Fantasy and fairytales are not something I would normally choose to read, but this book, a retelling and expansion of the Peter Pan story, was rich and engrossing. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Wendy is the heroine of the story!

I must say that this book gave a complete return to the original story, if it has all these elements that characterize it, but with this surprising and dark tint that I could not imagine finding in a Peter Pan story!

I loved the explanation about the love that Wendy offers us here, very true and very beautiful.

<i>Wendy, Darling</i> takes place several years after the events of the movie Peter Pan. In those long years, the Darling children have lost their parents, Michael has returned from war with PTSD and John has taken the lead role of the family. Now a grown woman with regrets and trauma from being institutionalized, Wendy stumbles upon Peter flying off with her daughter Jane. Determined to get Jane back, Wendy heads to Neverland where she sees its (and Peter’s) darkness with clear eyes.

Author A.C. Wise deftly mixes the lore of Neverland and the sinister motivation behind Peter Pan’s behavior. And let’s be clear, in <i>Wendy, Darling,</i> Peter Pan is at his worst self. He is bratty, dangerous and hell bent on establishing a new mother for the Lost Boys. The Lost Boys make a reappearance and throughout the novel they are clearly are struggling under Peter Pan’s ridiculous expectations and rules. Here’s why the darkness in this story works- what’s more darker than children who never grow up to be adults led by a master manipulator who doesn’t want to grow up either?

Our heroine Wendy has been through hell in an insane asylum so when she finally succumbs to “war” with Peter, it’s not to punish him for just taking Jane, it’s to destroy his power and cruelty over the other inhabitants of Neverland. Also important in her journey is her coming to terms with how fractured her relationship with her brothers had become and realizing that she is a survivor. Nothing stops Wendy from saving Jane and making things right on Neverland; not her brother’s disdain, nor her husband who happens to be gay and not even the fear of what happened to the mermaids and to Tiger Lilly (spoiler alert!) prevents her from one final face-off with Peter Pan.

Dark but ultimately inspirational <i>Wendy, Darling</i> is a unique story for adults who enjoy fantasy thrillers.

I love this kind of retelling and the dark sides it has. I will not look at Peter Pan the same way. The dark sides of something that seems too perfect. I never knew there was a story missing after neverland but this fits so perfectly. I would really recommend this one. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Wendy, Darling is the Dark Return to Neverland You've been Waiting For

Wendy, Darling is a dark and twisted sequel to Peter Pan, one that will linger with you once you close the pages of the book. This book is pure magic, without any of the costs that come from Peter Pan’s Neverland. 

Is it completely unreasonable to despise an author because they are so insanely good at writing? Because if it isn’t unreasonable, I am here to make it clear that I hate A.C. Wise simply because she is able to compel a myriad of emotions in the most beautiful, artful, and exquisite prose. Who gave her the right to be able to write with such eloquence? I had other things I needed to do today, but somehow I finished this book in one sitting because I couldn’t set it down. 

I love nearly every adaptation of Peter Pan that I’ve seen or read. I am always ready to get lost in the wonder, terror, and delight of Neverland, but Wendy, Darling is so much more than I could have ever dreamed of. If there are any studios chomping at the bit to fund an imaginative, dark, and dreadful return to Neverland — I’m begging you to greenlight Wendy, Darling. 

The story centers around a grown-up Wendy Darling who is forced to return to Neverland to rescue her daughter, Jane, from the clutches of Peter Pan. Wise’s approach to Peter is so refreshingly painful, because while he’s a lighthearted mirage in our adolescence, in adulthood we see the insidious nature of the boy that won’t grow up. That steals little girls because he wants someone to be a mother to his boy’s only club. He’s more ruthless and dangerous than Captain Hook ever was because Peter Pan is a harmless little boy on the outside, but a violent shadowy monster underneath. 

A.C. Wise expands on the era of Peter Pan, seamlessly interweaving flashbacks to what the Darling children endured when they survived Neverland. The eldest Darling boy, John, is riddled with the traumas of World War I, Michael is distant and dealing with his own personal struggles, and Wendy is swept away to an asylum to cure — in horrific fashion — of her fantasies of Neverland. Wendy, Darling roots itself fully in the realities, which make the fantastical horrors of Neverland that much more poignant. 

Wendy, Darling is a cautionary tale about the little girls who get swept up by endearing boys, who only mean to keep us caged for their own delights. Peter Pan was always a warning against letting ourselves become the mothers of men who refuse to grow up, but A.C. Wise spells it out in such wondrous, terrifying, and poetic prose that it’s impossible to return to the innocence of our childhood adoration for the boy that never grew up. 

