The dark contemporary Peter Pan retelling of my dreams! I am fully aware I can be fairly picky with Peter Pan retellings (I just love the story a lot okay?!?) and normally when they completely drop the fantasy aspect … they tend to not be my favourite. (I also tend to prefer retellings that focus on Peter rather than Wendy… if I’m being honest). Darling is absolutely the exception!!! It was everything I’d want from a Wendy story! Mysterious and twisted and atmospheric, with this subtle and creeping feeling of losing control of everything around you. And the representation!!!!! Stunning. Absolutely loved it. Not immediately purchasing a physical copy (I listened on audio) is killing me … but I have the author’s first two books in paperback and I need them to match! 😂
Absolutely recommend to any contemporary thriller fans looking for a nudge toward darkness.

I was so excited when I saw this ARC for request on NetGalley. Double excited when I got approved. Read it in one sitting, and now can't wait to get a physical copy!

This story is a modern day Peter Pan retelling set in Chicago. So good. I loved matching the characters in this story to their original. They all felt true to their original roots and I could totally see them in their modern characters. But there is a twist! We all know Peter Pan was honestly the worst. His modern day equivalent goes above and beyond! I loved every minute of it!

I don't necessarily feel that I have a trope that I like, but K. Ancrum can write found families like nobody's business! My trope is SPECIFICALLY "K. Ancrum's found families". She just brings these lovable, diverse, real characters together in such a great way that you cant help but fall in love with every single one of them. This goes for ALL of her books, not just this one.

Highly recommend this book for anyone who likes retellings, found families, and danger.


Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillian Publishing, and K. Ancrum for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A contemporary re-telling of Peter Pan minus the magic and all of the sinister! Wendy Darling and her overprotective parents recently move to Chicago when an intruder clambers through her window. He seems to be a charming and somewhat trustworthy fellow teen who introduces her to Tinkerbelle and other “Lost Boys.” When Peter convinces Wendy to join them for dinner and a party, she seems unable to resist his charm. So ensues a night of suspense, villainy, and unexpected dangers.

K. Ancrum builds a diverse cast in this story of Peter Pan: LGBTQIA+, Ojibwa, Black, Korean, and Russian characters who are trying to survive the night as they are pursued by Detective Hook. I had some trouble getting into the story and empathizing with Wendy’s character and why she was so adamant about disobeying her parents. But, once we got into the thick of the story, I was fully immersed in each of the characters and on edge of this contemporary Pan thriller. The focus was primarily on Wendy but I wanted to learn more about Pan’s world and the “found family” he creates, Detective Hook, and Mary Moira.
Read alike: Lost In The Never Wood by Aiden Thomas.

I've decided to DNF this one. I got around 40% reading the e-book and listening to the audio now that the book has released. For some reason, I just didn't vibe with the story? There isn't a direct reason or complaint of why I decided not to continue. I personally just didn't vibe with the story and I think it's for the best that I don't continue it.

I didn't enjoy Wendy as a character, she was dynamic and I loved her sense of adventure. Peter, on the other hand, was a shady character, one of those morally gray characters. I think if readers want a retelling with more dynamics involved taking place in a city - I think this one would be great for you! It just wasn't it for me and the current vibes I'm looking for.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the e-ARC.

On Wendy Darling’s first night in Chicago, a boy called Peter appears at her window. He’s dizzying, captivating, beautiful—so she agrees to join him for a night on the town. Wendy thinks they’re heading to a party, but instead they’re soon running in the city’s underground. She makes friends—a punk girl named Tinkerbelle and the lost boys Peter watches over. And she makes enemies—the terrifying Detective Hook, and maybe Peter himself, as his sinister secrets start coming to light. Can Wendy find the courage to survive this night—and make sure everyone else does, too?

Darling by K. Ancrum was an interesting contemporary retelling of Peter Pan! I enjoyed this one and was curious the whole time about what might happen next. The characters felt true to the Peter Pan story we know but still felt pretty unique and diverse at the same time. The main events in Darling all take place over one night, which didn't allow for the full character development I would've liked from this one, but I was pleased with this story overall. I'd recommend Darling if you're interested in a darker Peter Pan retelling with a diverse cast!

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

That was absolutely amazing! K. Ancrum's books The Wicker King and The Weight of the Stars have been on my TBR for awhile but I just haven't read them yet. They have now been bumped up near the top because I need more of this author!

