Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Title: Tiger Lily
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Fantasy/Romance/ Retelling
Release date: July 3rd, 2012
Pages: 292 (ARC)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Publisher
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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.

While reading Tiger Lily, I was instantly transported into this beautiful and familiar world full of magic and wonder.  Any fan of Peter Pan will love this book, as it shows you the life of the easily forgotten about native girl from the perspective of Tinkerbell, everyone's favorite fairy.  The only word I can think of to describe this story is bittersweet and it is truly that, for various reasons.

I easily fell in love with Tiger Lily's character, as she was the black sheep of her tribe.  People whispered about her behind her back and treated her with disrespect, but because of that, she was able to develop a thicker skin which helps her throughout the book.  Mainly, she's picked on because she's not delicate like the other girls, but when she meets Peter Pan, the so-called savage, Tiger Lily quickly realizes that they're not as different as they may seem.

As previously stated, the narration by Tinkerbell was actually a pleasant surprise.  When starting, I had no idea that we would be able to see Neverland through her eyes, but thinking about it now, I don't think the story could have been written better.  The author does an incredible job setting each emotion that there were several rushing through me at different points of the story.  The relationship that develops between Tiger Lily and Peter makes sense.  They've been broken, but they're strong, doing whatever it takes to help others.  They both have big, full hearts.

Tiger Lily is the perfect retelling of Peter Pan; a unique story filled with incredible imagination, first love, and heartbreak.  It's one book that I will absolutely treasure and read time and time again, hopefully even to my own children in the future.