neverland quite rushed after so much build up.
It was ultimately quite an easy read, but the familiarity of the original tale is what I think kept me going to the end.
It was ultimately quite an easy read, but the familiarity of the original tale is what I think kept me going to the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child death, and Kidnapping
mcmurdoc97's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Animal death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
chaptersofamylea's review
DNF @ page 97
While I like the idea of this book and how it was imagined, I just couldn’t gel with the writing style. There was nothing gripping about it and I’ll be honest and say that I’m genuinely gutted about it as I had high hopes for this.
TWs up until this point: death of a parent, kidnapping, non-consensual hospitalisation, abuse, ref to PTSD
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Kidnapping
Moderate: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent
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
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.
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
lrose02's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
willowwastaken's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, Gore, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit
wardenred's review
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.75
Because that’s what Neverland is—running away, cowardly, without even saying goodbye. It’s leaving behind everything you claim to love to embrace purely selfish joy. No responsibilities, no consequences, and nothing matters or ever changes.
I love Peter Pan retellings, especially when they delve into the darker side of the Neverland. Because let's face it, you hardly need to change anything about the original story to read it as a horror tale; you just need to look at it through adult eyes. Which is pretty much exactly what this book does. There's maybe one part changed about the original experience Wendy had in Neverland, and it blends so seamlessly in with everything else that I keep wondering if maybe that detail has been there all along. Maybe, when I was reading Peter Pan as a kid, I simply overlooked it.
I absolutely enjoyed the way the story is constructed, with the events from several timelines being explored out of order: Wendy's journey to bring her daughter Jane home, her life between her own original Neverland adventure and Peter's return to her life, snippets of her childhood memories about that original adventure. I think that the part about Wendy's life "in-between" was my favorite: in any grand adventure, I'm always most fascinated by the aftermath. Reading about Wendy's experiences in St. Bernadette's asylum was sometimes a difficult experience (things like forced institutionalization and abuse from medical workers, especially in the mental health field, are always difficult for me, especially when I know that what I'm reading is based on actual things that happened to actual people). But her inner journey, her focus on rebuilding herself and learning to look forward through all the hardships, the way she gradually changed her perception of Neverland without ever letting go of its realness—every part of it was haunting. I loved the conclusion she got, the somewhat unconventional, half-hidden-in-plain-sight family she built for herself.
Another part of the story that I know is going to stick with me for a while are the Jane interludes. Even though Jane got only a small part of each lengthy chapter, she was a fully realized character throughout, firmly her own person, no matter how much Peter tried to twist her into a copy of who Wendy used to be—or rather, of who he used to want Wendy to be, back when her life was his to rule.
The writing itself was beautiful and flowed well, although at times it was somewhat repetitive. There were numerous turns of phrase that felt lovely and clever the first time I saw them, then got old less than a quarter into the book. For me, that's a pretty minor flaw, but there were moments when it did grate on my nerves a bit, so I thought I'd mention it. That's the main part of the reason why I gave 4.75 stars to an otherwise 5-star read. A smaller, highly subjective part of the reason: I think the story might have benefited from a tad of a bigger focus on what happened to the pirates and Hook in particular.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
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