Tiger Lily

by Jodi Lynn Anderson

In the forbidden woods of Neverland, Tiger Lily falls under the alluring Peter Pan's spell. 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. From the New York Times bestselling author comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

• ISBN10: 0062114611
• ISBN13: 9780062114617
• Publish Date: 3 July 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Neverland is complicated.

You have faeries running off to spy on 15-year-old girls, the same girls running off to run around the forest like a wild beast with a pack of boys, drunk pirates trying to kill said boys for no explained reason, and missionaries coming in to convince the tribe to bully their wonder transgender shaman to deny who he is.

This book is marketed as a love story between Peter Pan and Tiger Lily and I can feel the author trying to do that, but honestly? This is just a mess. It's told in the POV of Tinkerbell, who is self-admittedly useless to the situation. The perk of this is that, HEY! Faeries are telepaths so now we can hear everyone's thoughts, as well as random interruptions about how Tinkerbell loves Peter but he'll never really notice her because she's small. Tinkerbell tells us that Tiger Lily loves Peter Pan, but I don't get that impression at all. The only person I can feel that this angry, selfish little character loves is her adoptive father, Tik Tok.

Tik Tok is the small redeeming quality of this book. He is smart and interesting and kind. I loved all the scenes with him, and my heart BROKE when Phillip and the village destroyed his soul. There's a commentary to be had here about religious beliefs and acceptance of transgender peoples and to see everyone turn on him was devastating and horrible.

Also, speaking of horrible things that could have used deeper focus and discussion, can we spotlight for a moment that I'm pretty sure in the middle there, Giant RAPED Moon Eye? And nobody is talking about it? Tiger Lily and Tinkerbell are so wrapped up in running back to hang out with Peter Pan that not only has she failed to protect the things that her adoptive father held so dear, including his identity, but she barely notices the red flags when her only female friend has been raped? Did I miss something?

I'm not even going into the disappointing mess that is the pirates, the moments of physical abuse, or the fact that every time Tiger Lily is with the Lost Boys someone is pointing out her physical faults or calling her ugly.

Let's move on to Neverland itself. Neverland is written as a real place in a real ocean, not the old "second star to the right" adage that we know so well. While this is a choice that takes the magic from the place, it's written well in this want and although I personally didn't like it, that's not enough to take a star off for the world choice.

I found the writing not to my taste as well, although this may have to do with Tinkerbell telling the story. She's a character I have never enjoyed.

Overall? I found this book disappointing, scattered, and boring. It was nearly a DNF, but I powered through and finished it this afternoon. It's not one I would add to my bookshelf or read again.

[Bianca]

If there was a true moment that Tiger Lily fell so in love with Peter she could never turn back, it was that night, when he shivered and walked and told her he was warm, and told her he loved her so much.

— An enchanting, heartbreaking and beautifully written Peter Pan retelling about loneliness and change. I LOVE YOU, BOOK.

[Stephanie]

I struggled to get through this book -- it might have been the POV, or it might have been the writing, or the pacing. I'm not sure. But parts felt so slow that it couldn't keep my attention. However, the end really picked up and I flew through it faster than the first 150 pages so. I don't know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

Initial reaction:



Peter Pan retellings are one of my absolute FAVORITE things to read, although I have a preference for Captain Hook, if I'm being honest. I've had Tiger Lily on my TBR shelf for over a year now, but was afraid to pick it up after loving Never Never so much! I didn't think anything could ever live up to it. My other hesitation was that this book was an actual Pan retelling, romance and all. I was hesitant, but when I got the chance to listen to the audiobook, I snagged it in hopes it would be incredible!

Tiger Lily is a unique retelling in that it is actually told from Tinker Bell's point of view, which I hadn't realized going in. I'll admit that her voice initially turned me off from the audio until I realized it was actually the fairy who was speaking and then I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. I really enjoyed that, while this was the story of Tiger Lily and Peter Pan, it was also Tinker Bell's story. I always like to see how each author will handle this feisty little fairy and Jodi Lynn Anderson did not let me down! Tink was hilarious and surprisingly easy to sympathize with for someone who is well-known for her tantrums. Of course, the other characters were equally well done.

