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looseleafellie's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
When a mysterious boy named Peter Pan appears at teenager Wendy Darling’s window and invites her for a night out in Chicago, Wendy jumps at the chance to explore her new hometown and escape her parents’ annoying rules. But as their outing turns from fun to sinister, Wendy must uncover Peter’s secrets to survive the night!
You’d be forgiven for thinking that K. Ancrum’s chapter-by-chapter modern Peter Pan retelling is some flavor of fantasy, but it’s actually a YA contemporary thriller with zero magic. However, that doesn’t make it any less darkly enchanting. The city’s atmosphere and the foreboding sense of dread sucked me right in and kept me gripped till the last page!
This book also contains one of the BEST twists I’ve ever read! It’s the kind of bombshell that both shocks you and makes you go, “how did I not see this coming?”
The cast of characters was a wonderful bright spot in such a dark story. My favorites were the punk-rock take on Tinkerbelle and the insufferably flirtatious asexual Russian football player Fyodor, but Wendy herself really grew on me as she gained agency throughout the book.
Overall, if you’re looking for something short, sharp, and deviously clever, I would highly recommend Darling!
CWs: Kidnapping, murder, absent parents, child neglect, loss of limb, poverty, police violence, and mentions of anorexia, homelessness, and inappropriate adult/minor relationships.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that K. Ancrum’s chapter-by-chapter modern Peter Pan retelling is some flavor of fantasy, but it’s actually a YA contemporary thriller with zero magic. However, that doesn’t make it any less darkly enchanting. The city’s atmosphere and the foreboding sense of dread sucked me right in and kept me gripped till the last page!
This book also contains one of the BEST twists I’ve ever read! It’s the kind of bombshell that both shocks you and makes you go, “how did I not see this coming?”
The cast of characters was a wonderful bright spot in such a dark story. My favorites were the punk-rock take on Tinkerbelle and the insufferably flirtatious asexual Russian football player Fyodor, but Wendy herself really grew on me as she gained agency throughout the book.
Overall, if you’re looking for something short, sharp, and deviously clever, I would highly recommend Darling!
CWs: Kidnapping, murder, absent parents, child neglect, loss of limb, poverty, police violence, and mentions of anorexia, homelessness, and inappropriate adult/minor relationships.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Child abuse
Minor: Eating disorder
theartsybookwitch's review
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
DARLING is a peter pan retelling set in modern Chicago.
I loved this retelling, I loved everything about it. It's so nice and inspiring to see all the different diversity from Wendy being Black, to every side characters of color (Black, Korean, Russian, Ojibwe), who are queer (lesbian, bisexual and asexual rep!) to characters with disabilities (hearing impaired and amputated hand).
Don't get me wrong, I love the disney version of Peter Pan, but I always found myself drawn to the gritty version that most media tends to avoid. The intense idea of found family plays well throughout the novel and we follow Wendy Darling as she gets pulled into the crime life andgets into something that she learns was set in twenty years prior.
I would caution readers that has experienced abuse, gaslighting, grooming or any form of toxic relationships to not read this book.
4.75/5
I loved this retelling, I loved everything about it. It's so nice and inspiring to see all the different diversity from Wendy being Black, to every side characters of color (Black, Korean, Russian, Ojibwe), who are queer (lesbian, bisexual and asexual rep!) to characters with disabilities (hearing impaired and amputated hand).
Don't get me wrong, I love the disney version of Peter Pan, but I always found myself drawn to the gritty version that most media tends to avoid. The intense idea of found family plays well throughout the novel and we follow Wendy Darling as she gets pulled into the crime life and
I would caution readers that has experienced abuse, gaslighting, grooming or any form of toxic relationships to not read this book.
4.75/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting
Minor: Eating disorder
Grooming
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