I must say I was surprised by this book, in a good way. The more I knew Mary the more I loved her. Sadly, the more I loved her, the more I despised her husband. I can't help thinking he's a coward, and what he wanted to do to his wife before her escape was just unforgivable for me. However, even if I'm a bit disappointed by George, all the cast is great and very on point. I love how Sherlock is way out of his depths and how Watson becomes pro active.

***POSSIBLE SPOILER***

One thing keeps bothering me though, after all that happened I feel like the evil creature who's Peter Pan escaped too easily. So... as much as I liked the book, I closed it with a feeling of unachievement, and as a mother, I would have never let that flying monstrosity live...

Peter Pan: We’ve all read the book, seen the play, or watched the animated film, so we know the drill: In Victorian London, three children are swept away to Neverland by PeterPanSpiritOfYouth, where they have many adventures battling pirates led by the dastardly Captain Hook. They leave behind a frantic, ineffectual mother, a bombastic, equally ineffective father, and a drooling dog nanny. Author Pat Murphy asks, Is that really what happened? What if Mary Darling had once been spirited away to be a “Mother” to the Lost Boys, despite her insistence that she is not a Mother? What if she understands all too well the deception and peril of the place and its capricious leader?

In Murphy’s retelling, after emerging from the first horrific shock of finding her children missing, with only one place they could have gone, Mary Darling determines to rescue them herself. Under the innocuous facade of a Victorian wife lies a powerful woman who has fought her way free of Neverland with considerable piratical skills. Of course, she encounters opposition, first in her husband, George, who is loving but befuddled by her “independent ways.” A more significant barrier comes from her uncle, Doctor John Watson, who enlists his friend, Sherlock Holmes, in determining what ails her. Holmes decides that Mary is the prime suspect in the disappearance of her children.

As Mary embarks on her quest to rescue her children before they either starve to death in Neverland or fall prey to Pan’s careless disregard for human life, her past reveals itself in layers. In past and present, we meet old friends and allies, people whose lives have been forever altered by their contact with Neverland. We also discover the reality behind J. M. Barrie’s imperialistic misrepresentation of indigenous peoples, the role and power of women, and the importance of memory.

The Adventures of Mary Darling is a brilliant re-imagining of a familiar tale, laying bare its folly and portraying the ingenuity, skill, and heroism of Mary and a host of other characters, invented and glossed-over. My favorite was James, a sweet gay boy, one of a series of Pan’s “Toodles,” and who later as Captain Hook proves to be one of Mary’s staunchest and most able supporters. It should come as neither surprise nor spoiler that Mr. Holmes never appreciates his loss in insisting that logic is the only reality.

Highly recommended.

This is a very creative look behind the scenes of the disappearance of Wendy, Michael, and John on an otherwise quiet night in London. The book focuses on the reaction of Mary Darling. The fact that she was born Mary Watson becomes crucial when she immediately decides to call the man who raised her after her parents died: Dr. John Watson. The good doctor together with his good friend, Sherlock Holmes, rush to the Darling residence and begin a careful investigation.

The book includes all of the pertinent images from the James M. Barrie. This includes the fact that the children's father, George, takes up residence in Nana's dog house because he feels responsible for their disappearance. While Holmes begins the typical Holmes-like investigation, Dr. Watson works together with his niece, Mary, to follow other leads. This leads to a shady dock-side character named Sam. Eventually Mary, assisted by Sam, sets off on a sea voyage to the rarely visited island of Neverland. Finding his wife missing, George Darling and Dr. Watson set off after Mary in another ship. Along the way We are told about Mary Watson's own trip to Neverland when she was Wendy's age.

The author did a wonderful job at creating characters as well as a truly unique plot. My only real problem with the book was the number of threads that weave their way through the novel. Add to that the multiple timelines between Mary's childhood adventure with Peter Pan and her adult search for Neverland and there was a great deal of hopping around in the storyline.

Nevertheless, this is a good retelling of the familiar Peter Pan story from another perspective, but this time with the great detective, Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. John Watson included for the fun. I appreciate NetGalley giving me the opportunity to read and offer a fair and honest review.

