Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Vomit
I get that this book is inspired by Peter Pan, but it was more like "Hey lets take the characters name, and write a weird double revenge plot with a few Peter Pan inspired setting and terms." This Story nothing to do with the fairy tail besides the characters names.
Our Villain, James Barrie is, or is called, Hook as his business nickname. Peter is a businessman who owns NevAirLand Airlines and does some shady business on the side. Wendy is Peter's daughter and Tinkerbell aka Tina Bell was Peter's secretary/lover??? Also not to mention that Pixie dust was the Drug they stole and dealt with??? Ok I will give them an A- for luring me in with this shit and making me thing this is Peter Pan inspired dark romance revenge story.
Now a few words to the character. I hated how James treated Wendy, constantly calling her a pet or praising her like a dog as a good girl. Yes, there is instant lust and possessiveness and a few unhinged thoughts which made me frown and roll my eyes because they were so text book. On the other side Wendy, wasn't anything special. She was that innocent, naive girl who had no clue what shit her father did while being emotional deprived for his affection and a push over. And Peter? he was barely present through the whole book which made it so hard for me what was going on or why James wanted revenge against Peter and for what.
Overall, it was a nice read. The dark romance was pretty text book tropey and more on the beginners side. Yes, it was gory, James is possessive and Kidnaps Wendy, but the impact was so shallow and lackluster. Their relationship had cute moments but was yes toxic but there was nothing special which stood out.
I finish this book within a day, so it was a nice plate cleanser if you need something trope heavy with a messy, kind of predictable plot twist.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Inevitable comparison to Nikki St. Crowe's <i>The Never King</i>: this is the better constructed book, with a slightly more grounded plot, more focus on character development, and with spicy scenes based more in plot/character than for sheer smut factor (not that there's anything wrong with that). That said, neither of these are exactly high works of literature.
Mostly you're reading this book for the clever way McIntire reworks the tropes of and slides in references to the original <i>Peter Pan</i>. NevAirland airlines. Pixie dust. "Straight on till morning." The Crocodile. The Jolly Roger. Yeah, they're a bit silly, but that's why they're fun. You can see it as a fun challenge for the author: you're building a story around a guy known for his fear of ticking clocks, but how do you justify that fear in the real world? I've got to say, I don't hate what she came up with. I think the only well-known reference missing was any sort of "I do/don't believe in fairies," which would have been fun, but admittedly a bit hard to work in.
I'm not entirely sure how James Barrie would feel about his name being applied to a version of his (attempted?) child-murdering villain, but I appreciated the homage nonetheless.
The plot is pretty straightforward, with most of the twists predictable and telegraphed from a mile away. But it was still an enjoyable bit of a popcorn read.
Question, though: why is this apparently the only book Rupert Hawthorne has narrated? He was great, but I can't find any other credits for him anywhere on the internet.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship
Things that made me audibly groan and/or cringe:
- James’ nickname for Wendy being “darling” so he could say “Wendy, darling” GET IT
- The fact that Wendy only ever seems to wear blue and Tina Belle (COME ONNNNN) only seems to wear green. Like I think the allegory is strong enough babe you can chill out
- The pedophilic undertones of James getting WAY too excited about the fact that he was taking Wendy’s virginity and his infatuation with her innocence in general. PEDOPHILE!!!
- NO ONE DOES ANY RESEARCH WHATSOEVER !!!! James kidnaps the WRONG PERSON when he seemingly has all of this intel around town and everyone under his thumb. AND Wendy never looks this guy up to learn what freaky shit MUST be out there about him. GOOGLE IS FREE BABES!!!
- Wendy falling for James so quickly and so completely and blindly that she lets him do WHATEVER he wants to her without question. STAND UP!!! Girlie does not have ONE FRIEND to tell her that his behavior is weird and toxic and abusive. THAT MAN IS SCARY GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!
- NEV AIR LAND AIRLINES. FAITH TRUST AND PIXIE DUST. STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING. UUGGGGGHHHH get out of my face
- The fact that Wendy forgives James at all. THE MOMENT you kidnap me and throw me in a basement it’s lights out and we’re breaking up. Idc how much the love turned his life around I’m getting a restraining order ASAP
- TWO CHILDREN IN TWO YEARS AT AGE 22???? WHY
- I knew exactly how both of these people’s genitals were doing AT ALL TIMES. If I hear the phrase “my cock twitched” any more it will be too soon. put your penis away
- personal preference but the sex scenes were just really really gross to me. too many juices and too many weird nicknames. DONT call her “pet” and stop putting vagina fluid where it doesn’t belong. EW!
In short, I think this was an interesting concept that got ruined by fanfiction-y writing. If you want to write a mafia romance just do that, you don’t have to toss a fairy tale layer over it to make it interesting.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Vomit, Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Car accident, Pregnancy