I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley from the publisher’s giveaway, in exchange for an honest review.
I had read the author’s debut novel a few months back and found myself deeply immersed in the world-building and suspense of The Wicker King and its companion novella The Iron Raven. Knowing that creeping dread and slow descents into darkness are some of the author’s specialties, I came into this book knowing it was a darker, modern, retelling of the classic Peter Pan story, and it did not disappoint.
This book mainly takes place over the course of one night as Wendy Darling is sucked deeper and deeper into an ever-darkening world after agreeing to go to a party with Peter Pan. Ancrum builds suspense masterfully, and even though this book is short because it is a chapter for chapter retelling of the original according to Ancrum, the rapid pacing never kills the building dread as you begin to realize just how dark things are getting.
The twist at the end was set up perfectly, and enough is happening throughout the book that it allowed me to put together half of the story while forgetting the crucial detail from the beginning of the book that pulls the whole web together. Readers with a close eye to detail and strong recall may put the whole twist together before it is revealed because there are enough breadcrumbs left throughout the story to foreshadow the ending.
The epilogue is my favorite part of the book, and when I reached the initial end and saw a quote from the original source text thinking the book was over I was disappointed because I wanted exactly what the epilogue provided and was so excited when I realized there was an epilogue to the story.