darling girl: dark fantasy supposedly meets peter pan
- paigenherbooks
- May 16, 2022
- 6 min read
2.5/5
Liz Michalski has a way with writing. She really does. She writes in a tense that I am not use to seeing and knows how to keep a reader engaged within her story. For those reason I really did enjoy Darling Girl. The main plot of the book while engaging was a little weird and highly cliche at times. A lot of me going "what the hell is going on". It wasn't the best book I've read this year but not a total let down... I don't think.
Synopsis: Life is looking up for Holly Darling. granddaughter of Wendy, yes that Wendy. She's running a successful skincare company; her son Jack is happy and healthy and her tragic past is well behind her...until she gets a call that her daughter Eden has gone missing from the estate where she's been living, and worst of all Holly knows who must be responsible, who is not only very real but very dangerous...
Okay to be honest...I didn't even finish the synopsis because it's kinda ridiculous and I feel like it gives away way too much of the story and makes seem laughable. Which is half the reason I picked for my book of the month. I had to read this retelling of peter pan with the cringey blurb. So, lets start with the things that I disliked...
Okay, so the author writes in this tense I haven't really seen before and while thats not 100% a buzz kill it just took some time for me to get use to it. It's like second person but third?? Example: "She wants to badly to ask what he remembers...Holly wakes with a start". Maybe this type of writing is more common than I think, I just personally haven't read a lot of books with this type of prose and it made me feel like I was reading fan fiction a little (lol yes I was a Wattpad queen back in the day).
Second, I didn't really love Holly Darling, our main character.
She was really conflicting and I am not sure if I loved that. I totally understood why she did the things she did but also like what the hell. Keeping all these unnecessary secrets and claiming to be protecting people I think is a little far fetched. Like keeping Jack, her son, out of the dark about his literal sister, and then saying she died....when she's very alive, I think is a little crass. Also, the way she thought about things and her actions sometimes just bothered, like girl you're not 15 lets have some common sense shall we? And I don't know I just didn't love her character. I felt like she was very one dimensional in some ways. But she wasn't hate-able, so I appreciate that.
The rest of the characters were pretty okay, nothing too spectacular but at least a little likable. I did like Christopher Cooke's character in the way that he was the modern day captain hook and I wish in some ways we would have explored his character a little more sense he did have some ties with the infamous Peter Pan but we didn't...he just kinda came and went and then turned into a very fast romance sub plot for Holly which I didn't mind but it felt very rushed and not prompted? Like she thought of him romantically quite a bit but always followed the thought with that of her late husband and how much she loved him. One thing about me is that I hate when someone is sooooo in love and then they fall in love again. I know that might be a little pessimistic but I am a firm believer through and through in soul mates. If I met my ONE person, not loneliness, or any romantic wants push me to be with someone else. Like if it wasn't that deep sure, go for it, but if Robert (her late husband) was 100% her lover why did she sleep with her business partner and then have this weird romance with Christopher? That also leads me to something in the book that was very fast brought on in some ways. TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual assault will be mentioned in the next section:
So first, lets talk about the character of Peter Pan. I have a love hate relationship with how he was portrayed. I love the story of Peter Pan so I think in some ways the author did a good job at making him charismatic and likable. Very youthful in the way that he acts. But the way that the characters made him sound I thought that he would be a lot more dangerous? I don't know what I was expecting but it was something more than the villain we were given. ALSO he wasn't found until almost the end of the book, and his whole character arc was built and then dispelled within the last 40 pages???? Like we've built up this dangerous villainous Peter Pan and then it turns out he's just old cranky and wants to be youthful. I understand he's stealing blood from boys (but lol so is Holly our protagonist???) but like I wanted charisma in the darkest way. I wanted infatuation so strong that Holly was truly conflicted on helping him or her children. I wanted him to be this villain that was scary. I wanted the dark side of Peter Pan the book promised us and I don't think it delivered. He was introduced and killed just like that...and we as the readers weren't even there for the death !!
This also leads me to the TW rape of Holly. This section of the book also confused me. I was expecting some kind of real romance between Holly and Peter and I was kinda okay with the purely sexual relationship they seemed to have in some ways...because he's suppose to be the boy who never grew up and then their engaging in very rushed sexual acts like okay ? and then she discloses that he raped her. I just don't totally understand why this was needed? I feel like this didn't add to any plot points or even Peter's "villainous" arc. The author could've went with like him abandoning her or tormenting her or anything else. I just generally hate when authors use rape like a get our of jail card for their half baked plot points. I don't really find it useful and then Holly, in my opinion just glosses over this whole experience.
I didn't like it.
Then theres Holly mothers who is fan-girling hard over Peter Pan and is the ultimate cringe factor. But I was okay with it, it was her character and it made sense, but then the whole ending occurred and I was like WHAT is happening...so come on guys lets dive into it, then I promise I'll talk about things I liked, scouts honor.
The ending was rushed in my opinion. We introduce the infamous Peter Pan and within a few pages he is taken out and everything is happily ever after......WHAT.
My main thing is two things actually (lol) first, the whole Jane (Holly's mother) turning young and just randomly flying. Like okay......weird flex but keep it up I guess? I just don't totally understand why she randomly could do that...but whatever. Then she admits that she saw Peter...So the whole book she has been lying?? omitting the truth?? and she stated that she never regretted saying no to him...then why have you spent your life waiting for him and craving this weird life/adventure with him?
I don't know.
Then theres the whole sub pot point that Ed, Jack's best friend, is also a son of Peter Pan. That was just bomb dropped and we only figured that out after the poor kid was dead. I just don't understand why that was added? I'm not sure if I missed something but it all felt very random. Then our main character just sleeps through everything and Peter Pan is dead because he just turns to dust. I just wanted more. I think that was my main issue. Is that this book had SO much potential to be a true dark and fantastical fantasy but I feel like it just fell so so short.
BUT I did like some things...like the writing. The actual writing of the book was done pretty well. I was engaged throughout the book. Mostly because I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, but hey I did sit and devour the book for that reason. I also liked the Peter Pan aspects, even if I didn't think they were done very well, I did like that thematic overlay throughout the story.
Overall, the book just didn't do it for me. I gave it a 3/5 because it didn't bore me that's literally it. I should probably change it to a 2.5... I actually might do it because the more I think about the more I am just sitting here thinking WHAT. If I had to describe the book in one word it would have to be WHAT, in all caps just like that <<
So cheers to bad reads my friends, and best of luck on our next ones!
xoxo,
paige
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