Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Peter Pan: Peter and Wendy

I've seen the Disney movie, I've seen two different productions of the musical, I've watched Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and I've watched/read other movies and books that retold the story, yet until now, I'd never actually read the source material. I have to admit, I've liked many of the other versions/adaptions better.

I feel as though a book like this needs no recap, so I'll go right into it.

I never expected the pacing to be so fast even though it's a children's book. Maybe being familiar with the plot is part of the reason, but I felt like whenever I blinked I was on a new scene. A lot of the material hasn't aged well, either, which being a classic comes to little surprise yet never fails to catch me off guard. Still, I adore the premise and always have, so I'm glad to have finally read the original novel.

Content Warnings

mdwsn27's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Loveable characters? No

2.0

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kirstencholewa's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-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

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colorful_lulu's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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laineydunne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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christygsp's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

kfridaysandwiches's review against another edition

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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

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rusame's review against another edition

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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

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