christygsp's review against another edition
2.0
This book is straight up a parents worst nightmare. At least in the Disney movie, the kids were only gone one night, while the parents were away so they didn't know they went missing... but THIS - they are gone for a long time. Long enough for us to see the parents basically losing their minds at home because all three of their kids have basically been abducted... ummm okay
So right off the bat, this book was so much darker than any other iteration I have seen, and it was pretty disturbing. Peter is both completely oblivious, and manipulative and sadistic. He likes to see kids in pain or trouble, casually suggests and follows through with killing people, and kidnaps kids with no regard to their wishes.. I hate him.
There was a lot more focus on Mr and Mrs Darling than I would have thought, but it made it all the more heartbreaking when their kids essentially disappear. Although I will say, Wendy told her mum that a strange dude was watching them sleep and she did basically nothing about it, except interact directly with Peter and steal his shadow. I thought the whole point of PP was that kids basically dreamt or imagined someone like him, not that he was REAL and that parents actually saw him. Either that, or everyone in the Darling family is Schizophrenic.
Hearing a little bit about how Fairy magic and life works was interesting, but the rest of this book was un-savable for me.
So right off the bat, this book was so much darker than any other iteration I have seen, and it was pretty disturbing. Peter is both completely oblivious, and manipulative and sadistic. He likes to see kids in pain or trouble, casually suggests and follows through with killing people, and kidnaps kids with no regard to their wishes.. I hate him.
There was a lot more focus on Mr and Mrs Darling than I would have thought, but it made it all the more heartbreaking when their kids essentially disappear. Although I will say, Wendy told her mum that a strange dude was watching them sleep and she did basically nothing about it, except interact directly with Peter and steal his shadow. I thought the whole point of PP was that kids basically dreamt or imagined someone like him, not that he was REAL and that parents actually saw him. Either that, or everyone in the Darling family is Schizophrenic.
Hearing a little bit about how Fairy magic and life works was interesting, but the rest of this book was un-savable for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Death and Violence
kfridaysandwiches's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Stalking, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Bullying, and Adult/minor relationship
rusame's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
writewithapendragon's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
OBVIOUSLY PROBLEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF NATIVE CHARACTERS, slurs included, stereotypes used. Period-typical language and stereotypes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Abandonment, Bullying, Murder, Racism, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexism, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Abandonment, and Racial slurs
aoifemarie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racism, and Racial slurs
lisaandthebooks's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
It's a good book and it's exciting to read the original story. It is quite brutal though and Peter Pan is the most unlikable character in my opinion. Even Hook is not as bad as he is.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Violence
mermaidsherbet's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping
gymbeannz's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Everybody wants an adventure, but nobody wants to die while on one.
In your imagination though, there is no real danger. You can’t die, because you’re the hero. You get the thrill of adrenaline, and at the same time, there’s always an invisible safety net around you. There’s nothing to be afraid of because the danger is always under your control.
That is Neverland. That’s the adventure of Peter Pan.
But the story of Peter Pan is also a horror. I can’t read the book without feeling guilty of the childhood goodness that I have tucked away and forgotten about. And so, especially near the end of the book, I started asking myself if I’d forgotten how to fly, and I was too scared to answer truthfully.
In your imagination though, there is no real danger. You can’t die, because you’re the hero. You get the thrill of adrenaline, and at the same time, there’s always an invisible safety net around you. There’s nothing to be afraid of because the danger is always under your control.
That is Neverland. That’s the adventure of Peter Pan.
But the story of Peter Pan is also a horror. I can’t read the book without feeling guilty of the childhood goodness that I have tucked away and forgotten about. And so, especially near the end of the book, I started asking myself if I’d forgotten how to fly, and I was too scared to answer truthfully.
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping
lectrixnoctis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
James M. Barrie was the ninth of ten children born into a working-class religious family in Scotland. When Barrie was six years of age, his older brother David died at age 13 in a skating accident. After that, Barrie tried to cheer up his mother by writing stories, performing plays, and wearing David's clothes. James M. Barrie attended the University of Edinburgh and later wrote for various Scottish newspapers. One of his best-known works is "Peter Pan". However, it was first written as a play and later adapted into a novel. A few years before his death in 1927, J. M. Barrie donated all "Peter Pan" rights to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. In the year 1987, fifty years after Barrie's death, the copyright expired under UK law; however, the following year in a unique Act of Parlament restored the royalties, which means that even today, as long as the hospital exists, very sich children benefit from Berrie's generous gift.
The story begins in the nursery of the home of the Darlings, where Mrs Darling put her children to bed. She does seem supposed that all three children are thinking of a mysterious boy named Peter Pan. When Mrs Darling asks about him, her daughter Wendy explains that Peter does visit them when they are all fast asleep. One night when Mrs Darling is in the nursery, Peter Pan comes to visit. As he noticed the adult in the room, he jumps out of the window, but his shadow is trapped by the children's canine nanny Nana.
