Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publisher: Orchard Books
Publication date: October 3rd 2013
My rating: 3 stars 

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.

Peter Pan and I have a complicated sort of relationship, parts of me love the idea of Neverland and the idea of never growing up, but then there parts of me that I can be a sore thumb about. I don’t actually remember growing up reading Peter Pan, but the book was given to me by someone at some point, so I always saw it around the house. But I grew up watching Hook the movie starring Robin Williams and have lost count of times I’ve watched it, I was captivated by the world then and then fell in love all over again with the film starring Jeremy Sumpter.

So I was intrigued to learn this whole other story before Wendy. Being the person that I am, I went into this book a little bit confused, I knew what the story would be about, but kind of assumed who would be giving me the story, so was a bit surprised by how we were given the story, it definitely changed my impression about how I felt about certain characters from Peter Pan. To be honest before I wasn’t a huge fan of Tinkerbell, I just felt she was trying to reign on Peter’s and Wendy’s parade. But to see things from her perspective opened my perspective totally. The irritating, selfish Tinkerbell that I once thought she was, actually emerged as an insightful, intelligent individual. It was a truly refreshing experience learning about this whole other love that Peter had through Tink’s eyes.

Tiger Lily was a faithful character, she was loyal to her father Tik Tok and his wishes, but there was always a part of her that wanted more, and that’s where Peter and the Lost Boys came in. It was great fun being with the Lost Boys again, but most of all I enjoyed getting to know Peter’s character before Wendy. Tiger Lily brought out a whole another side to Peter, he was still a leader, cheeky and ferocious when he wanted to be, but there was a really vulnerable side, that it took me some time to getting used to seeing. And the entire relationship between Peter and Tiger Lily was such a bittersweet one, even though I knew which way things would end, I was always hopeful that both characters would get their happy ending, but most of all with each other.

Fans of Peter Pan are sure to devour Tiger Lily up. Jodi Lynn Anderson has created a beautiful and totally believable world that I’d love to be a part of.