As a Peter Pan aficionado, I jumped on the chance to read The Adventures of Mary Darling. Featuring a mashup of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and Mary Darling, this novel is a retelling of Peter Pan from Mary Darling's perspective. Mary is a woman ahead of her time in Victorian England. When her three children disappear during a dinner party, with beloved Nana (the Newfoundland nanny), barking in the yard and the windows to the nursery wide open-she knows. Her uncle, Dr. Watson, and his colleague, Mr. Holmes, are quickly on the case but begin to make odd discoveries. The novel delves in to Mary's upbringing and ties her origin story with Peter Pan's in unique ways. Beloved characters emerge from some unlikely places and villains become heroes. This story is a joy of historical fiction featuring strong women, combined with the magic of Peter Pan and just a little fairy dust. It is a travel adventure (aptly titled) from the perspective often missing in early fiction. 4.5 stars rounded to 5.

This is a crossover between Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, with Mary Darling (the children's mother) being Watson's niece. When the children disappear, Mary takes off to find them. I only read about half of this and just couldn't get into it. There was nothing wrong with it, but it just was not for me.

Mary Darling disguises herself as a young man ("Marty") and embarks on a quest to retrieve her three children from Neverland. Wendy, John, and Michael were lured there by, of course, Peter Pan who in this novel is not the wondrous being of stage and screen. Mary' uncle, Dr. John Watson (yes, THAT Dr, Watson) follows here along with a differently depicted Sherlock Holmes. This novel is a brilliant counternarrative of both the Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes mythos, where both "heroes" are seen in a less flattering perspective. Peter is a selfish being who cares little for the well-being and lives of the Lost Boys. Sherlock Holmes is a prisoner of his logical mind, and incapable of accepting the existence of magic in the world around him. Mary emerges as a kick ass hero with a secret past.
The novel follows two timelines, both fascinating: The first is the quest for the Darling children. The second is how Mary's past connects her to Neverland (and pirates).
The counternarrative extends to other familiar characters as well: Captain Hook, Tiger Lilly, and George Darling. Only Nana, the loyal family dog (so much more than that) remains the same: brave and loving essential member of the family.
Pat Murphy's reimagining of a familiar set of tales invites readers to question the stories they thought they knew-and to discover for a new feminst icon in Mary Darling.

When the Darling children are whisked off to Neverland by Peter Pan, Mary Darling evades the questionably well-meaning attempts to secure her in a mental institution and uses her best "unladylike" skills to find her offspring and assist them in returning from Neverland. Murphy's update empowers other previously underserved and poorly represented characters from Barrie's original work. She also presents an opportunity to poke gentle fun at Arthur Conan Doyle's detective's determination that all mysteries can be solved by intellect and logic, a stance he maintains even in the face of the improbable. A delightful Venn diagram of historical mystery and Victorian fantasy.

I really enjoyed this twist on the Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes stories. We get a much deeper understanding of the events of the classic fairytale through the eyes of Mary Darling who, we learn, has her own secret connection to Neverland.

The story starts with the disappearance of Mary's three children, Wendy, John and Michael. While we've seen and heard the children's story from here, few people stop to think about what happened back home. George, Mary's husband, quickly contacts her uncle, John Watson, and this is where the true story begins.

I wasn't sure how a magical, fantastic world of fairies and pirates would blend with the more logical, deductive-reasoning world of Sherlock Holmes. Pat Murphy was able to blend the two pretty well, complete with a cast of characters that were at once familiar and new to us, though Sherlock spent of the time looking in the wrong direction. The conclusion felt rushed, but didn't detract from the overall adventure.

The "Is it History?" part of the author's note was really interesting to read! Pat Murphy's comments reflect the research and modern knowledge that she used to piece her story together, while doing her best to remain true to the stories and characters we know and love.

Much like the 1991 film, Hook, The Adventures of Mary Darling is a re-framing of James Barrie’s Peter Pan which expands the legend into additional generations of the Darling family. The story is framed as Mary Darling’s (mother to Wendy, Peter, and Michael) version of events, although the tale is shared from an omnipotent POV, shifting from one character to another, giving readers a better understanding of each character.

Mary, upset with the disappearance of her three children, sets out to save them because she knows who has taken them. Murphy weaves a tale of multiple generations of Watson/Darling children taken by Peter to Neverland, most of whom eventually return home. Mary dresses as a man and sets forth on a long boat journey to Neverland. Following her a week or so later is her husband, adopted brother, and her uncle John Watson, who brings his partner, Sherlock Holmes, to rescue Mary and the children.

