Friday, January 17, 2014

Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Title: Tiger Lily
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publish Date: July 3, 2012
Source: Library






Why You're Reading This Book:

  • You're a YA fiction fan
  • You like fairy tales.
What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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."


My Two Cents:

Guys, have I told you (lately) how much I love fairy tale retellings? I love them! That's one thing that I'm pretty sure I'm never going to grow out of them. Tiger Lily tells the story of Tiger Lily, the Indian princess from the Peter Pan fairytale (side note: I really need to read the original fairy tale still; I've only seen and loved the Disney movie version and the sort of sequel movie, Hook). The book is narrated by the one and only Tinkerbell.

Now in the Disney version at least, Tiger Lily is a relatively minor character so it was nice to see a new light shed on her. The book dives into her background, her first meeting with Peter, and their subsequent relationship (until Wendy Darling comes and ruins it all). This story definitely changes the view of Tiger Lily in the story. She becomes a much more full character with hopes and dreams. Because Tinkerbell can simply observe (she cannot talk in this book), she makes a lot of interesting observations so we begin to feel like we really know Tiger Lily.

Now, it is very easy for fairy tale retellings to get a little cheesy (hey, I don't really mind those a lot of times though). Tiger Lily most definitely does not suffer from a case of cheese. Although some parts are a bit slow (especially towards the beginning of the book), Anderson's writing is truly and utterly gorgeous. One of the marks of a good book for me is when I have to write down quotes in my quote notebook and I did that several times because I wanted to remember some of the gorgeous quotes in this book.

Oh, and the end of the book is a little heartbreaking but it's perfect, oh so perfect. I will be anxious to see what other stories Anderson comes out with in the future!


  

2 comments:

  1. I read this one shortly after publication and loved it! In fact, I think I will add it to my list to re-read! Since you mentioned the Disney version , I have to tell you, that pales against the 'Broadway' version. If you can find the Maty Martin version that was shown on live tv in the 50s or 60s, watch it! Or go see a live production if you can.

    ReplyDelete

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