As a child, I wasn't sure how to feel about Tiger Lily's character. In every Pan movie ever made, Tiger Lily is a very minor role and doesn't usually even speak. The author here had a lot of room to create a fantastic main character and I really feel that she did. Tiger Lily was a strong female protagonist who found herself in a difficult situation between her tribe and Peter, but managed to find herself in the midst of it. I loved that she stayed true to herself while also branching out from the closed off mindset of the tribe she was a member of. Her relationship with Peter was sometimes adorable and sometimes heartbreaking and almost always perfect.

The story of Peter Pan has been retold in so many ways that sometimes retellings are, well, boring and predictable. This book manages to incorporate new aspects of Neverland with the old lore that we all know and love. There is an interesting blend of the real world with Neverland that is just a little bit different than what has been seen before. I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of Tiger Lily's people and as a whole and individually. The secondary characters in the tribe and their personal stories were all nearly as interesting as the main plot.

Something I found surprising was that, while Neverland did maintain some of its magic in the form of mermaids, fairies, and near-immortal people, it also seemed much more rooted in the real world than a lot of other Pan retellings I've come across. While I did appreciate Jodi Lynn Anderson's take on Neverland, I did find myself missing some of the more fantastical aspects that I'm used to at times. A Peter Pan that doesn't fly is just... sad. I did still really enjoy exploring the world though.

The end of Tiger Lily was the kind of ending that I can get behind. Although it was (really) sad, I also thought it was realistic within the story I was reading. My only really complaint is that, while I enjoyed the characters and thought they were really well done, I sometimes found myself feeling a little detached because of the way the story was told. I still thought they were great, but I did miss the first person POV I've become so used to.

Overall, I thought Tiger Lily was a wonderfully unique take on the Peter Pan story! I did have minor issues with it, but really enjoyed almost everything about it. At the moment I would rate it my second favorite, after Never Never. If you're a fan of Pan, this is definitely one you should make time for!

[mary]

Forget everything you have ever known about Peter Pan; the original story, the musicals, and especially the Disney version of the tale… Jodi takes components of all of those individual stories and tells her own truth about the world. And at the center of her world is Tiger Lily.

While this book is indeed titled Tiger Lily, it is narrated by none other than the little pixie that we all know as “Tink”. But I must stress, the story is about Tiger Lily so don’t worry. I guess knowing this little bit of info about the unusual narration is the first thing you should expect prior to reading the book.

Overall this book was odd and not really one I enjoyed too immensely. It took me awhile to get through it and midway through the book I almost wanted to put it down for good. One thing to expect if you plan on reading this book is that this will be the darkest Neverland you have ever visited.

Do not expect that your opinion of the book will ever fully agree with the opinions of others. I cannot tell you whether you will love it or hate it. I can only encourage you to give it a try. If you like thoughtful, dark and inspired reading, this may be the book for you. Who knows, Tiger Lily may surprise you just as much as she surprised me.

[Amber]

I wasn't expecting much from this novel. I'm not a huge fan of Peter Pan for various reasons, the main one being that I dislike all of the characters. Peter, Wendy, Tinker Bell... I don't like any of them in most of the adaptations I have come across (Once Upon a Time aside). The only character I have liked is Captain Hook, and that's mostly because he's either hilariously ridiculous in the movies, or bloody gorgeous in the Once Upon a Time TV show. But Tiger Lily made me see the characters in a whole new light, and I have to say that this is one of the best adaptations of any story that I have ever read.

I was expecting Tiger Lily to be told from the point of view of, well, Tiger Lily. Since she is the title character and all. I was very shocked to discover that it was Tinker Bell who was narrating this story instead. The way Anderson did this was very clever, since in this adaptation, fairies are silent creatures that humans cannot hear, and barely even acknowledge. So Tinker Bell is basically a spectator in Tiger Lily's life, unable to interfere with the actual events that take place. This causes much frustration for both Tinker Bell and the reader, being unable to help characters that they love when they're in a crisis.

