The Upstream Writer: February 2023

Synopsis from Amazon:

When the world doesn't want you to be who you are, you must become more yourself than you knew you could be.

London. 1789. More than anything in the world, Wendy Darling wants to be the captain of a ship, but women aren't allowed in the Royal Navy. 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 hoped. Accompanied by a reimagined cast of the original Peter Pan, 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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My Review:

I picked this up during a giveaway event. Goodness knows I cannot resist the idea of a fairy tale retelling--and a twist on one of my favorite fantasy tales, featuring Wendy in a much more prominent role than she had in the original novel was too good to resist.

I had a few other books to get through before its turn came along, but it finally happened, and oh the cleverness of the authors!

It's a truly splendid retelling, keeping relatively close to the original in matters of time period (late 18th-century) but at the same time, tweaking all the right details to come up with an entirely new context for each of the characters that still manages to fit.

Wendy, John, and Michael aren't siblings in this one, they are more "siblings-at-arms", as it were. Wendy is an orphan anxious to prove herself in a social landscape that tends to pigeonhole its women (and, in a way, all genders) into a limited array of homemaking positions. She encounters a captain in the Royal Navy who encourages her to break boundaries and make her own niche where she can, and when she hears that the Home Office has been accepting women into its ranks, she seizes the opportunity.

As an agent of the Home Office, Wendy meets John and Michael, two officers in her unit, and together they brave an encounter with the fearsome and secret enemy they're actually fighting, while feeding the public a very different story: a race of magical beings known as simply the "Everlost"--savage creatures who strike at night, are rumored to drink the blood of their victims, and are near impossible to kill, as conventional weapons have no effect on them and they seem for all intents and purposes to be immortal. Their leader? His name is Peter Pan.

See where the author is going with this??? It only gets better from there. Wendy's unit is helmed by one Captain James Hook, who lost his hand in an altercation with Peter, and has since vowed revenge, searching not only for the island of the Everlost, but also desiring to have for himself one of those magical flying ships they use. (and just wait till you find out the peculiar device that allows them to fly! It's not just happy thoughts and fairy dust!) When Hook hears that Peter is fascinated by Wendy, he immediately has her sequestered at his family estate, under the guise that she is his fiancée and he wants to keep her safe until the Everlost have been conquered.

Wendy herself teeters on the fine edge between being a "self-absorbed, pathetic Mary-Sue", and the converse of "the-only-capable-person-in-the-scene, tough-as-nails, gender-norm-breaking, sarcastic rule-breaker who will immediately fall in love with the devastatingly handsome Bad Boy just because she has to, and end up betraying everybody because she has to follow her heart" without committing to either of those archetypes. Wendy is strong and she has her encounters with plenty of "outsider" characters, but she also knows when to make decisions by herself, and when she needs to have help from others on her team.

The whole story is enchanting, magical fun, and it is only the beginning of the Tales of The Wendy series! I'd rate this book *****5 STARS*****, and I'll add an Upstream Writer Certified TOTALLY RECOMMENDED endorsement, as well! If you love fairy tales, retellings, and period-style adventures, and especially Peter Pan lore, I can almost guarantee that you'll love The Wendy!

Further Reading: (Fairy Tales/Fantasy Adventures/Retellings/Capable Heroines)

-Severance--M. A. Smith

The Vemreaux Trilogy--Mary E. Twomey
       -The Way
   -The Truth
   -The Lie

-Wolves And Daggers--Melanie Karsak

Punk Anthologies--Writerpunk Press Group
  -Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 1
  -Once More Unto The Breach: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 2
  -What We've Unlearned: Classic Literature Goes Punk

-Dreamtime Dragons--Dreamtime Fantasy Authors

-Chasing Rabbits--Erin Bedford

-Anamatus--Derrick Tribble

-Mythical Doorways--Fellowship of Fantasy

-Cracks in The Tapestry--The Tapestry Group

-The Purple Door District--Erin Casey

The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
  -Foul is Fair
  -Street Fair
    -A Fair Fight
        -All's Fair