Book Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Title: Tiger Lily
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
First published: July 3rd, 2012

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
Pages: 292
Rating: 5 out of 5

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 of all, I was not a fan of this particular Disney story. Sure, I did see the movie and the cartoon but somehow I never really connected with the story until now.

Some would say it's a story about love but I think the most important part was about growing up. We meet Tiger Lily, a wild and fearless Native girl through the eyes of Tinker Bell. Tink never appealed to me because she always stuck her nose where it didn't belong but in this case I'm grateful for it, otherwise we wouldn't get to see witness this incredible story. Tiger Lily meets Peter Pan by accident and they can't stay away from each other after that. They complete each other perfectly. They are both fearless and strong. Tiger Lily was not used to sharing her feelings and thought with others while Peter can. Because of this she appeared as cold and insensitive even though she cares a lot for the friends,father and the tribe.

Oh,gosh. Let me tell you about Peter. Never in all my 23 years I would thought of saying I like him because everyone knows him as the wild boy he really is but in this novel he shined. He is a true leader and you can see why the Lost Boys look up to him so much. Every girl in the story is in love with him either it is Tiger Lily, Tinker Bell or all the mermaids in the lagoon, even she, who-shall-not-be-named.

Jodi did a wonderful, exquisite job painting us the picture of Neverland. The village of the Native tribe, Lagoon with the mermaids, forests with mysterious beasts and creatures even dinosaurs(Yes, dinosaurs!),rivers where Tiger Lily went to swim with her best friend Pine Sap, the burrow where the Lost Boys lived.

A girl who shall not be named(pst! It's Wendy) did appear later on and I have to say I don't like her at all. Before reading I did thought Peter would forget about Tiger Lily fast but it didn't happen. First love always stays with you and you get a glimpse in his mind through the letter in the end of the book which made me tear up for Tiger Lily who will stay young forever; Peter who finally grows up and Tinker Bell who loves with her little heart.

5 stars