One of my favourite aspects of the book is Tiger Lily's relationship with Tinker Bell, which I believe I fangirled about all over the internet. This is the epitome of unrequited love for me, and it broke my heart. Tinker Bell feels such a connection to Tiger Lily, that she moves away from her fairy peers, and into Tiger Lily's village. From then on, she follows Tiger Lily wherever she goes, and she absolutely adores her. She cries over various circumstances that Tiger Lily is put through, and she wishes she could do more for her. She admires several of Tiger Lily's traits, and boasts and shouts (in her quiet fairy way) about how brilliant Tiger Lily really is. Tinker Bell is one of the few characters that really understands Tiger Lily, and it is heartbreaking because Tink is unable to tell her that she is always there for her.

You think you know that someone sees you one way, and barely at all, and then you realize that they see you in another. That was the night that I realized Tiger Lily had seen - really seen - me all along.

It turns out that Tiger Lily does see Tinker Bell, but because of the way that Tiger Lily is, she doesn't voice her feelings for Tink, or really acknowledge her openly at all. It's all so closed in and painful.

Tiger Lily herself is an outcast in this novel. While all the other girls in her tribe are fawning over guys and doing other things that are seen as girly, Tiger Lily wants to swim naked in the river, and learn to fight. She's not the slightest bit interested in the opposite sex. On top of this, she is physically different from the other girls, in that she's tall and wide, and not conventionally pretty. And because of this, she is an outcast. Tinker Bell and her father, Tik Tok, are all (she thinks) she has in the world.

"What you did was very brave," Aunt Sticky Feet said, her words clipped but not unkind, "but men don't want women who are brave. They want women who make them feel like men."
"I don't care about that," Tiger Lily said quietly.

Despite being mistreated and seen as rather savage, Tinker Bell and the reader see that Tiger Lily actually has a big heart, perhaps the biggest out of almost anybody in her village. She just can't always show it, because she keeps these things close.

As the novel progresses, we see Tiger Lily grow up and experience several different life changing events. She is forced into a relationship that she doesn't want, with an abusive arsehole, and because she is a girl, she doesn't get a say in the matter. This is part of the reason she turns to Peter Pan in the first place.

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair....

So you know how I'm always complaining about how guys in YA declare that they own their girlfriends/love interests? "You are mine." "You belong with me." "My girl." All that stuff usually drives me up the wall, and I end up mentally shredding the book to pieces. But, after reading Tiger Lily, the above quote makes me weep.

Tiger Lily and Peter's relationship absolutely ruined me. I'm sure you're all aware of the story of Peter Pan, and how his "love interest" (quote marks because he's a child in most adaptations) is Wendy, so I don't feel like I'm spoiling you with this: Tiger Lily and Peter don't end up together. Duh. But their story is one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever read. I don't ever want to experience pain like that over a book again, because I don't think I will be able to handle it.

Tiger Lily runs to Peter because she's not ready to grow up and get married. Peter and his Lost Boys provide the perfect escape for her, even if Peter is a selfish prat who doesn't know how to express himself properly. Their relationship is exactly the kind of thing that I look for in a love story. Both characters help save and improve each other. Tiger Lily helps Peter so express himself and to quit being such a child (although he has a long way to go), and Peter helps Tiger Lily to escape her life in her village, which has since become a cage.

Peter and Tiger Lily made me cry my heart out. I cried so hard that they gave me a nosebleed, and the only other things to have done that are Spartacus and Supernatural. That's how many feelings this book evoked in me.

Because of this relationship, which I can only describe as a hurricane without sounding too ridiculous, we start to see a side of Tinker Bell that I knew (and hated) from my childish. But what is different this time is that we know the reasons behind Tink's actions. We know why she's such a bitch towards Wendy, why she hated her, why she's always so bloody grumpy. And it totally works in this book. Tinker Bell is doing it all out of her love for Tiger Lily.

Tatum talked about Code Name Verity and how the relationship between the two main female characters in that book is rather ambiguous when it comes to love and friendship. I haven't yet read Code Name Verity, but I imagine that the relationship in that book is a lot like Tinker Bell and Tiger Lily's relationship in this book. Lines are blurred, and it's not hard to see how what Tinker Bell feels for Tiger Lily is so much more than avid friendship.