Now, about this book...

It is fantastic. The writing is absolutely magnificent. The story itself is absolutely incredible. It's a fast paced page turner that grips you from the very beginning and leaves you breathless and satisfied. I absolutely love how the author manages to keep all the magic of Peter Pan but also makes it dark and thrilling. It's the slightly more grown up version of Peter Pan you didn't know you needed.

Darling is a dark and gripping retelling of Peter Pan that brings you all the classic characters in a way you've never seen them before. I'd recommend this to any Peter Pan fan and those who enjoy dark retellings.

Darling is a fun, mystery retelling of Peter Pan and I really enjoyed it. I recently rediscovered my love of the pairing of Peter Pan and Wendy so I was really excited about this book and I ended up loving the dark take on the story that this book took and how it showed Peter's character. To be clear, I don't like Peter and Wendy in this story because you absolutely shouldn't. I do think the first half of this book was kind of boring and I found myself struggling to care about what was happening. However, the twist reveal was incredible and I absolutely loved that the story went where it did. Unfortunately I do think the ending after this reveal was a little quick and I kind of wish this book had been a little longer but overall, this was a fun mystery.

Unfortunately, I think I fall into the minority when I say that I didn’t enjoy Darling as much as I had hoped. That said, I liked the contemporary thriller lens through which K. Ancrum retold Peter Pan, and the casual diversity is commendable.

The characters are exceptionally diverse in their ethnicities and sexualities, and none of them felt forced. Wendy, the main character, is Black, as are other secondary characters. There’s also a Russian character, a Korean character, a hard of hearing character, and multiple Ojibwe characters. Not to mention the LGTBQ+ representation, which includes an asexual character, a lesbian character, and multiple bisexual characters. And, again, this representation was entirely casual and positive, as none of the characters’ heritages or sexualities were exploited for plot purposes.

As far as thrillers go, K. Ancrum does an excellent job of moving the reader from a position of ease to one of suspense. Although there are numerous red flags that crop up after Wendy sneaks out of her house with a boy she’s known for only a few minutes, they still appear harmless—the sort of signs one can often overlook in a YA book, though there is some suspension of disbelief necessary. For example, Wendy’s parents are depicted as cautious and protective, so I had a hard time believing that they would leave their daughter alone so soon after moving to a new house in a busy city—especially since Mrs. Darling sees a stranger (Peter) creeping around their property earlier that day. Furthermore, in Chicago, Wendy has an online friend—Eleanor—whose panicked messages to Wendy throughout the night serve as the voice of the reader’s misgivings. But Wendy never heeds Eleanor’s warnings, nor do Eleanor and Wendy ever physically meet until the very end, which disappointed me. Eleanor heightens the wrongness of the story without receiving much individual character development.

Plus, I got a little lost due to the sheer number of characters. Over the course of the night, the characters changed locations numerous times, and new characters were continually introduced. This made it difficult to connect to the characters, and I honestly had trouble viewing Wendy as the main character. The condensed timeframe does suit the novel’s thriller premise—though, again, it requires some suspension of disbelief—but it also does a disservice to characters that possess so much potential. I think the critical twist that occurs in the last fifth or so of the book is also too late; it rushed by so well and so fast that it only made the pre-twist part of the novel feel more prolonged, especially since the plot hinges upon the intricacies of psychological manipulation.

I had read the author's debut novel a few months back and found myself deeply immersed in the world-building and suspense of The Wicker King and its companion novella The Iron Raven. Knowing that creeping dread and slow descents into darkness are some of the author's specialties, I came into this book knowing it was a darker, modern, retelling of the classic Peter Pan story, and it did not disappoint.

This book mainly takes place over the course of one night as Wendy Darling is sucked deeper and deeper into an ever-darkening world after agreeing to go to a party with Peter Pan. Ancrum builds suspense masterfully, and even though this book is short because it is a chapter for chapter retelling of the original according to Ancrum, the rapid pacing never kills the building dread as you begin to realize just how dark things are getting.

The twist at the end was set up perfectly, and enough is happening throughout the book that it allowed me to put together half of the story while forgetting the crucial detail from the beginning of the book that pulls the whole web together. Readers with a close eye to detail and strong recall may put the whole twist together before it is revealed because there are enough breadcrumbs left throughout the story to foreshadow the ending.

