Peter Darling Paperback – February 9, 2017

I love this book. It is a wonderful, clever twist on Peter Pan that I haven't seen before, with a deeper meaning that was never implied in the original but seems obvious now, somehow. The writing is excellent and fits in well with the tone of the original imo. As a mother, parts of this are heart-wrenching. As a reader, this started off as a fanciful tale with threads of realism that developed into an authentic story of the re-discovery - and acceptance - of self, and the value of acceptance.

This was a lovely retelling where both Peter and Hook are running from traumas in their past and Neverland provides the perfect distraction. Peter happens to be trans and unaccepted by his family and Hook from the grief of his past. Together they try for something real. This is a cute PG romance for those wanting the feelings without the heat.

I absolutely loved this. The writing was beautiful and I loved the way that queerness was portrayed and how it was like Neverland attracted young queer kids who weren’t accepted. Such a good read. It also helps that it is one of the few books that I cried at although not a lot. And that I finished it in one day, writing this at almost midnight.

This is one of my favorite books. It has a trans mlm main character, slow-burn love, self-discovery, and the enemies-to-lovers trope. The dedication at the front of the book is so beautiful. I wish it was longer because the writing is so good! I haven't seen many transmasc mlm books so this was a treat. I love love love this book! There isn't an awkward coming-out scene. Peter just exists as a trans person which is so perfect to me. This book was very important to me as a young trans person.

As an avid queer romance reader with a penchant for enemies to lovers, this book read like a treatise in how to do that thing well. It centers the respect between Pan and Hook as the foundation for their growing relationship, and there's bite where that bark is. Chant avoids the pitfall of many other enemies to romance stories-- they demonstrate how Hook and Pan respect each other through the actions and dialogue, instead of just telling us about their theoretical growing respect for each other. Pan and Hook's no-holds-barred dynamic, their years-long war of genuinely trying to kill each other, develops believably into a more affectionate connection rooted in their mutual love of adventure and conflict. Chant explores the dynamic at the heart of this trope without it ever feeling like a lecture-- good thing, too, since Peter would never stick around for that.As a trans man, this book made me cry for all the right reasons. I finished it within 24 hours and it's been haunting me ever since. Peter's experience of his gender resonates in its complexity. Chant don't just stop at "Peter is a boy," but pushes Peter to dig into his own understanding of what masculinity can be, how Peter relates to other men, what to share and when and how to share it. They also don't overfocus on Peter's transness--the character is fully Peter Pan, the one and only, with a grown-up take on his propensity for violence, his pettiness, impulsivity, rage, fear, and quickness to dehumanize and dismiss other people.My one hangup is the shallowness of the Lost Boys (and Pirates). I felt like the lack of life (so to speak) in these side characters took away, rather than added, to the impact of Peter and Hook's connection. I'm a sucker for the romantic leads having other important relationships, including friendships, and we missed out on some feelings about community in service to the romance. The worldbuilding here also let Peter & Hook escape some of the consequences of their decisions, while at the same time shrinking the scale and scope of Neverland. It felt like a held-back punch in a book that was otherwise gorgeously brutal.Ernest is the exception, here, of course. I liked him so much more than I expected to, and his practicality was a great foil to Peter's recklessness. His inclusion helped remediate what I didn't like about the Lost Boys. However, I didn't fully understand what Chant was trying to do with the end of Ernest's arc. They were definitely doing *something* with that, but I couldn't quite figure out what.Conclusion: Fantastic book, read it right now, five stars.Single caveat: I'm on team the-lost-boys-and-the-pirate-crew-deserved-better.

“He breathed out and settled in the feeling of being himself, of being something whole.”* * *First of all, I had a heck of a time picking an opening excerpt. I always try to head a review with my favorite line, and if you look at my updates, you’ll see I highlighted almost 100. (Please, feel free to go through them! There’s spoilers, but I just want to rooftop-shout about these words.) The writing is that exquisite, and the book so filled with beautiful phrases, it’s much more difficult to say what segment I didn’t love. Story aside for a moment, I’m a little in awe of Chant’s ability to state incredibly complex, profound, heart-deep concepts in wonderfully clear ways, either through lovely poetics or deceptively simple language. Sometimes both at the same time. It’s a rare book/writer where you just love the words, and want more, almost regardless of what they’re actually writing about. I’m fairly certain I’d read anything, if it were written like this.The story and characters itself…I honestly don’t think I can do a detailed analysis here. A quirk of my brain is that I tend to go nonverbal or nearly-so during extremely emotional moments. The more important something is to me, the less I can easily express it.That’s tripping me up nastily here. That’s how you know it’s powerful.It’s good. It’s very good. It’s very important. They are important. This story is important.The fact that this is all I can say should in fact say it all.I am glad this book is in the world, and I am glad I am still in the world to read it. It was needed. I truly wish I could get into the relationship/identity/emotional crux more, but… you just have to read it for yourself. I couldn’t do it justice anyway.On a less-raw note I CAN discuss because it’s less home-hitting – the wonderful re-imagining of the very nature of Neverland itself! I didn’t see it coming for a moment, and had no idea when starting this book that it would contain such an amazing new angle. I started for the romance, not the plot twist, but Chant’s interpretation of Neverland, its rules and un-rules, its power and lure and solace and danger, and the refreshingly alien fae – I haven’t so much enjoyed being knocked on my ass in a long time.I won’t tell you what I’m babbling about, because that would rob you of the experience. Just read. You’ll know when you get there.I can’t think much more (it’s the emotional-brainfog again; this book is so important it’s actually hard to tell you WHY), so I’ll finish by just Strongly Recommending that you read this book. I usually don’t feel the need to re-read, but I do here. Something in this book will change you, for the better. If nothing else, I can say that.