With all this going on, you'd have thought that there wouldn't be room for much more. You would have been wrong. In addition to Tiger Lily's conflict with those around her, and her relationship with Peter Pan, and how she wishes to escape, we also see a broken relationship between Tiger Lily and her father, we see Neverland go through several seasons, and we see a new religion introduced to the island by the British.

Anderson doesn't waste the secondary characters in this novel either. There's a whole subplot about Captain Hook and Smee, and how they're hunting the Lost Boys. But this doesn't detract from the fact that this book is about Tiger Lily. This is her story, and these are all things that are happening on her island. In her home.

I am astounded by how much Anderson managed to pack into a short 300-page novel. She manages to cover love and conflict, feminism and mistreatment of women, friendship, loss, death, and so much more. Tiger Lily has to be one of the best books that I have ever read. It's a beautiful story, and it will stay with me forever. I will never be able to give it the praise that it truly deserves, because I'm not that good at words. However, I wish you luck with getting away from my book pushing.

[violetpeanut]

Oh, how to review this book! It was unexpected and poetic and heartbreaking and emotional and piercing and exquisite.

This is the story of Tiger Lily as seen through Tinker Bell's eyes. Set before the events of [a:J.M. Barrie|5255014|J.M. Barrie|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1318047214p2/5255014.jpg]'s Peter Pan, it is a story of first love, of being true to yourself, of the reality of the world - good and bad. Those looking for the typical teen romance with lots of quivering and flip-flopping stomachs and make out scenes should look elsewhere. There is an innocence to the love story here that is sweet and sad.

Ms. Anderson has a way with words. They are lyrical and poetic. They are descriptive in the most beautiful way. For example,

How can I describe Peter's face, the pieces of him that stick to my heart? Peter sometimes looked aloof and distant; sometimes his face was open and soft as a bruise. Sometimes he looked completely at Tiger Lily, as if she were the point on which all the universe revolved, as if she were the biggest mystery of life, or as if she were a flame and he couldn't not look even though he was scared. And sometimes it would all disappear into carelessness, confidence, amusement, as if he didn't need anyone or anything on this earth to feel happy and alive.

and

I recognized Tiger Lily instantly; I had seen her before. She stood out like a combination of a roving panther and a girl. She stalked instead of walked. Her body still held the invincibility of a child, when at her age it should have been giving way to fragile, flexible curves.

and

To love someone was not what she had expected. It was like falling from somewhere high up and breaking in half, and only one person having the secret to the puzzle of putting her back together.

In my opinion, this is the mark of a truly great writer. Not only is the story compelling, but the words she chooses and they way she puts them together make you feel what the characters are feeling. You don't just sympathize with them, you empathize. The words are not chosen only to literally tell the story, or to make the author sound smart, they are chosen with care to captivate the reader and completely immerse them in the scene and characters.

Peter and Tiger Lily have to be two of the loneliest characters. Their love for each other is so sweet but at the same time their doubt and inexperience is excruciating to read. I loved them both. The true star of this book, though, is Tinker Bell. As the narrator here we really see the truth of the story. We see loneliness and heartache and budding romance and injustice. She tells us at the beginning that good doesn't always win and that becomes evident as the story progresses. Not all endings are happy ones.

I don't know what else to say except that I loved this book. I recommend it to everyone. I will be adding a hardcover copy of this one to my permanent favorites shelf in my home.

[ladygrey]

This book is a world that is more Lord of the Flies than Neverland and she destroys Peter and I didn't like any of it.

A part of me wants to give this one star but I know it's not fair because it isn't quite that bad.

It's written perfectly decently and has an interesting point of view. Though I didn't like the pov for several chapters, I have to admit letting Tinkerbell tell the story is a different approach.

But the whole thing is just so cynical and ugly and raw. Some people like their fairy tales with a good dose of reality but I don't see the value in being mired in the darker parts of humanity and insisting that it's good because it's "real." Besides, this isn't just real, it's uglier and sadder than that. And that isn't what fairy tales are for. Fairy tales are about reminding us what the beautiful things are in life when we've spent our days living in reality; whispering that there is goodness in the midst of the darkness.