The story is an expanded fairytale, sharing the adventures with a female twist. Rather than seeing children who adore Peter, we learn that the boys didn’t enjoy being given new names and wanted to go home. The young girls were not enamored with Peter and didn’t want to be mothers. We learn that Peter, a spirit boy who never ages, is selfish and immature. He sees no consequences to his actions, choosing instead to forget the bad and move on. It is an interesting and exciting version, and I enjoyed the strong female characters.

The travels aboard the ships are broken up with large backstory sections, which allows the author to provide the necessary histories that ultimately lead to Barrie’s Peter Pan. It also gives the reader an idea of how long the trip is without detailing the mundane. It’s interesting to see how Murphy weaves connections across time to ultimately meet up with the story we all know. The origins of Captain Hook, Mary and George Darling, and Peter Pan are not straightforward as we’ve all been told.

Overall, I enjoyed the adventures, but question the need to include Sherlock Holmes. He is a superfluous side character used to model a man with a lack of imagination and an inability to think outside the box. Why the author chose to pick on this literary character rather than create her own character for a punching bag, I’m not sure. Honestly, I would have preferred it not be the famous detective, because knowing he was involved in the story set expectations for a crime-solving mystery, which this story is not.

If you enjoy fairytale retellings similar to Wicked, I think you will find The Adventures of Mary Darling to be right up your alley. It’s creative and inventive, bringing a new spin on this old tale.

My rating: B/B-

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book but sadly it didn’t live us to those for me. The idea of merging Sherlock and Peter Pan into a single storyline was fascinating but it really just didn’t sit terribly well. Sherlock ended up being a total throwaway character who was completely unnecessary for the book. I liked seeing Mary as a strong woman but the dichotomy between her “wild Australian child” past and her dutiful housewife personas was just way too different and didn’t blend well. My biggest pet peeve though was the structure of the book- it’s essentially just a bunch of little side stories woven together using one really boring and uneventful main plot. If you stripped out all of the side stories of the individual characters’ backstories you’d be left with essentially nothing.

This book perfectly blended the Victorian worlds of the Darling family and Dr. Watson/ Sherlock Holmes. I liked the juxtaposition of Sherlock Holmes being presented with a magical world, with magical beings, but still keeping his character logical and realistic. I also enjoyed that Dr. Watson wasn't just a foolish sidekick, as he so often is cast. Mary Darling was a phenomenal protagonist, and while I did find the story's ending easy to guess, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Mary Darling's three children have been kidnapped. Due to the event of being John Watson's niece, the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, gets involved. His investigation is going down a dangerous path. As to not be locked away as mad, and to save her family, she travels far and away, making allies of people from lands Britain has claimed, even Captain Hook himself.

We could call this another side to the Peter Pan story, as we experience and ultimately enjoy the adventure of the mother left behind. And blending it with a healthy dose of Sherlock Holmes is a master stroke. I relished seeing the famous detective at work, the staples of the J.M. Barrie story that are included here, and the twists on both. I will not say more so as not to spoil. But I will mention how the antithesis between Holmes's almost obsessive reliance on logic and the fairytaleness of things to do with Neverland add to the story. It smells of the internal battle of adulthood against our inner child.

The narrative has the feel of someone sharing the story with us in confidant-oriented conversation, colored with child-at-heart wonder. Its directness — tender, not strict — and delightful wit result in us breezing through the story. Descriptions here are lively and full of flair, details that spark our curiosity and imagination, transport us to the era and fantastical endeavors. While humor spirits through the storyline there is an endearing quality, but also a blunt edge that provokes our thoughts and what we believe to know. I really like how we peek into the mind of even minor or unexpected characters.

I love that Mary is a woman of fortitude, way ahead of her time. Other characters will astonish you with those same exact qualities, their extraordinary stories helping you get an idea of how their people fared in that time period. Through amicable storytelling and the musings of characters we witness the workings of the world, in some ways similar to our time. Discrimination and social inequality unfortunately still exist today, do they not?

