wintogreen-reads

[wintogreen-reads]

honey, I was thinking that we could spice things up in the bedroom by turning the heat off and pretending to be gold prospectors in the Yukon during winter who have to have sex to avoid freezing to death. how does that sound, babe?

[wintogreen-reads]

Him: you better not be a man of constant sorrow when I get home

My stupid ass:

[wintogreen-reads]

guy with poor circulation vs guy who is a human furnace. Who will win

[wintogreen-reads]

:)

[wintogreen-reads]

kevin day sketch (happy tuesday)

[wintogreen-reads]

(voice of a man slowly losing his mind) does it ever strike you that the plot of aftg is moved by little acts of kindness kevin offered to people who never had any semblance of it before. loving riko when no one would, befriending jean in the nest and keeping him alive through debilitating amounts of trauma, telling andrew he was worth it in a dingy high school locker room, teaching neil every night even if he knew he was about to die

[wintogreen-reads]

I just read Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell and I'm Unwell. It was so good but there's so much to think about. I even made a quizlet while I was reading. I can't for the life of me though figure out where I got the recommendation/why I picked it up. Please, where did it come from, I need someone to talk about it with

[wintogreen-reads]

Peter Darling by Austin Chant 

A queer, transgender retelling of Peter Pan in which Pan returns to Neverland after a decade in the real world. The Lost Boys say that Peter Pan went back to England because of Wendy Darling, but Wendy is just an old life he left behind. Neverland is his real home. So when Peter returns to it after ten years in the real world, he's surprised to find a Neverland that no longer seems to need him. The only person who truly missed Peter is Captain James Hook, who is delighted to have his old rival back. But when a new war ignites between the Lost Boys and Hook's pirates, the ensuing bloodshed becomes all too real - and Peter's rivalry with Hook starts to blur into something far more complicated, sensual, and deadly.

I was really obsessed with the idea of Peter Pan as a kid. I don’t know if it was the idea of having magic or living with a found family or the idea of never growing up, but something about him captivated me. When I watched Return to Neverland, I knew that I wanted to be like Jane. She had the shortest hair I had seen on a girl my age and she, despite her gender, became a lost boy (or for her, I suppose, the first lost girl). There was something about her that excited me and I didn’t know why. Flash forward a number of years and, to no one’s surprise, I’m transgender. 

I saw this book on my e library and was instantly drawn to it. The idea of Peter pan being trans hadn’t occurred to me but now I can think of him any other way. Beyond it just linking two things that are important to me, Peter being trans makes a lot of sense for the story. He is living in this utopia where he gets to act however he wants, free of parents and society and expectation beyond having fun. He wishes that he had a mother that wanted to care for him and he surrounds himself with boys who are otherwise outcasts from the real world. 

Peter’s being trans isn’t the central part of this story, but it adds layers to it that create a really cool tension between this retelling and the original story. I really like the way it was woven in and the fact that it warped the story in the way it did, having Wendy being the version of him his parents wanted. 

At the beginning, I didn’t quite know where the story was headed, but that was on me for not reading the description beyond  A queer, transgender retelling of Peter Pan. I think it took a little bit for the plot to shake itself out and become clear, but once it did, I was along for the ride. 

I really appreciated how the ending was handled. It felt purposeful how Peter’s transness was barely brought up and that Hook never once commented on it. 

Was this the most healthy relationship to ever exist? No, but I didn’t expect that as the dedication said something like ‘for everyone who’s ever seen themself as a villain’. 

Overall, a really interesting take on Peter Pan and I loved the way they delved into the magic of the island and how it sort of worked. I also really liked the descriptions of the fairies as insect-like, despite not at all being a fan of bugs. It really went well with the tone of the text. I wish we could have seen a tiny bit more about their inner thoughts in the wrap up at the end, especially them looking back at their time in Neverland.

I recommend this to anyone who wants a darker retelling of Peter Pan or to anyone who longs for the stories they grew up with to include trans characters.