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aforestofbooks 's review for:

Darling by K. Ancrum
4.0
adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'm so glad I finally picked up this book! It was a lot darker than I was expecting, but also very gripping, especially considering the story spans over 7 hours. Thanks to the Great Rogers Incident of 2022, I managed to get through half the book in just a few hours and it had me on the edge of my seat. This story is fast-paced, its disturbing, but also has its lighter/fun moments. I think it was a good balance that made the book enjoyable to read. 

I've never read the original Peter Pan, though I have seen the movie as a kid, and a couple readaptations. The latest being OUAT's Peter Pan who gave me the actual creeps. Well...this Peter Pan is even worse lol. Like it's actually very messed up. One thing I love about a good villain is when their motivations kind of make sense, even if they're very, very wrong. And this was one of those cases.

I loved Wendy as a character. But I especially died when her parents refused to let her meet her online friend. Honestly such a mood.

The side characters though...were my absolute favourite. There's something about a found family that develops because everyone is stressed out and traumatized that just gets to me. I loved Tinkerbelle especially, and Fyodor was a favourite because he's just so soft and squishy.

Honestly, I think a movie adaptation with Thomas Brodie-Sangster playing Peter Pan needs to happen. He's the only adult actor who also looks like a child at the same time.