The epilogue is my favorite part of the book, and when I reached the initial end and saw a quote from the original source text thinking the book was over I was disappointed because I wanted exactly what the epilogue provided and was so excited when I realized there was an epilogue to the story.

This book is a page-turner of a retelling.
I love Ancrum for bringing forth a fact that I've been telling people for years: Peter Pan is creepy and straight-up not good. She takes that and makes this a story of a girl caught in a series of events that she can't get out of. We follow along as Wendy Darling is charmed by Peter into running off into the night with him only to discover that things aren't what she was expecting and there's a lot more danger involved that she ever imagined.
The way that the plot so closely follows the plot points of the original Peter Pan only shows how amazing a job Ancrum has done in fully taking everything that is Peter Pan and molding it into a modern story. She really did take everything that makes Peter Pan and shape for the modern world and a modern thriller-like story.
There are some plot points where a tiny bit of suspension of disbelief is needed, but it is overall expertly made and infinitely readable. 100% going to recommend this to anyone who will listen.

Many happy thanks to NetGalley and Imprint for the early read!

What if Peter Pan was not the hero? What if he was the villain? Darling is a very well written twist on the classic Peter Pan you grew up reading about. Faith, trust, and pixie dust do not play any where within this tale. Only distrust, shadows and twisted perception. Very interesting take on Peter Pan one I am sure fans of twisted fairytales will love.

Thank you so much Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy.

Darling is a wild ride! At first it felt like a standard retelling - introducing Wendy and her family, Peter's unexpected entrance into Wendy's life - but it quickly became its own story, melding bits from the classic into a delightfully sinister new creation. Also different from the original is the refreshing diversity of the characters: Wendy is Black and most of the other characters are queer and people of color. Wendy's wild night out with Peter and company takes the reader across Chicago, from trains to a drag show to a warehouse party, with each locale sparkling with magic and danger. It quickly becomes clear that Wendy is in over her head and that things are not as they appear. As Wendy follows Peter in a frantic dash away from the police and Detective Hook, she starts to question who Peter really is and if she'll be able to return from his Neverland.

Thrilling, gorgeously written, smart, and fun -- don't miss this new novel by K. Ancrum!

I have... complicated feelings about this book. Peter Pan is a character that means a LOT to me; anyone who knows me knows that Peter Pan and the concepts I've embraced from various adaptations have been major influences in my life. I was super excited for this book, because I LOVE when new authors take the original J.M. Barrie story and make something new out of it. I've read so many reimaginings that take the heart of the original but add in new elements or twists--Peter is actually the villain, Peter has secrets, Peter isn't a kid who can't grow up but a kid who WON'T grow up. But this book goes... much beyond any of that. When the author/publishers/promoters say this is a DARK reimagining of the Peter Pan story, they mean DARK--and even that emphasis isn't enough to convey just how dark and twisted this book gets with Peter's character. And as someone who loves Peter Pan and embraces as many adaptations of his character as I can get my hands on, I am having a difficult time embracing this one.

[minor spoilers in this paragraph]
Before actually reading this book, I knew the author was aiming for a version of Peter Pan where Peter was "held accountable" for the occasionally atrocious actions of the Peter in Barrie's original play/novel--actions such as controlling how often the lost boys can eat so they fit in their entrances at the tree hideaway, killing pirates/lost boys when they do something he doesn't like, lashing out when he doesn't get his way, etc. The Barrie novel is, I would argue, dark in and of itself, but I've always read a twinge of understanding that Peter's actions are unacceptable, even if he isn't held "accountable," as Peter is lonely in his neverending childhood and the kids who grow up and make responsible choices are happy. ANYWAY, in holding Peter accountable in THIS book, it's because Peter is much more than a kid who won't grow up and/or who doesn't know better: it's because Peter is a sociopath, a serial killer, a predator. Peter's accountability comes at the cost of making him, I would argue, so far distant from the original character that the only consistency is Peter's name and his general appearance. All other similarities come under the guise of his killer/predator identity, so the similarities are only partially there anyway. Perhaps I'm talking in circles now. My point is, Peter in this novel is so different from any Peter I've ever seen that it was difficult for me to remember that he was SUPPOSED to be Peter Pan.

