Darling Girl is a dark Peter Pan retelling, changing Peter into a sinister man instead of a young and free boy. This novel is full of suspense and magical realism as Holly Darling, granddaughter of Wendy Darling, receives a call that her comatose daughter is missing. Holly knows that Peter is behind the disappearance and suspects that he’s after Eden for her blood. With a rare generic condition, her blood has magical healing qualities that Peter likely wants for himself. Darling Girl set the stage with a fun scientific backdrop and had me wanting to read more. The end was action-packed and had a couple of twists that made the story even more interesting. I’m left with a few questions about Wendy’s positive outlook of Peter when he was so horrible, wanted a bit more on the Christopher/Hook connection, and the extent of Jack’s healing in the end. I also would’ve preferred if the romance was left a little more open-ended in the end because it didn’t feel necessary to the story. Overall, a very interesting retelling that I’d recommend reading!

Thanks to Dutton Books for the gifted ARC!