If you’re ready for a more realistic return to Neverland, pick up Wendy, Darling today. You won’t be disappointed, but you will be heartbroken to discover that it’s true that you can never truly go back home.

If you like Peter Pan and also like the 1985 film Return to Oz, you will love this book!

I am a big Peter Pan fan and am always looking for retellings, Wendy, Darling did not disappoint!

A.C Wise delivers a dark, twisted version of Neverland and feeds the feeling of "something's not quite right". Neverland is not what we remember and Wendy is no longer a little girl. Now an adult with a daughter of her own Wendy is thrust back into Neverland when her own daughter, Jane, is taken by Peter.

This feminist retelling tells the story of what happened to Wendy AFTER Neverland and her journey back to rescue her own daughter, yes you read that right - RESCUE. Peter is not the fun-loving boy we grew up reading about - there's something wrong with Neverland and Wendy has to remember what that is.

This book does deal with grief, PTSD, abuse, and involuntary confinement in an asylum - these were difficult to read about so consider this a trigger warning.

I devoured this book in one sitting and would highly recommend it!

Have you ever wondered what happened when Wendy, John and Michael returned from Neverland? Wendy, Darling by A. C Wise is about to reveal all, but let me warn you, it is far from a fairytale!


Life post-Neverland for the Darling children has been difficult to say the least. Upon their return Wendy was struck with a serious fever, their parents were casualties of the Titanic, Michael has recently returned from WWI with his own ghosts and John has financial struggles. However, from Wendy's perspective, these all pale in comparison: John and Michael have done the worst thing imaginable they have forgotten Neverland!

Wendy's refusal to let go of Neverland and her dogged determination to make her brothers remember their adventures causes great friction within the Darling family. Wendy finds herself labelled as a hysterical woman and is even confined to an asylum after raging at her siblings.

This is just one of the methods Wise uses to address the misogyny of the original Peter Pan story and it is a particularly harrowing one: the abuse Wendy faces at the hands of her "carers" is brutal and unforgiving in its detail. To everyone surrounding her, Neverland is Wendy's sickness, an imaginery world that she is hiding behind. However, several years after her release from St Bernadettes, Neverland still lives on in Wendy's memories and now it is catching up with her. Now Peter is flying out of her window again... with Wendy's daughter Jane in tow!

Wendy returns to a very different Neverland to that which she left. Although the island always seemed to play to Peter's every whim this time there is a dark, evil edge to it. Wise really plays on the fact that everyone idolised Peter in the original fairytale but this Peter has a barbaric, sinister personality along with a dangerous secret. Can Wendy rescue her daughter from the boy she used to worship? One thing is for sure, they're not playing a game anymore!

A. C Wise's writing almost hypnotises the reader, flitting between characters and time periods with ease without losing our interest. The undercurrent of a locked-away secret and the juxtaposition between Barrie/Disney's Neverland and Wise's makes this a real page turner.

Wendy herself is a flawed heroine but in my opinion that is the best kind. She has overcome so much loss and trauma and, although she still feels the pull of Neverland, she finds that motherhood has a much stronger claim on her heart and can provide her with so much more power than she ever imagined.


Wendy, Darling is an unflinching retelling of Peter Pan with a feminist edge. A. C Wise kidnaps and transports her readers to a dark and ominous Neverland which harbours a monstrous secret. Wendy and her daughter are on an adventure of fear, loss and grief. There is no make-believe in this fantasy land.

Thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Wendy, Darling comes with trigger warnings for kidnap, death, trauma and abuse.

The Peter Pan universe is extremely fascinating. There are the versions that take the happier route, similar to the 1950s Disney animated or the live action versions. On the other hand, there are the darker versions, such as, Once Upon a Time. This retelling takes the darker route. It takes the known basics and then creates its own original story. The title itself gives a good indication of the different and clever approach the story takes on Wendy as the comma does not reference her “Darling” name, but instead the “darling” word.

Wendy Darling visited Neverland after Peter showed up at her window back in 1902. Her two brothers, Michael and John, came along the adventure and the three of them explored the wonders of Neverland. The three of them returned and all handled the events differently. The story opens with Wendy after she grew up. She is now married for over ten years to a man named Ned and the two of them have their eleven year old daughter named Jane. One day, a figure from her past comes to Jane’s window and takes her away. Now Wendy has to face her past all over again to help get her daughter back.