A few days later, Peter Pan revisit the Darling children. Since Nana is in the garden, Mr and Mrs Darling have left for a party and left the children unguarded. Wendy helps Peter secure his shadow back to himself, and he confesses that he has been listening to their bedtime stories to tell the lost boys them too. When he asks Wendy to visit them on Neverland, she hesitates but agrees. She and her brothers Jon and Micheal learn how to fly and set off to Neverland, where they will encounter various adventures with the lost boys who so desperately need a mother and the wicked Captain Hook.
Much of the humour and sadness in Barrie’s novel arises from the differences between society’s idea of a child and an actual child. So in a certain way, the book is deeply rooted in the adult idealizations of childhood –a thought that emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries, when many nations first instituted compulsory elementary education.
The book was written in the first person omniscient point of view and past tense.
One of the centre symbols in this children's book is the kiss. However, the narrator tells us that Peter Pan is highly hateful and wild toward adults. He does like Mrs Darling's kiss. The "kiss" at the corner of Mr Darling's mouth is, although hits are nothing visible, a charm and an inaccessible depth. The kiss does, like Peter, represent youth: the detachment of growing up. Although Mrs Darling's kiss remained of total freedom yet, it brings safety. It is like something mysterious or rather a magical shield.
Another symbol is the ticking crocodile which represents time itself. It mainly shows the movement of time from beginning to end as if the time runs out. The crocodile remains throughout the novel invent yet vicious since it is only following its instinct. Captain James Hook is extremely afraid of the crocodile siren. It already ate his hand, but it can also be interpreted that he is like almost all citizens of Neverland, fearful of growing up/dying.
Nonetheless, the book does some flaws. Although it was customary at the time, how Barrie described the indigenous people of Neverland is highly offensive, and he does use slurs for them and describes them as "wild". I also think that some scenes are a bit too graphic for a children's book since they have deaths and even murder scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed reading "Peter Pan", and since it was one of my favourite Disney movies, I was very invested in the story. I like it more than the Disney adaptation itself, and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to read an adventurous children's novel.
The story begins in the nursery of the home of the Darlings, where Mrs Darling put her children to bed. She does seem supposed that all three children are thinking of a mysterious boy named Peter Pan. When Mrs Darling asks about him, her daughter Wendy explains that Peter does visit them when they are all fast asleep. One night when Mrs Darling is in the nursery, Peter Pan comes to visit. As he noticed the adult in the room, he jumps out of the window, but his shadow is trapped by the children's canine nanny Nana.
A few days later, Peter Pan revisit the Darling children. Since Nana is in the garden, Mr and Mrs Darling have left for a party and left the children unguarded. Wendy helps Peter secure his shadow back to himself, and he confesses that he has been listening to their bedtime stories to tell the lost boys them too. When he asks Wendy to visit them on Neverland, she hesitates but agrees. She and her brothers Jon and Micheal learn how to fly and set off to Neverland, where they will encounter various adventures with the lost boys who so desperately need a mother and the wicked Captain Hook.
Much of the humour and sadness in Barrie’s novel arises from the differences between society’s idea of a child and an actual child. So in a certain way, the book is deeply rooted in the adult idealizations of childhood –a thought that emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries, when many nations first instituted compulsory elementary education.
The book was written in the first person omniscient point of view and past tense.
One of the centre symbols in this children's book is the kiss. However, the narrator tells us that Peter Pan is highly hateful and wild toward adults. He does like Mrs Darling's kiss. The "kiss" at the corner of Mr Darling's mouth is, although hits are nothing visible, a charm and an inaccessible depth. The kiss does, like Peter, represent youth: the detachment of growing up. Although Mrs Darling's kiss remained of total freedom yet, it brings safety. It is like something mysterious or rather a magical shield.
Another symbol is the ticking crocodile which represents time itself. It mainly shows the movement of time from beginning to end as if the time runs out. The crocodile remains throughout the novel invent yet vicious since it is only following its instinct. Captain James Hook is extremely afraid of the crocodile siren. It already ate his hand, but it can also be interpreted that he is like almost all citizens of Neverland, fearful of growing up/dying.
Nonetheless, the book does some flaws. Although it was customary at the time, how Barrie described the indigenous people of Neverland is highly offensive, and he does use slurs for them and describes them as "wild". I also think that some scenes are a bit too graphic for a children's book since they have deaths and even murder scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed reading "Peter Pan", and since it was one of my favourite Disney movies, I was very invested in the story. I like it more than the Disney adaptation itself, and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to read an adventurous children's novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Racism, and Racial slurs
thebooksandpages's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping and Trafficking
Minor: Child abuse and Gaslighting