Sometimes the switch between past and present or different characters and their tales is a bit jarring. Momentarily you may be lost. Some of those tales seem out of place or time, and the book has tangled its story threads. I do wish it had been done somewhat differently because the story is engaging. You cannot deny that the different storylines are always interesting and be wholly entertained by how they connect.

This novel is also about how your world can shift in an instant and the powerful feeling of home. Adventurous, endlessly surprising and a lot more dangerous than expected, this is a fun & contemplative team up of 2 legacies of the reading world.

One look at the cover and at the glowing advance reviews, and I knew I needed to read Pat Murphy’s latest book. The premise – that Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate when the three children of George and Mary Darling vanish from their London home overnight – is just that irresistible. At the same time, those same reviews set off a number of my internal alarm bells – promising, as they do, a narrative sharply critical of the colonialist and Victorian sensibilities woven deep into J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

As it turns out, my literary Spidey-sense was right; <i>The Adventures of Mary Darling</i> reads – to me, at least – like a textbook example of how not to approach a literary mashup.

Let me be clear here: I have no inherent objections to either the book’s literary form or to an honest critique of Peter Pan’s problematic elements. As to the latter, Pat Murphy has done more than sufficient homework to justify that aspect of the project. But as a mashup – or crossover, the term used most often by modern fanfic writers – Murphy’s novel falls short on almost every count.

Broadly speaking, I have three major issues with the book. First, the title and cover art are misleading on multiple levels. Mary Darling doesn’t get nearly enough time onstage in what’s ostensibly her own book, Sherlock Holmes is at best a minor presence throughout, and far too little of the story can be accurately described as “adventure”.

Second, Murphy makes a very strange narrative choice by presenting the entire tale as a manuscript written not by her title character, but rather by Mary’s adult daughter Jane. The result is to severely distance readers from both the action (such as it is) and the characters. This is especially frustrating in the case of Sherlock Holmes, whose portrayal borders on caricature to a degree that Holmes’ fans are likely to find annoying. Watson (whom Murphy makes Mary’s uncle) comes across somewhat better – and gets one key scene that should have more impact on the story than it actually does – but is otherwise mostly a peripheral presence.

Third, the novel fails to deal adequately with the elephant in its chosen room. Murphy’s (or Jane’s) narrative acknowledges that genuine magic exists in its version of the world – but almost completely refuses to explore the consequences of that choice. Two examples stand out.

First, Peter Pan’s origin and nature are given scant and contradictory attention. On one hand, according to Jane’s narrative, he’s led three generations of children out the nursery window of the family house in London – Mary first, then Wendy and her brothers, and most recently Jane herself. Yet what we see of Peter in and around “Neverland” is a being with only a child’s memory, easily distracted or overcome either by a more promising adventure or a mother’s threat of bedtime without supper. It’s an inconsistent portrayal, and as a result Peter never emerges as a well-realized character.

Second, the story goes out of its way to avoid confronting Sherlock Holmes with the reality of magic. He’s otherwise occupied at one key moment when Dr. Watson finds himself airborne due to an accident involving fairy dust – and he’s deliberately left out of a planned “rescue” of Jane Darling from the supposed clutches of Captain Hook, likewise aided by a supply of fairy dust. This Holmes, we’re told, would disbelieve in magic even if given the chance to see it at work. That’s flatly unfair, particularly in light of the oft-quoted Holmesian axiom: “whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” after one has eliminated the impossible.

Yet as badly as the novel fails on a narrative level, those early trade reviews are not entirely wrong. Ironically, the best parts of the book are those focusing on the secondary characters – sometime pirates Sam Smalls and the eventual James Hook (whose true identity is an ingenious and admirably subtle twist), Chief Laughing Bear’s family of Wild West showrunners, and Jane’s fascinating assortment of female allies. Even George Darling has his moments – and indeed, possibly the strongest character arc in the novel, not excluding Mary’s. One almost doesn’t need the authorial afterword to discern that Murphy has indeed done an excellent job of replacing J. M. Barrie’s ethnically stereotyped players with well-rounded, fascinating individuals.

At the end of the day, <i>The Adventures of Mary Darling</i> is a profoundly schizophrenic book. I can’t recommend it as a mashup or crossover – indeed, I suspect fans of both the original Peter Pan and the Sherlock Holmes canon will find it disappointing at best.

