Darling Girl by Liz Michalski

Description from Goodreads:

In this beautiful, grounded, and darkly magical modern-day reimagining ofJ. M. Barrie's classic, to save her daughter's life one woman must take on the infamous Peter Pan--who is not the innocent adventurer the fairy tales make him out to be . . .

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 the tragedy of her past is well behind her . . . until she gets a call that her daughter, Eden, who has been in a coma for nearly a decade, has gone missing from the estate where she's been long tucked away. And, worst of all, Holly knows who must be responsible: Peter Pan, who is not only very real, but more dangerous than anyone could imagine.

Eden's disappearance is a disaster for more reasons than one. She has a rare condition that causes her to age rapidly--ironic, considering her father is the boy who will never grow up--which also makes her blood incredibly valuable. It's a secret that Holly is desperate to protect, especially from Eden's half-brother, Jack, who knows nothing about his sister or the crucial role she plays in his life. Holly has no one to turn to--her mother is the only other person in the world who knows that Peter is more than a story, but she refuses to accept that he is not the hero she's always imagined. Desperate, Holly enlists the help of Christopher Cooke, a notorious ex-soldier, in the hopes of rescuing Eden before it's too late . . . or she may lose both her children.

Darling Girl brings all the magic of the classic Peter Pan story to the present, while also exploring the dark underpinnings of fairy tales, grief, aging, sacrifice, motherhood, and just how far we will go to protect those we love.

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My Review:

I had a hard time with this book. On one hand, I didn't really like it. I wasn't a fan of the characters and the magic of Neverland was never fully explained. On the other hand, I was morbidly curious as to where the story was going. I did end up finishing it, but unfortunately, the book didn't improve.

I really wasn't a fan of the characters. Holly was just so annoying. You would think with how much she was trying to control the situation and her family, that she would actually accomplish anything but it was just her running around like a chicken with its head cut off. She reacted more than being proactive. I get she was stuck in her grief. I cannot even imagine going through that kind of pain, but she just really bothered me. I thought Jane was absolutely awful and selfish. She mainly agreed to help Holly find Peter Pan because she was jealous of Holly's supposed relationship with him which is so weird and creepy. I also wasn't a fan of Christopher Cooke. He also was pretty useless until the end in my eyes. Even then he wasn't really needed, the police could have done what he did. Also, his random romantic moment with Holly made absolutely no sense to me.

What kept me reading was the interesting thing about the Darling family's blood and what Holly was doing with it. I also was interested in Neverland and how its magic and how Peter worked. Especially since he is now older. The blood is sort of explained, but Neverland fully wasn't which frustrated me. I get that the magic really wasn't the focus of the story but I enjoy details like that.

Overall, this was just a miss for me which is disappointing as I have been looking forward to reading this book for a while. This may work for you if you're looking for a dark Peter Pan telling, but other than that I can't recommend much.