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A review by dowryofbooks
Darling by K. Ancrum
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.