Review: Tiger Lily

Title: Tiger Lily
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Date Released: July 3rd, 2012
Pages: 292
Rating: 4 out of 5

Description:
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.

Review:
I went into Tiger Lily not exactly knowing what to expect.  Even though the narrator, Tinker Bell, tells you straight away that it isn't a happy story, I didn't really want to believe it.  Tiger Lily is definitely bittersweet.  It has its sweet moments, and then its absolutely depressing moments that make you want to scream and cry, if you're that sensitive at least.  But as a whole, I really liked it.

Essentially, Tiger Lily is about Tiger Lily, the Native American girl you see in the Disney movie of Peter Pan who doesn't have the biggest role.  However, book explores her relationship with Peter Pan through the eyes of Tinker Bell, who is actually a very observant little mute fairy who eventually gets caught, but they don't mind her and instead give her a name.  It also gives her a past and a background.  I definitely will not see Tiger Lily the same way now when I watch her in Peter Pan.

Seeing the relationship develop and then dissolve as a result of none other than Wendy was bittersweet.  It was cute seeing Tiger Lily and Peter Pan trying to figure out what love is since love in Tiger Lily's village is pretty much unheard of and Peter Pan grew up with woman figures in his life.  But then it was heartbreaking to see Wendy come in and just take Peter Pan away from Tiger Lily.  Anderson really makes you root for Tiger Lily and portrays Wendy as one of the antagonists (and actually pretty ditzy as well).

While it does seem rather predictable, just reading about all the little bits in between from the struggles Tiger Lily faces with her impending arranged marriage to the man she nurses back to life only to have him come and destroy the traditions and culture of her village.  Anderson also intertwines Hook into the story as well, but putting more emphasis on his sidekick, Smee, who actually has a very dark nature in this version of events.

Tiger Lily also had the perfect mix of really interesting characters.  For example, there's Tik Tok, the village shaman and Tiger Lily's adoptive father who has a rather feminine side.  And then there's the murderous Smee who likes killing people and made the perfect assistant to Hook, the pirate who could be nice when sober, but mean when drunk.  Tiger Lily was more on the quiet and masculine side, and was little hesitant to approach Peter Pan, but was more brave and adventurous than her fellow boring villagers.  Sometimes she was a little rash though, making decisions that would obviously put certain relationships into jeopardy.  Of course Peter Pan was that cool character that we all have fallen in love with at some point.

I really liked this almost prequel to Peter Pan, but written about Tiger Lily rather than Peter Pan.  It had that perfect blend of heartbreaking moments and happy moments.  It mostly had heartbreaking moments because Tinker Bell does flat out say that this story isn't going to have the happiest of endings.  I definitely loved the writing and the story, combined with the variety of characters.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for any type of book really.

Cover Review:
I love Tinker Bell's orange and green dress that kind of represents a flower in a way.  Against the black background, it really emphasizes it.  I love the whimsical font for the title as well as the simple font for the author's name, which is also in the same orange color.  Overall, it's a really nice cover and I think it represents the book pretty well because I always wondered why a fairy-like person was on the cover and now I know why.

Cleo :)

*Description and cover from goodreads.com
**Review copy purchased for Kindle.