My FAVORITE part of the book were the "side" characters--anyone who wasn't Peter, really. This iteration of Wendy--a confident Black girl who fights for herself and those she comes to care about--is a strong character, and her interactions with the fleshed-out side characters are what really kept me reading despite my frustrations with the iteration of Peter. The cast is extremely diverse in many aspects, not just one, and it was fun getting to know all of them. Even those who are only present for a few quick scenes, such as Waatese, Eleanor, and Tootles, had personalities of their own.

[minor spoilers in this paragraph]
Lastly, I guess I felt like some of the references to the original story were shoehorned in, whereas other elements of the story were ignored entirely. There are no equivalent characters to John and Michael, for instance. While that was probably a strength in this book, as there were a lot of characters as is, it was still a major difference that didn't go without notice. The biggest "trying a little too hard to make this work" reference was the jacket/shadow. If the jacket had been a stand-in for the shadow without explicit reference to it BEING a shadow, I think it would have been clever. Yet there was a line where Peter directly compared his jacket TO a shadow, and that just felt like it was trying way too hard to convince the audience that this is, indeed, the shadow scene. Another such scene was the Crocodile, who appears, like, once, and then is just mentioned a couple times. His role in the story seems so forced--to the point where even Wendy questions how realistic his role on the Chicago streets is. *sigh* If scenes such as those would have been like the drag show at the Mermaid Lagoon--which uses references to the original book while still being authentically NEW--then I firmly believe the book all around would have been strong, despite my feelings about Peter. Yet there seemed to be a balance between "refer to the old book" and "make this something new" that wasn't quite being struck.

I've waited until the end of typing this review to rate the book--something I rarely do, because I usually know how I feel about a book, and just need to articulate my thoughts. But my feelings on this book really are just that complicated. It isn't an objectively bad book, but it just is not the book for me, which hurts, because I wanted to love it so badly. I know people will love--and have already loved--this book, and I hope people continue to do so! Just because this isn't a book for me doesn't mean it isn't for everyone. But I personally can't reconcile my dislike for this Peter with the strengths I acknowledge.

DARLING by K. Ancrum just solidified my thirst for Peter Pan-based narratives. God, I love the twists and turns (Evil!Peter?! God yes, make him a charismatic bastard) that she puts into this beautiful story. I am in love with Wendy, Omi, and Tinkerbelle (Maybe it is wishful thinking, but they give off such poly triad vibes) and the boys need to be protected. Pick this up friends, you will regret it so much if you don't.

CW// violence

Darling is a fun and thrilling Peter Pan retelling that tends to align more with the original Peter Pan book than the child versions of the story that are shown in movies. I read Peter Pan for the first time for a class last year and it was somewhat disturbing how Disney made everything so kid friendly when there was clearly much darker themes and topics present in the original story. I’m so relieved to read a Peter Pan retelling that actually represents the book better. Granted it’s different because it takes place in Chicago in the current times, but I appreciated how the characters were so reminiscent of the books characters, especially Peter. It’s clear that the author put a lot of research into this book.

This book is filled with so much diversity that it makes my heart happy. There’s characters of all different ethnicities, including characters who are Ojibwe which I don’t see often in young adult books. There’s strong lesbian characters and most importantly to me, there’s an asexual character. As someone who’s asexual, I can’t even put into words how happy it made me to be reading about an ace character in a retelling of one of my favorite stories. Thank you so much to the author for striving to include so much representation in your book. The ace character also defies typical ideas of what an asexual person should be and I’m so grateful for that.

I knew I would like the book based on its synopsis, but I was surprised by how much I fell in love with the story and the characters. There were a lot of characters introduced all at once and at first it was hard to keep track of them all, but as the story went on it became easier and I wanted to know even more about each character’s backstory. This book comes out on June 22nd, so I highly recommend that everyone preorders this book or at least add it to your want to read list. Trust me that it will not disappoint you.

I am here for this Queer Peter Pan retelling!!!!!!!!! This book has so much rep I don't see anyone having a problem connecting to at least one of these characters! I can not wait to see what K. Ancrum comes up with next.

There was so much to like about this book. Peter Pan is in my top ten books of all time. However, I had some problems with the way Wendy, who in this version is 17, acted like a 12 year old. The reason it works in the original book is that she is 12. Each time I was ready to give up, I was drawn back in by something clever like The mermaid lagoon or the crocodile. Still, parts of the story that explain that Wendy didn’t know where she was because of being kidnapped insult the reader a bit. Wendy is NEW to Chicago. That is the point of the book. If anyone were dropped into a new city, regardless of circumstance, one would be lost. That is the whole point of why her parents act they way they do. Of course, the broken window thing is absurd as well. They are so careful and scared, but don’t care about the window and go to a party. Really?

