Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Peter Pan

“Peter Pan” is a classic, it’s undeniable. It’s the quintessential tale of childhood whimsy and imagination, which contrasts nicely against the underlying theme of the inevitability growing up.

It is important to note that Barrie’s book is from a very different time and thus feature outdated views and language.

Content Warnings

tattymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

1.5

A huge shock to read this book for the first time in 2024 and be horrified by its contents the entire way through. Which is a shame, because the method of narration and sentence structure in the book are lovely and magical and are the only reason this gets a 1.5. The content issues I had cover all types of concerns: Peter routinely murders both children and adults and this is completely glossed over as something that doesn't alarm the children at all. Yet I see no indication in the text as to why this particular type of violence wouldn't stir them from the childhood spell Neverland seems to cast, especially when they're perfectly capable of remembering many nice things about the real world. The language used to describe the Native tribe is racist enough, but there is also a chapter of generalizations about Native People's versus "the white man" and that chapter in particular was difficult to listen to. Throughout the book there are several mentions of food and body size that I would also be very hesitant to let any child hear. And the father in the book is maybe the most unlikeable character I've encountered in children's literature, and that includes villains.

Reading this book once was enough - it will not get a place on my bookshelves and I hope my children never ask to read it.

Content Warnings

marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

mitzee's review against another edition

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adventurous funny sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Surprising in many ways:

The prose was funnier than I thought it would be.
Some parts were actually more graphic than I had expected it to be.
like the descriptions of pirates killing people
Definitely contains the same racist tropes I first learned about in the Disney film and actually contains racist slurs, which I was not expecting.
I also didn’t expect to dislike Peter so much.

Content Warnings