Review for Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson 
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release Date: 3rd July 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fairytale Retelling
Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: Bought



Goodreads Summary:
"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’ve been on a huge Peter Pan kick recently and have enjoyed re-visiting Neverland. Neverland is the kind of fantasy world that is so detailed and rich with imagination that even now as an adult I can’t shake the feeling that this place must exist. Picking this book up I was really excited to revisit one of my favourite magical lands from a character I knew little about but was always intrigued by, Tiger Lily.

What surprised me about this novel is that it’s actually narrated by Tinker Bell a mute fairy who because she goes unnoticed is an observer of other people’s thoughts and feelings. At first I wasn’t sure how well that would work but it worked brilliantly as Tink flutters around Neverland spying on everybody. Tink was probably my favourite character, her little fairy heart holds so much love for Peter Pan but because she knows she can never be with him realistically, she wants Tiger Lily and Peter to be happy together. Tinker Bell was such a good friend and I fell in love with her character instantly I also felt really sorry for her at times as she loves these people she watches and becomes so invested in their lives yet nobody but Tiger Lily saw her as anything but a funny little bug.

After only a couple of chapters I was absorbed in this world and could tell that it would be a 5 star all-time favourite book of mine and a large part of that was down to Jodi Lynn Anderson’s writing. I’d never read this author before Tiger Lily and I only wish I’d discovered her sooner because Jodi’s writing is phenomenal. Jodi brings Neverland to life as the magical enchanting place I loved as a child but she also adds her own spin on it and makes it darker so it suits a Young Adult audience. Whilst I was reading I’d jot down so many quotes because there were so many sections of this book that moved me.

Whilst set in Neverland this book had a real contemporary feel to it. After all Tiger Lily is but a teenage girl whose fallen in love for the first time with a boy she shouldn’t have. I can’t imagine any girl hating this book. After all, we’ve all been young girls after a fairytale of our own at some point, right?

What I loved most about this book, gorgeous prose aside, were the characters. Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, Tik Tok, Pine Sap there are so many to love. Surprisingly I couldn’t stand Peter or Wendy. Peter, whilst charming, was trouble from the start and I wanted to warn Tiger Lily to stay well clear. Then Wendy comes along and ruins everything for Tiger Lily and by this point you’ve come to love this messy haired girl with the brave and thirsty heart so much that you can’t help but feel animosity toward Little Miss Perfect Wendy. I was actually rooting for Tiger Lily’s best friend Pine Sap throughout whose obvious love for her made him so endearing.

Tiger Lily opened up both my imagination and my heart and left me totally spellbound. Jodi Lynn Andersons writing was so beautiful and poetic that I’ll definitely be looking out for her other novels. This book has a strong and imperfect heroine, a beautiful love story, and a dash of magic. It’s one of my favourite books of 2012 and I can’t recommend it highly enough.