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A review by athenian_frog
Peter Darling by Austin Chant
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Holy SHIT! Oh my God?? Why did this short book take me out????? I am genuinely FLOORED by how much I enjoyed this, considering I wasn't so convinced in the first two chapters. Some parts made my eyes water while reading this in the dining hall, SHEESH.
The story touches on several different ideas like:
-having to take on prejudice as you grow older
-what it's like to risk leaving behind a safe place/community
-the struggles of having a family who doesn't understand you/accept your identity (mainly a queer identity in this book's case)
-OH and having to face the world's difficulties when the person/people you once shouldered these difficulties with is gone. Like how just bc you've lost them doesn't mean you have to close yourself off entirely. There will be people who can come to understand you and support you.
There's also a little bit about how LGBTQIA+ people have been made to feel unsafe in the "real" world, with lines like:
"He was a dream. Someone to warm my bed where[in Neverland] it was safe to imagine such things."
The romance was also more gradual than I had anticipated, in a good way. There's some initial attraction but its kind of set aside in the MC's head until he decides to unpack it, and understand what he's feeling. They ended up being a very mutually supportive duo.
The side characters were good, personally my favorites were Earnest and Tinker Bell. I think the captain's crew could have had a lil more substance to them but I kind of understand why they weren't bc of reasons the narrative explains.
Last point: the internal AND external voices all gender Peter correctly, aside from his original family. Even when not in Neverland, very few gendered remarks are made about AFAB body qualities. I thought this was a cool decision.
The story touches on several different ideas like:
-having to take on prejudice as you grow older
-what it's like to risk leaving behind a safe place/community
-the struggles of having a family who doesn't understand you/accept your identity (mainly a queer identity in this book's case)
-OH and having to face the world's difficulties when the person/people you once shouldered these difficulties with is gone. Like how just bc you've lost them doesn't mean you have to close yourself off entirely. There will be people who can come to understand you and support you.
There's also a little bit about how LGBTQIA+ people have been made to feel unsafe in the "real" world, with lines like:
"He was a dream. Someone to warm my bed where[in Neverland] it was safe to imagine such things."
The romance was also more gradual than I had anticipated, in a good way. There's some initial attraction but its kind of set aside in the MC's head until he decides to unpack it, and understand what he's feeling. They ended up being a very mutually supportive duo.
The side characters were good, personally my favorites were Earnest and Tinker Bell. I think the captain's crew could have had a lil more substance to them but I kind of understand why they weren't bc of reasons the narrative explains.
Last point: the internal AND external voices all gender Peter correctly, aside from his original family. Even when not in Neverland, very few gendered remarks are made about AFAB body qualities. I thought this was a cool decision.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Minor: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Violence
A trans male character is consistently deadnamed by their family, but we don't see their family anyways too often. The internal gendering is still consistent w/ masculine conventions.
A child is killed via stab through the sword. The description is brief. A few men are killed in sword fights and a monster attack.
Sexual content is vague but still there. If you've read The Song of Achilles it's that kind of vague but even less specific LOL.
There is some discussion of what men and women are "supposed" to do. Some of it is masculinity ideas that the MC employs to reinforce his own sense of manhood. These are protested/corrected by the surrounding characters.
Some mentions of feelings of dysphoria by the MC. I would say most of it comes down to accepting your body as masculine because YOU ARE a guy. There's not really much feminine gendering of the MC's AFAB body, though.
There is some blood and injury. A character gets poisoned. Another character has an infected stab wound.