Book Review :: Wendy, Darling by AC Wise

Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise
ISBN: 1789096812
Published by Titan Books (UK)
on 1 June 2021
Pages: 333
Goodreads

Find the second star from the right, and fly straight on 'til morning, all the way to Neverland, a children's paradise with no rules, no adults, only endless adventure and enchanted forests - all led by the charismatic boy who will never grow old.

But Wendy Darling grew up. She has a husband and a young daughter called Jane, a life in London. But on night, after all these years, Peter Pan returns. Wendy finds him outside her daughter's window, looking to claim a new mother for his Lost Boys. But instead of Wendy, he takes Jane.

Now a grown woman, a mother, a patient and a survivor, Wendy must follow Peter back to Neverland to rescue her daughter and finally face the darkness at the heart of the island...

Last updated on 13 February 2023

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What is Wendy, Darling be AC Wise about?

Wendy, Darling by AC Wise tells the story of Wendy Darling, all grown up with a daughter of her own. She’s left Neverland behind her. But Peter has returned to her bedroom window. He doesn’t recognise her … and steals her daughter away for an adventure.

Wendy (nee Darling) has to figure out how to get to Neverland to save Jane from Peter’s controlling shenanigans. It might be easy enough to fly towards the second star to the right and keep going straight on til morning, but when Wendy gets to Neverland, it’s even worse than she thought.

“Wendy is a creature made all of want, aching for the cold expression to melt from Peter’s face, aching for her friend to take her hand and ask her to fly away with him.”

Peter is controlling his lost boys. And he’s sinking his powers into Jane, too. There’s a monster at the heart of the island, and Wendy, along with grown-up Tiger Lily makes it their mission to pull Peter to the monster, to make him see what he’s doing to Neverland. To make him understand that what he’s doing needs to change. To make him grow up.

My thoughts on Wendy, Darling

I enjoyed Wendy, Darling for the most part. We get the story in the present time of Wendy going to Neverland to save her daughter, to reconnect with Tiger Lily, to try and mend what Peter has destroyed. Or at the very least, reunite him with his own monster.

Alongside the present we get flashbacks to Wendy’s past, but not to Neverland, to the times that came when the Darling children – Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael – returned to London all those years ago. Wendy, being the eldest and remembering the most, holds onto Neverland so tightly that her brothers send her to a psych ward.

This story is a very dark take on the JM Barrie classic, but it was a really interesting twist and perspective. While I didn’t love it, it was an enjoyable read. There were parts that I enjoyed more than others, and Peter was the actual worst so most of Jane’s time spent with him and the Lost Boys on the island was painful to read (perhaps the point?).

The writing is haunting, and while it wasn’t that smooth to read at points, I appreciated the style in wise AC Wise wrote the book. It definitely felt right for the story.

While it’s not a favourite fairy tale retelling, it wasn’t bad, and I will be reading the next book in the ‘series’ (I say series in inverted commas because technically they’re not a series, but I’d recommend reading this one first), Hooked, to read about what happened to Captain Hook after Neverland.

Have you read Wendy, Darling by AC Wise? What did you think?