I enjoyed this Peter Pan retelling from Wendy's POV and I liked how the author made her capable and not a damsel in distress. Who wants to be a ship's captain.

Wendy was very annoying and childish, so i hope that will change soon.
But it was fun to read this retelling, and see how the characters was and all the familiarity with it.
The other characters were interesting, and i found Peter to be a bit funny.
Kind of invested, so i will read the next one too!

I enjoyed this Peter Pan retelling from Wendy's POV and I liked how the author made her capable and not a damsel in distress. Who wants to be a ship's captain.

“The Wendy” by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown was such an awesome “Peter Pan” retelling! I absolutely loved everything about this. Definitely recommend!

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

(Catching up on some past reviews)

I am all for retellings of Peter Pan, and this one caught my eye because it was more about Wendy than Peter. Not only that but hello making Peter Pan a vampire?! Now that caught my attention. I thought what a fun twist on this and nothing like then having Michael and John not related to her but both basically in love with her. I am still rooting for her and Pan (especially vampire Pan)! Can't wait to see what happens in the next ones.

I was really intrigued by the premise of The Wendy and overall it was a very enjoyable retelling of Peter Pan.

Wendy has a dream. She wants to join the Navy and sail the world. As a girl in the 18th century, this isn't an easy task. After years of hard work, it looks like her dream Is finally coming true. Or is it?

The Wendy my favorite Peter Pan retelling so far. The characters get totally different personalities that are enjoyable. Wendy is the only female main character, and throughout the book, there are several moments in which she is sabotaged for being a woman, or overly "protected". I think the subject of misogyny, sexism, and gender equality was handled well in this book. We can feel Wendy's conflicts as our own.
The writing style is beautiful like you're listening to someone telling you a story, descriptive and picturesque.
Overall a fun, entertaining read. I can't wait to read book 2.

If you enjoy retellings, you are going to love this one!

If I am being completely honest, Peter Pan has never been my favourite Disney film. Oh sure the lost boys and Michael were cute; Tink was sassy and Hook was a good villain but why did everyone moon over Peter so much? And Wendy was always a bit, well a bit wet!

Enter Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown with their Tales of Wendy series to prove me wrong! The Wendy is the first in this series but I am already desperate to finish the second book, The Navigator before their third is released at the end of this year.

The Wendy, as you may expect, centres around Wendy Darling. However, this is not the prissy, mother-idolising figure I love to roll my eyes at: oh no, this Wendy Darling is growing up in the late 1700s in a London orphanage. In a world where her sole career option seems to be to become a mother, this feisty ten-year-old would prefer to “marry Davy Jones than grow up and look after babies”. This Wendy Darling is the one I have been waiting for.

Wendy’s dream is to join the Navy and sail the world. Unlike the rest of 18th Century Britain, she doesn’t see why being a girl should prevent this. Therefore, over the years she becomes adapt at mathematics, science, navigation, marksmanship and swordsmanship. Nevertheless, despite being just as good, if not better than her childhood friend Charlie, he earns the rank of Officer in the British Navy whilst Wendy is assigned to the Home Office as a Diviner, one who can detect the presence of magic: a post to be filled only by women and dogs.

It is here that the reader meets John and Michael: Wendy’s “brothers-in-arms but in no way related, despite what you may have heard”. They are all stationed in Dover Castle, along with the Brigade’s dog Nana (who else?!). Their mission: to protect Britain from a magical threat, the innisfay or “everlost”, whom are known to kidnap orphans. Sound familiar?

The Wendy is definitely the best retelling of Peter Pan I have read so far. Despite the presence of all our favourite names, the characters are a far cry from their animated counterparts. Michael and John are wonderfully dry and sarcastic; Hook is powerful and attractive; Tink is a shape shifter; Peter, despite possessing a pair of wings and armour, is essentially the same and Wendy is an ambitious, feisty, yet beautifully flawed protagonist.

There are many little nods to the film which are greatly appreciated. Wendy “moving out of the nursery” means leaving the orphanage and gaining an apprenticeship and “thinking happy thoughts” as a means of flight is a practical joke by Peter to make Wendy smile.

Sky and Brown’s conversationalist style of writing makes this a very easy read, despite Wendy galloping all over the South of England with a variety of characters. It also allows the reader to really bond with Wendy and empathise with her and her struggles to achieve the employment she has longed so for since childhood.

As you may have gathered, sexism plays a large part in Wendy’s uphill struggle: as the only main female character she is constantly undermined in her ambition to become a sailor. Even when she proves to be useful in her post within the Home Office she is removed to the country “for her own safety”. Those men whom do not undermine her moon after her romantically: it truly is infuriating.

In some situations, this ingrained attitude was slightly heart-breaking but equally a sign of the times in which this novel was set: Wendy’s thoughts often returned to the propriety of her actions and the danger she experiences just through wearing “men’s clothes” is powerful moment. However, Wendy never lets these attitudes halt her ambition, ending her first novel as a true inspiration to girls following in her footsteps: Navigator Darling.

I can’t wait to discover the next step in her journey which, conveniently, lays past the second star to the right and straight on till morning!

A review of this title is avaliable through Goodreads - and later through my blog. The Goodreads link is available below!

