Skip to main content

Featured

Series Review: The Suitable 'Verse by R. Cooper

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. Full Audio Here Powerful noble families known as the beat-of-fours, answerable only to a ruler and the mysterious, godlike fae, scheme and squabble amongst themselves, and go to war for the chance to put one of their own on the throne. But the fae might be pulling more strings than the nobles realize and they definitely have their favorites. A series of love stories loosely centered around the political crisis that led to the current ruler, featuring oblivious librarians, crafty though loving kings, an innocent half-fae noble, a legendary outlaw turned conqueror, worried warriors, clever guards, and an infamous beauty. PUBLISHER: Independently Published LENGTH: ~1000 pages so far AGE: Adult GENRE: Fantasy, Romance RECOMMENDED: Highly Queer Rep Summary: m/m and m/m/...

Peter Darling by S. A. Chant

Jagged and dreamlike, Peter Darling confronts the discomfort of realizing one must grow up, while embracing the freedom to choose what that means. Queer and beautiful; re-imagining what Neverland is, what Peter and Hook can be. 

I devoured this book in a single sitting: Planning to read a few chapters so I could get an initial sense of the tone; instead I curled up with it and read it through to the end, not getting up for anything. All I knew going in were three words, "trans Peter Pan". I thought I'd like it, I didn't know it would hook me and leave me stunned.

It made me dysphoric in a cathartic way; good overall but deeply uncomfortable for a while. I finished the book feeling very peaceful, like the emptiness after a good cry. I already have dysphoria and this book captured those feelings so well. The pronoun handling is artful, the dynamic between Peter and Hook builds in complexity throughout the book, and I love this version of the fairies. There are even more things I loved, but I'm definitely not going to spoil them. If you love adaptations of the Peter Pan story, read this. If "trans Peter Pan" intrigues you, read this. If you, like me, just keep staring at the cover, read this; the book does not disappoint.

CW for sexual content (explicit), grief, transphobia, deadnaming, misgendering, vomit (brief), injury description (graphic), medical content (graphic), medical trauma (graphic), blood (graphic), gore (graphic), animal death (brief), violence, murder, death.

*Published under Austin Chant

Bookshop Affiliate Buy Link

Add this on TheStoryGraph

A silhouette of a boy with his arms held out and a background of stormclouds.

Comments