Wendy Darling is an orphan, living in an overcrowded almshouse, ridiculed for believing in a future she can never have. More than anything in the world, she wants to be the captain of a ship. By 1789, she’s sixteen, old enough to be sold into service as a dressmaker or a servant. When she learns the Home Office is accepting a handful of women into its ranks, she jumps at the chance, joining the fight against the most formidable threat England has ever faced. Magic. But the secret service isn’t exactly what she had hoped. Wendy soon discovers that her dreams are as far away as ever, that choosing sides isn’t as simple as she thought, and that the only man who isn’t blinded by her gender… might be her nation’s greatest enemy.
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The Wendy
Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown
I don’t remember ever reading a retelling of Peter Pan, but The Wendy has definitely set a bar for me. You’ve still got the characters your remember, but they’ve all been changed up a bit. This is an extremely unique retelling with both the storyline, the character arcs and the way its written.
Wendy herself is a strong-willed female, who wants to be a captain more than anything. And she’ll do whatever she needs to get there. I loved her tenacity and perseverance throughout, even when she was given some difficult choices to make. But, there were a few times where I was frustrated with her character. She sometimes sounded like a child playing dress up rather than an adult woman making important decisions.
John and Michael are brothers in arms rather than siblings which makes their relationship vary quite a lot. Both of them have extremely distinct personality traits however, and there’s clearly a love between the three that is reminiscent to the childhood tale. But, as Wendy is the only female in the regiment, both of them feel overly protective in some places. Every male in this story seems to think Wendy is an object to be owned which was off-putting.
Peter is changed dramatically compared to the young boy who never wanted to grow up. He’s now the leader of the Everlost. A mix between the lost boys and a vampires. Their ability to fly, be faster and stronger than humans leads them to be a formidable enemy to England. But Peters fascination of Wendy really humanises them.
The storyline never quite makes it to ‘Neverland’ though. Wendy is stuck in England for the most part. But the backstory about Hook being in charge of the fight against magic was intriguing. I especially liked that he wasn’t a cartoon-like villain which retellings somestimes fall into. He was cruel and harsh but did have motivations.
Overall I loved the read, and only had a couple of parts I didn’t enjoy! I would recommend for any retelling lover.
Positives
+ Unique retelling
+ Great characters
Negatives
– Women are to be owned.
I received The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review
Comments
2 responses to “Uptown Oracle Reads… The Wendy”
OMG
one, that cover is so beautiful. i didnt even notice peter on the cover, just how awesome Wendy looks and the bit of gold floating around. v nice.
two, i dont think ive read a peter pan retlling either. definitely not one of wendy anyway, i really like the sound of this!
The cover was definitely *not* why I wanted this book 👀👀 and it’s so different to Peter Pan but also clearly a Peter Pan retelling which makes it a really interesting read!