Thursday, September 27, 2012

Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson


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.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

First line:  “She stands on the cliffs, near the old crumbling stone house.”

Whoa, I completely loved this book. This book met my expectations. Actually, Tiger Lily exceeded my expectations. I was just expecting some new love story, except set in the world of Neverland. I was wrong. It was so much more than that.

First, I really enjoyed the perspective. Most books that are set in first person focus on that one person. Tiger Lily was told by Tinkerbell. I didn’t really feel like she was the main character, though. Obviously, Tiger Lily had a lot to do with the story. The book was really a bunch of scenes told by Tink’s view. She had very little to do with the actual plot. I thought this was a very unique way of telling the story.

The love was very genuine. It wasn’t corrupted by any of society’s standards that we, in the real world, have to deal with. Peter and Tiger Lily loved each other, and that is that. Sure, there were people opposed to the relationship, but it was a really good retelling of a teenage love story.

So, I went and watched Peter Pan after I read this. I hadn’t seen it since I was, what? Five? I didn’t remember much of it. Especially how racist it is! The book definitely got rid of that. If anything, it is more judgmental towards the Englanders than the Indians. In Peter Pan, the kids are so racist towards the Indians. I didn’t remember that Tiger Lily was even in the movie. In the movie, she is the Indian princess on Neverland. She has a similar role in the book. But after reading the book and going back and watching the movie, I was amazed by all the similarities and how talented Jodi Lynn Anderson has to be in order to, in my opinion, take a classic and make it so much better.

Okay, conclusively, I feel like you all should read this book. I don’t care what your preferred genre or if you liked the movie. This book is deserving of your time and can be appealing to any audience.

Favorite quotes:

Pg. 3
“Let me tell you something straight off. This is a love story, but not like any you’ve heard.”

Pg. 80
“He (Nibs) picked up the baby, then held it out to Tiger Lily. ‘This is Baby. Our baby. It seemed too much of a commitment to name him anything else.’”

Pg. 102
“He (Peter Pan) could have been talking about bananas, and the group would have been just as enrapt.”

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