Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

22 reviews

novella42's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What a brilliant execution of a truly fascinating concept. 

I got lost partway through and had a hard time returning to it. My God, I am so glad I did. By 2/3 of the way through I couldn't put it down. The metaphors alone... Just. Wow. I couldn't figure out why a friend of mine gave it five stars, why another friend was singing its praises. By the end? Yeah. I get it now.

I can't tell how spoilery this is. CW for mental health and spoilers through maybe the first half of the book?

It's not exactly how my own dissociation works, but it's damn near as close as any depiction of dissociation as a mental health survival skill as anything I've ever seen. How it feels to forget. How it feels to remember when you've forgotten something vitally important because it hurts so much. How it feels to willingly return to the unknowing. How it feels when it all falls apart.

I'm a little in awe. I definitely want to read this again.

Also, here's a tip I will second from a person commenting on the book in the Austin Public Library system: "After you read it, make sure you listen to the March 2017 Hopeless Romantic podcast episode where Chant and editor Amanda Jean recorded their thoughts at various stages of the writing and editing process for this book. Fascinating peek behind the scenes." Apparently Austin Chant co-hosts a podcast?! Yes, please! (Episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1b1Uz904rbNC0xeOPVuXJ4?si=Wnt96ik8Sd2dGVPgchTtZg)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Blood, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death

c_alexander's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Grief, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

salinafloye's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a great short read and not entirely what I was expecting but a great way to kick off pride month for me 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

booksnbcys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and War

greenrequiem's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Confinement, Misogyny, and War

morgiei's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I wish I could stretch every paragraph in Peter Darling into a whole chapter so I can live inside its pages for that much longer. A fantastic read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and War

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

A fascinating spin on Peter Pan. Not just the trans!Pan angle (which is awesome), but also the way Chant explores the mechanics of Neverland: what's real, what real even means in a place like Neverland, and what happens to humans who stay too long. My nerdy, worldbuilding-loving brain is ALL AFIZZ!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War

bashsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Gosh, this book was so good. It was a little slow to start, but once it picked up, I couldn't put it down. Satisfying enemies-to-lovers arc, incredibly fascinating take on Neverland and the fairies, and a thoughtful exploration of non-accepting family. My only gripe is that it was so short, I felt like this concept had so much more room to grow. That isn't to say the story doesn't feel finished, but it does feel kind of rushed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Minor: Gun violence and War

james1star's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read ‘queer trans Peter Pan retelling’ and was instantly intrigued. I won’t explain the plot as a lot of the enjoyment you get from reading this is the unraveling of Chant’s storyline. I really enjoyed this little book and would totally recommend it. Some parts were exactly to my liking but as it went on the more I fell in love with the characters, understood what was going on and just couldn’t put it down. It’s also very imaginative with Chant talking the story of Peter Pan, Caption Hook and the world of Neverland places you wouldn’t expect. Comments on the queer experience, specifically from a transmale perspective was really insightful and despite being set in a fantastical world, messages and realness shone through to ‘our’ world. There is some level of ambiguity in this story as well which I loved, I understood a certain part to be a comment on queer suicide but am possibly mistaken?? - if so it’s handled well detailing reasons why one might choose to end their life but more so there’s a positive outlook. This shines through with other aspects which made the reading experience a very enjoyable one, it’s fun, strange and unique. The characters were written quite well, especially Peter, James and Ernest, but could’ve benefited from being more fleshed out if was longer. The writing isn’t anything that amazing but is readable with no complains. It’s also kinda adorable too at times so yhh… read it!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, and Murder

lilcoockie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Grief