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dowryofbooks's review
2.0
2/5 stars
I rarely pick up YA these days, but I saw this pitched as a gender bent sapphic Peter Pan retelling before it was released and I've been eager to get my hands on it ever since. I can't find nor remember where I heard that, but that's not exactly what this was and I was ultimately disappointed. I'm sad I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped, because I've heard nothing but praise for Ancrum's works.
This follows our girl Wendy Darling, who just moved to Chicago. A very attractive and charming Peter Pan breaks into her window one night intending to rob her, but ends up inviting her to sneak out for a night on the town. The rest of the story takes place over the course of the entire night as Wendy begins to learn bits of information about Peter and gets warnings from his "friends" that something bad is going to happen and she needs to find a way to get away without making Peter suspicious.
Aside from the fact that Wendy thought it was a good idea to go off in the middle of the night with a stranger who broke into her house just because he's attractive, I really do need to go into spoilers to explain where this went wrong for me.
*****SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*****
Okay, so. In the beginning of the book Wendy's mom tells her about her encounter with Peter Pan when she was a teenager and how a boy was murdered. So the entirety of the book it's obvious that Peter is the one from her moms story and that he's the one killing these boys. The thing that isn't explained, though, is how he's a teenager still after all of these years. In the original story of Peter Pan we know that he doesn't age. And the synopsis of this mentions a "central twist". So, in the back of my mind I'm thinking there's going to be some sort of magical explanation as to why Peter hasn't aged. But towards the end Detective Hook tells Wendy that Peter is actually 36 YEARS OLD. EXCUSE ME??? I know there are people out there who look younger than their real age but don't expect me to believe someone who is pushing 40 is passing as a literal teenager and no one knows.
Also, Peter is this serial killer and mastermind criminal who outsmarted the police and avoided capture ALL THESE YEARS but he gets duped by a teenage girl he's known for only a matter of hours?????? Just straight up confesses to her??? WHAT?????
If this was a more magical/fantastical retelling I would suspend my disbelief a little more but this story is fully set in the modern world. It reads like a YA contemporary. No magic.
This was a three star read up until the ending, but I cannot get past the unbelievability of it all.
I rarely pick up YA these days, but I saw this pitched as a gender bent sapphic Peter Pan retelling before it was released and I've been eager to get my hands on it ever since. I can't find nor remember where I heard that, but that's not exactly what this was and I was ultimately disappointed. I'm sad I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped, because I've heard nothing but praise for Ancrum's works.
This follows our girl Wendy Darling, who just moved to Chicago. A very attractive and charming Peter Pan breaks into her window one night intending to rob her, but ends up inviting her to sneak out for a night on the town. The rest of the story takes place over the course of the entire night as Wendy begins to learn bits of information about Peter and gets warnings from his "friends" that something bad is going to happen and she needs to find a way to get away without making Peter suspicious.
Aside from the fact that Wendy thought it was a good idea to go off in the middle of the night with a stranger who broke into her house just because he's attractive, I really do need to go into spoilers to explain where this went wrong for me.
*****SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*****
Okay, so. In the beginning of the book Wendy's mom tells her about her encounter with Peter Pan when she was a teenager and how a boy was murdered. So the entirety of the book it's obvious that Peter is the one from her moms story and that he's the one killing these boys. The thing that isn't explained, though, is how he's a teenager still after all of these years. In the original story of Peter Pan we know that he doesn't age. And the synopsis of this mentions a "central twist". So, in the back of my mind I'm thinking there's going to be some sort of magical explanation as to why Peter hasn't aged. But towards the end Detective Hook tells Wendy that Peter is actually 36 YEARS OLD. EXCUSE ME??? I know there are people out there who look younger than their real age but don't expect me to believe someone who is pushing 40 is passing as a literal teenager and no one knows.
Also, Peter is this serial killer and mastermind criminal who outsmarted the police and avoided capture ALL THESE YEARS but he gets duped by a teenage girl he's known for only a matter of hours?????? Just straight up confesses to her??? WHAT?????
If this was a more magical/fantastical retelling I would suspend my disbelief a little more but this story is fully set in the modern world. It reads like a YA contemporary. No magic.
This was a three star read up until the ending, but I cannot get past the unbelievability of it all.
kishma_'s review
3.0
I am going to hold off on rating for now bc I need to process all my thoughts :)
thepetitepunk's review
3.0
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this was entertaining, but the quality was just okay. I gave K. Ancrum's book The Wicker King a similar rating when I read it a few months ago--I thought the writing was fantastic, but the plot was a bit confusing. For Darling though, it was the writing that disappointed me. Something about it felt a bit too simple and surface-level. The plot and atmosphere were intriguing, but I felt distanced from the characters. I'm having a hard time putting a finger on what exactly felt like it was missing from this book. It was as if this book was trying to tackle some really heavy and dark themes...expect is just didn't feel that heavy and dark. The dialogue isn't very realistic and I think a lot of choices that Wendy made weren't very realistic either; this is of course fiction--fantasy even--so I wasn't expecting this to be 100% true to life, but something about the characters felt a bit artificial.
Even though this wasn't my favorite, I would still recommend it. It's a quick, easy read and I loved the contemporary twist on this retelling. I especially loved that it took place close by to where I've lived all my life because it was fun seeing familiar places referenced. There are definitely some flaws with the writing, but nonetheless this is an interesting, enjoyable read.
