Reviews with content warning for Child death - Darling Girl

I am sad to report that Darling Girl missed the mark for me. And while Peter Pan is my favorite children's fantasy story, evil Peter Pan just doesn't do it for me. In this tale, we learn more about Wendy's granddaughter Holly and her daughter Eden who suffers from a rare aging disorder. After Eden mysteriously disappears, Holly knows immediately who is responsible: the one and only Peter Pan. Sent on a wild goose chase, Holly frantically looks for her daughter with the help of a private detective named Christopher Cooke (hmm look at that coincidence).

I found the plot of Darling Girl to be all over the place and ultimately, boring. There are quite a few trigger warnings like kidnapping, rape, and abuse that just did not sit well with me, nor do they seem necessary. The elements of romance were downright strange and oddly disturbing...and also did not seem necessary. Other readers have enjoyed Darling Girl, but this retelling of Peter Pan just didn't sit right with me. I am curious to hear your thoughts if you have read it!

Content Warnings

haileybones's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.0

I didn't like much of anything about this book. The premise has promise and the prose is fine, but it ends up being a slow, somewhat nonsensical trod with an insufferable main character. She is very "upper class white lady" and it is not sympathetic. A lot of plot threads are left loose or resolved by telling, not showing -- you're told about the climax, but don't experience it. You only get a taste of the characters you're excited to see reimagined and never go to Neverland itself. (A lot of these issues could have been solved by having multiple POV characters.) And the whole thing read as ableist to me. Would a disability really make Jack's life not worth living? His ultra wealthy CEO/brilliant research scientist mother couldn't make any accommodations to improve his quality of life? To the extent that she'll nuke their lives over and over with childish lies that benefit no one? And then not face any lasting consequences for it? And that's only the tip of the icber-- /rant

Content Warnings

wellreadjill_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

carmenvillaman's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.25

Content Warnings

blouviere4's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

eliserobinsonn__'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

Content Warnings

stromanmaddie's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.0

Peter Pan retelling where Peter is the bad guy. It would be helpful to know the story’s background before diving in. Much of the reading depends on you knowing the original story.

I know this because despite Peter Pan being over one hundred years old, I do not fully know the original story, just bits and pieces, and at times I was a bit confused.

*The rest of the review has spoilers!!

The pace of this book was agonizingly slow. It took 150 pages to get out the background story and for anything interesting to happen. Then, just when you think something happened, that was intensely slow. Not only that, but we kept seeing Holly say the same shit over and over. It got old fast reading the same thing in fifty different ways.

Based on the story’s timeline and how miserable it is, I thought there was no way this story ends in a HEA, but I knew the author would hurriedly wrap it up in a nice bow anyway. Then I got to the end and realized I was right. The ending was so forced. Nothing got explained either. We were just supposed to accept what happened with no further explanation. We are supposed to infer Jack is completely healed based on Holy’s simple observation, with no explanation except a theory? Peter also went up in dust based on a theory; no clarification? Eden’s blood makes Jane age decades backward while it only heals Jack?

Not to mention how nothing ever really happens, either. The story is just a constant flow of people having conversations, and there’s never any action. When there is, we are conveniently kept out of it, and we only hear the aftermath of the story after. The crash, the fall, the party, the conceiving, even the bell tower scene. We never get to be there; we only get told the stories and memories after. I truly hope I never pick up another book like this again.

It was truly suffering being stuck in Holly’s head. She was so pessimistic, closed off, and one-track-minded. Not only was she suffocating Jack, but she was suffocating me as well. I get her concerns but let the boy live his damn life. A life shackled is no life at all. I did not feel an ounce of pity when Holly’s world started to crumble around her after Eden woke up because Holly created all of her problems with the lies she spun.

I truly despise when people’s problems are of their creation because all they do is lie to people. Sometimes, I can understand if their survival depends on it, but that was not the case here in Holly’s case. She is just stuck in her head and never takes herself out to see it from someone else’s point of view. She kept crucial information from her loved ones. Truths they had every right to know, no matter the damage the truth inflicted upon the individuals. They had the right to know, and Holly took away that right from them, especially Jack.

Besides Jack, these characters are completely one-dimensional, one-tracked, and unlovable. They either suck, or we don’t see enough of them to care. It got old fast reading the same thing in fifty different ways.

I know I harped on about how much I disliked this story (because it sucked), but it occasionally throw out a good one-liner.

Content Warnings

alaynacp's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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