A review by wardenred
Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

 
Because that’s what Neverland is—running away, cowardly, without even saying goodbye. It’s leaving behind everything you claim to love to embrace purely selfish joy. No responsibilities, no consequences, and nothing matters or ever changes.

I love Peter Pan retellings, especially when they delve into the darker side of the Neverland. Because let's face it, you hardly need to change anything about the original story to read it as a horror tale; you just need to look at it through adult eyes. Which is pretty much exactly what this book does. There's maybe one part changed about the original experience Wendy had in Neverland, and it blends so seamlessly in with everything else that I keep wondering if maybe that detail has been there all along. Maybe, when I was reading Peter Pan as a kid, I simply overlooked it.

I absolutely enjoyed the way the story is constructed, with the events from several timelines being explored out of order: Wendy's journey to bring her daughter Jane home, her life between her own original Neverland adventure and Peter's return to her life, snippets of her childhood memories about that original adventure. I think that the part about Wendy's life "in-between" was my favorite: in any grand adventure, I'm always most fascinated by the aftermath. Reading about Wendy's experiences in St. Bernadette's asylum was sometimes a difficult experience (things like forced institutionalization and abuse from medical workers, especially in the mental health field, are always difficult for me, especially when I know that what I'm reading is based on actual things that happened to actual people). But her inner journey, her focus on rebuilding herself and learning to look forward through all the hardships, the way she gradually changed her perception of Neverland without ever letting go of its realness—every part of it was haunting. I loved the conclusion she got, the somewhat unconventional, half-hidden-in-plain-sight family she built for herself. 

Another part of the story that I know is going to stick with me for a while are the Jane interludes. Even though Jane got only a small part of each lengthy chapter, she was a fully realized character throughout, firmly her own person, no matter how much Peter tried to twist her into a copy of who Wendy used to be—or rather, of who he used to want Wendy to be, back when her life was his to rule.

The writing itself was beautiful and flowed well, although at times it was somewhat repetitive. There were numerous turns of phrase that felt lovely and clever the first time I saw them, then got old less than a quarter into the book. For me, that's a pretty minor flaw, but there were moments when it did grate on my nerves a bit, so I thought I'd mention it. That's the main part of the reason why I gave 4.75 stars to an otherwise 5-star read. A smaller, highly subjective part of the reason: I think the story might have benefited from a tad of a bigger focus on what happened to the pirates and Hook in particular. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings