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What: Tink and Wendy by Kelly Ann Jacobson

Who: Three Rooms Press

When: October 26th 2021

How: A copy of this novel was provided by Allen and Unwin for review.

What happens when Tinker Bell is in love with both Peter Pan and Wendy? In this sparkling re-imagining of Peter Pan, Peter and Wendy’s granddaughter Hope Darling finds the reclusive Tinker Bell squatting at the Darling mansion in order to care for the graves of her two lost friends after a love triangle gone awry. As Hope wins the fairy’s trust, Tink tells her the truth about Wendy and Peter—and her own role in their ultimate fate. Told in three alternating perspectives—past, present, and excerpts from a book called Neverland: A History written by Tink’s own fairy godmother—this queer adaptation is for anyone who has ever wondered if there might have been more to the story of Tinker Bell and the rest of the Peter Pan legend.

As soon as I saw that Tink and Wendy was about a queer Tinkerbell in a retelling of Peter Pan, I was in. I’ve always waned a queer retelling of Peter Pan, and I loved the notion of Tink being in love with both Peter and Wendy. In that regard, Tink and Wendy did not disappoint. Tink is indeed in love with both Peter and Wendy, but Wendy is also in love with both Peter and Tink so it’s quite a messy and emotional love triangle (truly a triangle since two of the points are in love with each other and the third point).

Tink and Wendy was a lot more brutal than I had thought it would be. I was expecting a somewhat light-hearted retelling but there was more tragedy in this little book that I would have ever guessed. It never felt gratuitous, and a lot of it happened over a long time since time moves differently in Neverland, but boy do these characters get put through the ringer.

In terms of storytelling, Tink and Wendy is told in three different types of alternating chapters. There’s now (which is actually our future), then which is when Tink and Peter meet Wendy), and the last are excerpts from a textbook on the history of Neverland which are written by Tinkerbell’s mentor. I found these excerpts interesting because they gave new life to the facts readers think they know about Neverland. I thought the chapter on Hook was probably the most interesting because it gave a backstory which I’d never heard before.

The now chapters were the saddest to read because it’s about Tink all alone. As a reader you’re introduced to this fact in the first chapter or so, and are left wondering why she would be all alone in the real world, and not in Neverland where she belongs. The backstory for this is told in the then chapters but not all at once so the intrigue definitely holds throughout the whole novel.

I honestly can’t say too much else about the book without giving a lot away. But I will say that though there was a lot of heartbreak for Tink and the other characters, the ending isn’t tragic. I would have come away feeling as if there was no point to this book if it had been. But no, it was bittersweet and lovely, and was one of my favourite aspects of the book.

If you love Peter Pan retellings, queer retellings, and books with lots of heart then I definitely recommend Tink and Wendy! It’s only a little book but it has a lot to enjoy inside those pages.

© 2021, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

trigger warning

death of friends (car crash), teen pregnancy, death of friend’s parent, parental abandonment, alcoholism, use of ableist language, multiple deaths

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Posted on: October 27, 2021 • By: Chiara

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