A review by james1star
Peter Darling by Austin Chant

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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