This is Peter Pan, but not as you know it.
Hook is a once upon a time Lost Boy who was unceremoniously exiled (that’s putting it nicely) when she got her first period. Now an addict, she’s coming back to the Island with her ‘Twin’ because the Island has the drug she needs and the villain who’s overdue for some revenge.
The villain of this story is Peter. You know, Peter Pan. With laughter I heard in my head as Michael Jackson’s (yeah, my brain’s weird) and a bloodlust that probably shouldn’t have surprised me, this Peter deserves everything coming to him, and more. He’s an absolute asshole and I wouldn’t have lost any sleep if Jordan had pulled Peter’s skeleton from his body while he watched. I may have helped her.
In case it’s not obvious, this is not Disney, with its cutesy songs and pixie dust. Okay, there is pixie dust but its ingredients were not approved by Walt.
With a backdrop of feminist rage – being relegated to specific roles in society approved by the patriarchy, making yourself small in order to fit the mould – this is oftentimes a painful read. The legacy of childhood trauma, multifaceted and cruel, is at its heart, with battles waged both against others and internally.
“We become what we need to be in order to survive.”
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the opportunity to read this book.
Once Upon a Blurb
Jordan was once a Lost Boy, convinced she would never grow up.
Now, she’s twenty-two and exiled to the real world, still suffering withdrawal from the magic Dust of her childhood – and the drug she’s using to medicate that withdrawal is wreaking its final, fatal effects.
With nothing left to lose, Jordan returns to the Island and its stories – of pirates and war and the cruelty of youth – intent on facing Peter one last time, on her own terms.
But Peter isn’t the only malevolent force moving against her. As Jordan confronts the nature of Dust, first love, and the violent legacy carved into the land itself, she realises the Island may have plans of its own.
Schizanthus Nerd 