Dazzled by Books

“Wendy Darling” by Colleen Oakes is the first book I have read by Oakes. This may just seem like another Peter Pan retelling but I assure you that it is not. Wendy is 16 and she is in love with a teenage boy named Booth. If Wendy’s parents were to find out that she is having a secret relationship with Booth, then they would send her off to boarding school. So when Wendy’s parents go to a ball, she is preparing to sneak out and go see booth when a magical flying boy appears.

The flying boy, named Peter Pan, wants to take Wendy and the other Darling children to Neverland. When they all arrive in Netherland, it takes a bit of time but eventually the Lost Boys accept Wendy’s two brothers but not Wendy. They are very suspicious of her since she is a girl. Wendy’s brothers even end up turning on her. Everyone seems to dislike Wendy, especially Tink. Wendy eventually just wants to go home but Peter won’t let her.

“Wendy Darling” is a very dark side to the fairy tale of “Peter Pan.” This is definitely a change to the tale that we all know. I do like that the author shows a deeper side to the story. I think this puts a lot of depth to the traditional characters that I really enjoyed. As most of my readers know, I do really enjoy retellings and I feel like Oakes did this one justice. The world building is fantastic. I think Netherland will draw readers in but they too will see beyond the magic. The characters were great. I feel like Oakes did a really good job with the story.