Wendy Darling is all grown up, working in a children’s home in the midst of the first World War. Largely estranged from her brothers, Wendy is desperate to move on from her traumatic childhood and escape the media circus that ensued upon their return. But twelve years after Wendy’s first taste of magic, Neverland is once again calling for her, and this time there’s no doubt that Peter is out for blood.
THIS WAS EVERYTHING. I’m sure others exist but I can’t believe I’ve never seen another horror retelling of Peter Pan because it’s a story that lends itself so well to horror. Pelayo hit a lot of the notes I was hoping for and twisted them so excellently. The second I heard the premise I was like “Peter’s shadow better feature” and of course it does, because that’s just too perfect. Peter is terrifying in this book, so delightfully inhuman, and manifesting in so many ways paralleling the Darling children’s manifestations of trauma. The brutality of Neverland is great, because it only takes a push to make the Lost Boys a little Lord of the Flies. If anything, I think the author could have gone farther with that. My other notes are that the storyline with the soldier in the hospital makes sense to have in the story but it’s kind of forgettable when it’s not actively on the page. I also think some of the flashbacks have really choppy transitions, and since you’re working with multiple timelines it can be a bit hard to follow.
Highly recommend this! I was super excited by the premise and I got exactly what I wanted.
Thank you to Cynthia Pelayo and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!
Happy reading!
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