That said, I can and do recommend the book as what it’s been praised for: a well-crafted re-imagining of the Neverland setting with a more historically reliable and relatable eye. If Tachyon had put a full-cast illustration on the cover, titled it accurately (perhaps as <i>The Mostly True History of Neverland by Jane Darling</i>) and perhaps persuaded Pat Murphy to excise Sherlock Holmes from a story in which he really doesn’t belong, I would be a much happier reviewer.

𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐲
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟔𝐭𝐡

- - -

Read this book if you like:
□ sherlock holmes x Peter Pan
□ retelling with a dark twist
□ mystery
□ multi POV

Thank you, Netgalley, and Tachyon Publications for the ARC.

Sherlock Holmes meets Peter Pan. Literally. Mary Watson, the mother of Wendy, John and Michael, is the niece of the well-known doctor, John Watson.

Mary's children are kidnapped, so she returns to Neverland to get her children back from the famed Peter Pan. But this Peter Pan is like the one we read in fairytales. This story is much darker, more grim. The mermaids and fairies are vile creatures. The pirates are gentle and kind.

I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and fairytales, so I was really happy when I received this ARC. The connections between these characters are really unique and fresh. It was for sure an interesting story. I just thought that it was sometimes too much information, too many POV from various characters. My brain couldn't handle it. It was a bit chaotic. But overall, this was an enjoyable read!

The Adventures of Mary Darling had the charm, intrigue, and darker themes of its inspirations. We follow Mary Darling, mother to Wendy, Michael, and John of the Peter Pan tale, after she finds them missing from their beds with the windows wide open. It becomes evident soon enough that Mary has an idea of what happened to the kids, and we watch her prepare for her reconnaissance mission. Her uncle in this story is John Watson, partner to Sherlock Holmes, who has been enlisted to help solve the kidnapping mystery and bring the kids home. Mary's husband, George, is eccentric for the beginning section of the book, but I understood why he may have responded that way by the end of the story. Mary is such a strong and capable main character, even in her flashback scenes. I also really love her relationship with Sam, someone she's known since childhood who also has a connection to the elusive Peter Pan. There's adventure and heart throughout the story while we search out the missing children.
I think the author did an exceptional job of weaving the two stories together while creating a more inclusive environment and exploring the cultures of the time. You can really tell that she did a lot of research.

Growing up I was a big fan of both Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes so this book was a great crossover for me. It was a really well written and engaging read.

I was intrigued by the promotional copy for The Adventures of Mary Darling: “In this subversive take on Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, a daring mother is the populist hero the Victorian era never knew it needed.” Then I saw that the book is by Pat Murphy, who has won Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, and the Philip K. Dick Award; also, I really liked her space opera There and Back Again (1999), a science fictional twist on The Hobbit. Considering all of that, I was sure I would enjoy this new book, and it turns out this was fully justified! Mary and the other viewpoint characters are a lot of fun to follow through their adventures and evolutions, and Murphy’s insights into storytelling and explorations of the Victorian/Edwardian period are as entertaining as they are enlightening — Murphy examines historical horrors rather than glossing over them, but her characters overcome these challenges with verve.

Mary Darling (the mother of Wendy, John, and Michael, who were lured away to the fantastical island of Neverland by Peter Pan), her complex backstory, and her determination to overcome obstacles and save herself and others are completely engaging. Her uncle John Watson, her friend Samuel Smalls, and various other associates are admirable in their own ways. Mary’s husband, George, starts off as a useless jerk but gets a lot better, and even the main pirate character has some good qualities. Only Sherlock Holmes and Peter Pan remain completely unlovable, but then, neither craves love, only admiration, at least in Murphy’s versions of their characters.

This book returns again and again to various versions of people’s stories, and who gets to tell them (third person past tense), about themselves and each other. Primarily, this is Mary’s story, from her viewpoint, and sometimes she has quite a struggle to maintain and recover her old adventurous self vs. the ornamental wife and mother that George and others think she is/should be. When her concerned uncle involves Sherlock Holmes in the mystery of the missing children, the detective begins constructing his own narrative about Mary’s dubious past, and her possible involvement in the abduction, especially after Mary herself goes missing (as she jettisons the obstructive “help” from Holmes and her relatives, to seek aid from older allies in finding her children).

