Reviews with content warning for Death - Peter Pan

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, Francis D. Bedford

27 reviews

tigerkind's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

And thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless.

To read this merely as a children’s book does not do it justice. Even though born in 2000, I grew up watching the 1953 version on VHS over and over again and the discrepancy between the two versions feels like a perfect illustration for the point the story is making about growing up. Reading it back makes me want to both be young again as well as to apologize to my mother.

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mcmeiss's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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cosmopsis's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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chalkletters's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

I have no very strong memories of my reaction to Disney’s Peter Pan; I must have watched it, and I liked fairies so I was probably a Tinkerbell fan, but beyond that I honestly couldn't tell you. I was, however, completely enchanted by the 2003 adaptation, starring Jeremy Sumpter, which came out when I was 16, and is startlingly accurate to the book. If I'd have been able to get my hands on the text of J M Barrie's original play, I would've written one of my university on essays on the adaptation of 'clap if you believe' into the 'I do believe in fairies' scene.

Many of the lovable things about Peter Pan and Wendy are so well known as to be hardly worth mentioning: mermaids, pirates, daring sword fights and fairies whose dust grants the ability to fly. J M Barrie wraps up so many trappings of childhood play into a single novel that surely any reader will find something to take them back to their own nursery days.

Equally reminiscent of childhood is the importance placed on stories and story-telling. The whole book is written in the voice of a narrator who, like the narrator in The Magician's Nephew and the grandfather in The Princess Bride, interrupts and explains and talks about the way the story is crafted as he is telling it. In the title, Peter Pan and Wendy are given near-equal importance, and Wendy only gets taken to Neverland so she can finish telling the story of Cinderella. While there's not a book in sight, this focus on stories is rewarding to any avid reader of fiction.

Of course, coming at Peter Pan and Wendy from 2023, there's one massive sour note to contrast against all this loveliness. The depiction of the 'redskins' is awful, and very uncomfortable to read. As racist as some of the adaptations still are, at least they manage to make Tiger Lily into an actual character. In the original text, she's just an object for Peter to rescue and another woman to want him to be a man. So little agency does she have in Peter Pan and Wendythat she barely even speaks English.

As charming as the good parts of Peter Pan and Wendy are, I think the magic for me is in the adaptations, the way this story keeps being told and updated through the generations. It's nice to return to the original text once in a while, but it's by no means perfect.

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another_dahlia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

A fae stalks several generations of a family, kidnapping their children from their beds at night and taking them to Neverland.

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i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Despite the questionable and dated parts, it was an enjoyable read.

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mindins's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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christygsp's review against another edition

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2.0

This book is straight up a parents worst nightmare. At least in the Disney movie, the kids were only gone one night, while the parents were away so they didn't know they went missing... but THIS - they are gone for a long time. Long enough for us to see the parents basically losing their minds at home because all three of their kids have basically been abducted... ummm okay
So right off the bat, this book was so much darker than any other iteration I have seen, and it was pretty disturbing. Peter is both completely oblivious, and manipulative and sadistic. He likes to see kids in pain or trouble, casually suggests and follows through with killing people, and kidnaps kids with no regard to their wishes.. I hate him.
There was a lot more focus on Mr and Mrs Darling than I would have thought, but it made it all the more heartbreaking when their kids essentially disappear. Although I will say, Wendy told her mum that a strange dude was watching them sleep and she did basically nothing about it, except interact directly with Peter and steal his shadow. I thought the whole point of PP was that kids basically dreamt or imagined someone like him, not that he was REAL and that parents actually saw him. Either that, or everyone in the Darling family is Schizophrenic.
Hearing a little bit about how Fairy magic and life works was interesting, but the rest of this book was un-savable for me.

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excritos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

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batmayne_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The original peter pan is much more dark and intricate then the beloved disney movie we grew up with. I would say the closest adaptation would be the 2004 petter pan. All the characters have amazing traits. Most of all i was intrigued by Tiger Lily being the leader and was a fearsome opponent. Hooks back story is left to the imagination but is given very sad hints to his life. Peter is the most darkest character and i would say the true villian og the story. Peter is the embodiment of mommy issues and acts like a very violent toddler.

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