There are two main timelines in this story, where we follow the aftermath when the Darling siblings returned from Neverland and the present day where adult Wendy has to find her daughter. In Neverland, the experience that Jane has is vastly different than the memory Wendy had of her time there. In the past timeline, Wendy chose to not block out her experience in Neverland, unlike the approach taken by Michael and John. As a result, she is sent to an asylum to become “normal” again to society. However, Wendy does not wish to forget and wants to return to Neverland to escape her new reality. There is a reference to the Darling parents dying on the Titanic (the unsinkable ship is mention, but not explicitly named) and the Great War where there her brother was a soldier. Together with the Neverland and the asylum, there is a lot of discussion about PTSD and abuse.

The story alternates between Jane’s and Wendy’s points of view. Jane’s time in Neverland illustrates her found relationships with the Lost Boys and Peter, himself, as something always seems off in her eyes. Wendy’s life outside of Neverland was not perfect as she has to balance lying to others or lying to herself as there is almost no one who believes, or pretends to believe, her story. The pacing in this story is steady throughout as there is a lot of description of each event and thought. The ending does seem a little rushed by comparison as the writing tries to wrap everything up, so I would have preferred more time for explanations and descriptions. The writing itself and wording choices fit the time period where there are references to racism and misogyny. At the same time, there is a more modern approach to elements, such as Wendy’s more unconventional marriage.

Overall, this darker retelling was well worth the read as I did not want to put it down. While the Neverland in this story was familiar to other versions that I have read and watched, it still had the feel of a new place. There is a lot of tension in Neverland as Jane tries to survive life with Peter and the Lost Boys, there is some where Wendy is trying to rescue Jane, and there is a lot present as Wendy just tries to survive life in the asylum where she is deemed “not well.” This novel was a great take on Peter Pan through the eyes of Wendy and how events from the past can affect your future. It was a very captivating read!

**I want to give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Titan Books, for a review copy of this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Wendy, Darling is a dark and feminist retelling of Peter Pan. In Wendy, Darling, we see the darker and haunted side of Neverland. Told from Wendy and her daughter Jane’s povs- the story follows grown-up Wendy’s life- how she survived as a patient in an asylum, and later, how she fought as a mother to protect her daughter from her past.

Wendy, Darling is more than just a fairytale; it defines reality in more than one way. It addresses misogyny, mental illness, PTSD, and abuse.

The way the author created the story and the characters, it is difficult to stop reading it. The story is divided mainly into two timelines- one from Wendy’s past, the years she spent in the asylum, and the other is her present life as a mother and wife. We also get some flashbacks from Neverland.

Overall, Wendy Darling is a story about survival, love, and friendship. This book has some strong and amazing characters; I especially liked Wendy, Jane, and Mary. I loved the friendship between Wendy and Mary, how they supported and helped each other to survive.

The only negative point is- it felt a bit stretchy at some parts, but otherwise, it was a highly engaging read, and I did enjoy reading it.

This one is for all Peter Pan fans! Highly recommend it!

Peter Pan has to be one of my favourite stories ever. I fell in love with the mysterious boy who never wanted to grow up and lived in a magical place known as Neverland. But not once did I ever find myself wondering what happened to Wendy after she left Neverland but then I found this book and now I know…

Wendy Darling remembered Peter and her adventures in Neverland long after her brothers forgot. What Wendy went through because of these memories absolutely broke my heart. All of the times when she waited for Peter to come and save her was a total kick to the gut so thank you for that one.

I really enjoyed the fierceness of Wendy’s love for her daughter Jane and the fact that she did everything that she could to save her. This book definitely showed that a mother’s love is more powerful than anything.


I absolutely loved the darkness that was in this story because it really piqued my curiosity. Now I find myself wondering if Peter Pan was always a monster that was hidden behind a whole lot of fairy dust. Either way I still love Peter evil or not.

I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.

I'm very torn on this book. Overall, I enjoyed the story, so I've settled on three stars.

Things I liked:
- The darker aspects of the story. This is not the happy Neverland imagined by Disney. Peter is a broken monster who has to be put back together again.
- Wendy fighting her own battles and being true to her story, not giving up, finding friendship with Mary.
-Jane's independence and resilience at not being taken in by Peter.

Things I didn't like so much:
- The overall feminist message of the book. It was just a bit too overdone. Whilst I understand that people have problems with the original book due to mysogyny and racism, I'm not sure you can fix the classics in this manner.
- The overall story was good, but at times, the pacing was slow, so it was hard to stay focused.