This was a wild take on the Peter Pan story. Wendy is moving to Chicago with her parents, and one night Peter Pan breaks into her house! She is then taken on a wild ride of a night through the city. I really love the author’s take on all the classic symbols from the story (found family, never growing up, the acorn, the shadow) and the twists and turns of the plot. One thing I didn’t enjoy (and it actually made it difficult for me to get into in the beginning, but I persevered and am so glad I did!) was that the names were the same. Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Tinkerbell. It was disjointed with how modern the story was. Great thriller! Edge of your seat reading!

Darling by K. Ancrum is an equally disturbing and compelling retelling of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Set over the course of a single evening, this story follows Wendy as she is swept up by a mysterious boy named Peter and decides to join him and his friends as they tromp through the Chicago night. But, there is more to this boy than Wendy initially realizes, and as the night goes on things begin to spin more out of her control and become even more dangerous than she ever could have expected.

Wendy Darling and her family have just moved to Chicago, so her parents can adopt more children. Luckily, Wendy already has a friend their, Eleanor who she met online, but her parents are being overprotective and not allowing Wendy to meet Eleanor in person. When Wendy puts up a fight about the unfair precaution she gets herself grounded and makes the decision to spend the entirety of her grounding holed up in her room. But, when a strange boy, named Peter Pan, crawls through her window, convinces her not to call the cops on him, and then invites her to join him at a party Wendy abandons her plan and decides to join him. It turns out to be the wrong decision, because things take a bad turn almost immediately. Before the night is over Wendy will find herself abandoned at the train station, kidnapped by Peter’s “family,” and having a run in with the police, but those aren’t even the worst things to go down on this fateful night.

This was certainly a unique retelling of the Peter Pan story, but as I said earlier it is also insanely disturbing. To be honest, if you love the original Peter Pan and don’t want your view of it to change, avoid this one at all costs. Despite being a completely different story, in a completely different setting and time period, and with no magic whatsoever (except for the coin trick kind), Darling made me reconsider the original Peter Pan, and see how it is a little bit disturbing as well. On the other hand, the novel had excellent pacing, a lot of thrilling action, and a satisfying conclusion. So, if you aren’t worried about how you perceive Peter Pan in the future, and you love thrillers with a lot of great diverse representation, this would be a perfect choice for you.

This isn’t the first modern Peter Pan retelling to come out this year; Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas was published this March. Both of these retellings are dark and disturbing in their own ways, and each has their own unique twist on who Peter Pan is. Which version of Peter Pan do you like better? (You can probably guess that for me it is Thomas’ Pan.) If your looking for an urban thriller grab Darling by K. Ancrum, but if your looking for a retelling that keeps some of the magic and fantastical elements of the original you’ll want to pick up Lost in the Never Woods. Either way, Darling will certainly find an audience among teens.

Darling is a super fun turned super creepy Peter Pan retelling based in today’s world. You definitely miss out on the fun and creative world of Neverland, and are instead thrown into a modern day thriller focusing on young orphans. I really can’t express my opinions without getting spoilery, but oh my god! That’s it, that’s all I can really say. Im kinda stuck between 3.5/5 and 4/5 stars... so I’m just gonna round up to 4 stars.

What I loved:
- literally ALL the representation. I mean, there was so much incredible diversity
- I loved the take on misfits in the real world rather than a fairy tale
- It’s a super thrilling and very quick read. This story is so action packed, you forget it all happens in one night
- Pan.... oh K. Ancrum... I cannot believe you did that (sorry y’all, it’s kind of a spoiler)

What I didn’t love so much:
- Wendy’s parents were frustrating me once they settled in Chicago. Even if it’s the point, I feel like it could have been executed in a better way
- everyone needs their real-life role, and I’m happy that even characters like Crocodile were included.... but Crocodile’s character was pointless and unrealistic
- I can appreciate that Detective Hook has lost his mind over Pan... but we are in the real world, and his decisions in the last 75% of the book were just so unrealistic that it took me out of the book. I was just sitting there like, “c’mon dude, you can’t do that”.

Overall, this a fantastic retelling, and definitely a took a turn I did not see coming. Be sure to check out Darling by K. Ancrum on June 22, 2021. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for sending me an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.