Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Peter Darling

Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

132 reviews

geooo's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

Loveable characters? No

2.0

So, Peter Darling is basically Peter Pan fanfiction. If I were to look on ao3 right now I could probably find a very similar piece of work.
I like the idea of Peter Pan being a trans man and Neverland being his dream world where he could be whatever he wanted without any judgment, but besides that I did not like anything about this book.
I heavily disliked the characters, who, for being in their adults, were acting like 5 year olds. I think that that's the point for Peter, at least at the beginning of the story, that nothing is as it was, but that he would change. However there is no character development for him nor for the other characters. The notion of character development is something foreign to the author. The writer tried to showcase how much the Lost Boys have changed, but they still acted like they were little children. I couldn't stand any of the characters, I hated them and I find the notion that Peter didn't change at all in idk 10 years highly improbable. I don't believe. You change in a couple of weeks but years.
The plot, to me at least, feels like it was written by a 12 year old and I can't understand how someone older than 14 would like this story. It is very juvenile. It lacks depth and complexity.
What I found really absurd was how much the author tried to transform this into something dark, with all those deaths and fights, but it only succeeded to show how silly this story really is.
I think the idea of Neverland meaning avoidance, making fantasies in your head to forget the reality and being able to let go of it showing that you healed, but also that Neverland could be a little nefarious and that is not as good as it seems is an ingenious idea, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
I did not like the romance between Peter and Hook, I would have preferred it be between Peter and Ernest.
Overall, I did not enjoy reading this book. A 2 stars read.

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spinesinaline's review

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challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

So good, what a delightful and tense story

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gabs_loc's review

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adventurous 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

3.0

Kinda fanfiction-y and rushed

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kelseynicole24601's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful fast-paced

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

4.25

This is just delightful. I’m not super into the OG Peter Pan, but I loved this take on it. This gives a lot more nuance, having echoes of darkness at times while remaining just whimsical enough to make me sigh at the end.

There are brief scenes where Peter is verbally abused by his parents, including dead-naming and misgendering. Something to be aware of going into it.

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aetherkids's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense 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

5.0

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novella42's review against another edition

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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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jazzmarie22's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

1.5

i had high hopes for this book because i love the original story of peter pan, but i’m always up for a retelling. unfortunately, i felt like it fell flat for me because it seemed very rushed. i think it’s only a little over 200 pages, and i feel like in order to really do the storyline justice, it needed to have been way more flushed out than it was. there were definitely good moments about the story, but in the end, it felt very incomplete.

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