✧ ✧ ✧
≪reading 31 books for 31 days of july≫
╰┈➤ 1. the ones we're meant to find by joan he
╰┈➤ 2. rise to the sun by leah johnson
╰┈➤ 3. some girls do by jennifer dugan
╰┈➤ 4. a heart in a body in the world by deb caletti
╰┈➤ 5. you've reached sam by dustin thao
╰┈➤ 6. radio silence by alice oseman
╰┈➤ 7. swimming in the dark by tomasz jedrowski
╰┈➤ 8. bruised by tanya boteju
╰┈➤ 9. ida b…and her plans to maximize fun, avoid disaster, and (possibly) save the world by katherine hannigan
╰┈➤ 10. razorblade tears by s. a. cosby
╰┈➤ 11. because of mr. terupt by rob buyea
╰┈➤ 12. smiles to go by jerry spinelli
╰┈➤ 13. darling by k. ancrum
I thought this was entertaining, but the quality was just okay. I gave K. Ancrum's book The Wicker King a similar rating when I read it a few months ago--I thought the writing was fantastic, but the plot was a bit confusing. For Darling though, it was the writing that disappointed me. Something about it felt a bit too simple and surface-level. The plot and atmosphere were intriguing, but I felt distanced from the characters. I'm having a hard time putting a finger on what exactly felt like it was missing from this book. It was as if this book was trying to tackle some really heavy and dark themes...expect is just didn't feel that heavy and dark. The dialogue isn't very realistic and I think a lot of choices that Wendy made weren't very realistic either; this is of course fiction--fantasy even--so I wasn't expecting this to be 100% true to life, but something about the characters felt a bit artificial.
Even though this wasn't my favorite, I would still recommend it. It's a quick, easy read and I loved the contemporary twist on this retelling. I especially loved that it took place close by to where I've lived all my life because it was fun seeing familiar places referenced. There are definitely some flaws with the writing, but nonetheless this is an interesting, enjoyable read.
✧ ✧ ✧
≪reading 31 books for 31 days of july≫
╰┈➤ 1. the ones we're meant to find by joan he
╰┈➤ 2. rise to the sun by leah johnson
╰┈➤ 3. some girls do by jennifer dugan
╰┈➤ 4. a heart in a body in the world by deb caletti
╰┈➤ 5. you've reached sam by dustin thao
╰┈➤ 6. radio silence by alice oseman
╰┈➤ 7. swimming in the dark by tomasz jedrowski
╰┈➤ 8. bruised by tanya boteju
╰┈➤ 9. ida b…and her plans to maximize fun, avoid disaster, and (possibly) save the world by katherine hannigan
╰┈➤ 10. razorblade tears by s. a. cosby
╰┈➤ 11. because of mr. terupt by rob buyea
╰┈➤ 12. smiles to go by jerry spinelli
╰┈➤ 13. darling by k. ancrum
greenleafbooks's review
5.0
K Ancrum has such a way with words. This was like the perfect modern day retelling to me, and it was so clever in weaving the traditional Peter Pan story into a dark and sinister plot line. The twists had me shocked and I loved every second.
ejulia3's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review
4.0
My first love will always be Wonderland, but Neverland is a very close second. Mostly because just like Wonderland, the world of Neverland just begs authors to play around with the story, the world and the characters. Although this book is a contemporary, I was quite curious to see what the author would do with it. Especially after I read that the book really tries to follow the original plot scene for scene, I grew more and more curious.
Ancrum has a really great talent here, because even though this story takes place in our world, without the magic, everything still works. I really love how it's quite easy to recognize all the original scenes and to easily make the connection between locations and characters in this retelling and their counterparts in the original tale. Eventually the plot takes a different turn, of course, but considering the story it's a very satisfying one.
What I love about these kind of stories, where Peter Pan is not really a good guy, is that they're not just wishful thinking. The hints that Peter Pan might not be as as amazing as he seems are already in the original tale. Also in this tale Peter has his usual charm and is easy to like, at the beginning. Although what Wendy does seems a little irresponsible, it's also quite easy to understand why she does it, why she craves her escape so incredibly much.
And it's quite important to understand the characters, since this is a very character driven story. There is not much action and since the fantasy element is missing it's all about the family Peter has built and how he's trying to fit in Wendy. The book therefore takes the time to also give the side characters more personality and backstory and I love what the author did to the relationships between all the different characters. Especially Tinkerbell has been written amazingly in this novel.
Somehow I wish there was more, but I guess I'll simply check out the other novels by this author.
Ancrum has a really great talent here, because even though this story takes place in our world, without the magic, everything still works. I really love how it's quite easy to recognize all the original scenes and to easily make the connection between locations and characters in this retelling and their counterparts in the original tale. Eventually the plot takes a different turn, of course, but considering the story it's a very satisfying one.
What I love about these kind of stories, where Peter Pan is not really a good guy, is that they're not just wishful thinking. The hints that Peter Pan might not be as as amazing as he seems are already in the original tale. Also in this tale Peter has his usual charm and is easy to like, at the beginning. Although what Wendy does seems a little irresponsible, it's also quite easy to understand why she does it, why she craves her escape so incredibly much.
And it's quite important to understand the characters, since this is a very character driven story. There is not much action and since the fantasy element is missing it's all about the family Peter has built and how he's trying to fit in Wendy. The book therefore takes the time to also give the side characters more personality and backstory and I love what the author did to the relationships between all the different characters. Especially Tinkerbell has been written amazingly in this novel.
Somehow I wish there was more, but I guess I'll simply check out the other novels by this author.
cutiepie999's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
1.5
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review
2.0
2.5/5
It was alright. I loved how it twisted the story into a thriller but I felt like most of the book felt really slow and I wasn’t as into the other things going on and I just wanted the plot to unfold.
It was alright. I loved how it twisted the story into a thriller but I felt like most of the book felt really slow and I wasn’t as into the other things going on and I just wanted the plot to unfold.
itsmechelly's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0