This. Was. AMAZING.I can’t even begin to express how much I loved this book. I’ve been struggling to write a review for a few days now because all I really want to say is: It’s incredible and you must go and buy a copy immediately.Right, I’ll try and explain why I loved it so much (hopefully without dissolving into hopeless fangirling).I love Peter Pan and am always on the lookout for retellings or sequels . Peter Darling is kind of a bit of both. It changes a few details about the original story and these lead into what is essentially a sequel to Peter Pan as we follow him on his return to Neverland after he’s grown up.The depiction of Neverland itself is so detailed and remains true to the original story in a way that gave me such a warm sense of nostalgia. But Peter’s return isn’t smooth sailing, Neverland is different. Hook and the Lost Boys are different. Even Tink has changed. But Peter has changed too and he struggles to fit in around Neverland in ways he never did before.Hook was written fantastically. He’s such a favourite of mine and that was true here as well. He’s witty, conniving and sarcastic, all the things we love about him, but we get to see a whole new side of him too. He’s also kind and understanding. We learn a little of his back-story and how he came to be in Neverland and it makes you adore him even more.The interactions between Hook and Peter are easily the highlight of the book. The pair clash and bounce witty arguments off each other like it’s as easy as breathing but they also slowly cross a boundary into a new kind of relationship. The romance itself was exceptionally well written. It starts to slowly seep into the story early on and then builds bit by bit in a tantalising rise of thrilling tension. I loved that the pair were essentially perfect for each other and both accepted the other’s flaws instantly because they’re a part of who they are.There was so much emotion throughout this book, from all the characters, and when you consider that it is a relatively short book I think this is a real testament to the quality of the writing. The author makes you feel so much and makes you connect with each character so deeply, all in such a short space of time and without it feeling forced or overwhelming at all.The story itself is a lot darker than the original Peter Pan which is perfect as these boys playing games are now men and the stakes are much higher.The twist on the original story that Peter and Wendy are one and the same fit so seamlessly into this story that I almost forgot at times that it wasn’t a part of the original. Reading about Peter’s struggle as he was forced to live as Wendy was so raw and emotional. The trans aspects of this story are handled exceptionally well (I believe this is likely because it’s #ownvoices?) and I especially loved that there was no big ‘reveal’ scene for Peter and Hook. I felt like Hook already loved Peter completely and they didn’t need this big moment where Peter had to explain and see if Hook still wanted to be with him.The ending was beyond perfect. I kept wondering where the story was going to go but I never could’ve expected something as good as it was. It’s simple yet poignant. The whole final few chapters were so amazing that I re-read them about five times before finally putting the book down. There’s so much hope and happiness in that final part that I didn’t want it to end.I have nothing bad to say about this book at all. It’s not very often that a story can wow me as much as this one did. 5 stars doesn’t seem enough, it deserves so much more. It’s the easiest book recommendation I’ve made in ages.

I personally am a huge fan of the original media and to have this version speak to the heart of Me when I didn't even realise that's what I wanted nearly brought a tear to my eye. This is a wonderfully written retelling although like many others, my only gripe would have been that this would be better if it was a touch longer. But the struggle Peter goes through and how he relates to his circumstances and his precious romance with James Hook...was everything.

This book is so important. Content warning for: character death, transphobia, and I think other stuff but I read this a while ago and can't remember exactly.Peter left Neverland to return to real life and grow up as Wendy Darling. However this has only made him realise how strongly he identifies as a man. Things have changed in Neverland without him, for the better, but Peter just wants things to be the same way they were before.Now I enjoy a good fairytale retelling but man was I so happy to see this one. I was never a huge fan of Peter Pan, I always thought the original was just a spoilt baby but this was so much different. The idea of Neverland being a place where you could be who you are with no fear of judgement felt so much more magical to me.What I really liked about this novel was that Chant characterised Peter in a similar way to the original, aka a whiney baby, but gave him such a backstory and made him much more likeable because of that back story. You can understand why he does the silly stuff he does. He's still stuck in the past because he just wants to go back to when he felt happy in himself and because the world has changed without him he thinks it needs to go back to how it was for him to be happy.The characterisation of Hook was really interesting. I feel like we don't get to know much about him in the original (which I haven't read in a very long time) but with this one he's just really different after the passing of time.The parts of the novel that was flashbacks to Peter's life in the real world were absolutely heart breaking. Knowing that he had been in a world where he could be himself and then choosing to go back to real life and finding how awful it was in comparison absolutely killed me. So bear in mind if that's something you are sensitive to tread carefully with this book.I can't talk about the representation as I am cis, but it was own voices so I feel confident that it is good rep.

Words can't express how much I loved and adored this book! Beautiful prose, amazing characters, and a fantasy world that completely sucks you in and refuses to let you go.My only qualm (but not enough to affect my rating) was I wasn't sure exactly how old Peter was? Maybe that was just me not paying attention, but apart from that, this was such an amazing book to read to start off 2018!****SPOILER ALERT****I also really hated what happened to Tink; as one of the few speaking female characters, it hurt a lot, not to mention her whole existence seemed built up just for her to be killed off at that point so the MCs could bond.****END OF SPOILER***The rest of the story was too gorgeous for me to lower my rating, though.Highly recommended

This was a really well written story with an interesting spin on Neverland. I would have liked it to be longer!