Other people who struggle to maintain their own stories and versions of themselves are Sam, a former Oceania islander living in London at the start of the book (sometimes stereotyped by others as a cannibal, sometimes resisting that and sometimes making use of it), and the “Indians” shipwrecked on Neverland (they reject that label, being Kanien’kehá:ka who escaped a reservation and governmental oppression to form a touring Wild West show, portraying tall tales for self-freeing profit), who aren’t interested in becoming another target group for Peter and his followers to attack. Conversely, the main pirate captain in this book is someone who actively cultivates a larger-than-life reputation, or story about himself, to save trouble, kind of like the Dread Pirate Roberts in William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. The ladies who run society on a “pirate resort” island that’s as close as the real world gets to Neverland also have their own outer and inner “stories” or selves. (Readers also see a very little bit from the perspectives of the mermaids and fairies, but not living in human society, they don’t appear to have conflicting “stories” in the same way.)

Most of the book is about explaining Mary’s complex past, and her trip back to Neverland, and about the lives and histories of her various allies, and about the journeys (physical and mental/emotional) of her “rescuers” (George, John, Holmes, and Sam, who accompanies them more to keep an eye on Mary’s pursuers than out of any idea she needs any of them). Readers won’t see what’s been happening with the Darling children until near the end of the book, although Mary’s flashbacks give a pretty good idea of what they’ve been facing. Once Mary finally gets back to Neverland, she takes decisive action, using some perhaps unexpected but highly appropriate tactics that made me laugh out loud, and the ending is very happy and satisfactory for most people, except the real villain of the piece. Even Holmes is satisfied (or self-satisfied), although mostly sidelined from the action, because he figures out a rational explanation for everything, and gets to expound on it to Watson, who has learned by this time to keep some of his contradictory thoughts, feelings, and experiences quiet, rather than continually laying himself open to Holmes’ ridicule.

This is far from the first retelling of the Peter Pan story, but it’s one that I highly recommend. Yes, it’s told nonlinearly, with a lot of “previouslys” and other asides, but everything comes together very well in the end, and it’s a very entertaining journey getting to that conclusion. It may even be a comfort book, for people who would like to read a familiar story told in a new way that’s much more sensitive to perspectives from people whose sorts of stories have more rarely been heard in the past.

I'm giving this book a 3.5 star.

So what I absolutely loved in this book was the mash up of Sherlock Holmes and Peter Pan. I thought it was an accurate portrayal of Holmes in a fantastical world without his logic! The wit and adventure was so fun! Just like a child's adventure story! I really enjoyed that it made the characters of Peter Pan into real life people it made the tale feel more grounded in reality with just enough magical stuff to stir nostalgia in your mind.

I truly enjoyed the characters! All of them had great character development even the side characters! Loved Sam and Ruby ;).

The plot was a fun retelling of Peter Pan! I truly enjoyed the nostalgia and even the changes to the plot were great and made it make more sense than the original!

My biggest issue was to felt like reading a written history story. It was simple writing in a history format so a few places felt a little flat because we were being told not shown.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Historical Mystery, Fantasy
Romance: Expect elements—it's not the main plot. Yes, there is spice because of the prostitutes.
Format: Multiple time periods
Representation: There are gay side characters and people of color.


THE ADVENTURES OF MARY DARLING is the tale of what a mother will do for her kids. She's not believed, her husband and others try to put her in a box, and yet she perseveres.

Sherlock is the logical one, and so off base most of the time that had me laughing because it's so atypical. Mary has this amazing life, but she's been living small. George—oh, George (reader shakes her head). Pull it together, man.

The fantasy elements are almost magical realism because it is in the context of Peter Pan.

I really enjoyed so much about this book. The tone is fantastical and proper and driven. The setting varies. The characters are engaging. The back and forth at times was a little confusing. And there are some flashbacks/deviations from the central plot that I thought went on for too long (though I'm fine with including things like the background of colonialism), so, I wanted those to be trimmed at times. There was actually a little more sexual content that I was expecting because it's bouncing off of Peter Pan (admittedly, for adults).

I think adult fans of Peter Pan will especially love this book.

Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes, Lost Boys, Pirates - what an unusual and fascinating combination of characters this was. I loved this take on Peter Pan, especially the character of Mary Darling. All of the characters were great though - and the story kept me engaged.