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keeksmonster 's review for:
Wendy, Darling
by A.C. Wise
4 stars. The first 3/4 or so was an easy 4.5 stars. While I did leave the book feeling a little disappointed, I had a hard time putting this one down and would recommend to anyone even slightly curious in a unique addition to the Peter Pan universe.
One of the things I love about the original Peter Pan novel is that when I revisited it as an adult, it was like reading a completely different novel than the one I read in my youth. The themes I took from the story were not the same and the entire book was much darker than I had remembered it. Wendy, Darling capitalizes on this darkness and offers a feminist perspective that was breathtaking and unforgettable. What if, when J.M. Barrie's original work ends, there is no actual happily ever after? Because, you know, in the real world there really isn't such a thing.
What if, shortly after the Darling children return from Neverland, their parents unexpectedly pass away and Wendy takes on even more of the motherly duties that she already had thrust upon her in Barrie's novel? What if the Darling children grow up and because of this trauma and their younger ages, John and Michael have difficulty separating fact from fiction as to what happened in childhood games and what ACTUALLY happened? What if Michael enlists in WWI and comes back a broken man, and to cheer him Wendy reminds him about Neverland, and John is furious with his sister for confusing Michael further by insisting that imaginary childhood stories actually happened? What if this leads to Wendy being committed and spending years in a mental institution? What if Wendy escapes this by marrying a man she doesn't know, has a daughter of her own, and then one day Peter returns to bring Wendy back to Neverland but is angry she grew up and takes her daughter instead? What if Wendy can't tell anyone the truth of where her daughter has gone because she is sure to be thrown back in the mental institution if she does, and so she single-handedly needs to find a way back to Neverland to rescue her daughter?
So freaking good. I was disappointed in the lack of Tinkerbell and the insinuation that we might see Hook but never did. I loved the imagery of adult Wendy running around with Hook's sword SO MUCH. I loved the return of Tiger Lily. This book had so much reference to otherness, the treatment of women in the Victorian age, imperialism, racism, and even some homophobia. At the end though, I was left with questions - where are the fairies? What happened to the pirates? Where did Peter get his magic from exactly? With these questions being answered, I think this would have been a 5 star read.
Still well worth it and recommended to my friends so that we can discuss/create our own ending for these missing characters.
Thank you Titan Books and Edelweiss for the ARC!
One of the things I love about the original Peter Pan novel is that when I revisited it as an adult, it was like reading a completely different novel than the one I read in my youth. The themes I took from the story were not the same and the entire book was much darker than I had remembered it. Wendy, Darling capitalizes on this darkness and offers a feminist perspective that was breathtaking and unforgettable. What if, when J.M. Barrie's original work ends, there is no actual happily ever after? Because, you know, in the real world there really isn't such a thing.
What if, shortly after the Darling children return from Neverland, their parents unexpectedly pass away and Wendy takes on even more of the motherly duties that she already had thrust upon her in Barrie's novel? What if the Darling children grow up and because of this trauma and their younger ages, John and Michael have difficulty separating fact from fiction as to what happened in childhood games and what ACTUALLY happened? What if Michael enlists in WWI and comes back a broken man, and to cheer him Wendy reminds him about Neverland, and John is furious with his sister for confusing Michael further by insisting that imaginary childhood stories actually happened? What if this leads to Wendy being committed and spending years in a mental institution? What if Wendy escapes this by marrying a man she doesn't know, has a daughter of her own, and then one day Peter returns to bring Wendy back to Neverland but is angry she grew up and takes her daughter instead? What if Wendy can't tell anyone the truth of where her daughter has gone because she is sure to be thrown back in the mental institution if she does, and so she single-handedly needs to find a way back to Neverland to rescue her daughter?
So freaking good. I was disappointed in the lack of Tinkerbell and the insinuation that we might see Hook but never did. I loved the imagery of adult Wendy running around with Hook's sword SO MUCH. I loved the return of Tiger Lily. This book had so much reference to otherness, the treatment of women in the Victorian age, imperialism, racism, and even some homophobia. At the end though, I was left with questions - where are the fairies? What happened to the pirates? Where did Peter get his magic from exactly? With these questions being answered, I think this would have been a 5 star read.
Still well worth it and recommended to my friends so that we can discuss/create our own ending for these missing characters.
Thank you Titan Books and Edelweiss for the ARC!