Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

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Book: Tiger Lily

Author(s): Jodi Lynn Anderson

Rating: 5/5

Summary: Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart. 

Review: 

Tiger Lily is a retelling of 'Peter Pan' and gives the story a different view from the story we all know. It is told from Tinker Bells POV, as she tells us Tiger Lily's and Peter Pan's love story. It's not just a love story though, it's more about loss and loneliness with the fear of change. The story was a lot darker and sadder then what I thought it was going to be, making me fall in love with it even more. 

Tiger Lily is just a lonely girl who is believed to be a curse to her other tribe members. She has never been accepted by her tribe, but still goes to keep her promises to them. To suffer through a marriage that she doesn't want. Then she finds Peter, who is also as lonely as she is, and soon the two of them fall in love.

The Villains (Captin Hook) are darker in this retelling giving the story that more darker feel and allowing them to have more of a back story.

I found that having the story told from Tinker Bells POV instead of in first person made the story more personal, as it gave us a closer look at the characters individually. It made the story seem more beautiful as we could see everyone's thoughts and feelings.

The story had elements of the Disney film and the original story making the story clever and seem that this is the real story and not just a retelling. I even found myself hating Wendy towards the end and from the movie and story I have always loved her character. 

The divide between the Native's and the Englander's made the story more interesting as you viewed the different religions and cultures.

The ending was what surprised me the most, before I read it I thought it was going to be a beautiful love story with a happy ending. This is not the case. All fairy tales end with the happily ever after, well, not this retelling. It broke my heart and I cried.

This is not your normal fairy tale love story, the story is more deeper, darker and sadder then that. However, I loved this book so much. It was beautifully written and a wonderful story to read. Everyone needs to read this retelling.

Robyn.