Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Darling by K. Ancrum

11 reviews

toriwatson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship

readandfindout's review

dark fast-paced

3.75

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 3.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Child death

ziareads's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death

Minor: Kidnapping

zoes_human's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

A contemporary, realistic retelling of Peter Pan. Fast-paced and tense with a twist.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Child death, Murder, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Cursing, and Toxic relationship

allie_schick's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

1.25

I really wanted to love this book as I read it. I did love the diversity and the adventure as well as subtle references to the source material. 

However, I didn't like the main plot twist. It's an easy and overdone "twist" that I've seen in pretty much every Peter Pan retelling. I would have loved the book for sure if instead of

the "Peter Pan is evil" (and also a creepy old man) trope,

the author had actually made him a (mostly) likeable character. It was too creepy and unbelievable for me. But maybe I'm just sick of the overdone storyline and not in the right mood for the book. It was, after all, well-written and fun to read until the last few chapters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

foreverinastory's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Damn what a ride.

Rep: Black female MC with anxiety, asexual Russian male love interest, bisexual white female side character with PTSD, bisexual Chippewa female side character, achillean BIPOC male side characters, male side character with hearing aids, male side character with a prosthetic.

CWs: Adult/minor relationship (not sexual), alcohol consumption, blood, child abuse/neglect, death, gaslighting/extreme manipulation, emotional abuse, kidnapping, mental illness (anxiety/PTSD), murder, panic attacks, stalking, violence, toxic relationship. Moderate: acephobia, gun violence, injury/injury detail, police brutality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

writewithapendragon's review

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

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 and

gets 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 

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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

ehmannky's review

dark tense fast-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

4.5

This! Was! So! Stressful! A Peter Pan retelling set over a 9-ish hour timespan where things progressively snowball into wilder and wilder situations as Wendy gets in over her head with a truly wicked Peter Pan. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Child death, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Police brutality

Minor: Violence

melaniereadsbooks's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Fierce Reads for an arc of this book.

Wendy Darling's parents won't let her meet up with an online friend when she first moves to Chicago, but they will let her stay at home alone with a broken lock on her window? Okay, sure. So is it really that much of a surprise when she sneaks out with the charming and charismatic stranger that comes through her window?  Wendy has no idea that the party she is promised will turn into the scariest night of her life.  Darling takes the classic Peter Pan and turns it into a heart-stopping and insidious contemporary thriller set in modern-day Chicago!

I was immediately hooked when I started reading this book. It flew by so fast and I could hardly put it down. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what would happen to Wendy, Tinkerbelle, and the rest of the characters!  I was so surprised by the directions that this book went into, but I absolutely loved it.  The characters are amazing and I absolutely loved all the different side-characters.  This is such a great book!

Pub Date: June 22, 2021

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Gun violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Child abuse, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship