Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the feather in her hair...
This is a love story unlike any you've ever heard.
Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings...until she meets Peter Pan in the forbidding woods of Neverland. Immediately, she falls under his spell - holding him like a secret in her heart.
Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Reckless and brave, he both scares and enthrals her. She will risk everything - her family, her future - to be with him.
But Tiger Lily soon discovers that the most dangerous enemy can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.
TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Published: 2012
Genre: YA Fiction. Fantasy Fiction. Retelling.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Let me tell you something straight off. This is a love story, but not like any you've heard. The boy and the girl are far from innocent. Dear lives are lost. And good doesn't win."
These are the captivating first sentences of Tinkerbell as she begins to relay the story of Tiger Lily, whom she's observed from childhood.
The whole book is from Tinkerbell's point of view, which in an intrigue in itself since, as a fairy, Tinkerbell is mute, and very small, and therefore unable to do much to intervene in events as they unfold. All she can do is watch and document. A silent observer. For this reason, I think a level of tension was added to the book, knowing that some things along the way were simply unpreventable.
It's a perspective of Peter Pan that's certainly never been told, but that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love it when an author finds an interesting spin on a traditional tale, and Jodi Lynn Anderson should be applauded for this one. She weaves her characters in new dimensions, seen through fairy-eyes.
Tinkerbell follows Tiger Lily with fascination as she grows to be an awkward teenager, out of place in her village. As the adopted daughter of the chief, Tick-Tock, Tiger Lily is respected, but feared for her fierceness and for a suspicion of being cursed by crows. A suspicion she does nothing to discourage when she begins to wear a crow feather in her hair.
"Still, the longer I was around her, the more I could see the colours of her mind and recesses of her heart. There was a beast in there. But there was also a girl who was afraid of being a beast, and who wondered if other people had beast's in their hearts too."
The tribe Tiger Lily belongs to is very real in it's traditions, and it's superstitious. They fear outsiders arriving in Neverland because of the "ageing-disease" they carry, and avoid the territories of the dangerous Peter Pan and his Lost Boys.
The Lost Boys are impossible to find in the forest, but leave evidence of themselves, "carcasses of beasts and prey in their wake, and sometimes a pirate skull dangling from a tree."
I was gripped by Neverland's mysteries, magic and traditions, and by the warnings of the Lost Boys, but when Tiger Lily, and therefore Tinkerbell, encounter Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, it is obvious that their reputations has been warped by rumour. They're a group of gangly teenage boys that tugged instantly at my heart strings. Only Peter maintains the air of instability and danger that Tiger Lily is strangely drawn to.
Tiger Lily and Peter challenge each other and complement each other in a way that you don't see between Peter and Wendy in the original story. Peter is drawn to her wildness and spirit, but at the same time resents her capability and independence, because she does not need him for anything.
It's a double love story, for when Tiger Lily first begins to fall for Peter, so does Tinkerbell, though she is too small to make much impact on him. "P.S. Give my love to Tink. She was always such a funny little bug."
Tinkerbell doesn't bear the same jealousy towards Tiger Lily that she does to Wendy in the original story, and later in this one. Her loyalty to Tiger Lily remains after all the years spent watching her, and it's touching.
There's so much more I could say about this book, but I don't want to detract from the experience of reading it for the first time. This is not a recent publication, but it's impact remains, and since I've only just discovered it, I was desperate to review it.
I admit I'm bias when it comes to retellings, since it's a genre I favour and will happily get lost in, but Tiger Lily is such a brilliant concept that I couldn't resist.
Every part of this story is alluring from the cover to the conclusion.
Let me know if you've read it, and what you thought!
Zuzu 🖋
This sounds so amazing, I love a twist on a classic. Can't wait to read. Amazing review, thank you x
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