When I was a kid one of my absolute favorite movies was the live action Peter Pan, the one where Peter wasn't just funny and playful but a little sad. In that version of the story, Peter lived on his island paradise because he was afraid of the vulnerability that comes with loving someone and being tied to them. I must've watched that movie 1000 times and still find myself thinking about it occasionally and whispering "I do believe in fairies, I do, I do". However, this retelling is very different. In A.C Wise's version of the beloved tale, Pan isn't just a little sad, he's broken, inexplicably sinister and damaged. Neverland isn't just another world, it's his world, one where the only rules that mean anything are the ones that Peter sets regardless of their logic, reason, or barbarity.

Summary: In this dark and twisty take we see Wendy as an adult with a child of her own. She made her way back from neverland but the trip left scars. It's unclear whether Wendy suffered more from her trials in Neverland itself or from the ones waiting for her back home. When she returns, John and Michael inexplicably forget their adventure but Wendy clings tight. She does so even after she is reduced to nothing more than a crazy person, institutionalized for her tall tales and abused for good measure. Wendy holds fast to neverland as the one beautiful thing in her life that gave her purpose but when she looks back on the memories of her time there the puzzle pieces don't fit seamlessly: something is missing.

Wendy has almost given up hope on neverland entirely until the unthinkable happens: Peter comes back. However, he's not here for her, he's here to take her daughter Jane away from her. Wendy must now go back to the place that she once loved to save her daughter and in doing so, she finds that neverland is not what it seems and that Peter's world looks quite different through adult eyes. There is a darkness at the heart of the island and it has nothing to do with Hook.

Review: This book was pure magic. Wendy isn't just a girl anymore, she's a woman who has been through hell and still remains fierce. She's been debased and brought lower than anyone could imagine and yet she remains true to herself and sure in her abilities. I loved the care that was put into the description of the relationships between Wendy and the people in her life. Wendy and Ned appear trapped in a marriage of necessity but they make way for friendship. Wendy and Mary appear to be on the cusp of something between friendship and more until Wendy explains that she loves Mary in the way that she loves Ned but does not feel that she is fit for relationships of the romantic kind. A.C Wise seemingly portrays a world in which Wendy is stripped of her power, however it is clear that Wendy reclaims her power by choosing the people she surrounds herself with and being very clear about the role she wants them to play in her life. She's not a passive observer in a life made for her by her brothers and her father in law, despite what these men seem to think about the matter. On the contrary, she has chosen a life and she will do anything to defend it.

This is not the childhood story we all know and love, it is so much more. Peter isn't just a boy who won't grow up. Everyone in neverland is free from responsibilities but the cost of that freedom isn't immediately clear. No one ever dies in Neverland because Peter won't allow it but there are many ways someone can die to the world; they can lose themselves or they can simply be forgotten.

The story toes the line between childhood and adulthood in such emotional and interesting ways and I loved every second of it. Thank you so much to A.C Wise for writing this and to Titan books for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review!

This vivid and dark story of what happens next for Wendy Darling after she leaves Neverland completely captured my attention. Wendy has never forgotten her time in Neverland, despite having to keep her memories to herself after having been committed by her brothers for refusing to stop speaking about their adventure. When her daughter is taken by Peter, she knows she has to go back. This really explores all the bleakest elements of the original story and considers the future ramifications for those who have to return to the "real world."

I loved this book. I think it's perfect.

Wise does such a beautiful, careful job with Wendy's history; with lacing the past and present tightly together in the narrative; with examining family, especially queer family; with considering abuse – abusive individuals, abusive actions, abusive systems; all within the framework of the Peter Pan story. I've long been struck by the same elements in the Peter Pan novel that I suspect Wise was: Peter's cruelty, his carelessness, the relegation of child-Wendy to mother-figure, the bizarreness of Hook's adulthood in this space, the way Neverland molds itself to Peter's whims. Wise teases all those elements out here, and marvelously so. And on top of all that, the language is lovely, the plot a page-turner, and the characters' interiority so authentic and true. I would not change a single thing about this book.

You don't have to prove anything to anyone. You can fly, but if you let them see, they'll only try to tie you down and break your wings."

THE BURIED GIANT x NEVERLAND

⭐⭐⭐⭐

In WENDY, DARLING we revisit the land of Peter Pan, but the island of our memory--though magical and enticing--is empty. Hook's gone, the mermaids forgotten, Neverland like a haunted grave or hazy mirage.

The story follows Wendy, gone from Neverland and grown up, as she grapples with her memories. It explores the concepts of reality and perception and control, following Wendy as she questions what's real and what's a dream. It asks how much power do we have over our memory and is remembering a choice? The novel explores the way we are impacted by trauma and regret and how we heal.

It's a smart and haunting novel, of one woman facing her memories and being brave enough to see the truth of her past, a story full of shadows and ancient magic, of truth slowly and elegantly revealed.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I was expecting a fairy tale retelling adventure and instead found an elegant study of mental health and memory. It has the brilliance of an Ishiguro novel, where the truth is slowly, hauntingly revealed.

Highly recommended.

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I will post an image + review to my Instagram on pub day.

Wendy, Darling is the retelling of Peter Pan I never knew I needed until I read it. A.C. Wise takes a very different stance than any other retellings of the story I have encountered so far. Neverland in this book is a dark and twisted place, and Peter a force of evil, rather than good. This is a retelling with a feminist stance, which shows the difficulties Wendy had upon returning from Neverland, and her (and later her daughter's) fight against being cast in the traditional female role. The book succeeded well in turning the original story on its head and offering a different interpretation of Neverland and its occupants. The action was well paced and the plot held my interest throughout. I would certainly read more from this author in the future. It's 4.5 stars from me.

Wendy Darling is a solid, good read. I have never read another reimagining of Peter Pan before and this dark retelling completely flipped my perspective on Neverland. This version focuses primarily on Wendy in the years after she and her brothers returned from Neverland. So many of the stories we loved as children are actually quite creepy if you think about it, and I never really had before now! The characters are rich and the world is vivid in this book and it had me hooked from the very beginning and kept me hanging on through every page flip to find out how it was going to all play out. I can absolutely recommend this book! 100% worth the read!

Don't go into this book expecting a sweet retelling of Peter Pan, where Wendy is reunited with him and they all live happily ever after. In this book Wendy is much older and has left Neverland behind. Her time away from Peter has been nothing like a fairytale, but it's better than it was. Then Peter returns and takes her daughter away from her, ruining the life she's created.

I enjoyed how the story looked back over the years after Neverland, filling us in on the trauma Wendy went through and the lack of control she's had over her own life. The way original elements of the story were pulled and twisted to create this book was very clever. It was also packed full of mental health representation and strong themes of feminism *insert round of applause here*

But personally I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I think this is a book that you'll either love or struggle to connect with. I've read lots of retelling over the years, so I have very high expectations for them and sadly I just don't think this book compares very well with them. I didn't feel a pull to the story or characters, which meant it took me a lot longer than I'd hoped to get through and I ended up skim reading quite a lot of it. Overall, I just don't think this book was for me.

I absolutely LOVED this book. A dark take on the classic Peter Pan, you will never see Peter the same way again.

It begins at the very end of "Peter Pan," when Peter returns and takes Wendy's daughter Jane to Neverland. Wendy has been clinging to the reality of Neverland for years, even going to a mental institution because everyone thinks she is delusional. When Peter takes Jane, she knows she has to find her and bring her home, to save her from the same fate she was resigned to.

A truly clever twist on a story you know well, this book explores the idea of refusing to grow up and having ultimate power, no matter who you hurt. Highly recommended,

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A.C. Wise does not flinch in this brutal and feminist take on Neverland and what happened after for Wendy Darling. She explores the consequences of capturing Peter Pan's attention and the disenfranchisement of women who stepped out of line or failed to meet male expectations in the early 20th century.

I've been reading A.C. Wise's short fiction here and there for a few years, and was really excited to sink my teeth into a whole novel, especially a female-centric take on the Peter Pan mythos. I recently re-watched Hook, and as much as I love the twists that film takes, as much as I appreciate a fathers-and-sons story, there are ladies in this sandbox, too, and they are often marginalized and underutilized when writers decide to play with Pan.

This was not an easy book to read. It was an adventure, and it was satisfying, but it was not fun. It was a pleasure to arrive at Wendy's self-actualization and triumph, but difficult to follow her through her valley of despair along the way. While Wise doesn't flinch, she still handles with care. She makes interesting rather than easy choices, and goes for nuance over cliché. Native and queer characters and experiences are given places of prominence, and the darkness at the heart of Peter Pan is at the center rather than the edges, interrogated rather than left to the subtext.

I don't want to give spoilers, so I'll give a warning instead: read this book only if you're prepared for some darkness and to be challenged. The rewards are worth the risk.