DNF

I did not read this book and I know longer have any interest in reading it. This was during the beginning of my NetGalley “everything looks great so I am going to request it without looking into the book. I have definitely become more selective in choosing what books I want to request and read.

London. 1789. More than anything in the world, Wendy Darling wants to be the captain of a ship, but women aren't allowed in the Royal Navy. When she learns the Home Office is accepting a handful of women into its ranks, she jumps at the chance, joining the fight against the most formidable threat England has ever faced. Magic.

A wonderful, charming take on the Peter Pan story. It's difficult to balance well-known and well-loved characters such as Wendy Darling, Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, and others, with the need to re-invent them in a brand new setting. It's even more difficult to pick the setting that would give a fresh look to such a popular story. Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown succeed in both of these endeavors.
I was sucked in from the very beginning. Peter Pan is not a story that I typically gravitate towards, but this book made me absolutely enamored with everything about it. Wendy is an engaging, fun protagonist. The setting is well-researched, lush, and fantastic to read. I absolutely loved this re-telling.

If there is any sort of retelling that I constantly reach for, however many times it has been done, it is a Peter Pan retelling. The Wendy seemed really unique, so I was excited to check it out. Sadly, nothing about the story really drew me in and I found the characters to be quite forgettable, even though I technically already know them.

I do still think this is a very unique story as far as Peter Pan retellings go but ultimately there just wasn't much about this story that interested me.

I am always on the hunt for a good fairy tale retelling, and this one definitely delivers! Such a unique portrayal of the Peter Pan characters. Glad to see Wendy Darling as the main character, for one, and the way the author tackles gender equality issues was spot-on. I honestly didn't know who to root for as Wendy's love interest, I liked them all so well! I was rooting for Wendy to reach her goal of being a sea captain, and I loved all the nautical elements of the story. I'm very excited for the sequel!

Gave this another shot but DNF'd again unfortunately. This retelling just isn't for me. Wendy is the epitome of 'not like other girls' and while I love a feminist retelling of anything, I don't like feminist YA that scoffs at 'normal girls' and their interests.

I wanted to give this a chance, however this one just wasn't for me at no fault of the writing-- the premise alone just wasn't up my alley.

I'm never one to turn down a re-telling. And while I haven't had super good luck with "Peter Pan" retellings in the past, this one seemed far enough from the original story to have a better chance of success. For one thing, the focus is on Wendy's own story, not Peter's. And for another, she wants to become a ship's captain?? So some strange mixture of Peter's, Wendy's, and, somehow, Hook's story? Count me in!

Wending Darling does want to grow up. But she wants to grow up to be a very specific thing: a ship's captain. And, luckily enough, once she is older, it turns out that a limited number of women are being accepted into the service. Seems perfect! But once there, Wendy quickly discovers that being accepted on paper is not the same thing as being accepted by the men around her, especially not in her dreamed-of leadership role as the captain. Struggling to find her own place, Wendy quickly finds herself caught up in new challenges and adventures, surrounded by a familiar sounding cast of characters, including a certain Captain Hook and a man-child named Peter.

This was a really fun read. One of the reasons I think it's a success compared to other "Peter Pan" retellings I've read is the fact that, while it does a familiar cast of characters, it's not trying to retell the original story really at all. For one thing, this is Wendy's story through and through. Sure, Peter plays an important role, but she is front and center the entire time. It is her dreams and adventures the story follows, and her challenges the story prioritizes.

Part of this, of course, is a focus on the gender inequality of the time. The fact that she's allowed to sign on to the secret service at all is a huge departure from history, but the authors don't make it any easier for her other than that. She's constantly having to challenge the perceptions and dismissals of those around her. And, when she does find someone who can see past her gender, it's not necessarily the best advocate one could ask for. There were a few moments where the "messaging," for lack of a better word, around this theme came across as a little heavy handed. But luckily the story had enough going for it that the action could quickly take over again and right the ship, so to say.

I also really liked the various takes on familiar characters. John and Michael, for example, are transformed from Wendy's literal brothers to her brothers-in-arms. Michael, however, could be a bit much at times and too often came across in a pretty annoying manner. He improved as the story went a long and was given opportunities to make up for some of his shortcomings, but he was probably, overall, my least favorite character in the story.

Probably my biggest complaint for the story was the overabundance of love interests presented for Wendy. Sigh. Love triangles are not my thing (pretty well established), and I'm even less excited when we move past triangles to squares and pentagons. I want to settle into my romance and see it slowly develop. Not feel tossed here and there wondering what direction the main character go. Beyond that, multiple love interests is really hard to sell, simply on the believability spectrum, and this one wasn't any different.

This was a pretty fun romp of a book. It's not blowing away any literary awards or anything, but if you like fairytale retellings and "Peter Pan" especially, it's definitely one worth checking out. A sequel came out fairly recently, so I'll probably get around to reading that one, too, sooner or later.

Rating 8: A bit preachy at times and with too many love interests, but other than that, a jolly good time.

(Link will go live Sept 4)

This book did not work for me. I couldn't bring myself to root for any of the characters and I wasn't interested enough to carry on. Hence, ended up DNFing it.