Wendy, Darling.

“… shouldn’t have gone without telling you … so afraid.”
“… how could she have left the house … gone so far alone? What will we tell Scotland Yard … brothers, and my father?”
“… on a little adventure. You know how curious and strong-willed she is … what we will tell them. … home. That’s the important thing. Jane is home safe, and that is all that should matter.”

Quotes

“Peter was always monster and boy both.”

“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.”

“A toy, but one sharp enough for killing, because that’s the kind of boy Peter is.”

“In a whole word built to fit his whims, Wendy is the fractured piece slipped out of place.”

“You have to stand up, even when you’re scared, because if you let the monsters frighten you and take away the things you love, then they win.”

“Loving something means having something to lose.”

“Neverland is hers, it is precious; she will not give it to anyone to use as a weapon against her. It’s enough that Wendy knows, deep in her heart, that if she’d jumped, the sky would never let her fall.”

“Mothers are meant to keep their children safe, but also to prepare them for life. Help them grow. What can a mother be to a boy determined to remain perpetually young? Only a shadow, forever chained to him and trailing in his wake, bearing all his hurts so he doesn’t have to.”

“It is the deepest truth in all the world that her mother will never let anything bad happen to her.”

“She hasn’t decided what truths or lies she’ll tell to others yet, but there’s one thing Jane is certain of – she will not lie to herself, and she will always remember.”

Plot

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

About the book

Wendy, Darling is a dark take on a familiar story, dealing with mature themes such as psychological abuse and complex mental health issues. It is a gripping tale of family and friendship, of the value of growing up and following your dreams. It’s a story that will absorb you and pull it into its world immediately. The world building is rich and the characters are well described and explored, keeping the reader glued to the pages. I, personally loved the complexities of Wendy and Mary, both as individuals and in their relationship to each other, they were developed really well and I enjoyed learning about them and trying to puzzle together the story as it unfolded.
If you like your retellings mature and on the darker side, I very much recommend you pick up Wendy, Darling. It has quite the same vibes as Christina Henry’s books. It’s not as whimsical as I thought, but I still really liked it.


-Martie